The Noir Evil

by Richard Paul Caird

  The unknown man was smartly dressed in a cleanly pressed white shirt which fitted his body tightly, attempting to keep his massive frame within its fragile cotton grasp. The bluey green lights and the death masks display lights all radiated off the whiteness of the shirts pure colour, creating a mind throbbing confusing mixture of swirling shapes within shadows upon his canvass like shirt. His plain ironed brown trousers also attempted to conceal the man’s massive tree trunk like legs that filled them up to such an extent that they almost ripped out of them with every slight movement that he made. His plain brown shoes where extremely large and had to be in order to maintain such a bulky mass as he casually moved from one death mask to another, analysing each fascinatingly created death mask with extreme interest.

  He occasionally sipped his small glass of selected alcohol that he had casually brought with him from the unknown shadows, each time revealing his large hand which had an abnormal amount of hair growth upon it. He glared at each death mask separately in a slow procession and only his round spectacles light could be seen within the displays glass reflection. These solitary twin circles both reflected the shimmering light that emanated from behind him and glistened a marvellous brilliance within the moving shadows that surrounded him. There vacant and ghostly light reflected each of the facing illuminated death masks whilst he keenly looked at them with a leering consideration, savouring the many faces that greeted him with a comforting familiarity that only he could know.

  He then came to the highlight of the viewing display and paused to inspect the handsome young face of the recently murdered Tattooed Man. His life like death mask however was not what made him curious, neither was it the full location chart of his numerous tattoos that had once decorated his alive body in all its totality. It was the Tattooed Man’s photographed face of his decapitated head that was taken by Gerber within his morgue the day after its morbid discovery. It was extremely fascinating to the mysterious stranger because it looked so life like, as if he was simply peacefully sleeping within the white towel that had been so delicately wrapped around it with care.

  The curious face looked different to how he remembered it, as though it was peaceful and almost relaxed in a strange way and even knowing that this was the head of a man whom had died a traumatic way, the stranger found himself contemplating the victim’s existence after death. Was he still here within this plain of existence or had he moved onto another realm whereby his many sins would be blissfully forgotten or punished in an appropriate way? These curious thoughts of reanimation and religion would not be answered as he knowingly looked at the Tattooed Man’s handsome face, curious as to how such a relaxed expression could have developed upon his face after such a traumatising death.

  The silhouette of the on looking man then slowly and deliberately moved ever nearer to the display, taking a long and ponderous look at the tattoos diagram and reading about each distinctive tattoo in detail. He casually sipped his drink again as he satisfactorily stood back and took in the entire morbidly macabre sight in all of its glorious clarity. He marvelled at the artistically grim sight and relished its unabated demands upon ones humanity whilst viewing it, knowing that it would disturb any whom dared to look upon its grandeur to see its hidden meaning. All the troubled plaster death masks then came alive within his circular and glowing spectacles and pleaded for his mercy as his hellishly tormented mind warped there natural images. He knowingly smiled at the pleading heads and relished in their individual suffering which he so easily recollected within his sadistic mind, feeling that their deaths where a necessary requirement for his insatiable desire to obliterate.

  The shadowy stranger then casually left without even taking a glance at the preoccupied group, whom had barely noticed him or his departure back towards the swirling aquatic colours and chaotic shadows. The preoccupied Poppy suddenly felt a cold shiver moving throughout her entire body as she had subconsciously noticed the mystery silhouettes slow but steady disappearance back into the realms of shadow. She slowly turned around and left the chatting group as she walked to where the silhouette had been standing and looked at the static death mask display in all of its gruesome clarity. She was instantly greeted by the distinctive smell of alcohol that he left in his wake and as she turned to see where the large curiosity had gone, her vision was irritatingly blocked by the sudden appearance of a long line of parading Billy Rose's Aquacade dancing girls. They had obviously just finished performing there dance routine on the sea themed stage and where now all jokingly amusing themselves with the inconsistencies within their last performance. They slowly walked past the death mask display and unwittingly blocked all whom wished to leave its troublingly disturbing gallery of victims, irritating parents of a few crying children whom did not fully understand what the display actually represented.

  The irritated Poppy tried to look over the dancing girls as the never ending procession of scantily dressed young women slowly walked by, continually blocking her gaze as she desperately tried to locate the mysterious man from the shadows again. There was something oddly strange about him and she could not put her finger on what it was exactly but she simply had an unusual feeling of discomfort that was soon accompanied by a sick feeling, as if she wanted to vomit. She had always been well tuned into her instinctual emotions and unconscious feelings with the utmost clarity, using them many times as she grew up within her abusive household as a form of escapism to alleviate the insurmountable stress that she had endured. This was due to her troubled upbringing and she considered these instinctual feelings a gift that she would often use to better understand the confusing world into which she was born, with all of its peculiarities and harsh unfairness. She had only become aware of the man when he was leaving the display, further confusing her and it was as though he had let his guard down only once he had seen what it was he wished to see. She had never claimed to understand the universe of her instinctual emotions of confusing complexity but she would always respond to them if they signalled to her, just as they had done upon seeing the mysterious stranger’s departure.

  She was relieved to see that the procession of dancing girls was now finally coming to an end and after it passed by she now actively scanned the dark, maddening crowd that confronted her within the plaza. She looked directly ahead and tried to see where the large man had gone and then, through the crowds she focused on a large silhouette that was staring right back at her in an alarmingly motionless stance. She found it hard to focus upon him as he kept on coming in and out of view with every additional head from the maddening crowd that interrupted her fleeting gaze. It was as though she was trying to see a distantly faint meteor shower in the night sky which only came into focus when complete darkness was achieved and all other motionless objects where then identified. Once you saw one of the elusive meteors then they all instantly revealed themselves in a display of discovery that she had always enjoyed since she was a child.

  She watched on in curiosity as the unknown shadowy man appeared to stare directly back at her with his round spectacles as they brilliantly reflected the far side of the plaza’s colourful area that concealed him. After a moment of this viewing curiosity the shadowy figure appeared to alarmingly lift up his right hand and half-heartedly waved in her direction, almost solidifying her spiritual belief in the universes unknown power to express itself through the raw emotions that resided within us all. She then looked around the turbulent crowds within the plaza to see whom the mysterious man was waving at but she could not see anyone and she even turned around to make sure that there was no one behind her. The only thing behind her was the illuminated macabre display of death and when she had returned her curious gaze, he had surprisingly disappeared from view altogether!

  He had apparently been drawn back into the shadowy crowds that surrounded him, consuming him in all of his entirety and leaving just an enigma behind. Poppy felt irritated at herself for breaking her gaze of him but she also felt relieved that his unsettling gaze was no longer upon her
, strangely confusing her as she replayed the troubling events of the last few moments within her perplexed mind. She once again followed her feelings and walked behind the black curtained display of death masks and tried to see if there was anyone hiding there, which would explain the troublesome shadowy man’s wave that he had given so openly only a moment ago. Merlyo instantly broke these ponderings of curiosity because she had noticed that the on looking detective had curiously observed her sudden change in behaviour and her apparent interest in the rear of the display. She then smiled to the on looking detective and to herself as she attempted to push her troublesome speculative thoughts into the back of her wandering mind.

  She suspected that her rampantly chaotic sensitivities where simply residual remnants of the lingering emotion of uncontrollable sadness that she had experienced by the traumatic doll kiosk. She also felt that standing in front of such a macabre spectacle would play emotional tricks on anyone’s psyche, be it consciously or unconsciously. All the death mask heads looked alarmingly life like within the swirling colours and gloomy light of their grim display, positively forcing people to almost look away in dread to avoid there unwelcomely troubling gaze. This grim display also had the effect of forcibly pushing the general public back into the welcoming arms of the nearby busy stalls and salesmen, whom all offered much more positive topics of conversation to ponder on such a festive night.

  Poppy then reappeared from around the back of the curtained display, adamant that she would not be drawn into the display’s unhealthy trap of pondering her troubles that had been reanimated from her long dead past. She noticed that the small group was still chatting amongst themselves with the exception of Merlyo, whom was keeping a curious eye on her movements and internally debating if he should come over and talk to her. Zalewski was now keenly chatting up the young and attractive female officer whilst Gerber was eagerly discussing the finer points of plaster death mask creation to the non-listening Merlyo. The detective was far more interested in Poppy’s movements and became happy as he saw her finally move back towards the group after her mysterious foray behind the curtained death mask display.

  She came closer to them before she suddenly spoke in an upliftingly positive tone, wanting to alleviate any residual negative effects of her troublingly resurgent childhood memories “So you guys had any luck with the masks yet?” Merlyo was the first to reply, happy to have her preoccupied mind back within the present and ultimately back with him “Unfortunately no but we’ve had many thousands look at them but still, nothing as yet. We all think that it’s just a matter of time before someone recognises them. What do you think of them?” Merlyo looked at her with loving eyes as though he did not require a response to his question because he was clearly not interested in this current topic of conversation and was more far more fascinated by her timeless beauty.

  She could still read his well versed mannerisms even after not knowing him romantically for such a long time and knew that he would much rather be at dinner with her alone than be here with the awkward Gerber, his preoccupied partner and there dreadfully macabre display. She could relate to this appealing escapism and eventually replied after pretending to take a long and pondering look at each death mask in quiet consideration “There all really good, really ‘life-like’ if you’ll excuse the pun Hehe! How long did it take you guys?” The knowledgeable Gerber then gave a speedy reply to her curious question whilst he proudly looked at his own artistic work and unashamedly admired it “Not that long really! Detective Trunk actually did most of the artistic work such as the painting of the skin, hair and eyes. I simply helped create the plaster masks and I must confess that he’s the real artist, not me. I never knew that he could create such artistic wonders with those origami gifted hands of his? You see the creation of such realistic death masks is a rather complex task that requires a vast amount of time and resources such as....”

  Gerber then started talking in immense detail about how to create the perfect plaster casts from the skulls and decomposing heads, to which everyone was by now either not listening or totally uninterested. As the preoccupied Gerber rambled on whilst looking and eagerly pointing at each of the death masks, Zalewski politely excused himself whilst smiling and winking at both Poppy and Merlyo. He was eager to flirt some more with the young female officer friend that he had been courting all evening and had decided to take this golden opportunity of Gerber’s impromptu lecture to pursue his rampant romantic inclinations. Merlyo comically rolled his eyes in jest at the smiling Poppy as Gerber continued his passionate, intense teaching session into the refined art of plaster death mask creation. The amused Poppy then looked deep into Merlyo’s wanting eyes and he into hers, instantly reconfirming the strong romantic link that they had developed earlier before the intrusion of the mysterious stranger.

  She then did something that she had been doing all night, followed her irrational feelings and abruptly took hold of the startled detectives hand and forcefully led him towards the dimly lit area behind the back of the curtained death mask display. She was determined to follow her heart once more and the elusive feelings of companionship that had escaped her for so very long. Her irrational feelings where all consuming during this turbulent night and she just wanted a form of escapism from the harsh reality which she now uncomfortably found herself trapped within. This harsh reality was made all the more startling with the death masks that assaulted her vision, the mysteriously elusive stranger, the finely crafted dolls that had resurrected hurtful past memories and Ness’s cruel absence. Gerber continued discussing his creations unabated and undeterred without noticing any of the recent departures as he momentarily paused to sip his drink and wet his parched throat. After a silent moment of admiring his work in detail and pointing out some distinctive features to his vacant audience, he proceeded to vigorously lecture about the complexities of skilled paint mixing.

  Meanwhile Poppy and Merlyo had reached the safety of the poorly lit back area behind the macabre display and the concealing curtained blackness was suddenly filled with multitude of flashing colours from the exploding fireworks overhead. She then passionately grabbed his face, forcefully pulled him in towards herself and kissed him with a force of sexual aggression that the startled and shocked detective had never experienced before. The explosion of colours overhead illuminated the previously prevailing darkness which they now found themselves within and feelings of excitement erupted from them both as they passionately kissed each other’s longing lips. The atmosphere was filled with an electricity of sexual passion and barley controllable excitement that had been selfishly slumbering within each of them for so very long. Merlyo hesitated at the beginning as his emotional defences where still up and at full strength but they soon crumbled under her relentless assault of primal lust.

  After this initial, foolish hesitation he simply let himself be submerged by the wave of unrelenting desire and pent up sexual frustration that had accumulated over the past two years, instantly giving in to his unsated desire for a fantasized romantic encounter with her. What emotional defences he had left where soon completely eroded as he relinquished command of his free will to her and reciprocated her passionate advances with a newfound relish. At long last he pulled her against him in a passionate embrace, not wanting to ever let her go and saturating himself fully within her loving aura that he so willingly let consume him. An exhilarating excitement then rushed through Poppy as she felt his strong hands tentatively touch her face and then move behind her naked back, touching her sensitive skin under the red shawl before forcefully pulling her towards his own excited body.

  His aroused body rippled with a primal excitement as he heard her immense enjoyment vocalised with a pleasurable groan because she adored his absent touch that she had so longed for, not knowing how much until this very moment. He obsessively kissed her cheeks and neck and when he finally arrived at her Adams apple, he was delightfully greeted by a luxurious intake of her alluringly sweet smelling perfume which she had so libe
rally applied prior to their currently unbreakable embrace. Merlyo felt as though he had been in a desolate and lonely desert for the last two years of his life and had only now finally found a wondrous oasis of passion to quench his desperate thrust. This thirst was for the elusive companion of compassion and intimacy that had long ago eroded him from the inside out, making him an empty husk which was devoid of loving sensations, until now.

  Whilst they both continued to satisfy their insatiable carnal desires for a newly discovered passionate love from behind the concealing illuminated death mask display, there secret embrace was only occasionally illuminated by the infrequent multi-coloured fireworks that now erupted above them. They however did not notice that they were both being intensely observed through the glass casing by the same mysterious shadowy figure whom had viewed the death masks so intensely before. The illuminated round spectacle wearing immense shadowy figure stood within the nearby shadows, silently motionless as he viewed the exhibition yet again. This time however it was not the death masks that required his immediate attention but the fleeting imagery of the secluded two lover’s firework lit carnal desires, which were on full show behind the displays curtained rear.

  His vacant and brilliantly illuminated round spectacles reflected the macabre display of live, still pleading death masks as the multi-coloured firework explosions raged overhead. They reflected the collections of shadows and vibrant colours in such a way that they gave his silhouette the appearance of some bizarre, otherworldly and featureless owl-like creature. This abnormally shrouded shadowy man-creature was intent on observing the debauched sin that was illicitly taking place behind the curtained vail of secrecy in which it now so eagerly viewed. The creature did not belong here on this plane of existence and was a foreigner within this universe, something that usually lived within the concealing shadows between worlds and would never normally venture into this bright realm through fear of being discovered. The round spectacles stared ominously, unflinching and unchanging as the two proceeded to pleasure themselves and make love, only to occasionally “blink” when the silhouette of the creature lowered its head to momentarily take another swig from its chosen glass of poison. The shadowy thing was adamant not to be denied this viewing pleasure of a carnal union of the primal flesh for its own engrossing amusement because it understood the enticing nature of arousal and desires painfully left unsated.