A Dissection of the Heart

Curtain Call

***TRIGGER WARNING: Chapter contains depictions of gore and violence, skip if that does not sit well with you.***

“Let’s kick this up a notch, shall we?” Rosalind asked, lazily tipping the kettle in her hand forward. Boiling hot water splashed across Yamato’s neck, suffocating the screams threatening to escape his throat. She emptied the kettle’s contents onto him, coating his exposed torso and neck in water that seared his flesh. “Switch!” She pipped cheerily as she switched kettles with Speciale, who went to refill the empty vessel. Yamato kept screaming and wheezing as more and more water was poured over his tender flesh.

Rosalind handed the now finished kettle to Speciale and picked her discarded scalpel back up. “I won’t be able to take his skin all the way off but we can remove the front side. Tears streamed from the man’s eyes as he grit his teeth against the blinding pain scorching his torso. Rosalind started her humming back up as she delicately sliced a path around his perimeter from his neck to his hips. When she was finished she loosened the clamps that she used earlier, releasing the arm of skin which fell to the floor with a sickeningly wet plop.

Rosalind wasted no time digging up two corners of loose skin from his two shoulders and clamped down on them, bracing herself for a moment before tearing back his flesh in a swift pull. She pouted, slightly disappointed that she wasn’t able to get it more than halfway down his torso but that could be fixed with one more strong pull. She adjusted her grip and yanked back, the tormented organ ripping free of Yamato’s body as he choked and gurgled on his own blood, his eyes beginning to roll back into his head.

Rosalind dropped the clamps, letting the flap of skin slosh to the bloody floor. Blood covered everything, pooling on the table and coating Rosalind in a sticky red layer. Her heels clacked and splashed in the puddles of blood saturating the floor as she walked around him, admiring her own work. She rested her hands on her hips, watching him struggle with an air of satisfaction about her.

Clack. Splash. Clack. Clack. Splash. She walked back to her spot beside her table and began fishing around her case until her hand came back up with a thick, hard bristled paintbrush and a large vile. The vile contained a yellowish fluid, it seemed to have a certain thickness to it. “Kore wa watashi jishin no sōsakudesu,” (This is something of my own creation.) she said, shaking the vile, “Jakusan to peppā × oiru no mikkusudesu. Sekai de mottomo hottona tōgarashi.” (It's a mix of a weak acid and pepper x oil. Hottest pepper in the world.) Rosalind flashed him a big smile as she opened the vile. Fear was pouring off of Yamato in waves now, the knowledge that he would break hung thick and unspoken in the air between them as she dipped the brush into the viscous liquid.

With a gleeful giggle she began brushing the oil into the exposed muscle of his torso in the shape of a big heart. The loudest scream yet tore through his body as the fluid began eating at and irritating his flesh. His exposed larynx vibrated rapidly as the screams and sobs fell out of his mouth. “Watashi wa hanashimasu! Watashi wa hanashimasu!” (I'll talk! I'll talk!) Yamato choked out between sobs, “Yamete kudasai!” (Just please make it stop!) Rosalind smiled gently at him as she set the vile and brush down and loosed his restraints. “Sore hodo muzukashiku wa arimasendeshita ne.” (That wasn't so hard, now was it?) She chided in a soothing voice as she climbed onto the metal table, pulling his head into her lap as she began stroking his hair.

Rosalind nodded to Speciale to step forward as Yamato curled into a sobbing mess in her lap. Speciale walked forward, clearing his throat. “Sumiyoshikai no ryōdo de nani o shite imashita ka?” (What were you doing in Sumiyoshi-kai territory?) He began reading off from his list. “Watashi wa sono chiiki o teisatsu shite imashita, watashitachi wa sugu ni soko o kayotte kuru tsumini o motte imasu.” (I was scouting the area, we have a shipment coming through there soon.) Yamato managed to choke out.

Speciale put a hand to the ear piece, listening and nodding for a moment before closing his book. “Jōshi wa Sumiyoshikai jigyō e no shinshutsu o keikaku shite imasu ka?” (Is your boss planning on expanding into Sumiyoshi-kai business?) Yamato sobbed and attempted to nod before realizing it was much less painful to speak, “Watashitachi wa sono chiiki de baishun ringu o kaishi suru tsumoridesu. Watashitachi wa sono chiiki o teisatsu shite mayaku no kichi o kensetsu shi hajimemashita.” (We're going to start a prostitution ring in that area, we were scouting the area to start building a base with drugs.)

Yamato choked on his sobs, “Watashi ga shitte iru no wa sore dakedesu. Itami o tomete kudasai.” (That's all I know, please. Please make the pain stop.) Rosalind met Speciale’s eyes with a raised brow. After a moment presumably listening to whoever was on the other end of the coms, he nodded to her and stepped back. “Shh shhh,” she shushed gently as she reached behind her. The hand she had on his forehead tightened its grip, pulling his head back to expose his mangled neck. “Watashi wa sore o subete yoku suru tsumoridesu, tada nete kudasai,” (I'm going to make it all better, just go to sleep.) she cooed, brandishing a curved blade from behind her back. She put the short dagger to his throat, slicing across his jugular easily as blood burst from him in a spray.

His eye went wide for a moment, weak gurgles spilling from his mouth, before he relaxed with a sigh. He was dead. Rosalind turned, sliding herself off the table with a smile. “How’s that for one last job, eh?” Speciale raised an eyebrow with a smirk, obviously not believing her.