“Well, Heather, our time together has almost come to an end,” I said, and I leaned over the woman to peel her eyelid back. Grabbing the small suction cup tool, I placed it over the colored portion of her eye and gave it a gentle tug so it was forced away from the rest of her face. My other hand worked quickly with the blade that could cut silk as easily as any ninja sword. With two small swipes, the pretty hazel eye that held golden specs in its iris was cut free. I held up the eyeball and smirked at yet another flawless job. A soft sucking sound was created as my little device released the eye into the collection jar I’d created for her eye color.

A little of the formaldehyde jumped out of the jar as the eye landed in the clear liquid with an audible plop. I quickly cleaned up the smattering of liquid and then turned my attention to cleaning up the room. I had many laws, but when in came to my work, there were only two laws I lived or died by—Don’t get caught, and be smart, precise, and clean with my work.

I sighed as the outer door’s alarm announced a new arrival. The large television I used as a monitor in the corner showed Abel swaying his way inside the house.

Lovely.

I loved my brother, at least what I thought was love, but I didn’t know for sure. I genuinely enjoyed his company and didn’t dream of killing him or dismembering his still-breathing corpse. For me, those understandings were the closest I came to the feeling that many described as love. Unfortunately, my brother reminded me of a cartoon character of a peacock with its dick out, wanting to fuck every hole it could find. He was a show-off, loud, messy, overbearing, unpredictable, and tended to be a pest like a cockroach trapped inside your boxers.

I actually knew what that looked like—I’d created an inescapable pair of metal shorts designed after the chastity belt. It was amusing to take notes of the man’s reaction as I released the cockroaches through a small trap door in the armor-looking shorts and then locked the hole back up. A smile spread across my face, remembering how that man screamed.

Bang!

The door slammed open, but I was used to Abel’s dramatic entrances and didn’t jump as the sound of the heavy metal door echoed through my work area.

“Blame it on the rain,” my brother sang out, the sound grating on the ears.