Sown Shut

Things are different now, and they have been since I got rid of my mask…or did I lose my face? Well, I can’t remember, and I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway. What matters is that everything is different now. Nothing is the same as it used to be. It seems so much clearer to me now, like there was a wall between me and the truth. Well, I’m getting distracted again, you came here for a story, and it’s what I’m going to give to you. It all started a few years back when I was just assigned to the police force…

I was young, ambitious, and headstrong. All of those seem to have led to, well, to all of this. Anyways, there was rumor that a serial killer had shown up again, and like any ambitious rookie, I wanted the case if it ever became official. Well, one day guess what came across my desk? A case, no the case of my career, but I didn’t know that then. It was about some guy named Siegfried who was making a lot of noise in a warehouse down by the wharf, and apparently they needed a detective to go check it out.

I hated every second of it, and I put in more then my share of protest to the chief about this being a waste of my valuable time. But, eventually they did force me to go. So, me and my partner…

umm, wow I have actually forgotten his name. That’s kind of embarrassing, especially because of how big of a part he had in all this. Well, I’ll just call him Bob for reference. Let’s see, where was I? Oh yes, me and Bob…

Well, we were headed down to the warehouse, and the entire ride was completely silent. It was about two hours, and we usually talked, even a little, but for some reason the entire ride neither of us spoke a word. It was an eerie silence that seemed to flow through my entire being, but I dared not to break it.

Eventually we made it there, and we could see a dim blue light coming from inside. We looked at each other, and got out of the car. After closing the doors, I walked up to the warehouse door first, with him backing me up. We both had out pistols drawn and were ready for anything. It should have been nothing, but boy were we wrong. When I opened that door some sort of wave hit me, and nearly knocked me back, but it didn’t seem to affect Bob at all.

So, I walked into the warehouse, and there was the foulest smell I have ever had the displeasure of entering my nose. It burned my nostrils, and nearly made me vomit. After regaining my composure, I saw what looked like piles of junk everywhere. In the back there was a short man who was working feverishly at some strange machine that looked like some geeked out tanning booth.

He didn’t seem to even notice me and just kept working. As I walked past the piles of junk, the smell seemed to get worse and worse. Soon, I noticed something strange about his clothes, but couldn’t put my finger on it in that strange blue light. Then as I was trying to figure it out he turned around and my eyes got bigger and bigger as I realized what it was, and what the terrible smell was. His clothes were, they were…

I’m sorry, it’s just so. It’s too much right now. It looked so. Those faces, all staring at me with their eyes wide open. It’s just too much to describe, sorry…

Well, I nearly ran from the horrible sight, and this strangely comforting twisted grin on his face, and it seems that Bob did run, because then I heard the screeching of tires in the back of my mind. I seemed to be frozen, and the short man slowly walked towards me. He came close to me, and I remember exactly what his words were. He said, “I’m sorry, but you have to be awake for this.” Then I blacked out, after feeling a slight pinch in my skin.

When I woke up I was strapped down to a wooden table by a few belts, and some rope. I struggled to get free but couldn’t. The rope tugged on my wrists, and stomach, and left some clear marks, as you can see from them now. But I couldn’t get them to budge, then I saw the short man in his gross coat standing by me with a butterfly knife. It looked old, and maybe even a little rusty, and I was afraid of what he was going to do.

“Don’t be afraid.” he told me with a slight hiss in his voice, “I actually know where it is with you. It won’t be like the others with guessing. I only need to do this once, so count your blessings.” Then he lowered the knife right over the underside of my left forearm, and as the blade touched my skin, a shiver went through my entire body. He noticed and added, “Don’t move, I don’t have up to date medical equipment, so I have to make due. Although, I must say the thumb tacks are known as the worst part. You’ll be fine, and you don’t have to thank me.”

Thank him? Thank him? When that was happening, I wanted to kill him. I knew what he was going to do. He was going to add me to his wardrobe. I wanted to yell at him, I wanted to move, but for some reason I couldn’t. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t talk. I could just feel and see as he drove the blade into my skin, and tore down the flesh making about a foot long incision. Then he cut across the top and the bottom so that my skin looked like one of those small boxes of cereal that you cut open. Every slice burned and seared my body. I had been cut before, but never like this, it hurt more then anything else I have ever experienced.

After he had finished that he put down the knife, and picked up four thumbtacks. He looked at my arm, and peeled back my skin, then jabbed it down through the skin to hold it open. It felt like someone had stabbed me with a flaming kabob through the heart. Then he did the same thing four more times so my muscle was completely exposed. Then he took some salad thongs, and tore into my muscle…

Now, I want you to understand, this pain was so bad, that I should have gone into shock and died, but I didn’t for some reason. There is literally no way to describe how this felt. It was like I had been thrown to the brink of death over and over again all in a few seconds…

Then, everything stopped. All the pain, all the feeling. Everything. It was like I was somehow outside of my body, and no longer attached to it. I looked at him, and saw in the salad thongs a small round metal ball. I had no idea where that came from, and then I saw my arm, and the muscle was all torn up, and there was blood leaking all over the table. Then I saw him slowly untie the belts, and the rope. I tried to move again, but no matter how hard I yelled at my muscles to move they just lied there.

He looked at me with a sadistic smile, and said calmly, “There’s no point in struggling, your body won’t respond. Now, you just relax. I need to hurry before it’s too late.” After he had completely untied me, which was surprisingly fast, he rolled me over, and could somehow lift me. Then he threw me into the tanning machine, and closed the top. “Good luck. I hope you make it.” he whispered as the machine closed, and a bright green light flashed in my eyes. It felt like my entire body was being pulled into the light, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head as it started…

Well, I think I’ll stop there for today. Come back again later when I feel like talking, and you might just get the rest of the story. So go on and leave, nothing left for you here. Well, not anymore.