by Barry Reese
Never one to shy away from danger, Samantha was out of the car in a flash. Given the fact that both Smithson and Hansome were dead, it stood to reason that Phillips might be another target.
The petite blond hurried across the street, a small handgun clutched in her right hand. Her heels clicked on the asphalt and she was glad that she’d worn slacks today. She enjoyed the feeling of femininity that came with skirts and dresses but they were difficult to fight in.
Samantha crept up the stairs towards the open door. “Mr. Phillips? Are you in there? I’m with Assistance Unlimited.”
Stepping inside, Samantha noticed no signs of a struggle. She was about to raise her voice and identify herself again when she heard the creak of the door behind her. She whirled around to see Devil Face lunging for her, blade in hand. That it was Phillips was undeniable—the build and the fact that he still wore the same clothing made that quite clear. But the mask, with its distorted demon’s features, was disconcerting.
Samantha pulled the trigger but her shot went wild, passing harmlessly over Devil Face’s shoulder. Well versed in jujitsu, Samantha was able to quickly evade a swipe of the blade but her position in the foyer didn’t allow her much room to work with and Devil Face was so large that she was immediately pressed up against the wall.
“I’m going to help you,” the killer said, speaking in a voice that was much higher-pitched than the one she had heard Phillips use earlier. “Don’t be afraid.”
If the situation hadn’t been so terrifying, Samantha would have laughed. Was he really telling her not to be afraid, even as he was stabbing wildly at her with a sharpened blade? Men were always confusing to her but killers were the worst: the natural inclination men had towards being dense were amplified by madness.
Samantha jammed her knee into the big man’s crotch and she was rewarded with a squeal of pain from him. She drew up her pistol, pressing the barrel directly against the forehead of the mask but before she could fire, a white-hot pain sliced through her midsection. She felt rapidly spreading warmth spiral out from her stomach and she didn’t have to look down to realize that the killer’s knife was deep inside her.
If I die, I’m taking you with me, she thought, pulling hard on the trigger. Devil Face’s head jerked back as the bullet struck his mask and he staggered back in shock. Samantha reached down and gripped the hilt of the knife, growing dizzy as she began to extract the blade from her stomach. She tossed the weapon down and blinked away the stars that were obscuring her vision. As she sagged to her knees, she realized that Devil Face had recovered and was standing over her. His mask had protected him from the full impact but it had split in two and the pieces now lay on the floor. Phillips was staring at her, with a tiny dot of blood between his eyes. His hands continually opened and closed and he was breathing heavily, as if he were teetering on the verge of anger or tears.
“You bitch,” he hissed. “You broke my face.”
Samantha struggled to lift her gun again but her strength was fading nearly as quickly as the blood was gushing from her midsection. She heard the sound of Devil Face’s fist rushing through the air towards her head but she never saw it. The blow slammed her skull against the wall and rushed her into blessed darkness.
Phillips watched her for a moment before bending down and almost reverently picking up the broken pieces of his mask. “You have a lot of sins that are going to be washed away,” he said, casting his gaze over Samantha’s bloody form. “Just remember: pain is the crucible that will forge the perfect you.”
* * *
The Dark Gentleman tried to maintain his composure but it was hard to, seated as he was in the headquarters of the famous Assistance Unlimited, with no less than Lazarus Gray himself facing him across the table. Morgan and Eun stood behind their employer, wearing very different expressions. Morgan looked bemused while Eun seemed to grow more annoyed by the minute. The face of Lazarus was so impassive that the Dark Gentleman had no idea what the man was thinking.
“So I’m here because I want to help. I’m not looking to join Assistance Unlimited but I thought that we could pool our resources.”
Eun barked out a laugh. “What resources do you have that we don’t?”
“Enough,” Lazarus said and Eun fell silent. “Michael, I admire your desire to help this city. It takes a special kind of man to put his life on the line for strangers. Nevertheless, it’s foolhardy to go into situations like this without proper training and know-how.”
“I’ve done the best I could,” Michael retorted. “It’s not like there’s a vigilante school where I could enroll.”
“Understandable,” Lazarus admitted. “But you’re just as likely to get yourself killed or get an innocent killed… if you’ll permit me, I’d be willing to tutor you in various skills.”
Michael couldn’t hide the pleasure he felt. “I’d be honored.”
Just then, a phone rang in the next room and Morgan went to answer it. He returned in less than a minute. “That was Davies. He says that the meeting’s broken up at Groseclose’s. But get this: Samantha’s gone, car and all. He thinks she went off after Phillips.”
Eun glanced up at the clock. “She should have reported in by now.”
All of them had overheard Melvin’s words at the meeting and understood what they meant. But the arrival of The Dark Gentleman had prevented them from going off in pursuit of Phillips for questioning.
Now, Gray was in motion and it was a terrible thing to behold. His emerald-colored eye shone like a gem while the brown one seemed to smolder. His normally impassive face was now set in grim determination and from the way his jaw continually clenched and released, it was obvious that a cauldron of emotion was now at play. He stood up and began barking orders that were impossible to ignore.
“Morgan, bring the car around. Eun, tell Max to meet us at Phillips’ house. Michael, you’re with us.”
The Dark Gentleman tried—and failed—to keep from grinning. “I’m ready.”
“We’ll see if you are,” Gray responded.
* * *
The Peregrine didn’t need to be told where to go. He was already in flight before Eun ever made it to the telephone. He borrowed Groseclose’s car without asking and burned rubber through the rain-slicked city streets. Before arriving in Sovereign, Max had heard the jokes about how often it rained here but he’d quickly learned that it wasn’t hyperbole. It was if God himself were constantly shedding tears for what had become of Sovereign.
The Peregrine tried to ignore the pounding in his head but it was strong enough to force him to grit his teeth. His vision was swimming as the world around him intermingled with possible futures. The visions of future crimes that he often saw were far more of a curse than a boon and he’d prayed numerous times to be rid of them. He was forced to pull over to the curb, knowing that he had to ride it out before he could safely continue on his way.
The vision became clearer, obliterating everything else. The Peregrine saw a dark basement, the walls stained with gore. There were barrels or canisters of some kind, filled with the blood of Devil Face’s victims. Samantha was there, her nude body dangling from the ceiling, her arms stretched above her head. Devil Face was preparing his blades but he wasn’t alone, there was another in the shadows, nearly invisible. The Peregrine, who routinely walked along the dark and narrow passage that lay between the sane world and the supernatural, felt like he recognized this figure: he knew she was female and that her stench had been a constant companion to him over the years.
With a shiver that rocked his spine, The Peregrine realized that Lady Death herself was there in that room. She was no simple manifestation of Phillips’ madness, this was the dark lady herself, the one who kissed all men at the end of their days.
Lady Death stepped into view, her body hidden by her robes. She moved forward until she dominated The Peregrine’s vision and he could see the curve of her jaw beneath her hood. She opened her mouth and spoke, her voice sounding so seductive that Max nearly
forgot what an awful thing she was: he had spent his whole life fighting to avoid her and to save others from her embrace but now, he realized how easy it would be to fall into her arms. “Max,” she whispered, “come to me. It’s time.”
A rapping on the driver’s side window of his car snapped The Peregrine out of his reverie. He turned his head to see a police officer standing there, obviously having come to check on him. When the officer saw that The Peregrine wore a mask, his eyes widened. Before anything else could happen, The Peregrine floored the accelerator and left a trail of burning rubber in his wake. There was no time to waste now: Samantha Grace was in the presence of Death herself.
CHAPTER VI
Darkness
Samantha woke up to a world of pain. The joints in her shoulders felt like they were on fire and as her mind cleared, she realized that the wrists to the ceiling of Phillips’ basement shackled her. Her clothing was gone and her nude body was covered by a fine sheen of sweat. The back of her head throbbed and her mouth felt abnormally dry and tasted tinny. She realized that she had bitten her tongue before falling unconscious and swallowed a good bit of blood.
Devil Face was about ten feet away from her, humming a song to him as he polished a series of sharp knives and bone saws. His mask had been crudely repaired with glue and even in the dim lighting, Samantha could see that it hadn’t fully dried yet - bubbles of glue glistened in the candlelight. Even as she tested the strength of her bonds, Samantha recognized the tune that Devil Face was humming: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Paul Whiteman. She suddenly realized she was never going to like that song ever again.
Devil Face heard the rattling of the chains and glanced over at her. His eyes traveled up her toned legs, past the mound of Venus between her legs, over the flat stomach and pert breasts. He caught his breath, hating the way she made him feel. It was the way of women: to tantalize men with their bodies until the spirit was made weak. He would enjoy purifying her very much. He would cut away all the pieces that teased him and then he would drain her of blood, lovingly washing every bit of her until she was as pure as the driven snow.
“I was worried you weren’t going to wake up,” Devil Face purred, moving towards her with a scalpel in his right hand. His foot brushed a bucket filled with tubing and Samantha swallowed hard, not wanting to imagine what it was for. “You’re going to be my thirteenth. That’s a sacred number.”
Samantha grimly regarded the killer, refusing to show even the tiniest bit of fear. She trusted that Lazarus and the others would find their way here—and if they didn’t, she’d just have to free herself. “Should I feel honored?”
“Yes. You should.”
“Let me go, Phillips. You’re in enough trouble as it is. Hurt me and I can’t promise that they’ll even let the police take you in. Lazarus might just skin you alive.”
“I doubt that. I’ve read all about your employer. He’s committed to bringing criminals to justice. He’d actually blame himself if anything happened to me.”
“Morgan won’t beat himself up for putting a bullet in your brain,” Samantha said with a smile. That, at least, wasn’t a lie. Morgan carried quite a torch for her and she knew that he’d stop at nothing to avenge her.
Devil Face brought the scalpel up to Samantha’s cheek and drew it slowly across the skin, leaving a thin trail of blood. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “I wish you weren’t such a whore… but if you weren’t we couldn’t share this moment together, could we? So maybe I’m secretly glad.”
Samantha flinched at the onset of new pain but she said nothing. Her eyes caught the flicker of movement over Devil Face’s shoulder and she gasped. “Is someone else here with us?” she asked, unable to maintain her silence any longer.
Devil Face stepped back, his eyes wide with surprise beneath his mask. “You can see her?”
Samantha peered into the shadows but saw nothing at all. “I thought,” she began, but then fell quiet again with a shake of her head. “It was nothing.”
Devil Face smiled, momentarily taken aback but now once more in control. No one else had ever seen Lady Death, not even the girls who had rested on the precipice between the world of the living and of the dead. “Well, it’s time we began in earnest. You’re the last one.”
“What does that mean?” Samantha asked, as Devil Face turned away from her. He moved over to the tray of sharp implements and set down his scalpel, plucking up one of the bone saws and examining the teeth on the blade.
“Thirteen girls have to die,” he said, not caring if she knew his secrets. It was too late for her and he was too close to achieving ultimate power. What could it hurt? “And then Lady Death will cross over onto this plane and she’ll make me her consort.”
Samantha heard the dreamy nature of his voice and couldn’t help but think he was absolutely insane. But she’d seen some very strange things as a member of Assistance Unlimited, so she wasn’t prepared to discount it completely.
“I’m not sure why being Death’s lover would be a good thing,” she said, hoping to keep Devil Face talking long enough to allow her friends to find them.
“You haven’t felt her touch,” Devil Face replied. He turned towards her with the bone saw in hand. As he approached, he bent down and grabbed the bucket filled with tubing and carried it in his other hand. He set the bucket down next to her dangling feet. “But you will soon enough.”
Samantha slammed her foot against Devil Face in an attempt to hurt him but her position didn’t allow her to put any real strength behind the blow and it elicited nothing more than a chuckle from the madman.
“Don’t fight,” Devil Face warned. “It will only make things harder for you.”
The next moment was one that Samantha would long remember. Devil Face placed the sharp blade against her shoulder, obviously intending to remove her right arm with no anesthetic whatsoever. Just before he began his grisly task, a figure descended the stairs and threw himself at Devil Face’s back. The impact knocked the villain aside, though the blade drug painfully across Samantha’s arm, taking a long stretch of flesh with it.
Devil Face whirled about to see Lazarus Gray facing him, hands balled into fists. Rapidly moving into the room were Morgan, The Dark Gentleman and Eun, all of whom looked at Samantha with concern. Normally, she would have felt embarrassed by her nudity but at the moment she didn’t care—her only desire was to be freed so she could help bring this killer to justice.
It was Morgan who reached her first, steadfastly keeping his eyes off her nakedness. He fumbled with the locks around her wrists, concern for her making him sloppy. “We’ll get that cut sewn up,” he said, as if her bleeding arm was important to her.
Eun saw that Morgan was busy with Samantha so he moved to assist his employer, The Dark Gentleman in tow. Devil Face was swinging his blade with great skill, forcing Lazarus to keep his distance.
“There’s too many of them,” Devil Face hissed. “Please—help me!”
The Dark Gentleman glanced around, wondering whom it was that Devil Face was talking to.
“He’s talking to the woman over there,” Lazarus explained, nodding his head in the direction of Lady Death.
“I don’t see anyone!”
“She’s there. Trust me.” Lazarus knew that the woman before them was not human. His past experiences as a member of the Illuminati had included many forays into the supernatural. As such, his mind was open to perceiving things that most people could simply not accept. He could see Lady Death as clearly as Devil Face could—and, truthfully, so could all of his aides, but because of the unreality of the situation, their minds refused to accept what their eyes beheld. Thus, they could not acknowledge it.
Lazarus ducked under a swipe of Devil Face’s blade and struck out with a karate chop that knocked the air from the man’s lungs. Devil Face recovered quickly, however, driving the bone saw against Gray’s neck an instant later. Blood spilled freely but Lazarus knew that it would look worse than it really was: nothing vital had
been struck.
Eun smelled something awful, like an ancient tomb had been thrown open. He gagged and backed away, his eyes widening as half a dozen figure emerged from the shadows, shambling towards them with open sores dotting their skins and portions of white bone protruding. These were the undead, summoned forth by Lady Death and their presence was a sign of just how close Devil Face was to completing his awful ritual. He had loosened the barriers between Death’s realm and those of mortal man… and now her warriors were spilling through.
The first of the zombies uttered a long, guttural moan and reached for Eun. The young Korean batted the hand aside and unleashed a series of kick punches and kicks, most of which had no obvious effect. To Eun, it felt like he was attacking a side of beef. It wasn’t until one of his fists crashed through the thing’s ribs and was momentarily stuck that he realized the full danger he was in: these creatures were not alive and were thus immune to all forms of pain.
Eun looked about and saw that the monsters, all of which were grabbing at his clothes and hair, now surrounded him. One of them dug its claws into the meat of Eun’s arm, tearing into the flesh and spilling blood.
The Dark Gentleman shared Eun’s horror. Unlike the members of Assistance Unlimited, this was his first contact with the supernatural and it was almost enough to shake his sanity. But his sense of self-preservation was strong enough to propel him into combat, shooting several bullets into the torso of the nearest zombie. The impacts caused the undead creature to pause but didn’t deter it from coming onward.
Lazarus knew that things were quickly spiraling out of control and made an effort to end his battle with Devil Face all the faster. He lowered his shoulder and charged like a maddened bull, slamming his bulk into the big man’s chest. They tumbled back until the basement wall halted Devil Face’s progress. Devil Face grunted hard and struck wildly with the bone saw. He repeatedly cut Gray’s face and shoulders but the leader of Assistance Unlimited ignored the pain and continued pummeling his enemy, breaking ribs, smashing a nose and finally fracturing Devil Face’s hip.
