Lethal Beauty Page 2

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  It was nurse Betty’s first day as part of the emergency staff at Georgetown University Hospital. Unfortunately, today the hospital was kept busy as patients kept flowing inside the doors. Ambulance rushed away only to race back with more cases of sick patients. She had to act on her own, as chaos overwhelmed the entire hospital.

  With the waiting room full and all rooms occupied, the nurses had to attend on an as needed basis, in whatever space was available. As the nurses were kept busy, they could only speculate why there so many injured people. With so many agonized groans and blood, they only hoped this wasn’t from war.

  The first patient she tended to had a bleeding nose and was complaining about cramps and painful gas. It wasn’t long before she realized that the chair the patient vacated had blood on it, as did the patient’s bottom. Looking around, Betty realized dozens of chairs had blood on them and people were slipping on the wet floors. Before she could complete her initial exam, blood started to ooze from her patient’s eyelids and nose. Shortly thereafter, the patient died in her arms.

  She watched as an emergency room Doctor rushed a patient from the waiting room and into an operating room. The Doctor performed several incisions, while the patient was still alive. He was horrified at his findings.

  Hospitals around the world filled with patients, most of them women. Police and detectives sealed off the already packed hospitals and confined people to their homes. As news stations reported the phenomenon, miles away the scientist smiled and raised his glass.

  Nurse Betty tried to help as many people as she could. She handed out aspirin until all the bottles were empty. Sniffling, she wiped her nose several times. Wiping her nose a fourth time, she noticed blood. It was officially announced that there was an outbreak – of what was still to be determined.

  Detective Grimes interviewed a lot of the patients and the nurses. He stayed with one patient upon her arrival until her death and noted the symptoms. Death came only an hour later, after gruesome pain and suffering. He soon heard about the Doctor that commenced an unethical surgery and raced to find him.

  Doctor Ronolsky could only stare at the now stiff body. Her bulging, red eyes stared up at the ceiling, with her lungs spread wide open. When he detected movement behind him, he jolted, but didn’t move avert his eyes away from the surgical bed. His raspy voice said, “Look inside her.”

   Detective Grimes slowly walked toward the corpse. His skin prickled from either the coldness of the stainless steel and crisp white room or from death, from which he couldn’t tell. Stainless vises held her lungs open and captive. He had never looked inside a body before but he knew what he saw wasn’t normal.

  Black fluid filled the cavity of the body. White bone structure of ribs was all that maintained shape and form. Gasping, he leaped away from the body.             

  “Watch,” Doctor Ronolsky said as he took a pin and poked into one of her eyeballs. It instantly popped and blood poured down the side of her face. Feeling nauseous, they both flinched and looked away.

  Detective Grimes took the Doctor’s shoulder and nudged him outside the room, closing the door behind them. Still fighting nausea, the Doctor proclaimed, “Her organs just melted.”

  The President of the United States silently walked into his bedroom to kiss his wife good night. Feeling moisture on his lips, he wiped it off with the back of his hand. Closing the door, he retreated to his office, sipped brandy, and watched the news. Just learning of recent events, a Detective Grimes was rushed into his office. He noticed the blood on the President’s hand.

  Detective Grimes and his team questioned everyone and everything. The President had emergency meetings with the other countries. The United States was the first country targeted, as most of its women were already dead.

  One common ingredient was found in every case already examined: Kommotion lotion. Distributors shared their packing slips and invoices with the detectives. UPS was able to provide information, as well.

  Less than two days later, they surrounded the now vacant house. Samples were taken from the dead patch of grass on the side of the house. They broke windows and threw in tear gas bombs. The masked raiders invaded the home, only to find it clean and organized. Only a few items of furniture occupied each room. The entire house was inspected for fingerprints or other incriminating evidence.

  Coming out empty and just as clueless, they visited the neighbors and nearby restaurants. Left with an impression of a normal and attractive male, they advertised a sketch of their criminal and the mastermind behind the monstrous attack on their women. It is later discovered that Kommotion lotion was a lotion that could be found in any drug store; it contained a poison that when absorbed in the body, with even a small dosage, destroyed and decayed living organisms.

  A year later, Mexican authorities contacted the U.S. government. The large criminal who has destructed nations single handedly, robbing them of their wives, sisters, and mothers, pathetically sat within a caged cell. No luxury of furniture existed. There was no sink or toilet. Instead, a hole in the dirt floor revealed a pool of urine and fresh excrement.

  Immediately repulsed by the stale smell, visitors plugged their noses as they gazed at the wiry man. So much pain and hate consumed Detective Grimes that he badly wanted to take the extra energy, turn into Superman, and plummet the man to death. He swore his eyes turned fire red.

  Legal battles ensued on what country would have the pleasure of punishing the man who called himself Jackson. Found fishing off a beach into the Gulf of Mexico, he did not have any legal papers on him and was instantly taken into custody. Months passed before they connected the drawn sketch with him.

  Jackson, who sat slumped against the cement wall, was nearly beaten to death with a bag of oranges. His organs were badly bruised but his injuries were non-life threatening. He found it difficult to breathe and held his arms across his ribcage.

  The Mexican authorities wanted to be ultimately responsible for his death. So masses of people came from afar to watch the public execution. It was even to be filmed live on television and translated in all major languages.

  On his execution day, Jackson stared deep within the camera lens, with sparkling eyes and a wide smile. The impact of his greater purpose was even larger than he could have ever expected. The five years he committed to distributing his lotion around the world paid off.

  Letting off the brake, the truck slowly pulled forward. Chains tightened and pulled at every molar in Jackson’s mouth. The teeth were slowly pulled and extracted from his mouth. He fought the pain and tears as they threatened to humiliate him. The crowd cheered as blood poured down his chin. The next action was the last: chains pulled all of his skin off and he was left to die from infection, exposed red flesh, basking in the dirt and hot sun.