Mask of Evil

CHAPTER 1 I am naked, cold and wet, where am I and who am I? The road was wet and the rain was still pouring down on the car as the young blond nurse Eva Torres, was returning back home after doing a twelve hour shift at the hospital. Eva had been driving for half an hour, she sipped the cup of coffee she had at the side, as the lively music played in her car. She wanted to get home soon and she just wanted to rest. She was tired after all the cases she attended to that day which seemed like it would never end. The one delivery case that she could not get out of her mind was the young pregnant mother who gave birth to an unusual looking baby. The child seemed like a cross between a human and an extra-terrestrial. The newborn baby had deep green coloured skin, with strange looking almost elfin features, with unnaturally large pointed ears. I thought the baby even smiled at me, thought Eva amused. She suddenly saw a large flash of lightning, which was followed by a loud explosion. It was then that she saw something on the road which made her freeze. What was that mound in the middle of the road? It was moving. The car was getting closer. The person, it looked like a man, he was right in the middle of the highway. Eva had to stop, she could not avoid him. She was going to stop the car and phone the hospital, she had to help this poor man. Eva gets out of the car, it is still raining heavily. The rain beats down rhythmically onto the road, the car and on the two people in the middle of the road. She hears the flapping of wings, she looks up and she gets startled as a large bird or bat-like creature flies closely past her almost hitting her across the face with its large wings. She walks up to the man, who looks unconscious. "Hello, can you hear me?" she asks him. "Yes, yes, I can hear you, please help me," he says. "Can you walk?", Eva asks him. She looks at him and notices that he is bruised on his face and severely injured on his shoulders. He can barely move his legs. He must have bruised his legs as well from the impact of the fall. It was as if the man was just thrown out onto the highway or like he was just thrown to Earth. Eva tried to phone on her mobile, but she could not get connected to the hospital. "It must be the rain, which has even spoiled my phone. I cannot ring the hospital." "Please don't take me to the hospital," he told her. "But, you need someone to look at your wounds, let me get you out of the rain." He put his arm around her neck, as she helped him onto his feet. He struggled to get up. They moved slowly towards the car. Eva could see that the man was weak, he was muscular and about six feet tall, naked, with water dripping off his body like waves. The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance, gradually getting nearer. The police were on their way she thought to herself or on some other police business. "Lady, please get me out of here soon, there will be too many explanations needed, if I am still here." "Okay," said Eva, as she closed the doors of the car and drove away just in time before the police cars arrived at the scene of the stranger's arrival. She handed the wounded stranger a long coat and a thick blanket she kept in the car, to cover and dry his body. He does not remember who he is. He looks like a lost child. He is lost in the woods and he needs to find his way out, she thought to herself. Back home, a big brown friendly cocker spaniel comes to meet Eva and her guest at the door. The dog is friendly. Eva makes the tall stranger lie down on the sofa in the living room. She attends to the stranger, cleaning his wounds. She gives him a set of clothes to wear, her father's clothes, which she never got rid of after he passed away two years ago. She showed the stranger to the bathroom where he could bathe and slip into a change of clothes. The clothes she kept of her father's were just reminders of him, the care and concern he had for her, for all the years of her life. It was just her way of holding on to the memory of her dear father. He brought her up single-handedly, after her mother walked out of the door when she was six and never returned. Her father was a dedicated police officer, and so he would get into a lot of close calls while he was doing his job. It was Eva who would take care of him when he returned home and she would nurse him back to health. She liked taking care of people, which was the main reason that she became a nurse, as well as the added bonus of watching injured and broken people heal and get back on their feet once again, ready to take on the world. "What's your name, stranger? My name is Eva". "I can't remember." "We'll call you Henry for now," said Eva with a smile. Eva still wore her nurse's uniform, she had no time to change attending to Henry, this man somehow mattered to her she felt. There was a knock on the door. The dog is the first to rush to the door barking. The rain had not yet lessened, it was still raining heavily, with flashes of lightning lighting up the summer sky, like a fireworks display. "I wonder who that could be?" said Eva walking towards the door. She turned to Henry and said, "We'll just say that you are my cousin Henry who is visiting me from out of town." "Hi, Olivia," said Eva opening the door to see her neighbour standing in the rain with a pink umbrella and with a pack of food in her hand. It was common for Olivia the nice Swedish neighbour to visit during the evenings to have dinner with Eva. Olivia had made this a habit over the last few months. "Hi Eva who is your friend? Will you not introduce me?" says the pretty blond girl. "I'm sorry, Olivia meet my cousin Henry," said Eva turning to the wounded man lying on the sofa, "He had an accident, when he went for a walk to the park this evening. He lost his way coming back home and slipped into a ditch in the pouring rain. I was really shocked to see Henry walking back in the rain, when I was returning from work. We need to get you a mobile phone, so that you can contact me if you are in trouble, Henry", said Eva turning to the injured man on the sofa. "I'm Olivia and I'm pleased to meet you. I come back home early from work. I work in the primary school down the road," says the tall young Swedish girl, "would you like a bowl of soup?", she asks the stranger. "Yes, I would. That's a good idea." "Henry, just rest here a while and we will get some dinner ready. I will go and change out of these wet clothes," said Eva switching on the television. The news was on. "Henry, that's a nice name, you look a lot like that actor who acted as Superman a few years ago," said Olivia with a warm smile, as she sat on the sofa opposite Henry and opened a packet of sandwiches which she offered Henry. Henry was famished and he greedily started to eat the sandwiches as if he had not eaten in days. Olivia leaves the home of Eva and as she walks into the car, her mobile phone rings. "Yes," she says, "the Eagle has landed and he is being cared for by Eva." She listens to the voice at the other end of the phone, nods her head and says seriously, "Yes, we will wait a few days...yes, I will be careful." That night Henry is cold as he lies on the sofa in Eva's living room. Henry is passing in and out of consciousness. He looks out of the window which is illuminated by the light of the moon and the lightning and he suddenly sees a shadowy figure possibly that of a woman looking in through the window. But he thinks it must be his imagination and his fevered brain which is causing him to see things. The nurse looks at Henry lying on the sofa and sees him shivering. Eva decides to keep him warm. She does not know this man but somehow, she seems to trust him and she has a feeling that they share a connection. Eva is a good judge of character, especially after twenty years of working in the hospital and coming into contact with people from all walks of life. Eva sensed that this man she had saved that night was a special person. Eva lies down beside Henry to warm his cold body, as they lie together on the sofa. The next day Eva goes to work at the hospital. Henry leaves the home with the pet dog on a leash. He walks into a park. He observes the children playing, the joggers exercising around the park, the other dog owners walking their dogs through the beautiful green park. There is peace and contentment in the air. Henry smiles to himself. He has so many questions. Who is he and why is he here? All this does not seem familiar to him. This world is quite different from the one which he has left, he thinks to himself. However, he still does not remember who he is and where he has come from. He looks again at the strange marks at the center of both palms of his hands. The symbols resemble flames, they are unusual, he had tried to rub the prints off but these marks seem determined to stay on his body. He remembers having seen other strange markings on his body. Some of the markings resemble objects like there is one of a rod, a cloak and round circles. Maybe these are his birthmarks or the shadows of tattoos he had removed years ago. He looks at his watch and notices that time has flown while he was lost in his silent reverie, only interrupted by the sounds of children playing happily in the park and the sounds of dogs barking as they scamper around playfully, happy to be out in the open once again. The dog walks him back home. It was a case of the dog leading the owner back home. Henry continued to stay with Eva. She was a very kind hostess. It was Eva's day off on Saturday, so she decided to take Henry to the local market to do shopping and to see a movie before returning home. "Henry, what would you like to have for dinner tonight," said Eva with a smile as they moved the trolley down the shopping aisle. "I enjoy your spaghetti dish," said Henry. "Yes, I'll make that for tonight," said Eva. She was happy that the two of them got on so well together. She had had previous relationships which ended badly for her. "Hi, Eva, how are you and who is your friend?" said a petite young brunette, who was also doing her shopping. "This is Henry. Henry meet Sandy, she and I would work together at the local Cafe, the Golden Spoon." "Hi Henry, I'm pleased to meet you," said Sandy. "What have you been up to Sandy? Are you still at the Cafe?", said Eva. "Yes, I'm still working there. Are you working anywhere Henry? We need someone to work at the Cafe. You remember the lazy lout who worked at the cafe? You may remember him, it was Jim who left last week." "Thanks, Sandy, yes, a job would be great," said Henry. "I'll bring Henry over to the Cafe on my way to work," said Eva. "Catch up with you later," said Sandy as she moved away with her shopping trolley. That night as Henry was getting ready to go to sleep, he saw a shadowy figure standing near the front of the house. He looked again and there was no one there.