Page 113 of Monster in Disguise

"Jealous of what? Of getting intestines stuck between my teeth? I think I'll pass."

"It was one time, OK? I have enough nightmares about that, don't remind me." He puts one hand up, the other massaging his forehead.Drama queen.

"Or," I pause, a smile tugging at my lips, "not realizing I have a rib in my hair and going out like that?"

"That was one time, too," Vlad sighs. "And it was a floating rib. Those things can be tiny."

"Sure. From now on, make your victims take a blood test. You know, just in case you end up swallowing other parts."

"I do, in fact," he says nonchalantly, focused on the mirror in his hand and trying to clean his teeth.

"Sure," I repeat ironically.

"I'm serious. I never take an assignment if they have any blood disease." He peeks his head from behind the mirror. "I'm notthatreckless."

"You're serious?"

"Uhm." He nods and starts whistling, ignoring me.

I huff out a breath, and I raise my sleeves. Well, it's time to get started.

There are three men in total. Part of the distribution network, they'd been caught stuffing their pockets with money that wasn't theirs.

Greed

That's their sin, and what they're going to be remembered for.

I look around, already picturing the finished product.

"How long will it take you?" Vlad interrupts my thoughts. I turn my head slightly and he's making himself comfortable in a corner.

"Go ahead, sleep," I say flippantly, knowing that's exactly what he wants to do.

"Gotcha. Wake me up when you're done."

I grunt, returning to my task. I take my backpack and pull out my kit. Vlad did not make my job any easier.

One man is cut in half, his organs spilling out. Another has his limbs severed, while the third is relatively whole, aside from his head that's lying some feet away from the body.

I decide to use the third one as the main canvas. Removing the medical staples from my bag, I lay them on the floor next to my sewing kit. Then I assemble the pieces.

I take the empty torso from the first man and lay it next to the headless body and the one that's missing the limbs. I already have enough experience to know what's going to appeal to the senses – what's going to terrify and horrify.

Before anything else, I take out all the organs, laying them aside for future use. Then, I ensure the limbs are completely severed.

Finally, I take out a handsaw and hammer at the ribs, removing the right side from the first torso, the entire rib cage from the second, and the left side from the third. I make sure the spine is still in place for each body. Then, taking the flapping skin of the first torso, I staple it to the second, and then the third, ensuring a Frankensteinian continuation.

Still loose, the three torsos are now bound together, emulating Siamese triplets.

The middle is empty, since I removed the whole rib cage from that particular body. To make the transition seamless, I use the discarded ribs to build a larger replica of a ribcage. I take a hammer and some nails and I connect the right side to the left with the leftover ribs.

It takes me a good half an hour to fit the pieces together. But at the end, the torsos look like they share a chest cavity.

Using some tape, I secure the spines in the back, before moving to the necks. I cut and discard any unnecessary skin to create a larger diameter from all three necks. I then tape them together, making sure they will hold for the final piece.

Returning my attention to the chest cavity, I retrieve the organs and stuff them inside the vacant space. I put the hearts, lungs, livers, bladders, kidneys, and stomachs to the back, using them for volume more than anything. Then I turn my attention to the intestines, and I staple them all together, converting them into a long organic hose.

Starting from the bottom, I strew the intestines around in a labyrinthine manner, interspacing them with the other organs. When I reach the end, I let them fall for a moment.

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