Written & edited by Amnoartist
Chapter IV
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Note: Beneath Her Flesh is a dark horror-themed series with a focus on story and characterisation. Eroticism will likely play a part where appropriate for the plot's benefit and advancement or delving deeper into the characters themselves. There will be no sex just for the sake of it being there. The characters that DO partake in sexual intercourse throughout this series are all aged 23 or older The themes in this series include but are not limited to: mystery/thriller; incest/incest pregnancy; autism; murder; cannibalism & gore. With this all taken into account, go in with a relatively open-mind and enjoy :)
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Carly's car swerved to make a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding an oncoming truck. Xander could barely keep his booze in from her speeding, but they had to make it on-scene soon as they could. Another victim from the cannibal. Just what the doctor ordered. She came to a sudden screeching stop an inch away from hitting a lamppost. Her engine idled for a moment in sync with Xander's heaving breaths.
"I know we were supposed to be here already, but you need to chill with the speeding, kid. We're supposed to examine crime scenes, not be one."
Xander opened the door on his side and left Carly to stew. There he was with that 'kid' comment again. She'd already confronted him about the belittling several times, but he never seemed to take heed of it. Frustrated, she glanced out her window at the crime scene. An old school that had been abandoned for years on account of the supposed threatening level of asbestos. Not just any school, though, but the one Carly attended as a child.
Groaning exasperatedly, she left her car and paced along the path between the inches-tall grass. It seemed nobody from the council had bothered to at least keep the surrounding area presentable. But then, what would have been the point? She stopped at Xander's side but didn't bother to say a word, still miffed. An awkward upward glance at him at best, nothing more. He didn't notice it, too busy waiting for the group of police officers to file out of the school so they could have the scene to themselves. Or maybe he did notice it and just didn't care.
I'm not a kid," Carly scolded Xander through gritted teeth and suppressed anger. She may have been bold enough to make that statement, but in the face of things, being a rookie and having an evident lack of experience in the field were enough to betray her self-confidence. Carly just couldn't see it.
"We'll see," Xander smirked. He admired 'the kid' for her assertiveness. But she was still a rookie. Xander glanced to his right, observing one of the officers taking the only witness's statement, a homeless man. "What we got?"
"Witness claims to have been holing up in the school for years. Found the victim in the main hall where he sleeps," the officer acknowledged.
Carly winced as another on-scene officer stumbled out of the school's door. Dropping to his knees, he let loose a flow of putrid vomit onto the grass. Not one of the best sights. Groaning, he wiped his mouth as he rose to his feet.
"Case in point," Xander retorted, gesturing to the officer's badge. A sergeant. If someone experienced as he still managed to regurgitate at what could only be the display of the crime, it only stood to reason that Carly would do the same in turn.
***
The door creaked open. Even after all those years, Carly noticed it still made the shrill sound that could cut through one's ears. Following Xander's shadow, she glanced at the old children's' drawings that reminded her of a happier time. Of a better Black Peak. That was a long time ago.
They came to a halt. Carly looked over Xander's shoulder, realizing he'd stopped dead in front of two closed double doors that led into the old hall. It was simple enough an action for him to open them, but that wasn't why he stopped. Carly knew this through his heaved breath. As if he was preparing himself for something. Xander, of all people, had to steel himself. The irony. He could see it, and even as he closed his eyes, the image was still burned into his skull. Xander knew Carly was lucky in not being able to see what he could.
He faced her. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"Well, yeah. No point in turning back now, right? I mean, we were told to come here anyway, so..."
Xander sighed. Carly was right. "I was afraid you'd say that."
The doors groaned open the same way the last one did, although at a slower pace as if to imply even they didn't want Carly to see the disgusting display ahead. She had to prepare herself, but the question was if she could ever be prepared enough.
Then she saw it, already building herself up to vomit from the initial sight, heaving breaths to fight the urge. Xander was right - she was a rookie, and although she hadn't caved as quickly as he assumed, it made Carly realize she had to wake up. All that was left was the upper torso, bloodied arms tied to a beam so the victim's bare chest was exposed, allowing their entrails to casually spill out from within. Some of them dangled freely, but most were thrown over other beams and tied around them so pressure on the corpse intensified, revealing bone popping and cutting through the skin.
Then there was the face. And that's when the problem arose. There wasn't exactly one to even look at, substituted for a skinless mangled mound of flesh with only teeth and two petrified eyeballs staring back, looking at Xander and Carly as though they were to blame for their fate.
Carly vomited, heaving a lot more than the officer did. Pulling her head up to look back at the eyes, her vision blurred for a moment before tuning back into perfect focus. Admittedly, this was one of those moments in life where she wished she couldn't see. Like Xander, the image of the corpse had burned itself into her skull.
"Where are the legs? And the face?"
"Guess is our flesh-eating perp took the legs for steak tonight. If they're not eaten already. No idea what they'd do with the face though." Xander moved in closer to the victim, taking note of the untouched mane of black curly hair and floral dress. So the victim was a female. That was something at least.
Carly looked around the scene for clues. The fact the victim was without a lower half likely laid the groundwork for her search. The homeless man's bed, a few spent needles at the side. Dried blood near the bleachers, likely the victim's. And a gurney oddly placed in the corner. But then Carly realized.
"No shoes."
Xander's brow furrowed. "What?"
"No shoes. She's wearing a dress, so that implies she was going somewhere social. A party or date. She'd probably be wearing heels to compliment the dress. But there's nothing here."
