Chapter 12.

Latent Threat.

Irade had lost her voice; the Ripper's face was covered by a patchwork mask of what appeared to be skin from different people, as there were so many patched shades that it was clear it wasn't his true face...

Jared had fainted from the impact. In less than a movement from the Ripper, they had both been tied up. The man was different, or they were just very tired...

He moved from one place to another too quickly, too swiftly, something that a blink couldn't capture so easily. It was then that she caught her breath and answered: I don't know who you are or what trick you're playing, but you're impersonating someone who has been dead for many years and generations...

You're not the Renové Ripper, you're just a fan. If you surrender right now of your own free will, I'll get you five years off your sentence. It's a good deal. So, free that family and do good for the first time in your life, and take off that mask. However, the man let out a guttural laugh as he pulled out a giant square butcher knife…

He moved it between his fingers as if it were a toy, the cauldron seemed to have some liquid bubbling inside while the ripper grabbed the children and barely gave them time to speak…

The parents screamed and shook the bars of the cages, but the inevitable happened: the man dropped the knife by their ankles and chopped them up like vegetables. 

The blade was either very sharp or he had a lot of strength, since with just one movement the bones separated from the body in slices like fish…

That was it, until he chopped the head in four and both children, already chopped up, were thrown into the cauldron. The knife remained exactly on the wooden table where he had cut those children, which had dark stains that probably indicated this was more common than expected…

The parents cried, screamed, and shook the bars. The pain and suffering of not being able to help their children in their final days was something that was beyond them. 

I could have desired no one, but the officers: one was unconscious, and the other was paralyzed with fear and unable to move, given the ruthless and unnatural way in which the sadistic killer had done it…

In a matter of minutes, it was clear that habit makes perfect. It was then that the Ripper said to Iraide: Over the years, you have been a constant dying and being born; Always choosing the same job where you can't get enough of being a copy of a copy of the original...

I still remember the first version, the original, but I must admit you were embarrassing and pathetic, always running towards me and yelling at everyone: it's the ripper... it's the ripper.

 You've been saying the same old speech over and over again, no matter what family you're born into, the words are still the same. Today I brought you straight to this place. Let's just say it's my little buffet. 

But you should consider not always having the same fool as your assistant because maybe, reality isn't what it seems... ¿What are the kids in school chanting in my name? I only renewed... ¿What are they saying about you? That you're incompetent and miserable... ¿Do you notice the difference?

It was then that the woman saw him approaching her, but Jared was waking up, and when she had him face to face, she remained motionless, unable to lay a finger on him, but she managed to make out the real skin that could be half-seen through his eyes when he opened and closed them.

 It was pale, dead, cold skin, something almost as white as milk and that couldn't be makeup. Then Jared stood up with his eyes closed while she continued to stare into his eyes with such intense rage that when he took a step closer to her that she could even feel his breath on her eyes…

 Jared opened his eyes, and when he saw them face to face, he let out a scream that made the ripper open his mouth and reveal that his teeth were similar to those of a piranha, but they were as white as a sheet of paper...

And then, lifting them up by the neck, he whispered the words: wake up, open your eyes, death is watching you...