Read Online Grimm: The Chopping Block by John Passarella - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: John Passarella
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before the blow came down on the back of his head. With a groan he collapsed, managing to roll onto his back but unable to control his arms or legs. He watched helplessly, his vision shifting in and out of focus, as the butcher fitted a hook attached to the crossbar through a link in his ankle chains.
Time seemed to stutter, jumping ahead in irregular intervals, with moments of lucidity interspersed between fear and confusion. Gino’s bare feet rose in front of him, followed by his legs, dragging him closer to the center of the killing room.
In one dizzying moment, he turned his head and spotted the butcher now standing in the corner, effortlessly turning the winch’s crank, lifting Gino into the air inch by inch, his weight dangling by his raw ankles. Finally, his head cleared the floor. Upside down, he tried to thrash, to pull himself free of the hook, but his weakness and the weight of his body betrayed him.
“No! Stop! You son of a bitch!” Gino yelled. “Stop it now!”
He rose higher still, until his hands waved inches above the floor.
“Please! You can stop this before it’s too late!”
Again, the butcher reached for Gino’s hair to expose his throat.
Gino batted at the man’s hands, whipping his chains defensively at the butcher’s face. His whole body swayed beneath the crossbar. Incredibly, the butcher backed away and walked out of his line of sight.
Gino sucked in great gasps of air, trembling with this apparent reprieve.
“Good! You can stop this,” he said. He twisted his body, trying to see where his captor had gone. The sap worried him. “I won’t tell. I can’t. I haven’t seen your face.”
Chains rattled behind him, yanking his arms up and behind his back, pulling his shoulders painfully. A moment later a lock snapped and his wrists were pulled tight against the small of his back, effectively hogtieing him upside down. The butcher came around to face him again, black eyeholes offering no human connection at all, nothing he could appeal to for mercy.
“What will happen to me?” he asked. “Will they—the people upstairs—eat—?”
“In time, piggy,” the butcher said. “After I bleed you, gut you and put you in the cooler to dry-age, your time will come. Tonight, they want the French girl.”
Cherise!
“No,” he said, pitifully. “Don’t. Not her.”
He’d thought at least he’d saved the girl, given her a chance. But he’d only given her false hope, a few hours before the end.
His own hope gone, only morbid curiosity remained. “Why?” he asked.
The butcher pulled a thin knife from his leather belt and placed the sharp tip against Gino’s throat, under his right ear.
“Time to show my face, piggy.”
With that, the butcher pulled the cloth hood from his head with his free hand. As his face appeared, something strange happened. His features shifted, bones rippling and reforming beneath the flesh into a shape completely inhuman. Gino had been right all along. The butcher of men
was
a demon.
Gino couldn’t stop himself. He screamed at the top of his lungs.
The butcher waited, enjoying the moment to its fullest, and then he sliced Gino’s throat open from ear to ear.
CHAPTER NINE
As she had an early morning appointment with a potential rental client scheduled for the next day, Sheila Jenkins decided to leave Kim’s bachelorette party at
La Porte Bleue
earlier than the rest of the ladies. Truth be told, in the short amount of time she’d been in the private party room they’d hired for the occasion, she’d had her fill of fondue and wine. She couldn’t recall if her headache had been simmering earlier in the day or if the revelry had triggered it, but she was no longer having fun. She felt guilty for cutting out early, but if she stayed, she feared she’d become a wet blanket on the festivities. Besides, she barely knew the other women—all close friends of the bride-to-be—with the exception of Kim’s older sister, Lisa.
They had graduated
Time seemed to stutter, jumping ahead in irregular intervals, with moments of lucidity interspersed between fear and confusion. Gino’s bare feet rose in front of him, followed by his legs, dragging him closer to the center of the killing room.
In one dizzying moment, he turned his head and spotted the butcher now standing in the corner, effortlessly turning the winch’s crank, lifting Gino into the air inch by inch, his weight dangling by his raw ankles. Finally, his head cleared the floor. Upside down, he tried to thrash, to pull himself free of the hook, but his weakness and the weight of his body betrayed him.
“No! Stop! You son of a bitch!” Gino yelled. “Stop it now!”
He rose higher still, until his hands waved inches above the floor.
“Please! You can stop this before it’s too late!”
Again, the butcher reached for Gino’s hair to expose his throat.
Gino batted at the man’s hands, whipping his chains defensively at the butcher’s face. His whole body swayed beneath the crossbar. Incredibly, the butcher backed away and walked out of his line of sight.
Gino sucked in great gasps of air, trembling with this apparent reprieve.
“Good! You can stop this,” he said. He twisted his body, trying to see where his captor had gone. The sap worried him. “I won’t tell. I can’t. I haven’t seen your face.”
Chains rattled behind him, yanking his arms up and behind his back, pulling his shoulders painfully. A moment later a lock snapped and his wrists were pulled tight against the small of his back, effectively hogtieing him upside down. The butcher came around to face him again, black eyeholes offering no human connection at all, nothing he could appeal to for mercy.
“What will happen to me?” he asked. “Will they—the people upstairs—eat—?”
“In time, piggy,” the butcher said. “After I bleed you, gut you and put you in the cooler to dry-age, your time will come. Tonight, they want the French girl.”
Cherise!
“No,” he said, pitifully. “Don’t. Not her.”
He’d thought at least he’d saved the girl, given her a chance. But he’d only given her false hope, a few hours before the end.
His own hope gone, only morbid curiosity remained. “Why?” he asked.
The butcher pulled a thin knife from his leather belt and placed the sharp tip against Gino’s throat, under his right ear.
“Time to show my face, piggy.”
With that, the butcher pulled the cloth hood from his head with his free hand. As his face appeared, something strange happened. His features shifted, bones rippling and reforming beneath the flesh into a shape completely inhuman. Gino had been right all along. The butcher of men
was
a demon.
Gino couldn’t stop himself. He screamed at the top of his lungs.
The butcher waited, enjoying the moment to its fullest, and then he sliced Gino’s throat open from ear to ear.
CHAPTER NINE
As she had an early morning appointment with a potential rental client scheduled for the next day, Sheila Jenkins decided to leave Kim’s bachelorette party at
La Porte Bleue
earlier than the rest of the ladies. Truth be told, in the short amount of time she’d been in the private party room they’d hired for the occasion, she’d had her fill of fondue and wine. She couldn’t recall if her headache had been simmering earlier in the day or if the revelry had triggered it, but she was no longer having fun. She felt guilty for cutting out early, but if she stayed, she feared she’d become a wet blanket on the festivities. Besides, she barely knew the other women—all close friends of the bride-to-be—with the exception of Kim’s older sister, Lisa.
They had graduated
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