Nicole shivered as she felt cold damp air on her skin. She took a deep breath as she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. She looked around trying to make sense of where she was. Looking around she saw candles were lit and it looked like she was in dark sewer like place. She tried to lift her hand to her face and felt it was bound by something. She looked down and saw ropes wrapped tight around her wrists and blood drips down the front of her shirt. Nicole tried remember how she got here, but her mind was still in a thick fog of confusion. She saw movement next to her and saw a man was sitting next to her with a paintbrush in his hand and was painting on a canvas. He looked at Nicole and smiled. "Ah, your awake."
Nicole tried to talk but her mouth was numb and she felt week and dizzy. "Where….whe….?"
The man put his bloody finger on her lip and shushed her. "You need to be quiet love. You've provided me with a lot of beautiful paint. When I saw the red blood on your porcelain skin I was inspired. Your beauty will live on long with this part of the series."
Nicole was confused. The man smiled as he touched her face with the paintbrush and went back to painting. He sighed and shook his head as he looked at the brush. "Oh dear, looks like the paint is starting to dry again, time to freshen the pallet."
Nicole watched as he pulled out a knife. He looked at her face and gently placed the knife to her cheek pressing it into her skin. Nicole gritted her teeth and whimpered out in pain as he made a fresh cut.
"Shh, don't cry love, soon we can start the next half of my paintings. You can cry then." He placed the brush in her fresh blood and smiled as it dripped down her cheek and onto her shirt.
Nicole shivered with cold and fear as he turned back to the canvas and continued to paint while he hummed. He painted for a few more minutes then turned the painting for Nicole to look at.
It was a painting of her done entirely out of her blood. It was sick and beautiful at the same time.
"Now we can start on the next part. I have been looking for just the right person for this. I normally only use raiders for my works of art, but raiders are ugly. You my dear have a rare beauty that I have never seen anywhere." He pulled out a syringe and held it up for Nicole to look at. "You know what I'm going to call my next gallery of paintings?"
Nicole shook her head and struggled with the ropes on her hands and feet. "Please, I just want to go home. Let me go please, I won't tell anyone about this place…" She felt tears fall down her cheeks and burn the shallow cuts on her face.
He smiled as he uncapped the syringe and placed it against Nicole's arm. He looked at her face as he pushed the needle in. "I'm going to call it, Ghoulish beauty, it will be grand! I will finally have art worth putting my name on. Pickman will be just as memorable as Michelangelo." He pushed the plunger forcing the fluid into Nicole's veins.
Nicole gasped as pain instantly radiated from her arm and spread through her body. It felt like fire was burning her from the inside out. Nicole looked up with wide eyes and screamed. "Make it stop! Please make it stop!"
The burning continued as her world started spinning. Nicole felt hot tears roll down her face.
Pickman's eyes went wide as he pulled the syringe from her arm and picked up a fresh canvas placing it on to the easel and started painting with her blood. "What a beautiful unexpected reaction, bloody tears. I would have never thought to do such a profound thing." He worked with a smile as he painted with fresh inspiration.
Nicole started to gasp as the burning pain intensified. Nicole couldn't stand it no more and passed out.
(Hancock)
When Nick showed Hancock the calling card that was in the alleyway next to a dead radscorpion with one of Nicole's shoes under its claw, Hancock ran off yelling for Nick to follow him.
Hancock had explained to Nick that Pickman was a sadistic man that used raider blood and bodies for his sick and twisted works of art. He let Pickman live only because he killed raiders keeping the raider population down around GoodNeighbor.
When they arrived at Pickman's Gallery Nick saw his art work and shook his head in disgust.
They were almost at the entrance to the sewers under the gallery when they heard Nicole's pain filled screams.
Hancock and Nick ran as fast as they could and came up on a terrifying scene.
Nicole was limp and was tied to a wooden chair. Pickman was paining on a canvas and was dabbing the paintbrush into the blood that was dripping from a cut on her cheek. Hancock didn't say a single word as he leveled his shot gun to the back of Pickman's head. "I told you never to hurt good people Pickman. I told you I would blow your head off the moment I found out you were hurting said good people."
Pickman nodded his head. "Yeah, I know, but she was so beautiful I couldn't resist. Soon that beauty will be gone and she will be the opposite of what she is now."
Hancock squinted at Pickman. "What?"
Pickman laughed as he held up a familiar looking syringe. "Look familiar Hancock? Found the last one hidden away in the same place you found your…."
Hancock puled the trigger on his shot gun, Pickman ceased to exist as his head was rendered a bloody mess.
Hancock rushed to Nicole and started cutting the ropes that held her to the chair. She was sweaty to the touch and was burning up. Hancock caught her as she fell foreword out of the chair and into his arms.
Nick knelt down next to Nicole and Hancock as he placed his hand on her forehead. "Please tell me that wasn't what I think it was John."
Hancock shook his head as he ran a hand through her black hair and ended up with a handful of hair in his hand. "I'm sorry Nick, I really fucked shit up this time."
Nicole's eyes opened suddenly. She curled up into a ball on Hancock's lap and started screaming in pain as her skin started burning from the concentrated radiation that was in the syringe. Nicole was turning into a ghoul.