The man slowly opened his eyes at the sound of a blood-curling scream. The woman continued screaming, until suddenly it was cut off and silence filled the air. Goosebumps rose on his arms, tied to the the chair behind him. A figure walked towards him, an evil smile on his face and at his side there was a knife with blood dripping from the blade. It was so quiet the man thought he could hear the drops as they hit the cement, but it was probably just his imagination.

"What have you done to my wife and children you psychopath?" The bound man shouted at the man now in front of him. He struggled against his bonds, as if freeing himself would save his life. Cletus ignored him and his struggles. Instead he started circling the bound man, whistling as he did so.

"Well let's just say I took care of your ol’ ball and chain and you're back on the market so live a little,” he paused to give the man a smile that chilled him to the bone, “very little" Cletus added before laughing low in his throat.

"Why? Why would you do this?" The man asked sobbing as he slumped forward a bit, his restraints holding his body in place, the fight gone out of him at the realization that his family was dead.

"Why?” Cletus asked him with another sinister smile, “Well, see that's the problem with people.” he waved his knife as he spoke, “Always with whys and trying to reason.” Cletus had been circling the man, like a bird of prey waiting for the kill, but now he stopped right in front of him.
“I was like you once, you know? Before my other came to me and the voice showed me the way this world really works. You call me a psychopath but only now am I sane.”

He used the tip of the knife under the man's chin to lift his head so he was looking into Cletus’ eyes. “Here's the thing, there is no reason, no answers just simple beautiful Carnage. That is what I am and you can't cut that away, can't burn it off, can't smother the life out of it and you damn sure can't keep it caged.”

“So here's the deal I'm gonna leave my mark on this place and I'm gonna use you and your family's blood as my ink and make a nice big warning to everyone that Carnage has arrived and he is not going anywhere." Cletus started to laugh uncontrollably, and slowly he brought the knife to the man's skin and started to flay him alive. With every strip removed, Cletus laughed harder and harder. Eventually, the man stops screaming and the only sound in the warehouse is Cletus’ insane laughter.


The Next Morning
 

Hank stood outside the warehouse with a few uniformed officers. As the car drove up he flicked his cigarette to the side and excused himself from the group. He walked to the driver’s door and waited for the other detective to get out. “Hell of a morning,” he said as he pulled his hat off his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve. “Seems like someone went on a murder spree.” he told the detective as they walked towards the door. There was a puddle of vomit nearby from where a rookie couldn’t hack it.

The detective lifted the crime scene tape and ducked under it, not waiting for Hank to follow. The first room contained the body of three children, all cut into various bits and pieces. The only way to identify their age was their torsos and the clothing. The second room had a woman tied to a bed, cuts and stab wounds on her body.

“She did not die quickly.” the detective commented, as his eyes moved over the victim. Hank shook his head and swallowed hard when he looked at the gaping holes in her face where her eyeballs used to be.

The moved onto the final room, where there was a man bound to a chair with no skin remaining on his body.  “This is where we realized we have a problem.” Hank told the detective. He ignored the body, he had already looked at it and didn’t care to do so again. So instead he drew the detective’s gaze to the far wall, where spotlights had been set up to shine on it. Not by the police, but by whatever sick bastard had done this.

The detective looked up, he had been around the block a few times, but even this was something he wasn’t expecting. “Christ,” he muttered, feeling his own pulse pick up speed.

Presumably, written in the victim's blood, the wall read, "WELCOME TO CARNAGEVILLE, USA"