Best Served Cold?

I stood at the top of the stair and took a deep breath. Nothing. No odor or trace of smell other than the dusty, drained insect flavor of the air. I had asked several petshops if they had products that would remove the scent of cat piss from furniture and carpeting. Of course they carried several of them. I was told by a few, those who dealt with puppymill owners, that they would remove the smell of birth so the neighbors wouldn't bat and eye.

The steps were smooth and wide. I had made them myself but not because they made the trips down them easier but because I always envisioned tripping over my own feet. The sixteen inch wide planks of wood gave me enough room to feel comfortable. Safe.

I walked down them slowly gripping the railing in one hand and my cooler in the other. Being weighted down seemed to make me steadier but more prone to smacking elbows on the walls. They were permanently bruised. I would run my fingers over them during down times and pinch them when the mood was right. I would be busy this week and the thought made the skin on those angles twitch as if to say they would wait but to please hurry.

I reached the last step and wobbled slightly. I had once again forgotten my socks and the need to place a runner on those steps. But blood was easy to track so the runner was just wistful thinking. I made it too the door still on my feet and flipped the switch along the wall. The light was an order to be silent until the door was closed behind me. They learned the lesson quickly. It never took more than two demonstrations. A dissapointment but one that made it easier to carry on with my projects.

Other houses fit my budget and the persona I showed the world much more adequately. They had more rooms, nicer yards, home theaters. The list was almost endless to the attributes found elsewhere. This had something the others did not. A large room in the basement had been created by the last owner as a rehersal recording room for his son and the band. It was completely sound proof. It had been dug deeper into the ground to make room for the materials that covered the ceiling. It was perfect and therefore mine.

I opened the door on a small whimper and clucked my tongue in response. I could feel the scream building in the air like a storm and I giggled. I set the cooler down with a small thump right near his face. The door closed with a soundless rush of air. The scream ripped through the silence and I giggled again.

In days past I hated to giggle it sounded so girly and useless. I was stronger than a girl and that was the reason nothing ever lasted past a year or two. They wanted soft and gentle, slow of wit and anger. Looks were deceiving and despite a somewhat delicate build I was hard, cold, and mean with both. I giggled now as a reminder of what they thought they were getting.

Allen looked at me then fear in the only eye that could see. I had sewn the other shut arround several fly eggs. I could see them squirming under the lid as they ate. It would be a few days before they would pupate and grow to adulthood. I had had to brace his head when they first hatched to keep him from smashing his face into the floor and letting them go. The bruises were fading and the scrapes I had made wider.

Franklin just stared dully at the floor. He had military training so I was certian that breaking him would be more fun. It's why he watched me with Allen. I wanted him to know what was in store for him. Allen however was just a practice run. Franklin would be a masterpiece. He claimed to be better than the man next to him to be so much more. We would see wouldn't we.

I took the box cutter from the table and walked over to Allen all the while wondering if the makers of the knife ever thought of the other uses their product could be put too. I knelt, naked but for the socks I had encased in the thigh high rubber boots. I knelt before his face a knee on either side of his head and gripped both ears. Using leverage and force I half pushed and then pulled him to his own knees. I would have to remember the shards of glass for Franklin, the tiny pricks they would cause brought a smile to my face.

Allen swayed slightly and the smile became a grin of pure delight. I drew the back of the blade over the purple skin beneath his good eye. The horror in that eye sent chills along my spine and quickened my breath. This had been a long time coming and the longer I had waited the more enticing the outcome had grown. I turned the blade before him showing how sharp the point was. I had considered using one that had rust hoping fate would decide that tetnus was the mode of death. A sharp blade would suit my purpose better.

I pulled the skin of the eye taunt making him look like an old characture of an asian, eye slanted yet having a slight bulge to it. He gave me a small twitching of the lips something between a grimace and a smile. I started to sing a very butchered version of "99 Bottles" somthing that rhymed horridly and used body parts and the removal of said parts as lyrics. I gave him a saucy leer then and winked. And then I made the first tiny slice.

The blood was minimal and the cuts shallow, I wanted to give the flies a smell of what was outside their moist home. I was giving them a chance to explore beyond the small dark place they were born. Their tiny wings would stretch and a garbage can would be their new home. Wasn't I a good mommy?

I laughed then and kissed his cheek while he screamed. The slap surprised us both and I did it again. Twice more and his head would be ringing. Ding Dong. I haven't mentioned my hands have I? They are far stronger than an average females. No jar of pickles is safe. I wear a size nine on the pinky, large hands you can see the muscles flex in my fingers when I grip something. I would hold something now. Placing both hands on the sides of Allen's head I slipped a thumb in each nostril.

It wasn't all about the blood and the fear, it was about pain as well. Hadn't they both caused me enough of it? Didn't they deserve this? No, not really, no one did but I was going to do it anyway. I pulled my thumbs out wide.