The particulars of my procurement of that grim final ingredient need not be discussed, it is sufficient to say that my acquisition was accomplished without incident, and likewise, so pleased was I with the swiftness and ease of the task, that I proceeded to replicate the operation, and by the end of the week was in possession of no less than three human tongues.

For the peace and privacy of the bereaved, I will not now, or ever, devolve the identities of the deceased whom I selected for my unutterable operation. Let them rest peacefully in their graves forevermore, and may they forgive me for my transgression against them.

Nonetheless, having finally acquired the last of my ingredients, I set up a small laboratory in the room adjacent to my study, and, having furnished it with suitable paraphernalia, began my dread work.

A proverbial witch’s brew was made, consisting of both chemical and herbal extracts, in precisely measured weight and potency. The severed tongues were to be soaked in the resulting concoction for several days until rendered swollen, soft and properly ‘pickled.”

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I lived in fear for more than a week as my reagents went about their grim work, and I accepted no visitors, lest some errant hand or eye discover the unmistakably human organs stewing in their vats, and alert the authorities to my crimes.

But the time passed without incident and on a mid-April evening, the tongues were properly prepared and ready for their final processing. They were removed from the brine solution, thoroughly dried until taking on the texture of dried jerky, and then, with a few more extracts, and the use of a mortar and pestle – reduced to a fine powder.

The resulting powder was the sought material – a sickly orange powder which was to be added to hot water, steeped, and drank as a form of tea. It was through this drinking, and a recitation of a few scant lines of evil verse, that the dark “tongue of the dead,” would be invoked, and the ritual completed.

It was late one night, well past midnight, when I accomplished that last macabre step, and had before me, in separate packages, three teas of the tongue of the dead. With the weight of the past week weighing heavily upon my weary shoulders, I thought to rest before taking the final hideous leap in testing my concoction.

I set to retire for the night – when I heard a bang at my door.