I took my time to finish wiping down Karen’s body, and she involuntarily giggled as I cleaned her feet. It was good that I was used to living on a farm with animals because she smelled like a stuck pig that had been left out in the sun all day for a maggot feast. She made me wonder if bodily hygiene had gone out of style.

I ran my fingers along the metal tools that glistened in the light and decided on the one I’d had specially made. It was like the tip of a scalpel fitted with a foot from a sewing machine, and for the fine detailing I planned for the rest of her body, it was going to be needed. This tool was best to use on those that were still alive when I did my artwork. The movement that accompanied pain and fear tended to screw up the depths of the small details on my pieces. This way, no matter what, the blade would cut at the same depth. Pretty fucking brilliant, I thought.

I visualized an assortment of screaming faces among crosses on her stomach. I was about to start my first cut when the sensor dinged to let me know someone had just arrived. Looking up at the security screen, I groaned as I saw Abel heading my way. A moment later, the outer door slammed open with a bang. He never just walked in. He always slammed my door open because he knew it angered me. I heard the song he was humming before he moseyed into the soundproof area I was working.

He stopped in his tracks as his eyes took in the woman who’d shut up long enough to see who the new arrival was, but from the whimper she made, I don’t think she was too happy to see the two of us.

“What the fuck, man? Again?”

“You need to be clearer in your questioning Abel.”

He rolled his eyes at me and crossed his arms over his chest. “I shared the twins with you, and you don’t give me a call about this one?”

“You were at work, and this one wasn’t on my schedule. She just happened to piss me off enough to warrant some…entertainment for the evening.” Abel crossed his arms over his chest and looked exactly like he was a child as his bottom lip protruded from his mouth. “You do know I’m not mom and dad. That look doesn’t work on me?”

“Come on, man, fair is fair, and you don’t like being in debt to me. This would even shit up.”

He did have a point. The last thing I wanted was to be indebted to my brother. It always led me to do something I really had no interest in doing.