Her black hair was coiled into one long braid, twisted around her neck and waist until the tail rested on her right thigh. Golden bracelets molded into the shape of snakes adorned her upper arms, and similar anklets adorned her legs. There were elaborate tattoos on her hands and feet, though no one understood their meaning. Jewels of many sizes and colors had been melted into the skin around her breasts and vagina by intense heat, creating myriad patterns of light whenever she moved. She was a vision, a piece of art, but many of the patrons were horrified. This gallery exhibit was nothing like they�d ever seen before.
As the girl slowly turned, her raw and bleeding back came into view. It was only obscured by the thin line of her hair trailing down to slither around her waist. The whip used to make the marks was on display by the podium, the black leather still encrusted with her blood. Several of her fingers had been broken, but he wasn�t nearly done.
The opening was titled �An Exercise In Punishment.� She had disobeyed, and now she would pay for it. The crowds had been allowed in to see her punishment, which was perhaps the worst part of all. She cared nothing for these people, and the fact that he was even displaying her in public let her know how angry he was with her. His eyes had flashed fire the night before when he�d informed her of her fate.
He stepped onto the stage, a raw presence so powerful that even the most terrified wouldn�t dare to move. No one wanted to see what he was going to do to her, but they were more afraid of what would happen to them if they tried to exit. He was a maniac, that much was for sure. An amazing artist, but a maniac nonetheless.
The knife he held was long and serrated, wicked-looking. He used it to slice through the layers of her flesh between the twinings of the snake bracelets, letting the blood run down her arms in rivulets. With one smooth motion, he dislocated her shoulder. Pulling her hair so her body arched back and she thrust her breasts out at the crowd, he sneered as she resisted crying out. He would not be pleased if she did.
Holding the knife still for a moment, he let his rough hands move over her body, tugging at the jewels embedded in her skin. He pinched her nipples so roughly she thought her flesh would rip. She was spared, but only so the knife could have at her later. He bruised her hips and thighs with his massive fingers, and she cringed as he bit her shoulder hard enough to draw blood. The knife slid up the outside of her thigh, cutting into the skin as it went. Soon her leg was covered in a waterfall of blood, seeping slowly but surely towards the floor.
He pulled her arms over her head, slitting the skin from her underarms to her waist, making it fold whenever she moved her arms. He cut through the soft skin of her nipples with the knife, hearing the sounds of retching in the room as his faithful audience watched.
�Grand finale, baby. Lay down and spread those slutty legs.�
She closed her eyes and willed her soul to a different place as he used the knife to fuck her over and over again, feeling the blood seep out of her body in at least ten different places. She had loved him, and she had tried to break free. Now no one would ever see her again.
****
She�d been dead on the floor for at least an hour, but he hadn�t stopped mutilating her body until he was satisfied. Many of the people had passed out by then, but he still shot them all anyway, more times than was necessary. The gallery became a hall of blood, and he made sure to stop and snap photos before lighting the entire place on fire.
Just before he left, he knelt down beside her lifeless form and kissed the perfect lips. �Next time,� he whispered, �I�ll show you real pain.�
