Chapter 3

Doc

Wringing a rag from a deep basin of dark pink water, I started to clean the tools I had used to prepare the body of Mr. Gold. A scalpel, its edge pristine again. A dental spreader. A small, cruel-looking saw that had seen a lot of recent work.  

I focused on the task at hand, thank fuck I listened to Shelby. If I hadn’t, if I’d used my initial impulse, my new paramour would make a beautiful, furious ornament attached to my cock.

I dumped the bucket and wiped down the steel table until it shone under the fluorescents.

The door whispered open behind me. I didn’t need to turn. The air shifted, growing heavier, cooler. “You’re early,” my voice rumbled, a sound that vibrated in my bones.

Don Stumbled in the doorway of the inner chamber. Bare chested. several patches weeping a thin, yellowish fluid. His eyes were milky and unfocused. The scent of advanced decay clung to him. A scrap of paper – held in place by nails that pierced through his decaying flesh. Shelby had orchestrated this grotesque display. The nails weren’t just a punishment; they were a message. Each wound oozed a faint trail of crimson red, while he clutched a small familiar red box in his hands. “For fucking bloody fangs sake,” I muttered. My good mood, now ruined.

Don held up the box presenting it to me.

I Guided Don toward the central stainless table—the one with the deep drain channel, the one currently soaked in the dark, dried blooms of this mornings Kill “What did you do to piss Shelby off now?” i asked taking the box and setting it on my worktable, next to a freshly cleaned bone saw.

“Grr, Grr” Don said in Ghoul Talk.

I froze, “ you did what?!” 

“Grr, Grr, Grr”

“Well, no one told you to walk in on Rain in the shower especially at Shelby’s sanctuary!, that was a very bad thing you did, you probably scared her half to death” I said, my voice casual, conversational.

“Grr, Grr, Grr”

Doc crossed his arms. "Well of course Maggie can stay in the shower with Rain. Maggie is a woman ghoul. She was made to be her helper."

Don used his hands to show me how big Rain’s wet and soapy breast was. I rolled my eyes, and placed both of my hands under his armpits, hoisting him up. He was heavy, a sack of decaying meat. His back hit the steel table with a dull thud. I can’t believe he walked on Rain in the shower. No wonder why Shelby took his rage out on Don. Justifiable. I probably wouldn’t have been that forgiving if it had been my mate, caught in a vulnerable state.

“Grrr, Grrr,”

Don’s  head lolled to the side, gaze fixed on the buzzing light above.

“I know,” Doc said, a strange, almost affectionate tone. “I think She is nice too.”

So, Shelby got a little jealous, this is a new side of him, He pumped his anger out on Dons decaying flesh. Interesting.

“Grr, Grr” 

I chuckled, “After you walked in on her in the shower- She still gave you a treat?, what did she give you?” I was genuinely curious On why Don was so excited. 

“Grr, Grr, Grrr, Grr.”

“She gave you your favorite rat?, you Lucky dog,” I chuckled. 

“Grr, Grr, Grr”

I tried to mask his irritation with dark humor. “He really nailed you to the spot, huh?” I ventured.

 The ghoul managed a slight nod.

I selected a pair of heavy-duty locking pliers from the rack. The sound of my tools clicking into readiness was a calming ritual.

“Grr, Grr.” 

“Don't let Shelby hear you say that how pretty you think Rains body is naked -  he might do something worse than the nails next time”

“Grr, Grr”

I stopped, looked at Don, My fingers gripping his face “repeat what you just said” 

“Grr, Grr”

“Bruises and fingerprints? are you sure that is what you saw on her body?”

Don nodded.

“Did you tell Shelby what you saw?”

Don shook his head. 

“Good” I said patting his shoulder “I want to confront him, if he’s hurting her, I’ll put a stop to it, I promise.” Fuck, I hope Shelby isn’t putting his hands on his little baking assistant.

“Grr, Grr”

I chuckled, the little joke Don told broke my swirling thoughts. “This is going to hurt buddy,” I said, my voice flat.

The first nail was buried deep. I clamped the serrated jaws of the pliers around its head, just above the torn skin and bruised flesh. Don’s body went rigid.  I leaned my weight into it, twisting slightly to break the suction of clotted blood. There was a terrible, wet pop followed by the screech of metal pulling free from bone. The nail came out, dripping. I dropped it into a metal basin with a sharp clang.

“Grr, Grr, Grr”

I laughed while patting Dons shoulder “Yeah,I agree too, he can be a dick”

Don blinked his eyes, In agreement. 

I moved to the next nail.

“So, we need to have a little talk about something” I said pulling the nail out. 

“Grr, Grr, Grr” 

“No your not in trouble, it’s just that we have a permanent guest arriving in a little while”

Next nail.

“Grr”

“Her name is Emma, and she’s my blood paramour”

“Grr”

“Awe. Thank you, buddy, so here’s the deal, while she’s here, I need you to hide, you can go anywhere In the sanctuary, except where she’s at”

“Grr, Grr, Grr”

“What?, I’m not ashamed of you, I need time to figure out how to introduce you guys” Each extraction was a brutal little surgery. Don spasmed, his hands scrabbling at the slick table. His agonized sounds filled the sterile room, a raw soundtrack to my work. Blood, darker and thicker than human blood, welled up in the neat holes, pooling in the hollows of his collarbone and ribs

“Grr, Grr, Grr.”

“Now your blackmailing me for extra rats?”

Don nodded.

“Fine” When the last nail was out, I tossed the pliers aside. The basin held nine bloody spikes. The scrap of paper, now released, laid crumpled and stained on him. I carefully peeled the blood-stained note from his chest, the paper clinging to his skin as if it were a part of him. It came away with a wet, sucking sound, taking tiny shreds of necrotic tissue with it. The message was brutally simple: “DROP DEAD.”