I stood up straight, ready for what came next. Wire was staring at me now hard, his arms crossed over his chest, and a foot raised and leaning on the wall behind him.
I wonder what it looked like to him.
“Ah, Marcel,” I sighed as I grabbed him roughly by the hair “You’re not talking to me. I guess you are going to make me see for myself.”
“I don’t know anything. I swear it. I don’t know anything, I was just supposed to come and find you …” his voice tapered off, and I could feel Marcel start to hyperventilate as he felt the burning slice of the scalpel against his forehead.
He screamed and tried to move, but the vice kept him securely in place. I whistled a happy tune as I slowly and perfectly sliced around his forehead. He screamed louder as the blood started streaming down his face in sheets from the thin slice.
“You fucking animal! You piece of shit, stop! Fucking stop, Nico!” He roared from the seat between his sobs. I pulled the scalpel away from his forehead, and he settled for a second.
I turned and picked the hatchet up off the table, and with all the momentum my massive upper body could give, I brought the sharp weapon down on his wrist, right below the tourniquet.
He gasped a few times as he watched his hand fall away from his arm and roll on the floor in front of him before the screaming started again. His arm didn’t bleed much, the wire twine doing its job of stopping the blood flow.
I took two large steps and crouched down in front of him menacingly as he sat there, his midsection twisting and shifting to get closer to his arm. “I’m a fucking animal? You created me!” I hissed at the man.
His eyes focused directly on mine. “Please, please stop.”
I got up and went back behind him. The scalpel on the same slice I’d started before. It was a delicate process, and if you moved too fast, there would be too much trauma, and he could bleed out. I whistled while I cut.
“They kept talking about some big shipment. Lou said that we need to get you ourselves while Ruby and Harrington went to make the transaction. I don’t know what’s in the shipment.”
Faster than he could stop talking, I had the hatchet up and was bringing it down on his elbow again right below the tourniquet. He screeched high and loud, his nub of an arm now swinging free as the parts tied down were, no longer attached to his body. He lifted it to his face and threw up all over his lap as he cried and begged for mercy.
“I think that was a fib. I told you there would be penalties.” My voice stayed pleasant and calm through his hysterics.
He passed out, and I immediately had the smelling salts under his nose. He woke up, whimpering and pissing his pants. “Marcel, you don’t want to miss out on the rest of the party, do you? If I’m not mistaken, you were telling me a story. Please continue.”
I put the scalpel back on the cut line; by now, I had made my way behind his ear. More than one fourth done.
“It’s…it’s art, high-end stuff. Jewels and bullion. Niche market st…stuff.” He stuttered. His body was shaking with adrenaline as the blood continued to pour down his face.
The head has a lot of small veins and capillaries, even though you won’t bleed out fast, it was still a possibility in the long run. “I’m too anxious to wait any longer.” I made an extended sweeping cut at the back of his head so he would feel I was moving faster.
“Fuck!” He screamed in agony and again tried to buck out of the chair, his half an arm swinging wildly, just slinging blood back and forth. “Help! Please, someone, help me! Help!”
I swung the hatchet down again, bye-bye hand.
“Don’t insult me by thinking I would let anyone help you.”
He wailed a pitiful sound.
I went back to my scalpel.
“Florida, it’ll be in Florida. They’re supposed to meet there on Friday, and Ruby said you two have to be there. New decorations. Bloody floor.” He was fading in and out of consciousness.
Smelling salt.
His eyes popped back open, and I was still slicing.
“Vale, Juan sent as a favor for Ruby. He knows you. Find you easier. Twenty or thirty. At exchange. Stall brawl. Need you by Friday. Lou. Kill family. Left me.”
Time was up. I connected the slice to the starting point and stood in front of him, his blood coating my hands and shirt. I had all the information I needed, though.
Marcel looked at me, barely. His eyes were rolling around. “I was sure you’d tell me everything, but it seems like you left some things out.”
He blinked a few times furiously, his half arm coming in my direction as he tried to shake his head no. It was too late for him. I grabbed him by the hair and with all the strength I had, ripped his scalp clear off his head. Once you got past the skin, the scalp was only really held on by some thin capillaries and connective tissue. Very delicate indeed.
“Oh, fuck.” I heard Wire say behind me.
“Hmm, you know,” I leaned over his head for a second, “Your thoughts aren’t nearly as exciting as I thought they’d be, how about a little art?”
I quickly moved to the utility chest and picked up some gripping tongs. I picked up the molten aluminum and walked back to the dying man. “Let’s see if we can make you beautiful, save me a spot in hell Marcel.” I slowly poured the boiling metal over his bare skull. His bloodcurdling scream gurgling as the
