Drying his face on a thick Egyptian cotton towel, he also dried his chest and hung the towel back up. He had fallen asleep in the shrine room last night, and forgot to take the paint off when he returned home.

He was hungry and needed to go get something to eat. There should be some celery or raw organic carrots in the fridge. He went into his kitchen and opened the door to the refrigerator. He found the celery and pulled it out. Rinsing it off in the sink, he carefully cut off the ends and began to eat. He closed his eyes and focused on eating. He felt each muscle in his jaw as it contracted and relaxed as he chewed on the celery stalk. His paid close attention as his salivary glands produced the digestive juices that started the digestion process.

Avery paid close attention to every detail of his body. He ate only healthy foods, usually organic. Nothing processed ever crossed his lips. He was even mostly vegan, no dairy products. On rare occasions that he found himself craving eggs, he made sure he got only organic eggs from free range chickens.

When he was finished eating the celery, he went into the gym room. He lifted weights and exercised like a madman, until his body was covered with a fine sheen of sweat. He ran a hand across his chest, feeling the beginnings of stubble. That would not do. He stripped his clothes of there in the weight room and walked to the shower.

After turning on the water, he climbed in and proceeded to shave every inch of his body except for his eyebrows. He would look odd and out of place without eyebrows. There were many men that shaved their heads; it was currently a popular look. Heads could be covered with hats as well. But people tended to remember shaved eyebrows. He had done that just once, and after seeing how people reacted to him with their stares and sidelong glances, he realized that was not what he wanted. He did not want to be noticeable, especially with his hobby.

With his body completely smooth and slick, he stepped out of the shower. He dried off and folding it neatly, hung the towel on the towel rack. The reflection in the mirror showed his back, it was elaborately tattooed. One side was the entire skeletal system; on the left side was all the bones from the neck to the pelvis. On the right side was the muscular system, all the tendons and ligaments of the neck, shoulder and back down to his hip. The tattoo was colored in on the muscle side, shades of red and white. It looked like an anatomy picture, only full sized.

Avery turned and faced the mirror. He looked his body over and flexed the muscles in order from the top of his head slowly to the ankles and feet, lingering at his pectoral and abdominal muscles. He completed his observation of his entire body. Her turned to the door and walked out into the hall.

He walked to the entrance to the basement. He stepped carefully down the steps, slowly and methodically. The back half of the basement was curtained off from the rest of the room. On this side, there was only a futon bed in the center, made up neatly with sheets and a blanket. Passing through the drapes, he entered his shrine.

A low altar stood along the back wall. Avery had put thick rugs and tapestries up on the walls, in dark reds and browns. The floor on this part of the basement was carpeted with large cushions and pillows scattered around. The altar was covered with candles, tapers and pillars. On the wall above it were pictures. Pictures of nude women in sexual positions, about half of them were tied up, bondage pictures. Avery lit the candles, all of them. In the center of the altar, were dark pieces of something that looked like skin.

There was also a knife on it, placed specifically in front of the dark bits. He picked up the knife, looking down at his left side near the top of his leg. There were several scars there as well as some wounds that were still healing and scabbed over. There were similar marks on his right side. He held the knife to the skin below the mark on the left and pressed down. The blood welled up as he cut through the layers. Drawing the knife back across, he left a deep cut mark. He didn't even wince, just watched passively as if it were someone else.

He picked up a small piece of material and held it to the cut. It absorbed the blood quickly and he set it next to the other pieces on the altar. The right side was for the women he had had pleasure with; the left was for the ones that angered him, the ones that he had to take care of. Donna Owen had pleased him, no fighting or scratching. Lola had fought him, as did Roxy.

There were other women who had fought him; he didn't remember their names. He took pictures sometimes, of the ones that had pleased him. He looked up at the wall above the altar at some of them were pictures he had taken. He had forgotten his camera this last time; he was very upset with himself.

Avery meditated for an hour. He focused on the candle flame and repeated his prayers. When he was finished, he extinguished all the candles and bowed before he left the room.