by RB Schalin
Chapter 37
"I don't understand it, I checked the tires before we left," says Peter scratching his head and kicking the flat tire.
"Nothing to it, all we have to do is change it and continue," says his girlfriend, Jenny.
Peter walks around the car and opens the boot. After taking out their suitcases he lifts out the spare and the tools he needs. Jenny lights a cigarette and sits down on a boulder a few feet from the road. She watches while Peter loosens the bolts on the front wheel and then using the car jack lifts the car off the ground.
It's a beautiful stretch of road thinks Jenny, high pine trees on both sides. The sun is shining through the branches, making the forest look magical. She stands up and leans in through the open passenger window and takes out a bottle of water.
"Hold these, please," says Peter handing her the bolts that holds the wheel in place. She takes them in her hand and wanders back to where she was sitting.
Kerry is ten feet behind her laying flat on the ground. His bag is further behind him and in his hand is his blowgun. He has just loaded it with a dart and is taking careful aim at the young woman's neck.
"Hurry up, this place is full of bugs, " says Jenny slapping her neck.
"There are no bugs. At least I haven't noticed any. I'll be done in a couple of minutes, you can bring me the bolts."
Jenny doesn't answer at first, so he repeats himself, "you can give me the bolts, honey."
No answer.
Peter stands up and turns around looking for Jenny. He sees her lying on the ground, the water bottle beside her and the water slowly spilling out.
"Honey?"
She doesn't move so he hurries over to her and kneels beside her. Taking her head in his hands, he tries to make her sit up, but she just falls back.
"Jenny, honey, wake up. What happened?"
"She is asleep, and will stay so until she meets the god," says a voice to his right.
Peter turns his head and what he sees makes him drop Jenny to the ground. There is a naked man standing a few feet from him, and he has a long tube in his hand. He looks at Peter, and says, "stay calm and I won't kill you."
"Who are you, and what do you want?"
Peter slowly walks backwards and the man takes one step closer and lifts the tube to his mouth. Peter feels a sting on his cheek and after a couple of seconds his knees crumble and he drops to the asphalt.
Kerry kneels and checks his pulse. He is alive, but unconscious, like his girlfriend. Quickly he loads the two bodies in the boot of the car and then finishes tightening the bolts. Just as he is about to start the car an SUV passes him and he breathes out in relief. A couple of minutes earlier and he would have been seen. He has to be more careful, he thinks.
He drives the car to the trail only a few miles away and then carries the bodies through the forest to where the trail continues. After loading them on the Quad he walks back and hides the car under the camouflage netting he keeps hidden under a rock. When he is sure it can't be seen even if someone would walk past, he returns to the Quad and the task ahead. He is smiling, almost chuckling to himself. The couple is young, maybe not even twenty yet, and their skin is so smooth.
Peter comes to and instantly feels agonizing pain shooting out from his arms and legs. His neck is stretched at an unnatural angle and when he looks down as much as he can he sees he is naked.
"Help!"
There is no answer just the buzz of a fluorescent light that is about to burn out.
"Jenny, where are you?"
No answer, he tries again, "Jenny!"
"Hey, stop the screaming, no one will hear you," says the man when he walks through a door to the right.
"Where is Jenny? What have you done to her?"
The man whistles and walks up to where Peter is hanging. Looking up at him, he says, "nothing, at least nothing yet. I thought she would like to watch."
"Watch what?"
"You."
Kerry touches the young man's skin and says, "it is so smooth, and elastic."
"Get your hands off me you fucking pervert and take me down from here."
"I can't do that, he wants you."
"Who wants me?"
"Him," says Kerry, pointing his finger upwards.
"You are insane, just get me down and we can talk about this."
Kerry slowly shakes his head and walks away and from behind a white plastic sheet pulls out a wheelchair.
"Jenny!"
"She can hear you, but she can't talk yet," says Kerry, pushing the wheelchair to where Peter is hanging.
Jenny looks up at him and sees he has tears in his eyes. She can't move since her arms and legs are tied with zip ties to the wheelchair. She has a cloth in her mouth and it tastes like some chemical. Kerry unties it and she breaths in deep, but her breath turns into a sob.
"Now, now, my dear, there is no reason to cry. This only hurts at first and then there is no pain, just pleasure, I promise."
"What are you going to do with us?" asks Jenny between sobs.
"I think it's better to show you, you wouldn't understand the beauty of it if I told you."
He walks over to a group of mannequins standing against the wall opposite her. He takes his time and eventually chooses the only black one and lifts it up. He carries it back to where she is sitting and when he stands it on the floor in front of her, she is surprised at how life like it looks.
"Meet Marlon, he is slightly younger than you are. Just look at how well he turned out, no sagging of the skin and I think I did a fantastic job on his eyes."
"What are you talking about?" asks Peter.
"He makes these, that's all," says Jenny with a smile and there is hope in her voice. Maybe this man is just lonely and wants some living company.
Kerry laughs and says, "that's right, I make them, and now I will show you how I do it."
He stands Marlon against the wall next to Jenny and walks over to a stainless steel bench. After moving some items around his hand comes up holding a scalpel.
"Now, this might sting a bit, but don't worry, the pain is pleasurable, " he says while walking back and grabbing a small stepladder on the way.
"Oh C'mon man, there is no need for this, please just let us go, " pleads Peter while Kerry places the stepladder behind him and steps up on it.
Leaning in close to Peter's ear, he says, “you might want to say good-bye to your girlfriend. From now on, the only thing you will be able to do is sing."
"What-"
Jenny watches with terror as the naked man cuts along Peter's spine from the neck all the way down to his buttocks in one swift move. There is little blood, but Peter's screams fills her head and she begins to cry knowing what is in store for her.
As the night falls outside, Kerry is in his cellar peeling of the skin from Jenny's body. Peter's skin is all ready in the vat and soon she will join him there. They sang beautifully as he slowly pulled their skin off their bodies inch by inch. She held out longer, he was just about to start with her legs when she sighed and then became still. Peter died while he was still working on his midsection.
Women are stronger than men, thinks Kerry. They had to be, at least when it comes to taking pain, after all they survive childbirth.