WARNING: BLOOD, TORTURE, VIVISECTION, AND OTHER WARNINGS GIVEN AT THE FIRST CHAPTER WILL STILL APPLY FROM HERE ON OUT.
Another manila envelope made its way to the Sheriff's department the next day. The killer was insistent on providing the investigators with daily updates on what he was doing to his victims through the use of photography.
Crockett had cursed as he looked at the newest batch of pictures and Vince had to step out for a moment. Vince could handle a whole load of gruesome things, but seeing the words 'Half-breed'. 'Redskin', and 'Injun' carved into various parts of his friend's body would invoke a similar response of feeling ill in almost anyone.
The sheriff leaned forward and rubbed his forehead as he swallowed deeply to keep himself from getting sick. He wasn't close with John Gage, but he'd known the kid since he'd entered the fire department, and it was hard seeing those awful words on his body.
It could be easily seen that the words 'Half-breed' and 'Redskin' had been carved into each of John's forearms while his chest sported a messy and large looking wound that spelled the term 'Injun'.
Vince soon came back in and said "What do we do now? This doesn't give us any clue as to who this guy is. All we know is that we're looking for some white guy that thinks those of other races are lower beings."
Crockett sighed and said "I'm not sure, Vince. We'll figure out what to release soon. I can't imagine what this is doing to Roy DeSoto's mental state."
Vince sighed and said "Roy's doing pretty good considering the situation. He's angry and worried. The guys at station 51 are going nuts with worry, but they're resilient. They still do their jobs with professionalism even though they're emotionally compromised. They're holding up pretty well."
Crockett nodded while he put the photos back into the envelope. Vince soon left to call Station 51 again.
Captain Stanley was the one to answer the phone early in the morning. Roy had been in the shower when the call came through, otherwise he would've been the first to get to the phone. He had gone on a run in the squad that had involved a very muddy area and a trapped kid.
Roy soon rushed in after rapidly getting dressed and joined everyone else who watched as their Captain's face looked grimmer and grimmer as the phone call went on.
The call soon came to a close as Captain Stanley hung up after thanking Vince.
Roy paled further as their captain turned towards them with tearful eyes and straightened.
Captain Stanley took a deep breath and said "Vince just informed me that another round of photos were found at the Sheriff department this morning. It can be inferred that John's being tortured. He had derogatory words carved into his forearms and chest."
Roy swallowed and rushed for the latrine. He was definitely going to be sick.
The public was still fearful of the killer, and kept to their homes as the investigation continued with nightly updates on the news and radio. Many of them hoped and prayed that John Gage would be found alive, and that the killer would be apprehended.
Jason grinned down at the unconscious John Gage. The idiot continuously tried to tell him off, but his speech was slurring massively now. It was almost a relief when John had finally had a seizure and tired himself out enough to pass out. It would make it even easier to start the next round of cutting.
Jason hummed as he pulled on some gloves and started preparing things for the dissection. He had noticed a few scars on his specimen's body, and he wanted to see inside if something had previously been taken out, or if its physiology differs from the physiology of the superior race.
He already had a suture kit on the side that he'd use to close the chest and other cuts up again after his dissection was complete. He carefully grabbed his tools and made the first incision close to the collar bone. His specimen moaned, but did not open its eyes.
Jason continued. He cut deeper into the chest, and it finally roused Johnny to consciousness. Johnny pulled against his bonds and moaned as Jason continued cutting. Jason rolled his eyes and quickly tuned out his specimen's pained noises. If it got too rowdy he'd always use the emergency stash of anesthesia. After all, he didn't want his specimen to die before he could prepare it for presentation to the public.
He was slightly surprised that his specimen wasn't screaming in pain, but he supposed that it was too exhausted to scream due to the physical strain of the seizure. He smiled as he readied the rib spreader for use.
He hummed as he inserted the rib spreader. He heard his specimen yell in agony and smiled. He always loved operating on the live specimens. He was slightly dismayed that his specimen once again lost consciousness as he continued his dissection.
He poked around within the specimen's chest cavity. There wasn't really much interesting about it. It seemed to share the same physiology of the other human specimens he had dissected. He liked watching the heart move, but he soon tired of staring.
He soon moved on to lengthening his cuts and moved to working on the abdominal cavity. That was slightly more interesting. He soon noted that this specimen was missing a spleen, but it appeared to have been due to surgery, so the results were inconclusive for the physiological aspect that he would like to find. He really was hoping that he could find something physiological that would prove that the white race was different from the others, but the organs and muscles were the same as usual.
He soon finished his dissection of the chest and abdominal regions. He cleaned up his work and soon started sewing his specimen back up. He sanitized everything as he went. He didn't want his specimen to die from an infection before he finished working with it.
Jason sighed as he finally finished cleaning everything up and suturing the cuts he'd made. He smiled slightly as he looked at John's chest again. He had been careful to make the incisions where the term 'Injun' still looked perfect and complete.
Jason considered cutting deeper into the muscles of John's arms and legs, but he quickly decided that he'd rather use them for more words later on. He wasn't too interested in seeing if the muscular structure was similar either. He just wanted to see if the internal organs were the same.
Jason soon stood at the entrance of his small experiment and operating room and smiled. His specimen was still unconscious. He took off his dirtied gloves and grabbed his camera. He would have taken the pictures during the operation, but he hadn't wanted to get blood all over his camera.
He soon aimed his camera at Johnny and took many pictures. He then came up with the splendid idea to remove some fingernails. They would be a nice gift to send along with the photos. Plus, he could always take more photos afterward.
The woman grimaced as a white guy approached her. She had been about to leave before he approached. It was getting close to daybreak. The guy was wearing an odd cap. She was used to seeing sketchy and weird people around, but this guy set off alarm bells. He was wearing shades too. You couldn't really see any of his identifying features other than that he was white.
She grimaced as he approached and greeted her.
The guy said "Hello. I'm willing to pay you three hundred dollars if you'll take this to the Sheriff's department a few blocks over for me."
She grimaced, but reluctantly agreed. Three hundred dollars was more money than she'd seen in a very long time. Her brow twitched with irritation as the guy smiled eerily at her and turned around after giving her the cash. He hadn't asked for anything else.
She held the envelope in her hands as she watched the guy disappear into the shadows of the night. It freaked her out. She warily glanced at the envelope. She didn't see any markings on it, and the guy hadn't told her not to open it.
Her curiosity got the better of her and she carefully opened the envelope. She looked inside and grimaced in confusion. It looked like there were lots of pictures and something wrapped in what appeared to be a handkerchief.
She withdrew one of the photos and gasped. She began to hyperventilate as she took in the photograph of someone who had been grievously injured. She took another picture out and screamed. She dropped the entire package and a couple more pictures fell from the envelope.
She was terrified. She couldn't get the image of the hand with the missing nails out of her mind. There was blood everywhere. She quickly ran to the corner and puked.
She had a feeling that she just had a close encounter with the killer that she'd heard about on the radio the other day. She was shaking as she heard someone come up behind her. She screamed once again as someone gripped her shoulder.
She calmed slightly as she heard someone trying to calm her.
"Woah! Hey, you're okay! You're okay! I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Vince Howard. I'm an officer of the LA County Sheriff's department. I was on the way to work when I heard your scream."
Her breathing was irregular as she met his eyes. She closed her eyes with a small sob, reopened them, and shakily pointed behind him. Vince furrowed his brow and looked towards where she was pointing.
His eyes widened as he spotted a manila envelope and a few photos spilled on the ground. He steeled his jaw and exhaled. He calmed himself before he spoke to her again.
"I'm going to need you to come with me to the station. I'll get you some help there, but let me make it clear that you're not under arrest." Vince said as he helped the woman stand.
He gathered what appeared to be the newest round of evidence and helped the woman to his car. She had screamed quite loudly, and after glancing at one of the fallen photos, he could tell why.
It hadn't taken him long to pull into his spot in the parking lot and escort the woman inside. Crockett, the Sheriff, and the lead investigator were already there. They were surprised when they saw him lead the young woman into the investigation room.
Crockett began to say something, but Vince silenced him when he laid the newest manila envelope and photos onto the table while helping the young woman sit down. She glanced at the photos again, went pale, and passed out.
The Sheriff cursed and said "I'm going to call the fire department. We need a paramedic for her."
Vince nodded as he stopped the woman's fall from the chair. He and Crockett shared a look. They knew that this woman may be their only chance at a lead on who could be the killer.
Jason grimaced as he heard the woman scream. He should have told the wench not to open the envelope. He had been careless this time. He ran back to his hidden vehicle quicker. He didn't want to be found. He wasn't done with his newest masterpiece yet.
He had been careless to have continued onward to LA this close to daybreak. There had been a detour on his way to LA due to some vehicular accident, so it had taken him longer to arrive. He had been lucky to have even found someone willing to deliver the envelope. He wouldn't be that careless again.
Johnny finally woke after the last torturous experience. He had passed out after screaming when the guy had moved his ribs. He could still feel the sting of the blade as it cut deeper and deeper into his flesh before he passed out. He could even feel the stitches in his chest pulling. He knew the guy had to have had some sort of medical expertise to do something as gruesome as this without killing him.
He was so tired. His head was still hurting massively. He wondered if anything he had been saying earlier was clear or if it just sounded clear in his head. Maybe he was slurring his speech. He really couldn't tell or remember if he was slurring his words.
His whole body was hurting. The only peace from the pain he was feeling was the fact that the monster who's been torturing him for who know how long wasn't currently in the room with him. He was also glad that his head was not currently strapped down, though he was worried as to why it wasn't strapped down.
His fingers were also tingly. Something was wrong with them. Johnny groaned as he tried to move them. He felt horrible. He soon passed out again.