Skin
Nothing I've ever done has given me more joys and rewards than being a father to my children: - Bill Cosby
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.
Floyd took a step back. "Then I want his body." Cold and to the point. Hotch watched from where he was, taking in the conversation going on. They definitely seemed to know each other.
"We need the parts. You know that."
Floyd gave Aaron a quick look and the resumed his chat. "I will help then. I know his body better than you do. I will know."
"You won't be leaving with him. You can come to watch, but you won't talk to her."
A small nod. "Fine I won't talk to her. I need to see Spencer."
"And him?" indicating Hotch.
"He is my erm – my - friend." The word stuck there at the back of this throat and tasted bitter and foul.
The man started to walk down the tunnel as Floyd turned again to Aaron. "Quickly – this will be our only chance."
Hotch limped and staggered to stand next to Flanders. "Who was that? How do you know him and what's going on with Spencer? What's going on with you?"
"Just stay with me. Don't make eye contact with anyone and I mean anyone not even Spence and definitely not the children. Just walk with me and don't leave my side. Oh and Hotchner, don't even think about pulling that gun you have strapped to your ankle. These people will be over you quicker than flies to a corpse and I for one want to get out of here alive."
"Just tell me this Flanders are these people the reason we are here investigating cannibalism?"
Floyd ran his bloody fingers through his hair and pulled a 'I'm not sure I want to tell you that' face. He gave a small shrug and went after the man he had been talking to.
…………………………
A short stout woman came over to Spencer who was standing shaking drooling something from his mouth and swaying slightly. The collar had cut into the skin under his chin making little drips of blood run down his chest. His hands still restrained in front of him were covered in the fluids which had been seeping from the skinning his arms had received.
"You awake?" She asked him. His eyes flicked over in her direction in response but his vision was fuzzy and cloudy. "I have to put this on your arms. It'll stop infection. Not that it will make a lot of difference with you. Doesn't look like you'll be here long enough to catch no infection." She grabbed his hands and twisted his arms to see the raw flesh of his inner arms. Spencer glanced down and again his stomach started to cramp. "Tell you what boy. I'm not gonna bother. You'll be gone by the morning." She turned and walked away.
He wanted to call her back and tell her he would still be here but breathing was becoming difficult now, he didn't think he would be able to even whisper. He licked at his dry cracked lips with a tongue which was dying for moisture of its own. The only dampness there was, was the ooze coming from his own arms. He looked down again and slowly raised his hands to get a better look at it. His mind was so focused on the mess his arms were in that he didn't see the person with the peeler return.
"How's it feeling?"
Spencer dropped his hands back down and slowly lifted his head to look at the man who took his skin. He was standing with a fold up wooden chair in one hand and a tool box in the other. A million thoughts ran through Spencer's mind now. What he could have in that box and what those contents could do to him, but he wasn't going to react to it. Let them do what they want, he was not going give them the satisfaction of looking as terrified as he felt.
The chair was flipped out and the man sat on it. He put the tool box on the floor in front of him and flipped open the lid. "Spencer. I think it only fair I show you this – you know it's nice to know why we are doing this to you. You see what we do is this." He pulled a length of bone out of the box. It looked like a rib bone. "Obviously this is just to show you an example. I take the bone and then I wrap it quite tightly with wadding." He sat and wrapped a long strip of synthetic wadding around the bone. "It gives it the appearance of flesh when it is completed. Though again this is just an example so when we remove your skin you will understand why we have to do it so carefully." He reached into the box again and pulled out a small container. Reid was trying to watch and take in what he was being shown at the same time trying to breathe and not choke himself on the collar and trying to forget the terrible pain. Listening to what he was saying to him was almost a step too far. The man pulled something out of the container and held it up for Spencer to see.
"You know what this is?" He put his hand up for Reid to see but he was unable to focus on what it was in the man's hand. He did a very slight shake of his head.
"It's what I took from your arms. I need to check this is going to work you see, so we do a test. I thought you would be interested in seeing what I was going to do with you."
Spencer just looked in the direction of the voice not wanting to see what he was doing.
"You take hold of the end of the strip – Spencer please watch – I am doing this for your benefit you know." He waited until he thought Reid's eyes were watching him. "You take hold of the end and you hold it still. You see the trick is to keep the strip still and twist the bone. That way you get less tears and creases." He looked up at Reid whose eyes again had taken on that far away look. "Spencer! Watch damn you."
He tried to watch. He tried to do what his mad man wanted him to do but every time he saw what was in the man's hands he could feel the bit of sanity he was clinging onto slipping away.
"I will keep twisting the bone until the strip is used. Then I choose another bit. This is from your other arm you see, so really the colours and textures will be a good match. Skin from the back is best but I will talk to you about that another time. Right – the next strip, I can pin it into place like so and then I do a double layer to cover the pin and then I continue turning until it is all used. Voila! What do you think? You like that idea? Well now I need to put it somewhere to dry off. Then once it is dried I will oil it. The whole process for this will take only a week or so, depending on the quality of the skin and the skills of the craftsman.
Spencer vaguely saw someone kneel down next to the man on the chair – and something was telling him he knew this person. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind again. When he opened them he was looking directly into Floyd's eyes.
"Hey babes." A smile.
Spencer just looked into his eyes. He could see the blood on his lower face telling him he had suffered another very bad nose bleed. He wanted to shout out with joy at seeing his rescuer and moved his hands up to touch him – to make sure he was real.
Hotch watched with horror at the state Reid was in and now watched shocked as someone pulled Floyd back away from Reid. Normally this would have caused Floyd to fly into a rage and start eating people, but something was off kilter here. The whole relationship Floyd had with these people seemed wrong. Unnatural.
The man with the wrapped bone stood and moved to Floyd whispering in his ear. He then stood back and smiled and pulled the peeler out of his pocket. "Up to you Floyd, but you know I love the way you work. It would be such an honor.
Hotch watched Floyd look down that the peeler in his hand and then over at Spencer. He wasn't sure what it was or what was going on, but he knew this was wrong.
"Floyd, what's going on here. Get Spencer and let's go." If Hotch was going to say more they wouldn't know. The crack under his chin with the chair shut him up and sent him flying back onto the cave floor.
"Cage that one, and take blood. See if he is clean." A couple of young men with long hair ran over and dragged Aaron by his feet and threw him in a cage. Padlocking the door. Whilst they took a blood sample from Hotch, Floyd was walking behind Reid.
He ran fingers over his back and shoulders and down behind his waist band and across his buttocks. He then crouched and felt down the back of Spencer's legs.
"Get me a collection bag then, I want to get his over with." He moved around Reid again whispering softly. "Sorry babes. Real sorry about everything."
He took the pot and stood with a finger on Reid's shoulder blade. The peeler cut through the layers of skin and fell in a slimy buddle of what looked to be wet ribbon. He worked quickly and he did his best to not go down too far. He could do this and not scar. This was his craft. This is what he did. What they trained him to do and this skill was the only reason they tolerated him.
Spencer bucked and writhed and tried to get away from the tearing sensation on his back. All the time he could hear Floyd muttering. "Sorry Spence. Sorry babes but if you weren't such filth this would never have happened. It's your own fault babes."
"You need to take him down from there you know. He will be dead and the peeling wont work. I don't want to have to just skin this one. Take him down and I will work with him again tomorrow." Someone walked forwards and unbuckled the collar. Floyd watched the bloodied back of the man he loved and grinned happily on the outside and screamed on the inside. "Treat him. He's no good dead."
He then turned to the man he had met in the tunnel. "Take me to her."
The man turned and walked off down a small passage way. Floyd followed not looking back. He couldn't show how he was feeling. He couldn't show even a twitch of remorse of guilt over what he had just done to Reid. The man in front of him suddenly stopped. "You know the rules Flanders."
"I know your rules. I am good with rules." He nodded to himself and wiped his bloodied hands on his jeans and cleaned some of the blood off his face with this forearm.
"Wait here then."
Floyd stood in the tunnel which was lit by burning brands and for once actually looked nervous. He pushed his hair back off this face and attempted to look less ghoulish with the bloodied clothing and wet blood encrusted hair. A big sigh and he saw shadows walking towards him.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" The voice of a young child.
"I just came to see if you were OK." Floyd crouched to be more on an eye level with her.
"I have nothing I want to say to you. Piss off."
"Rosa – please let me see you properly. Come closer."
"Why? So you can eat me like you did mum?"
"It wasn't like that sweetheart."
The girl who looked to be about ten walked forwards. "It was like that. You broke her neck and you ate her."
"That's a very shortened version of the story."
"It's what you did. I don't want you to be my dad – I don't want to grow up knowing you. I don't want to end up like you. So fuck off daddy."
She turned and walked away.
Floyd stood up and rubbed his hands together. "Well that went rather splendidly didn't it?"
