Chapter 14 : Stiff
Ginger smirked to herself remember how she left Mac at the Luna Mesa high and not so dry the other night. She left to grab a cigarette outside. She got the call from Marshall, about Malachy, while she was out there and just left. Before her barn burnt to the ground she was going to call and apologize to him. Now she has a better idea.
Ginger stood in the brightly lit makeshift office in the garage wearing hospital scrubs, a butcher's apron and a pair of glasses with black frames that made her look like a fetish model. Next to her is a small steel bench with a IHome on it, various steel tools that arranged neatly on a towel and two vials with a syringe. She slowly walks over to the IHome, presses play and summons 'Mortician's Flame' by Acid Bath. The song is a fitting choice of mood music for what she's about to do.
She grabs hold of the syringe and one of the vials then turns her attention to the steel dissection table behind her. Unbeknownst to Walter one of his henchman lay naked on the dissection table, unable to move from what ever Sid has injected him with.
The henchman is almost paralyzed. All he can do is speak in slurred sentences. He looks up at Ginger in fear and pleads with her, "please I'll tell you anything you want..."
Ginger looks down at him with a rehearsed look of pity, "I know you would. After 5 minutes of what I'm about to do, you'll tell me that you started the Chicago Fire. We know that's not true. I don't waste my time interrogating people. I'm going to turn you into something beautiful to send a message. This is important," Ginger stuck the syringe in the same bottle with the homemade label Sid used before drawing some of its contents out and the did the same with the other vial, "I want you to feel everything but I don't necessarily want to listen to you. What I have here in this needle will not only keep you awake and paralyzed but you'll also be mute and your blood will clot quickly which is less of a mess. I'm all about the clean up as much as the art."
Ginger grinned sadistically as she injected her "patient," "now let's give that a couple of minutes to take effect, shall we?"
She waited 15 minutes and got to work. With scalpel in hand and a sketch laid out in front of her for reference she began by slowly removing the skin tissue. She was careful not to remove too much at a time and to watch her "patient" for shock. She had another drug to inject when he got into shock. The was no way he was going to escape from this punishment. "I better pace myself or nothing I inject into him is going to keep his heart beating."
She painstakingly cuts off the skin in one piece and places the removed flesh on an empty table. She lays the skin out as flat as any taxidermist would if they were preserving the carcass of an animal. Applies a secret family mixture to the organ and leaves it to dry then turns her attention back to her "patient."
According to her notes, the anterior side only needs to be cleaned up and beautified. Ginger uses a clean blade to lightly scratch away imperfections and smooth nerve endings. The pain must be intense as she injects colored wax into the veins and arteries. The "patient" quickly expired when the secret mixture is injected into his veins to stop the decomposition process. The same process is done to the posterior side.
Ginger comes back after a few days with Sid and Marshall. They help her the now stiff 'patient' up on a strong piece of wood. Sid nails the patient's foot to the wood keeping him permanently placed there. Once the patient is in a standing position, Ginger carefully raises the patient's arm in a horizontal position. She then attaches the skin, which has been folded neatly like a jacket, to the patient's outstretched hand.
Before they can marvel at and deliver the new masterpiece they spray more secret chemicals to stop decomposition. When they finish spraying Ginger asks, "what do you think?"
Sid looks puzzled, "I don't get it."
Marshall points out, "I thought we were going to call them spineless and remove this asshole's spine."
Ginger answers, "I was going to do that, but then I was looking through grandpa's notes and found this piece. It's called 'Skinless.' Why should this pig suffer only having his spine removed when he can experience having the largest organ in the body removed. Whoever ordered the attack on us for that girl is a skinless bastard so I thought we should give him so skin."
"You're so good at this Ginger."
"Marshall is right you have the gift, it breaks my heart to see you waiting on tables."
"I love you guys. I want this placed where they will find it. I'll let you know by the end of the day where their base is. I've got a plan." Ginger winked to her brothers and sauntered off.