Blue-eyed girl

CHAPTER FOUR: A LIFE WITHOUT PAIN

CHAPTER XVII OF FACELESS MEN

“Watch your step, there are hidden mud holes on this track.” Carter warned as he led Ryazan through the graveyard. “Be careful, lest you should fall into one of them.”

“Why would anyone put a hole in a graveyard?” Ryazan wondered, eyeing a tombstone overgrown with weeds.

“These holes were created from loose soil,” Carter revealed, “No one put them there.”

Carter approached the shack in a slow and steady pace, a cry behind deterred him from moving any further. He quickly turned and found Ryazan struggling to pull his feet off the ground.

Ryazan had stepped into the hole Carter warned him about, and he was sinking fast.

“Pull me out!” Ryazan panicked, stretching forth his hand at Carter.

Carter quickly grabbed his arm to drag him out, grunting as he slowly pulled Ryazan until he was on both feet again. “I thought I told you to be careful.” He said, examining his knee. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Ryazan wiped the dirt that covered his knee. “It is getting dark which is making these holes really difficult to spot.”

Carter reached the wooden door of the old shack, and pulled at it. “Come along with me.” He tilted his head, bending to enter the little shelter, Ryazan following closely on his heel.

Carter closed the door and studied the room. The room had a bright red candle burning at the corner. The room was especially empty, except for the old, wooden clock which hung on the wall.

Ryazan caught Carter staring long at another door by the corner. The writing on the door caught his eyes. ‘DHX’, the inscription read in a dark red ink. Carter moved to examine the door, rubbing his finger over the text.

“Do you know what this mean?”

Carter shook his head. “Let’s find out.”

Carter reached for the door handle and the wooden door creaked as it slowly opened. A strong pungent smell blew from the smaller room inside.

Carter moved his collar to cover his nose, inching closer into the darkness. The room inside was small, dark and empty, except for the numerous mask that hung on the wall.

“What is that horrible smell?” Ryazan moved his hands to cover his nose, following Carter into the room.

Carter mindlessly walked to examine the many masks that stretched across the wall. Each mask had a letter of the alphabet marked a little close to the opening on the left eye.

Carter turned to him. “Did you come with the bag?”

“It is right here.” Ryazan dropped a gray sack on the ground.

“Help me pack these masks into the bag.” Carter bent, picking the masks and throwing them into the bag. “We need to…” he let out a grunt, his legs buckled and dropped, his eyes widening.

Ryazan eyes narrowed at him. “What is wrong?” his eyes were drawn to the blood trickling from the blade that pierced out of carter’s chest. Blood dripped from his mouth.

Ryazan eyebrows rose as he turned to stare, not at Carter, but at a faceless creature standing behind. It held a knife to Carter’s back as it remained still, watching Ryazan with lifeless eyes.

Gasping, Ryazan shuffled away, his body trembling.

The sound of a loud gunshot penetrated the silent, cold night. Several birds nesting under the roof of the old church found flight. They flew under the rainy sky in search of a new habitant.

Kevin startled at the sound of the loud gunshot which caused the creatures inhabiting the surrounding trees to move about in fear. Kevin dropped the book he was reading on the passenger seat and peered into the chapel where the gunshot came from.

Derik.

He knew something must have gone wrong inside the chapel. As he reached for the door to open it, the book kept calling to him. He turned to look at the book sitting on the passenger seat. Wrinkles creased his brows when he noticed the book had no author’s name written –just the title.

Faceless men.

Kevin was curious to know what happens next from the plot he was reading, but motions caught the corner of his eyes. He quickly turned to look out the window, at the old cathedral.

His eyes were drawn to several rodents scrambling away from the church, down the stair, and disappearing into the surrounding trees. They are running away from something, he suspected.

His eyes narrowed as he peered into the church, trying to catch a glimpse of Derik –but all he found were burning candles flickering against the unsteady wind.

He succumbed to his curiosity for a quick glance inside the church, despite Derik’s warning for him to stay put. He stepped out of the car, into the rain-soaked soil, his arm shuddering from the cold.

As he raced towards the chapel, the rain drops on his skin sent ripples of fear traveling down his spine. Kevin stopped in his tracks when he heard footsteps following him behind.

He turned to look around and found air. There was nothing in a distance. He observed leaves howling in the wind, and the rain drops sputtering across the top of the car.

Another thunder rumbled in the dark sky. Kevin continued towards the battered stair sitting in front of the old chapel. A movement caught the side of his eye and he quickly turned, his eyes moving in all direction.

He felt dozens of eyes watching from behind the trees that surrounded the church. The night was deadly still, except for the trees dancing with the wind and raindrops.

He assured himself it was just the trees and turned to continue towards the chapel, but stumbled into something –no, someone. A cold shiver raced down his spine.

Without wasting any second, Kevin turned to run towards the car; whatever he had bumped into started chasing him. Kevin heard its footsteps moving at a faster pace behind.

As the footstep grew louder, he knew they were catching up on him. A coarse hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Kevin quickly threw his fist behind, his eyes widening when he saw Derik. But it was already too late to withdraw his fist which was set in motion. His fist brushed against Derik’s jaw, throwing him to the damp floor.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” He breathed a sigh of relief, quickly moving to help him up. “I thought you were…” his voice trailed off when he noticed Derik’s head had been cracked open. Blood dripped from Derik’s forehead.

“Your head, it’s bleeding.” Kevin’s brows waggled as he observed Derik’s torn clothing and severely wounded arm. “What the hell happened to you?”

“No time to explain; they are all inside the church,” Derik said weakly, closing his eyes and struggling to breathe. “We have to leave now.”

Web of lightening cracked across the dark skies above the church, reaching the stained glasses like dozens of hooded figures staring at them from the window.

Terror transformed Kevin’s face. He quickly moved to help Derik up, carrying him to the car. Derik leapt, leaning on Kevin’s shoulder. His knee weakened with every step he took. Putting him inside, Kevin drove away in Derik’s car.

* * * * *

Kevin set a cup of warm coffee on the table. “What the hell happened in there?” He inquired, still shaken from what had happened moments ago.

“When I entered the chapel, I was oblivious to a meeting that was been held at that time. They were all there, all of them, waiting in dark corners. I had interrupted their meeting.” Derik explained, shivering from the cold outside, his body hunched and his arms were folded.

Kevin moved to shut the doors and windows. The rain became heavy. “…and then what happened.”

“One by one, they started dropping from the ceiling until they had me surrounded. They made me an offer,” Derik paused, eyeing Kevin. “-an offer to join them, or I die in the most excruciating way.”

Gasping, Kevin backed away from him, gazing with fixed eyes at him. “You did not accept, did you?”

Derik snorted at the thought. “They would have to kill me before they could make me join them.”

Kevin cast a skeptical eye. “How are you still alive?” He asked.

“I fought my way through, I lost my gun in the process, but I manage to take down one of them with it.”

“You got away from a vicious group of killers and still managed to take down one of them?” Kevin face held a skeptical gleam.

“What do you think?”

Kevin looked up at Derik, searching for any trace of dishonesty. He wanted to believe Derik story was true. The blood dripping from Derik’s broken skull piqued his attention.

“Aren’t you going to do something about your head, I could literally see what’s inside your skull.”

Derik raised an eyebrow, quickly moving to stand in front of a mirror. “I thought it was just a scratch.”

“A scratch?” He chuckled, “Are you kidding me?”

Horror changed his face at the sight of the large open wound at the side of his head. Blood gushed from it. “Good heavens, what did they hit me with?” His face was bathed in blood.

“Hold on!” His eyes narrowed to a pinprick. “You are telling me you had this huge wound on your head this whole time and you didn’t feel a thing?”

“No, all I felt was the blood dripping all over my face. I thought it was just a small cut. No wonder I felt woozy earlier. I was losing too much blood and I never noticed.”

Kevin walked towards him in a slow and steady pace, his eyes fixed on him. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Kevin stopped beside Derik, raising his head to look at him, his eyes widening.

Derik drifted his attention from his reflection and turned to Kevin, his forehead puckered. “What?”

He was momentarily confused from the way Kevin remained still, watching him with eyes filled with shock. It struck him as odd. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Kevin’s surprise grew. “You can’t feel that?” He asked.

Derik’s eyes narrowed at him. “Feel what?” He heard liquid dropping on the linoleum beneath him and turned to see blood pouring from his arm. “What the…” His eyes were drawn to the knife which pierced through his arm.

“Have you gone crazy?” Derik thundered, pulling the knife from his arm and more blood poured. “Why did you stab me?”

Kevin backed away from him, staring at the cut on Derik’s arm, his expression positively wonderstruck. “You can’t feel the pain?” He stared in disbelief. “How are you doing this?”

Derik dropped the knife on a table beside him and wrapped his fingers around the cut on his arm to stop the bleeding. He returned his gaze back on the mirror.

Hairs grew from his skin, his body slowly changing, claws grew from his fingernail, and his canine grew into fangs. The color of his eyes changed in an instant.

“It started last week after C-Rex kidn*pped Natasha…” Derik started off, his voice sounding deep and inhuman. “Shady attacked me in a car. He hit me several times, but I felt nothing. I was losing a lot of blood, and he just kept smashing my head into things –but I felt nothing. My body felt weak from losing too much blood, but I did not any pain from the impact.”

A line appeared between his brows. “That’s not right. How do you explain something like that?”

Derik raised an eyebrow. “How do you explain the fact that you have the ability to see visions about the future?”

Travis plopped himself down on the couch and ran his hand through his hair, turning to face Derik. “I don’t know.” He answered.

“I think this is some kind of medical disorder. What is happening to me may be attributed to the word, analgesia.” Derik’s body slowly returned to normal.

He examined his head from the mirror, and it was also back to normal –the open wound was completely healed. “-or it might just be my special ability. Just as you are able to see visions of the future, I am immune to pain. Who knows?”

He wasn’t convinced by his own words. And just like Kevin, he plopped himself down on the couch beside him, letting out a heavy sigh. “God, I wish I can explain what’s going on with me.”

Meanwhile, outside the room, standing beside the window, a teenager holding up a camera to his face. He was taking pictures through the blinds.

As he watched Derik changed back in his human form, he took more pictures, checking to verify that the photos he captured were perfect. Then he nodded in satisfaction and stood at another angle, taking closer look at their faces. The camera clicked as he took multiple photographs.

The muzzle of a piston pressed against his temple and he heard the gun c****d behind. The teenager froze with eyes wide, lifting his hands in a quick surrender.

“I won’t hesitate to blow your brain out if you try anything stupid.” came a gravelly voiced behind.

“Pin your knees to the ground, toss the camera and keep your hands in the air where I can see them.” The voice commanded.

The teenager quickly obeyed, kneeling and throwing the camera behind, his hands trembling. He was too scared to disobey. He slowly turned and his gaze found the face of a man dressed in police uniform, holding a gun to his head.

As the police officer bent to pick the camera, the teenager stole a quick glance at ID which hung from his neck. “Officer Steven,” He read out the name. “I swear I wasn’t trespassing. I was just taking pictures for a project coming up next week.” The teenager tattled out of fear.

A smile plastered on Steven’s face as he glanced through the pictures on the camera. He turned the camera to show face him, scrolling past many captured photographs of Derik.

“You are in a lot of trouble, young man.” He knocked him out with a hard blow to the head.

Natasha fidgeted in her seat, looking up at the big photograph of Alex hanging on the wall, her foot tapping the floor. She had been sitting with Dreda in his office for almost half an hour. She cursed Alex under her breath for making her wait this long.

Eric sat opposite, watching them fret over Madelia’s whereabouts. “She must really mean something to you two, your friend Madelia.” He tried to start a conversation.

Dreda drew her breath. “We are practically sisters from different mothers. I hope she is ok, wherever she is.” She fretted.

Eric moved from his seat to sit beside Dreda, wrapping his arm around her to comfort her. “She is going to come back.” He assured.

Dreda cracked a smile at him, pecking his lips. “I know so.”

The door opened and Alex walked in, all eyes fell on him. “Natasha?” He smiled, bending to hug her. “I’m thrilled to find you finally on your feet again. It would have been a real tragedy if you had ended up on a wheel chair. No one would like that.”

Natasha forced a weak smile at him.

Turning to Dreda, he raised a brow. “Does your dad know you’re here?”

Dreda shook her head. “I prefer we keep it that way.”

Alex snorted at the response and said in a silent voice. “Naughty girl.” His gaze suddenly found Eric -an unfamiliar face. “And who might this be?” He lifted an eyebrow to both girls.

Eric turned to him. “The name is Eric,” He said with a smile. “I am Dreda’s boyfriend.”

Alex returned his gaze to Dreda, raised his brow, smiled and move to take a seat behind the desk. “I’m really sorry for keeping you all; I had to take care of something important before coming down here.” He briefly apologized, glancing at their faces. “So how can I help?”

Natasha moved to occupy the empty seat facing Alex’s. “It’s about our friend, Madelia.” She complained, “She’s been missing for the last twenty-four hours and no one knows where she might be.”

“Oh, silly me. I forgot they were always three of you.” He said, craning forward in his office chair. “What happened to Madelia?”

“A girl that looks exactly like me drove away with her in my dad’s car” Dreda cut in.

Alex paused, taking a moment to process what she’d said, then shrugged his shoulder, his eyes held a skeptical gleam. “Are you sure about this? What you are saying is just…” His lips trembled as the words tried to form in his mouth. “It is simply unbelievable.”

“What she’s saying is totally true. I was there, I saw everything.” Eric vouched.

“In all my years of service to the police force, I have never seen, or heard, anything like this one? Have you tried to check her home to see if she is there?”

“There was no one home when we visited this afternoon -not even her mum was home. The place seemed deserted. I find this totally odd because I dropped by her house yesterday evening and she was home with her mum.” Dreda reported.

Alex took out a pen and began to scrawl words on his little note, then, he stopped and returned his gaze to her. “Do you think she might be in any immediate danger?”

“It has been twenty-four hours since we last saw her and there has been no word from her, she’s not picking any of her calls. I think something is definitely wrong.” Natasha cut in.

Alex just kept jotting down more notes.

“Can you help us find her?” Dreda looked with hopeful eyes, her delicate fingers interlacing with Eric’s.

Alex nodded. “The car you said she drove away in, does it have a plate number?” He questioned.

Dreda sat on an empty chair beside Natasha. Taking the pen from Alex, she wrote down her plate number on a white, manila paper. “The car is a black Porsche with two spare tires at the back. The car needed a ton of work. My dad said I should manage that one until he gets me a new car.”

“I will see what I can do, but it’s going to be really difficult given the circumstance. A girl that looks exactly like you driving away with your friend.” Alex exhaled deeply. “That’s going to be a problem.”

Madelia slowly opened her eyes to the darkness, lying on a cold floor. The pounding headache she felt within her temples kept her from seeing clearly. A groan escaped her lip as she sat up, peering into the darkness.

Her mind flashed back to the moment her head was smashed against the car window. She quickly got up, her eyes darting in all direction, her breath felt short. The darkness engulfing her drove her mind insane.

She walked around the darkness, her eyes wide as she struggled to peer through the dark corners of the room, her body trembling. Anxiety overwhelmed her. She stumbled, and hit the floor, hard. Something was restraining her left foot.

Madelia raised a hand, reaching for her feet. Her hands felt something long and hard tied around her left foot. It was a rope. She pulled the rope and observed the other end was tied to something hard, but she couldn’t see through the darkness where it’d been tied to.

Madelia struggled to pull the rope, but the more she struggled had made the anxiety even worse. She pulled against the rope with all her might. Her fingers felt sore after dragging.

“Don’t bother,” a voice said weakly.

She looks up to discover a woman sitting across the room, tied with the same rope, leaning into the sunlight that penetrated through a hole on the wall.

“I already tried.”

Madelia itched closer, her eyes narrowed as she approached the frail old woman staring through the hole at the outside world. Madelia raised her brows as recognition passed over her face.

“Mom?”