Face

“Run.” 

It was all I could think about as I raced down the highway that seemed to overlap the eeriness of the desert. I needed to find a place to hide, a place to escape. I just couldn’t put my finger on where my destination awaited. I had waited for this day for the past two years spent locked up, escaping that jail that I so desperately despised. 

 I looked down at the little business card which held the small letters of, “Oak Plummet, west of I95, go straight for 178 miles”, scribbled in messy pen handwriting. That of my old companion, Kyle. The last time I saw him was before I got escorted out of the court, my hands tied behind my back, mysteriously pocketing the small notecard that he handed me. As the memory fades, my eyes glanced back up to the road, eyeing what seems to be endless patterns of stone formations that creeped up to the corner of my eye, in the middle of nowhere.

After the stolen car that I was driving crept, it seemed as if was edging closer to my destination. The little broken down shack started to catch a glimpse in my eye as the sun began to creep towards the horizon.

As I came closer, I saw the fractured window panes bulging out of the house almost in a 3D formation. The shanty looked too small for one to sustain a life in however seemed like some place where a person would go to disappear from society, or to store belongings for another blazing summer. Questions invaded my head, here and there, “How did Kyle know of such a place?” and, “How will I even know if someone passes by in the few coming months?”. The real discomfort is that I probably never would know, but what is a life without mystery, especially this one. The cottage however, wasn’t adorned with any flounce, instead just bare sandstone that paved the way into the medieval door. A wide wood slab connected with what might have been rusty silver hookings. 

Closer the car rolled down the road as I finally righted the car into the jaring pathway. I stopped the car with a sudden thud and exited the vehicle as I got a better look. Without luggage, except the half eaten Fritos bag alongside the center console, I hastily ambled to the door, taking long strides with my bare feet brushing against the rough and abrasive surface.

 As I pushed open the cryptic entryway I saw that there was nothing special about the place, only a small spruce table that could fit three. To the left, I saw cabinets out of the same material, opened and almost off its hinges, as if with the snap of a finger it would collapse. To the right, an exact imitation of the main entrance appeared again. This time, leading into a small room which was home to a cramped twin bed. However, the cream sheets were coming off and multiple stains brought a presence to my eyes, red. Red stains, blood perhaps. I was used to it anyways. I felt as if anyone would jump at the sight of blood, but unlike the rest I never really minded it, I liked it.

 As I began to walk over to the kitchen again for a better look, my foot creaked across the ground and far in the distance I was distracted by the sound of an engine, the sound of a car. I couldn’t believe it, my whole body flushed over with a feeling of overwhelming not knowing how to immediately catch the attention of passersby. Instead of stand and think, I ran outside and stood at the edge of my property line connecting onto the road. All I could think was: wave. Somehow, get their attention to stop at the side of the road. Maybe for a cup of tea. 

As the engine came clearer, I spotted the men in the front seats, lounging in two coordinated Aeropostale tees. Flouncy brown hair aligned on the cap of the drivers face while the other one obtained a tight to the head, buzzed brown hairdo. A small smirk arose on my face as I continued to slash my hand back and forth making a motion for the two young men to halt on the side of the road. As the car edged nearer, I could see the driver making hand gestures towards me as they were tired and found it quite adventurous to stop in the middle of nowhere. The middle of the desert. Coming to talk to me. They didn’t know what the outcome was gonna be. But hopefully they’d never have to think about it again. Hopefully.

There they were, again, righting just to the left of me as they took a glance outside and halted the engine. A small grin presented itself on my face, I didn’t want to seem sinister but a wave of astonishment and duplicity came rushing towards me, 100 miles per hour. As I continued to walk further, my palms rubbed together, hands diaphoretic. The driver had stared right at me looking through the eerie darkness of the night, perhaps catching a glimpse of my eyes. Seeing who I truly was. However, from past experience these types of men were very moronic when it came to taking red flags.  I edged closer to the young men, my mouth started began to creep open as, “Would you like to come inside and have a little tea? The kettle is just about boiling.” 

The boys’ eyes both had the strangest look on them as if they were panic-stricken to come forward but at the same time as if I were a saviour, that I could assist them, “Actually, that would be amazing, I’m on my way home to my parents,” dead silence filled the air as he then took the effort to continue on the conversation, “this is Luca,” pointing at the boy standing next to him. Luca waved at me however his heart must have been palpitating while his hands kept stuttering, as if he were feared. 

“Come inside, what are you waiting for! Stay the night if you want too,” Lucas’ face twisted as he heard my declaration. It was creeping up into me, I had to act routinely, “my name is Andy.” as I gestured them along in the house. However, I was conscientious to drag behind them, as my prolonged gaze on the back of their heads continued. I was so close, I could just reach out and seize both of them by the heads right now. My whole body was overwhelmed, my heart pounding out of my chest, my eyes hooked. I couldn’t look away, I tried but a rush of motivation telling me, my hands edging closer, my palms sweatier and sweatier by the second. ‘BAAM’, my hand flies forward towards the unnamed boys head. Bashing right into his skull, I pulled my hand from my swing and witnessed the boy drop to the floor, knees bent below him leading right onto the side of the cement pathway. The sound of terror struck Luca as he spun around and stopped dead in his tracks. Glancing right into my eyes and down at the boy, laying on the floor, the blood down his neck drooled like a trail, leading further and further. The blood, the gore, my favorite part. Before Luca could look back at me, I noticed his eyes growing bigger and bigger by the second. He was drowned in sweat and his eyebrows remained raised and he seemed as if he wanted to bound away, far away from me but still wanting to remain and query. That’s what they all do, want to ask more questions, but would they rather end up dead or alive? Before the boy could even think of moving his feet around to dash away, another swing of my fist hit him directly in his face. Bullseye.

There I was, I had everything I needed as I reached for the driver’s body. Heavy, a quite muscular man he was as I flipped him around and dragged his body through the door. I hadn’t had a while to take a gander at the rest of the shack. As I walked inside, there, to the right was the door, hopefully to the basement as I abandoned the bodies to view the area. The basement it was. Once I had spotted it I began throwing the bodies down except Luca’s, his would be most important. When the men were transported, I expeditiously bustled after them and turned the boy around. His eyes closed, I prepared myself for what I was about to encounter. Blood hastily dripped from his nose as I began to unfold the skin, using rusty old knives I had previously found in the kitchen and began to unravel the face, in one piece.

 Minutes later I was left with a face, my new face. The transplant caused a great ordeal of pain to me, eyes pinching and quivering as I attempted to surface my mask onto my blood pooled face, tying the ends with a meager string of rope. However, there was something amiss, my mind began to run in circles, around the invisible track that was my sanity but failed to complete its final lap. My head ached as I clutched onto my face, grasping my hair, dragging my hands from the front, to the back of my head. Heart pounding out of my chest, as I stumpled up the stairs and into the bathroom. There staring back at me through the broken panes of glass was a monster. It was still me inside but I felt like I had moved my soul into a different body. I couldn’t grasp the sides of the sink long enough before I hazily tumbled onto the floor. One more thing I needed to do, as I dragged myself through the shack, now, eyes drowned in tear puddles as I ripped at my eyes until the redness and pain was unbearable. There and then I hobbled over to the mystery car and took a glance inside, checking their belongings, and finding one’s phone laying rightside-up in the car seat.
My jittery hands lay on the phone as I hand-picked it up. Missed calls filled the screens, one reading, “mom.” As my hands swept blood across the phone, I called back. “Mom, sorry I just got into a minor incident, I’ll be home soon.”