Dr. Morbid's Castle of Blood (Masks)

by Hayden Thorne

  “Watch and learn, ladies and gentlemen,” Freddie piped up. “This is what awaits you when you get involved with a boyfriend or a girlfriend. I’ve been taking notes from the get-go. I think I’ll be single for the rest of my life.”

  “Me, too,” Althea said. “I’m scared now.”

  Pfft. Straight people. They have no concept of excitement.

  By the end of our nice little burger bonding time, we’d all agreed to test out the video game that Althea borrowed, with the thought that it was going to be great practice for her superpowers and maybe even lead to the discovery of a new skill that she could use for crime fighting. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a place to go to. My bedroom was out, considering how tiny it was and how ancient my poor old desktop was. Everyone else’s places were pretty much out as well for a bunch of different reasons, like parental wrath and unmade bedrooms with curious little secrets.

  Then everyone started dropping Dr. Dibbs’ name and was looking at me to get on his good side, so we could use my “classroom” for playing video games. Hell, why not, right?

  Too bad it was like trying to talk about flowers and free love to an over-educated and very scientific brick wall. That turned out to be my agenda the following morning, being Friday, and no sign of superhero search-and-rescue practice missions in sight.

  “But it’s for the greater good!” I said. “I mean, think of it this way—Spirit Wire gets to practice her skills in computer manipulation, and she can not only expand on them, but also find a new skill or power she might not have expected. Wouldn’t that be great? I mean, think of how it’s going to benefit the superheroes in the long run!”

  Dr. Dibbs just frowned at me through his glasses while leaning on his elbows and clasping his hands in front of him. He said nothing.

  “Please?”

  I didn’t play the dimple card with him. I’d tried before; it never worked. At least it never worked when it came to manipulating him into not slapping me with Chemistry and Geometry tests. He continued to frown at me and stay quiet. It was freaky as hell. The longer he did it, the more I was tempted to confess to all kinds of sins that I never even committed.

  “I’ll show you Grimm and let you pet him.”

  Dr. Dibbs blinked. “Mr. Eric, I’m not one for sexual solicitation from a minor.”

  “Huh—no! Grimm’s my new cat!” I spluttered, grimacing. “Gross! Oh, that’s so wrong!”

  He just pursed his lips and waited. I swear I could feel blood oozing out of my pores from that stare. It was something that all adults did to teenagers, I guess, when it came to squeezing information out of them. Or if not, just plain messing around with their minds till they collapsed into a guilt-induced coma, even if they were totally innocent of everything.

  I sighed, sagging in my chair. “Okay, we’re all bored as hell, considering how quiet it is in the crime world, and we wanted to do something normal and teenager-y, know what I mean?”

  “Ah, there you go,” Dr. Dibbs said, finally straightening up and pulling out his notes for that day’s lessons. He adjusted his glasses and rifled through his stuff. “That wasn’t too hard now, was it?”

  I scratched my head. “So—is that a yes or a no?”

  “Hmm? Well, ask Miss Brenda,” he said without looking up. “It’s her shop space we’re using, after all. It’s also her computer or laptop whose programs you’ll be running into the ground unless you and your friends bring yours along. Regardless, it’s also her electricity bill you’ll be sucking up.”

  “That’s a pretty depressing way of putting things.”

  “I never ran for Miss Congeniality, Mr. Eric. Let’s get on with our lessons, shall we?”

  * * * *

  The good thing was that Brenda agreed, which was all that mattered, considering what Dr. Dibbs said. I did promise to bring Grimm with me sometime to show her, which helped make up her mind. Plus I also made sure to get her a big bouquet of flowers and a box of dark chocolate during my lunch break. Sure, those ate up a bit of my savings, but a bored and desperate teenager’s gotta do what he’s gotta do, I guess.

  “The shop will be open, anyway, and I’ll be here to monitor you crazy kids,” she’d said, though I could barely hear her with her face deeply buried in her bouquet as she sniffed the flowers. “Bring your own food, though. It’s usually busy on Saturdays, and I won’t have time to pamper you.”

  “No, that’s cool,” I’d told her. “We just need your permission to use the back room. We’ll bring our own supplies and stuff, and we promise to clean up completely after we’re done.”

  “No noise, too, okay? I don’t want to hear any screaming or crashing furniture or whatever it is teenagers do nowadays to celebrate a kill or to throw a tantrum after getting blasted into oblivion.”

  I communicated all her terms to everyone after “school,” and we spent Friday evening preparing for “game day,” which included asking my parents’ permission to hang out with friends at the last minute. Thank God for my secret weapon.

  “It’s only for one day, Mom,” I said, watching her as she sat at the dining table, reading her magazine and enjoying some relaxing time after dinner. Everything had been cleaned up and put away, and I’d already finished my homework. Too bad those didn’t really mean much when it came to playing video games with friends.

  “And who’s going to be looking after you?” she asked, practically mumbling her words because she was totally fixated on what she was reading.

  “Brenda will. And the room’s in her shop, and it’s the same room I use for my tutorials.”

  “Video games, though? I heard those things can run on forever. How long are you guys planning on destroying each other?”

  “I don’t know. Depends on how the game goes. We’ve never played it before, and part of it’s going to be getting used to it—you know, the controls, the commands, the weapons, storyline, whatever.”

  Mom just went, “Tsk!” and shook her head. I expected as much. I sighed, pulled Grimm out of my jacket where I’d hidden him, and dangled him close enough to Mom so she could sense his soft, furry, purring warmth. Then like clockwork, Grimm let out his tiny little “Meow!”

  Mom didn’t even look up. Without skipping a beat, she flipped the page of her magazine and said, “Okay, fine. Call me when you get there.” Then she raised a hand and petted Grimm before carrying on with her reading. She never once looked at either of us.

  “Good boy, kitty,” I whispered, carrying Grimm out of the kitchen. “When the dimples fail, you’re on. Got that?” I had to carry him upstairs since he was still recovering from getting his nuts snipped, and I spent the rest of my time reading in bed with Grimm curled up on my back, dozing and twitching. He also snored. I never thought that cats snored, but this one did. For a moment I thought I was letting out farts that sounded like some old guy wheezing, but it was my cat snoring. Crazy.

  * * * *

  It was like an annual Superhero Convention taking place in Brenda’s antique shop the next morning. The only things missing were not only Magnifiman, but also fans in cheesy costumes, brandishing superhero action figures and stuff and creeping out their idols.

  Brenda stood outside her shop, smoking and getting ogled by pimply-faced teenage boys who walked past. She totally ignored them, of course, being way older and hot in her usual look—tight sweater, skinny jeans, boots, her reddish-brown hair long and curly and eye-catching, her light blue eyes looking sharp and alert.

  I jogged up to her, all smiles and perkiness. “Hey, isn’t it a little early for you to smoke?”

  She eyed me dully. “My shop’s about to be invaded by a bunch of bored, temporarily unemployed teenage superheroes,” she said. “I think now’s as good a time as any to smoke my lungs into a shriveled pair of black, leathery blobs.”

  “Oh, you love us. Besides, we promised not to wreck your place.”

  “I know. But you shouldn’t underestimate the power of teenage ADD.”

  I grinned even more broadl
y, and dug around my messenger bag. “Teenage ADD means lots of crazy gifts for my favorite Sentry agent.” I fished out a box of dark chocolates—Belgian this time. And I believed the label, considering how much money I spent on nine pieces of crummy chocolate. My savings were seriously getting eaten up for the sake of fun. I really should create a budget, but it was too boring and stupid, so I kept putting it off.

  Brenda stared at the box and then at me, holding her cigarette up the whole time. Then she dissolved in a fit of giggles, shaking her head and taking the box from me with a quick peck on my cheek. “You’re a great hustler, kid,” she said. “I worry for Peter. Now get your ass inside and fire up my laptop. I’ll tell everyone you’re waiting.”

  Yeah, she was nice enough to lend me her laptop, which was kind of disappointing in a way because I thought she’d have like porn stashed on the hard drive somewhere, but I found nothing. It looked like a laptop she had on the side—a small and somewhat old one that pretty much had zero programs in it beyond the basics. Damn.

  So one by one, the rest of the gang showed up with their laptops, with Ridley treating us to pizza later on.

  “I’m so excited,” he said, looking all sheepish and embarrassed. “I’ve never had this many friends before. My parents are in shock right now.”

  “Wait till we actually spend time with them,” Peter replied, grinning, as he entered the room, Freddie in tow. He gave me a quick kiss before getting booted out of my personal space. I might love the bastard, but I had dibs on my usual chair and desk, and I wasn’t going to share it with anyone, boyfriend or no.

  Now I’m nowhere near being a tech geek, but I thought that in order to play, you needed to have the game installed in your computer, but Althea pretty much bypassed that by using her laptop for the main computer, powering up, and then somehow linking it to everyone else’s. She sat at Dr. Dibbs’ desk, while everyone else found their little corners, with me all nice and comfy at my desk. Freddie, Ridley, and Peter all sat on the floor on cushions that Brenda provided, and Wade was given a chair and a small table as well.

  “Okay, here we go. Whatever you do, don’t click on anything till I’m done merging everyone,” Althea said. Then she fell silent and started concentrating, her brows knitting as she stared at her laptop screen.

  Little by little, the screen started glowing a bright white, which reflected off her face till it about blanketed it, and we couldn’t see Althea’s features at all—only a white head, the faint outline of her glasses as well as her baby dreads. The glow continued for a moment, and we all let out little sounds of surprise when our own laptop screens suddenly broke out in bright light as well. I had to turn away and pinch my eyes shut because it blinded me, and I could feel warmth coming out, pulsing for several seconds before fading, and the screen slowly went back to normal.

  “Whoa, that was awesome,” Freddie said from his wall. He glanced up, grinning and pointing at his laptop. What a dork.

  “You should come up with a computer mask, dude,” I said.

  “Ugh, no. I hate to think how things’ll be with people using the keyboard. I also don’t even want to think what part of my anatomy would turn into a keyboard.”

  “Let’s not go there, man,” Peter piped up, staring at Freddie with a weird look on his face. “You gave me enough nightmares when you turned into a water cooler.”

  “You think you’ve got it bad? Dr. Dibbs had to play temporary therapist for me for a week.”

  “Okay, okay, here we go, guys!” Wade cut in, practically squealing.

  We all went quiet and stared at our screens. Sure enough, the game had begun, with the usual introduction crap playing, yadda, yadda, yadda. “So-and-so Productions, etc.” and all that. I looked up and exchanged excited glances with everyone but Althea, who sat like a statue in front. It was pretty freaky looking at her with her fully integrated like that (or whatever term was used to describe her completely meshing with the computer). The white light had gone down, and it looked like the normal screen brightness reflecting off her face. She was rigid, her expression all blank, and her eyes showed nothing but white behind her glasses. She looked like a corpse, which kind of made my skin crawl, but at the same time, I was in awe of her powers.

  When she started talking, only her lips moved. “You’re all in,” she said. Her voice sounded strange, as though she were talking out of one of those old-fashioned walkie-talkie things. It actually had static in it. “Okay, go ahead and create your characters.”

  “Are you okay, Althea?” Peter asked.

  “Yep. That was too easy. I’d laugh if I could, but I feel like I’ve just had a bath in cement, and I can’t do much but flap my gums.”

  Chattering like little kids, the rest of us created our characters, sometimes laughing at what we came up with, sometimes whining about the options we were given. I decided to be a ranger type of character, complete with cloak and hood, a mask that covered my nose and mouth, a crossbow for my main weapon, and a pair of long knives for backup.

  “Hey, how come I can’t see everyone else?” Freddie piped up.

  “That’s because we haven’t started yet,” Wade said. “Okay, I’m set.”

  Everyone else said the same, and Althea finally gave us the signal we’d been dying for. “Right—three seconds, and you’re in. Three…two…one…now!”

  Our screens pulsed white again, but this time it didn’t blind me, which was really strange, but that was Althea’s power for ya. My screen let out a cloud of warmth, too, enveloping me and making me feel all snuggly and comfy. The light grew around me till it was like I was completely swallowed up by whiteness and soothing warmth. I even looked around me and saw that I was alone, with everyone else all blocked out, at least by my own little white electronic cloud. My chair was still there, and so were my desk and Brenda’s laptop.

  From somewhere in the screen, I heard Althea’s voice. “I’m about to take you all in. Don’t move, don’t freak out. And it’s…now.”

  Something shot out of the screen and came at me, nearly making me fall back with a little cry, but I clung to the desk and let it wrap itself around me the way the light did, though in this case, the feeling was tighter and harsher—like a giant hand just shot out of my laptop screen, grabbed hold of me with a firm squeeze, and then pulled me inside in a rush of color and static. I still let out a yell of panic, and I thought I heard the others cry out as well.

  “Don’t freak out, I said! Jeez, you guys! You’re all safe! Don’t worry!” Althea said, her voice pretty much filling up my immediate world.

  The rushing tunnel of colors and static soon gave way to what I could only describe as a hole at the end of a narrow tunnel. Around me the psychedelic weirdness that sucked me in dispersed, breaking apart and then vanishing in the air, while I pitched forward with a yelp, throwing my hands out as the ground flew up to meet me. I hit a hard surface, my breath getting knocked out of me, and I rolled a few times and then stopped.

  “What the hell..?” I panted, lying on my back and staring up, my brain still spinning in my skull, and I swore I could hear it slosh around. Above me was an overcast sky, the clouds all thick and totally gray, and they took on shapes that I’d never seen before. They looked more like torn fabric or whatever—shredded bits of something in a dingy shade. I didn’t know if it was night or day, but I expected to be drowned in a sudden downpour.

  “Oh, my God, are we in the game?” someone spluttered nearby.

  I turned and saw a figure push himself up to a sitting position and rubbing the back of his neck gingerly. I frowned. “Peter? What—why are you Calais?”

  Peter glanced up at me, startled, and then looked down, bringing his hands up to stare at them. “Oh,” he said. “I’m not my character. Hey, Althea? Uh—there’s a bit of a glitch.”

  I sat up as well and looked myself over. I was in civilian clothes. I gazed around and saw Wade as Miss Pyro, Ridley as Quickshield, and Freddie as—well—he’d somehow taken on one of his masks, which wa
s a miniaturized dragon with sparkly scales all over. It kind of made me think of a kid’s dumb cartoon character—only sappier. Freddie-sparkly dragon stood up, looked himself over, and shook his head.

  “Man,” he groaned. “Of all the—I hate this mask the most.”

  “What’ve you been doing?” I asked, staring at him. “Is that one of your practice masks or something? Or are you planning to use it to terrorize a bunch of goth kids?”

  “It’s a practice mask, of course. God, there ain’t no way I’m going to use this piece of crap mask in public!”

  “Hey, Althea?” Peter called out again. We’d all finally picked ourselves off the ground this time and were all looking around, totally confused. “Is everything okay? Why are we all in superhero form?”

  “I don’t know,” Althea said, her voice alternately fading and vanishing under static and growing louder and crystal clear. “I never said this was going to be a smooth process.”

  “Well, since we don’t look like our avatars and we’ve all been de-weaponized because of that, I guess we can use our superpowers in the game,” Wade said. She paused, thinking. “Wait a sec. There’s something not quite right here.” Then she turned, raised a hand with the palm out, and aimed it at the nearest boulder. Her hand slowly glowed as she powered up, and I recognized her arsenal. She was about to shoot a series of fire balls. The glow brightened. Then it died.

  We all stood there, watching and waiting. Nothing happened. Wade tried again, and this time, her hand didn’t even glow.

  “Well, that answers my question,” Wade said, turning to us and grimacing while shaking her hands as though she’d just strained her wrists. “We’re in superhero form, but we don’t have our powers.”

  “Maybe we need to advance in order to get your powers back,” I said, scratching my head. “In my case, I need to find weapons to use as I sure as hell am not going to survive against demon princesses like this.”

  “I don’t sense anything strange or off-balance or whatever,” Althea said. Her voice continued to struggle against static, it seemed. “It’s best to move forward and see what happens unless you guys want out now.”