Face Behind the Mask

by Leo King

Time: 4:00 p.m.

  Location: Evergreen Sanatorium

  Treatment Room

  “Sam, I think it’s safe to say zat we’re disappointed it has come to this.”

  Secured to a chair while Dr. Klein paced before her, Sam only glared with defiance. Even when Dick and Dock took turns beating her for over an hour, she never took her recently healed eyes off him. “I mean, your eyes grew back, Sam. That is an impossible miracle! Und yet they are still dilated! After all my treatments, you still will not give up und return little Samantha to us.”

  He snapped his fingers, and Dick pulled back her head so he could lean in close. His rancid breath splashed over her face. “Do you know what I think? I think zat Samantha is gone. I think you murdered her.”

  She felt nothing but pity, having seen through the façade of his convictions. With his arrogance stripped away, all that was left was a pathetic little man who had spent his life as the Knight Priory’s puppet and then Vincent’s puppet.

  “Have you nothing to say for yourself, Sam?”

  She spat on him. “You’re trash.”

  He wiped away the spittle and then slapped her across the face. “Und you are a shade Samantha created. Und tonight, I will carve you out of her soul.”

  Then he tapped her forehead. “Right here. Let’s see you recover from that.”

  Like a wolf baring its fangs, she gnashed her teeth. “Just remember. I am going to kill you.”

  “Of course you will. Take her out of here und prep her for surgery.”

  She was taken to a large shower. There, she was hosed down, her head was freshly shaved, and she was put into a surgical gown.

  As he changed her clothes, Dick said, “You know, we’ve never raped this bitch. Should we do it now?”

  Dock injected a dose of the sedative. “Nah, wait until after the operation. Then you can fuck her all you want.”

  Rolling her head back, she said, “You boys realize I’m going to kill you as well, right?”

  Dick laughed. “Did you hear something?”

  He and Dock started dragging her back to her cell.

  “Nope. Nothing. The dead don’t talk.”

  Once on her cot, Sam lay there for a long while, reflecting on her fate. She wasn’t sure if she could heal from such an injury. Finally, she tapped her shackles on the wall. “Kyle. Are you there?”

  Silence.

  She cleared her throat. “Kyle!”

  Aucoin sputtered. The springs of his cot creaked. “Yeah? Sam, what’s going on?”

  “I just wanted to say thank you for everything. After tonight, I may never be able to speak to you again.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, sounding concerned.

  “They’re going to lobotomize me.”

  The cot creaked more loudly. “What? Are you serious? Why?”

  “They’ve given up on me.”

  “Jesus. Sam, I am so sorry.”

  Now it was her turn to be silent.

  After a few seconds, he said, “If it makes you feel any better, none of us ever gave up on you.”

  “What do you mean?” Sam pressed her head against the cool stone, knowing it could be the last time she felt such a sensation.

  “Myself, Dixie, Gino. Hell, even Ouellette, in his own way. We all believed you would come out of this thing.”

  Hearing that made anger well up inside of her. She hit her shackles against the wall. “The hell they did. Ouellette’s hated me for years, and Dixie betrayed me!”

  The cot creaked again. “What do you mean, Dixie betrayed you?”

  “Back at Tulane,” she said. “She knew I was going to be committed, and she said nothing. And after all the bullshit about her being my friend.”

  Aucoin sounded disgusted. “Seriously? You really think that? Sam, did it ever occur to you that she was told not to say anything?”

  It wasn’t something she had considered. After mulling it over for a bit, she asked, “OK, so what do you mean?”

  “The mayor’s office put a gag on her. Sam, the entire administration has wanted you out of the way for years.”

  That was news to her. “Why?”

  “Haven’t you figured it out? It’s the Knight Priory. They’re the ones that run the city.”

  Suddenly, many things made sense. From the forced solitude and persecution during the new Ripper case to the years of surveillance, it was all because of the Knight Priory. They wanted to control her and the Castille name, just as they controlled the city. Dr. Klein’s involvement was just so her commitment would look legit. “They’re the ones who wanted me committed.”

  “Yes. They want your power. They want your wealth. They want your influence as the last Castille in New Orleans. And they used the mayor’s office to stop people like Dixie from warning you.”

  She thought on that. Dixie didn’t betray me. They threatened her. It’s been the goddamn Knight Priory all along.

  “The guilt has been tearing Dixie up. She cares about you.”

  Sam rubbed her face. This was almost too much to deal with. “And Ouellette?”

  Aucoin sighed. “I don’t know. He’s definitely against them. But sometimes I wonder if he’s with people like Dr. Lazarus or if he’s with someone else.”

  “Well, that will have to do,” she said. Then she touched the wall. “Kyle. Thanks for telling me about Dixie.”

  “No problem. You want to talk about anything else?”

  She shook her head. “No. I want to rest. I need to prepare myself for what’s coming.”

  “All right, just remember one thing.”

  “What?”

  “You’re a fighter. You proved it at the wharf. You proved it in your townhome. No matter what happens, never stop fighting.”

  With effort, she said, “All right. Thanks, Kyle. Goodbye.”

  “No, not goodbye. See you soon.”

  She said nothing else, eventually falling asleep.

  In the darkness, Sam felt cool arms slide around her body. Then she felt a kiss on her ear. She blushed, knowing who it was. “Richie.”

  “Hey, beautiful.” His voice was weak, even for a ghost’s.

  She felt tears coming on. “What’s wrong, baby?”

  He stroked her hair. “Running from Vincent has exhausted us. We split up months ago, and I’ve only heard rumors of what the others have been up to. Rodger helped Dixie and Kyle get to you, but he nearly spent all his energy. To avoid dispersing into nothingness, he had to settle down in one location for a while.”

  “And Michael?” She nuzzled back against him.

  “He took the brunt of Vincent’s wrath. Last I saw him, he was hobbling off. Said something about his sister.”

  Things seemed rather grim. “And you?”

  “I’m looking for our children.” He kissed her ear again. “Someone has them, and I’m going to find out who.”

  She held him tight, pulling his arms around her like a blanket. “When you find them, stay with them. Please. Let them know that their father is there and that their mother loves them.”

  “I will. And Sam?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I will always love you. No matter what, I swear I’ll be there when you’re finally able to die.”

  “Oh, Richie, I—”

  The sound of loud, metallic clanking woke her up. Before the door to her cell flew open, Richie was already gone.

  “Wake up, bitch!” Dick exclaimed. “Time to choppy-choppy your brainy!” He and Dock picked her up and carried her down the hallway. She took in every detail down to the moisture damage on the floor, since it could be her last time.

  As they reached the operating room, the Middle Eastern technician stepped out.

  Dick stopped. “Hey, new guy.”

  “I have a name, you know, sir. It’s—”

  “Whatever. Did you get the drip set up?”

  The technician just smiled and bowed his head respectfully. “Yes, sir. Everything is in place. Just how the doctor ordered.”

/>   As he said “just how the doctor ordered,” he stared right into Sam’s eyes. Dick grunted and waved him off.

  She wrinkled her brow as she was carried into the operating room, wondering what the technician had meant by that.

  It took them several minutes to secure Sam to the operating table and put the IV in her arm. Then Dick shined a bright light on her as Dock placed instruments that looked like long ice picks in a disinfectant solution. Cold air hit her from all around.

  “Is the sedative dripping and the anesthetic ready?” Dock asked as he attached the heart-rate monitor pads to her.

  Dick tapped the IV bag. “The new guy set it up perfectly. The sedative is in the IV, and the anesthetic is over here. See?” He held up a bottle filled with whitish liquid.

  “Good.”

  Sam glanced between them both. She was awake and alert. Usually, she’d be getting drowsy by now.

  Half an hour passed before Dr. Klein entered in surgical scrubs. “Is ze patient ready?”

  Dock nodded.

  “Good, good. Well, Sam, this is ze last time we will speak. I am going to perform a transorbital lobotomy on you.” He held up one of the instruments and said, “This will enter into your brain from the eye. Then I will sever the nerves leading to the frontal lobe. When it is done, there will be no more you, Sam.”

  He put it down. “You’ll be under anesthetic, of course.”

  “How thoughtful,” she said. Her heart wasn’t pounding. In fact, she had never felt calmer. With every passing minute, he senses were becoming more acute. The fog that had been clouding her for months was breaking apart. Whatever was in the IV, it wasn’t the usual stuff.

  “Do you have any last words for me, Sam?”

  She hummed and then said, “Yeah. Remember how I promised to kill you?”

  He seemed bored. “Yes. How predictable.”

  “I just want to clarify what I meant.”

  At that, he arched an eyebrow.

  Licking her lips, she said, “I’m going to rip out your heart and show you how black it is right before you die.”

  All he did was harrumph. “Such a waste for final words. Farewell, Sam of Spades.”

  He nodded at Dick, who injected the white solution into the IV. Seconds passed as it slid through the tube and into her bloodstream.

  Nothing happened.

  OK, I should be asleep by now. Did that technician do something to—

  Then Sam felt a tremendous surge of energy, like someone had kickstarted her adrenaline production and then thrown it into overdrive.

  That technician had to have removed the sedative from the IV and replaced the anesthetic with something else She didn’t know what it was, but she felt great.

  She closed her eyes and tightened her fists. Her veins bulged and her muscles coiled. The heat of raw energy rippled through her. It was the same powerful feeling she’d gotten when she had obliterated those loa in her townhome.

  That’s why the technician had looked at her when he’d said “the doctor.” He wasn’t referring to Dr. Klein. That could only mean one thing.

  Her lips parted in a wide grin.

  That technician works for Dr. Lazarus!

  At that moment, the lights went out, and a second later, red emergency lights came on. A siren blared in the background, and a voice over the PA system said, “Patient and test-subject release has been activated. Warning: both the patient and test-subject release has been activated. All security personnel, initiate lockdown sequence.”

  “What is going on here?” Dr. Klein demanded, his face turning red.

  Sam tugged at her shackles, feeling them pop under her newly restored strength. With this energizing mixture coursing through her veins, she felt even more powerful than when she had punched Herpin’s jaw off. Her strength was increasing with every breath.

  Let’s dance.

  With a guttural cry, she tore through the shackles and ripped the IV out of her arm. As all three men turned toward her, she felt the world around her slow down. Once more, every sound was enhanced and every visual detail was sharp. As she ripped the shackles off her legs, she once more felt like a god.

  Dr. Klein backed up, his expression one of growing horror.

  She felt Dick’s fingers brush her head in an attempt to grapple. It was as if an insect were crawling on her. Grabbing the two lobotomy instruments, she drove one of them up through his chin and into his skull. The impact pushed him into the ceiling. Then she turned and saw Dock, his eyes wide with shock, as he reached for his tranquilizer. She threw the other one with exact precision, embedding it through his right eye. He flew back and collapsed, dead.

  As Sam jumped off the table and rushed at Dr. Klein, time returned to normal. Before he could blink, she had him pressed against the far wall of the operating room with her forearm. He was trembling.

  “My, my, what a pretty pickle we’re in, eh, Dr. Klein?” she asked.

  His lips began to dry as he stammered, “Please. Don’t kill me.”

  She tsk’d several times. “Don’t kill you? After everything you’ve done to me? Really, now?”

  He struggled against her. He might as well have been a gnat.

  Lifting him up until his feet were dangling off the floor, she asked, “Where are my babies, asshole?”

  “I told you. The Knight Priory has them.” His face started to darken as he struggled to breathe.

  She tilted her head to the side. “Where? I want answers, you insolent prick.”

  “I don’t know… I swear… They don’t tell me… anything…” His face deepened in color.

  Sam gazed into his eyes. She saw shock, confusion, and even fear. Everything she wanted to see in him. But she didn’t see deceit. She lowered him to the ground, keeping him pinned. “You’re completely useless.”

  As the deep color left his face, Dr. Klein said, “Yes, I am very useless. I am just a pitiful old man. Please let me go, Sam. Please, I beg you.”

  Watching him beg for his life, she felt nothing but a deep disgust. It was hard to believe he had once held her in such a grip of terror. “You know, you really are a pathetic loser. You never cared about helping me. I was just another experiment, no different from vermin. And you couldn’t even get that right. No wonder the Knight Priory rejected you.”

  “Yes, that’s me,” he said with a titter. “I am just as pathetic as you say. I am a worthless man who disappoints everyone. I am—”

  “Not to mention all the other patients you ‘helped.’ Meghan. Miss LeBeouf. What you did to them was unforgiveable.”

  Before he could say another word, she thrust her hand through his sternum. It split like a twig. His eyes widened from the shock, his body started to shake, and he began to spit up blood. Reaching around in his gooey chest cavity, she felt what she was searching for, a small muscle pulsing with a rapid, terrified beat. Blood spilled over her wrist.

  With a yell, Sam pulled out Dr. Klein’s heart.

  Holding it up to his face, she said, “So let’s make sure that you never help another person ever again!”

  His eyes transfixed on it even as they started glazing over.

  She squeezed, squishing the heart into pulp. Blood squirted over both of them.

  “Farewell, Dr. Klein.”

  She waited until his eyes went dark before dropping him, allowing herself only a moment to relish her revenge. Then she shook the blood off her hand. It was time to find the others and escape.

  As the sirens continued going off, she knelt down and rummaged through his coat. A moment later, she found a small pen case. Opening it, she once again came face-to-face with a source of untold misery and pain in her life.

  The silver pen. She finally had it again.

  As soon as her fingers touched it, she felt the oppressive, evil presence of her father. A moment later, she heard Vincent say, “Hello, Sam.”

  Just hearing his voice made her jaw tighten. “Hello, Vincent. So, you’re strong enough to take control of others now?”


  He sniggered. “You cannot imagine how powerful I am becoming. With every death caused by my loa, I grow even stronger. And please, call me ‘Father,’ my little Princess.”

  She stood up. “I’m no longer your Princess.”

  “My mistake, Sam. I am the king, and you are now my queen. I would say ‘isn’t it wonderful,’ but you tend to lose your shit whenever I do.”

  “I’m not your queen, your princess, or your daughter, you son-of-a-bitch.”

  “Semantics, Sam. But we can argue those later. For now, please be careful. I’d hate for you to die in such a place.”

  Sam closed the container. Her hands were shaking. Oh, dear God, how I hate him.

  She rushed out of the operating room, down the hallway, and toward the cell blocks. Along the way, she heard dozens of shouting voices along with gunfire. It sounded like they were shooting patients. But what she saw was far more disturbing.

  Dozens of nude patients with frothing mouths were rushing at armed guards. Their pupils were fully dilated, and each one had a large number tattooed on their back. Some of the guards pulled off a few shots, dropping one or two, but they were soon overcome by the mobs and dragged to the ground in a squealing pile of teeth and claws.

  Sam could feel evil spirits within each of the feral patients. They had to be the test subjects. What was done to them?

  But then, Aucoin’s voice, shouting in fear, seized her attention. She rushed down another few hallways, moving far faster than normal, and found him near the cell blocks. He had taken a gun off a dead guard and was waving it at several advancing test subjects, howling at them to get back. Behind him were a few normal, terrified patients, including an emaciated girl Sam immediately recognized as Meghan.

  “Kyle! Meghan!”

  Then the test subjects swarmed them.

  “No! Damn it, no!” Sam activated her power. The world around her slowed down to a crawl. Dashing forward, she burst into the group of test subjects like a bowling ball, throwing a punch at one of their heads. That one’s head cracked open like a watermelon, while the others flew in different directions. Viscera coated her to her shoulder. Aucoin fell back, crashing into Meghan and the others.

  The test subjects then got back up, screeched at her, and attacked again. She scanned them as they approached. These were human beings, not loa. She wasn’t a murderer, but they were giving her no choice.