Face Behind the Mask

by Leo King

  As they reached her, she fought back, punching the head right off one and then spin-kicking another into a wall, where it splattered like a water balloon. She elbowed a third one in the gut, folding it in half. White energy coursed through her limbs, and as she killed each one, she felt the loa inside being destroyed as well.

  These are innocent victims. Damn it, damn it, damn it!

  Her frustration at being forced to kill normal people grew with each victory. When there were no more attackers, she dropped to one knee and took in a deep breath.

  Then she screamed in rage. It reverberated through the corridors like a monster’s roar, shattering the light fixtures above.

  Aucoin limped out in front of her. “Jesus fucking Christ, Sam. What the hell are you?”

  She stood up, holding on to the pen’s container with a death grip.

  “I’m Bridgette, Queen of the Loa.”

  “Sam!” A small waifish set of arms wrapped around her midsection. It was Meghan, as thin as a skeleton, hugging her and crying. “I missed you so much! I missed you! Oh, Sam!”

  Sam put an arm around her but said nothing. What did they do to you, Meghan?

  Meanwhile, Aucoin was helping up the other patients, a teenage girl and boy. “Any idea what was with those, um, people?”

  She continued holding Meghan close to her, afraid she’d break her if she hugged too hard. “I think they’ve been experimented on with the tkeeus. They were all possessed by malevolent loa. I think it was permanent.”

  He nodded. “And Dr. Klein?”

  “Dead. I ripped his heart right out.”

  With a smirk, Aucoin checked the gun’s ammo. “Wish I’d seen it.”

  Then he wiped the sweat off his head. “Someone triggered the cell release system. All hell’s broken loose. And with crazy possessed patients and gun-toting guards, this is going to be a shitty escape.”

  Grinning cockily, she asked, “What? Wanna wait back in your cell?”

  “Ha! Not on your life. I may not be one hundred percent, but I can still shoot straight.”

  She took a few seconds to look him over. He was older, skinnier, and sicklier than she remembered, but he had the same grit from when he’d arrested her at the wharf.

  “All right, Kyle. Let’s go raise some hell.”

  Chapter 24

  Darkness Once More

  Date: Monday, May 10, 1993

  Time: 11:00 p.m.

  Location: Evergreen Sanatorium

  Underground Facility

  The sirens continued to resound as Sam and Aucoin worked their way through the corridors of the sanatorium. All around, gunfire, shouts, and the shrill, high-pitched squawks of the test subjects created a warlike backdrop. By the time they found a large storage closet to duck into, it was clear that there was no more social order in Evergreen. It was every man for himself.

  Other than them, there were only six other patients who were not possessed—Meghan, one middle-aged women, one young man, an elderly woman, and two teenagers—one boy and one girl. They were as diverse in both ethnicity and structure as they could be, except for two things—they were all malnourished and shaved bald.

  “Sam, can you give us a minute?” Aucoin said as he ushered the last person into the closet. “Some of us are about to pass out.”

  Browsing the shelves for anything useful, Sam said, “Sure. See if we have any water left.”

  He tended first to the elderly woman, then the others, offering sips from a bottle of water they had managed to salvage from the cafeteria. The others coughed and shivered, pressing against each other for warmth and comfort.

  Sam took one of the boxes off the shelf and opened it. Inside were uniforms for the medical staff. “Hey, we can wear these. Kyle, please help Miss Ester get dressed. Meghan, I’ll help you. Misty and Lester, you help everyone else. These should keep us warmer and…”

  She gazed around the closet. Seven mostly nude people, whose dignity had long since been stripped away, looked back. She smiled softly. “… help us to feel like human beings again.”

  As Aucoin and the two teenagers passed out the clothes, Sam helped Meghan to the farthest end of the closet. Then she stripped off her own surgical gown. Her body was covered with cuts, bruises, and sores. The burns from her townhome were ugly, caked scars.

  “I’m so gross.”

  “No, you’re not, Sam,” Meghan said, leaning against the wall. “You’re still beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” Sam said, despite doubting it. “I guess I don’t feel like a woman right now. Too many scars.” She finished getting dressed.

  Meghan coughed a few times and then asked, “Help me change?”

  When Sam got her gown off, she saw damage that made her own seem mild. Meghan had patches of skin missing from what looked like self-inflicted wounds. Her ribs were all but showing. As Sam knelt and helped her slip on the uniform bottoms, she noticed that her genitals had been mutilated and then sewn shut.

  “Oh, Meghan, what did they do to you?”

  “Things I’d rather forget. Dr. Klein’s theory was that if I was over-exposed to sexual stimulation, I wouldn’t want it.”

  She chuckled morbidly. “He’s right. I don’t ever want to be touched again.”

  Sam pulled her into her arms. As soon as she was nestled against her, Meghan started crying. “I’m not a woman anymore, Sam. I want to die.”

  “Shhh,” Sam stroked her hair. “No, Meghan, honey. No.”

  “There’s nothing left of me. I’ll never be normal again. I have no family. I’ve got nothing.”

  “You have one thing.”

  “What, Sam? What do I have?”

  She gazed into her friend’s eyes. “You have me.”

  Meghan sniffled. “What do you mean?”

  Leaning down, Sam kissed her forehead. “You’re one of the few friends I’ve got left. I’ve been worried sick about you. I’m never, ever going to let you go. We’ll be like sisters.”

  “Sisters?” Meghan asked. She then dried her tears. “Yes, I’d like that.”

  Someone nearby cleared his throat. It was Aucoin. “Need a few more minutes?”

  “Cute,” Sam said, kissing him on the cheek. “And for you—that’s for keeping me sane all these months.”

  He patted her shoulder. “Thank me when we escape. For now, let’s go.”

  He turned back to the group and cocked his gun. “All right, let’s keep to the formation. Sam will take point, I’ve got the rearguard, and everyone else in the middle. Move out!”

  A minute or so later, they passed an open security door and entered the office hallways. Just as Sam turned the corner, she came face-to-face with four armed guards. For a moment, they stared at each other, blinking in shock.

  Then one of the guards cried out, “It’s the Castille bitch! Shoot her!” They pointed their weapons at her while she focused on her power. Time once again slowed down. Quickly, she pushed the group of survivors back. A moment later, she heard a loud pop and felt an incredible pain in her gut.

  Meghan cried out, “Sam!” Her voice was low-pitched and drawn out due to the time distortion.

  Two more shots were fired. Sam fell back as the bullets impacted her left side and the top of her right breast. Pain tore through every nerve as she felt the projectiles rip through her flesh and tear out the other side. As she landed on the ground, Aucoin ran past the front of the group, steadying his pistol. All four guards aimed at him. But before any of them fired, a loud series of shots rang out, and one of their heads exploded in a bloody mess. Then several things happened at once.

  Aucoin fired into the chest of a different guard, who flew back. Sam grabbed the gun of another and easily crushed it. Then she kicked him in the groin and launched him into the ceiling, where his feet flailed a bit before going still. A few more shots rang out, and the last guard fell forward with holes in his chest.

  Time returned to normal.

  At the end of the hallway was the Middle Eastern technician.
Only, now, his beard was gone, and he was in a black military uniform, wielding an assault rifle. He approached the group, looking right at Sam.

  “Sam Castille?”

  Aucoin aimed his pistol at him. “Who the hell wants to know?”

  The man ignored him and shouldered his weapon. “Can you stand, Sam?”

  “Hey, asshole,” Aucoin said, “I swear I will blow your damn—”

  “It’s OK, Kyle,” Sam interrupted. “This guy helped orchestrate our escape. You’re with Dr. Lazarus, correct?” Even with her strength, standing after getting shot three times was tough, so she leaned against a wall.

  The man nodded. “Call me Meyer. I’ve been ordered to bring you to him. Can you run?”

  She shook her head. “I’m immortal, Meyer, not invincible. I don’t have long before I pass out from blood loss.”

  “I understand,” Meyer said, motioning down the hallway. “It’s just a short way to the elevator. We have a helicopter waiting for you and any other survivors. You, with the gun, can you fight?”

  “I was a cop,” Aucoin said. “Anyway, we’ve been through the whole facility. We are the only ones left alive.”

  “Copy that. Then bring up the rear. Make sure no one falls behind. Samantha, you’re with me. Everyone, listen up! This place has become overrun by the test subjects. I know you’re tired and scared, but we have got to run. Let’s move out!”

  As Sam limped along the hallway, supported by Meyer, he explained everything. “After Dixie Olivier determined this was where you were being held, Dr. Lazarus had us do reconnaissance to gather intel. We then verified that the Evergreen Plantation was actually being used by the Knight Priory as a place to send their enemies. However, they’ve also been using it as a testing facility for experiments with the tkeeus. When Kyle Aucoin was committed, they brought on new staff. That’s when I joined. We’ve been spending weeks planning your escape. I’m not proud of having worked on those so-called treatment machines, but it was necessary to keep my cover.”

  Sam took in all the information, ignoring the sirens and other noises. “So I take it that you triggered the release?”

  “Affirmative,” Meyer said. “We had no idea it would be this chaotic. We were taking time to plan a more structured raid, but when we learned about your lobotomy, we knew we couldn’t wait.”

  As they reached the elevator, he punched the ”up” button. “The Knight Priory has found a way to induce a permanent state of possession. The test subjects are first lobotomized to remove any will. Then, using the tkeeus, they are taken over by malevolent, low-level spirits. Their crazed state makes them look like they have a form of rabies.”

  Aucoin and the others reached the elevator. “So the Knight Priory is building an army?”

  “In a manner of speaking, yes. They want to take over the entire region. More than likely, their next goal is all of Louisiana. But Dr. Lazarus can brief you on what we know when we get to base.”

  A sick tightness spread in Sam’s gut as she got into the elevator. Vincent’s words resounded in her mind. There is a storm coming—a bad one.

  Aucoin hit the button for the ground floor. “How widespread is this thing?”

  “For the moment, we’re only aware of this facility. That’s why as soon as we’re at a safe distance, a missile strike will be ordered to wipe this place out.”

  “Lord, save us,” the elderly woman said.

  “A missile!” Aucoin exclaimed. “Who has that kind of firepower?”

  Meyer checked his rifle. “Someone of the highest authority who has deemed this place unrecoverable.”

  Sam said nothing. The loss of blood was starting to get to her. Her head felt light, her vision was going out of focus, and her knees were getting weak.

  The elevator door opened, and then a panel slid to the side, revealing the interior of a plantation home. Gunfire and the rumble of a helicopter could be heard from outside.

  “I’m scared,” Meghan muttered.

  Meyer pulled out a radio. “This is Lone Soldier to Blackbird. The Queen is secured.”

  It crackled to life. “Roger that, Lone Soldier. Blackbird is setting down.”

  He tugged on Sam. “OK, let’s go. We’re heading to the rear of the plantation.”

  As they headed through the building, past antique furniture from the antebellum era, lavishly beautiful rugs, and paintings from the Civil War, Sam started feeling faint. She knew she only had a few more minutes before she collapsed from blood loss.

  Outside, a group of sanatorium guards was fighting a horde of test subjects. Above them, a black helicopter circled around. A pair of 50-caliber machine guns stuck out the side.

  “Fall back,” a voice said from the helicopter. “We can’t cover you if you’re that close to them!”

  Suddenly, the test subjects broke through the line of guards, tearing them to pieces. As soon as every one of them was dead, machine-gun fire poured from the helicopter onto the remaining test subjects, dropping them like flies. As it landed, Meyer led the group out to it.

  Sam fought to stay conscious. The world was already fading,

  Two more people in black uniforms, one Caucasian and one Jamaican, were in the helicopter manning the machine guns. While Meyer helped her on board, Aucoin helped the others. Whatever group it was that Dr. Lazarus led, they weren’t messing around.

  “Welcome aboard, Your Majesty,” the Jamaican man said with a pearly white grin. “Just buckle up and hold on tight. We’ll get you someplace safe in just a few—”

  “We gotta go!” Aucoin said in a panic. From the plantation home, an even larger horde of test subjects rushed at them, shrieking in their shrill, high-pitched voices.

  Oh, shit! Sam felt her pulse quicken, and with it, a boost in focus. For the moment, she could disregard the loss of blood.

  “We need to go, Mister Rabbi, sir!” the Jamaican man said as he started firing. Several of the test subjects fell within seconds, some cut in half by the high-caliber weapon. But they kept coming.

  “Take off!” Meyer called out, helping Aucoin on board. “Take off now! And tell Command that this place is lost!”

  As the helicopter started rising, Sam heard a squeal. Meghan was being pulled out of the helicopter by two test subjects. They were already biting her.

  “Meghan, no!” Activating her power, Sam dove at them. In the blink of an eye, she crushed the skulls of both patients and rolled on the ground, holding Meghan in her arms. The helicopter was already over twenty feet off the ground.

  Oh, this is bad.

  “Sam!” Aucoin leaned over the edge as if intending to jump, but Meyer was holding him back. “Get off me, you son-of-a-bitch!”

  “You can’t do anything right now!” Meyer pinned him and then shouted, “Sam! We’ll meet you at the river. It’s due east about five hundred yards. Go there!”

  She nodded and pulled Meghan to her feet. “Hey, you OK?”

  Her neck and shoulder were bleeding profusely from the bites. “God, I hope this isn’t contagious like in the movies.”

  Sam quickly examined them, frowning. They were pretty deep, and blood was flowing freely from Meghan’s neck. Pulling her onto her back, she said, “I don’t think it’s that kind of thing. Spirits don’t transmit through bites.”

  Sounds of gunfire and shrieking caught her attention. Dozens more test subjects were rushing toward them. Bullets hailed down from above, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

  “Sam, they’re almost here!” Meghan gripped Sam in a panic.

  Focusing on her power, Sam pressed a palm to the ground. “All who hear my voice, help me! Your queen commands it!” Her voice reverberated.

  Even as the flood of test subjects drew near, a large, white sigil appeared around them.

  “What is this?” Meghan wailed.

  But Sam didn’t reply. Instead, she closed her eyes and pushed her will into the earth, beckoning every free spirit in the area to her side. A moment later, loud cries issued forth from the gr
ound and hundreds of loa rose into the air. They circled around the test subjects, tearing at them with bony hands and snapping jaws.

  Meghan cried in terror. Sam exhaled and felt her strength ebb. She still had control over some of them, but it wouldn’t last for long. Not if Vincent kept gaining strength.

  Then she heard a jet approaching. With her senses still acute, she caught sight of an incoming missile speeding toward them. “Oh, shit, I think this is the ‘blow it up’ part! Hold on, Meghan!”

  She was almost spent. But once more she felt the world slow down and the pain vanish. The muscles on her legs bulged as she rushed forward, the cool night air splitting like water. She heard Meghan wail, she felt the missile get closer, and she tasted the moisture in the air.

  With a final cry, Sam closed her eyes and leapt.

  Behind her, the world exploded. She could felt the heat as the missile hit its mark. She smelled the debris from the plantation buildings as they ignited an inferno. She tasted the sulfur.

  When she finally opened her eyes, she looked down. She was hundreds of feet in the air.

  “Holy shit!”

  She and Meghan both screamed as they came down, landing at a boat dock nearly a mile south of the plantation. The mighty Mississippi River spanned before them.

  With an “oomph,” Sam hit and rolled, cradling Meghan protectively. They lay there for a few seconds to catch their breath.

  She limped over to the pier and laid her friend against one of the pylons. Then she searched for the helicopter, finding it in the distance. “We’re off course. It’s gonna take them a few minutes to reach us.”

  “Hey, Sam,” Meghan said. Her voice was weak.

  Sam knelt down beside her and examined her wounds. They were bleeding even more, likely torn open from the escape. Shit! She needs first aid.

  “Don’t talk, Meghan. I’m gonna find something to stop the bleeding.”

  Meghan was barely able to look up. “Did you mean it? We’ll be together? The two of us?”