Faceless

Defy Your Fate

Daniel and Francisca were newlyweds, and I was the third wheel. Now that they were deep in a new honeymoon phase, they wanted to go out, party, drink, and live like they were in their early twenties all over again.

I hated going out, but I indulged them, and I usually got through the night by drinking excessively and convincing myself I was having fun, ensuing hangover be damned.

We ended up at the Lavender Lounge, a popular nightclub in the center of downtown. It supposedly had the best music, people, and vibes, but to me, all nightclubs were the same after a few drinks.

I finished the last few drops of my gin and tonic with a sigh drowned out by the heavy bass vibrating the air around me. I had lost count of my running tab, but given my tolerance and the price of drinks, I knew it would be a lot.

I locked eyes with Francisca from my spot at the bar. She curled her finger as a sly grin crawled across her face. Her vibrant red lipstick shined brightly under the neon lights and lasers that swept the dance floor.

Daniel was way past drunk. His face was buried in his wife's shoulder. I shook my head and raised my cup, but that wasn't enough for Francisca.

"Come on, one more song!" she shouted, struggling to hold her husband aloft.

"One song, I mean it!" I said.

One song went by, along with another drink. Then came another song alongside another drink. By the night's end, I was impressed I could still function enough to call a cab.

Daniel, Francisca, and I stood on the curb outside the Lavender Lounge. A street lamp flickered above as I watched the tiny car on my phone screen inch closer to our location.

"What kind is it?" Daniel said, still slurring his words.

"It's a black SUV," I said.

Daniel chuckled, "Probably like FBI or something coming for your ass!"

Francisca laughed, but I had become too sober to deal with their shit and just wanted to go home to some peace and quiet.

Our driver, Marco, pulled up and put the car in park. Francisca carried Daniel around and set him up in the backseat. I opened my door, smelling a rush of what smelled like fresh cleaner as I sat on the leather seat.

The car was spotless. You could have told me it just rolled off the lot. I knew some Uber drivers took their jobs seriously, but this was a new level.

"Nora, right?" the driver asked.

"Yes, that's me,” I said, “Thanks for picking us up."

"Don't thank me yet," the driver said.

He chuckled at his joke. I didn't find it funny. I clicked my seatbelt in place and laid my head back as the ride began.

"So, what do you do besides drive people around at 2 AM?" Francisca asked.

I rolled my eyes beneath my eyelids. She always had to strike up a conversation.

"I work in healthcare," the driver replied.

"So, like a doctor or something?"

"Or something, yeah."

I didn't need my eyes open to feel how awkward and creepy the whole exchange was.

"Hey, Nora?" Francisca asked.

I opened my eyes and immediately felt my blood turn to ice. Francisca had that look on her face that said she was terrified. Even drunk, the girl had good instincts.

"I think I left my phone at the Lounge," she said.

I nodded. "Uh, Mr. Driver? Marco? Can we turn around? My friend left her phone at the club."

The driver slammed the brakes. I heard the tires squeal as my head shot forward, hitting the back of the driver's seat. I rubbed my forehead as pain crackled along the front of my skull.

"What the hell, man?"

I looked up and saw the driver's reflection in the rearview mirror. He was wearing a gas mask.

A low hiss started to fill the car, followed by a thick white smoke. I turned and pulled on the handle, but nothing happened. I heard Francisca frantically pounding on the other door, but her protests ceased suddenly.

My lungs burned as I tried to hold my breath. I felt my senses fading, though, and soon everything went black.

***

When I woke, I tried to move my arms, only to feel restraints against them. I tried to move my feet, but they were restrained as well. Even my head had a thick strap over the forehead.

Cold metal pressed up against my back. I was on some kind of gurney. I tried to open my eyes, but bright fluorescent bulbs blinded me the second I cracked my eyelids.

"How many more?" a voice asked. It sounded like the driver, Marco.

"Hey, is someone there?" It sounded like Francisca.

"Francisca, are you there?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I can’t move! I'm tied down or something."

"Me too. Don't worry, I'll get us out of here."

I heard a door slam shut. The sound reverberated through the room.

"Oh, you will, won't you?" the driver, Marco, asked.

I heard footsteps approaching. The driver hovered over me. His coarse hands unclasped the belt over my head. I immediately swung around and saw Daniel and Francisca on gurnies to my left.

"Let me out, let me out!" Francisca screamed. Marco walked away from me and towards her. I saw him reach into the waist of his pants and pull out a scalpel.

"Hey, stay the fuck away from her!" I shouted.

Marco stopped and lowered his head.

"Can you please just get it over with? I'm so tired of listening to them."

Another figure walked into view beneath the sterile light. They were dressed in a white lab coat. Their head was completely bald. I watched helplessly as they walked over to Daniel's unconscious body.

"Hey! Leave him alone; just take me!" I said.

The figure in the lab coat turned to look at me. Its face was devoid of features. Nothing but flat skin pulled taut across the front of his head, like a blank canvas.

My mind reeled as the figure lowered the palm of his left hand to Daniel's face. A brilliant white light exploded outward, followed by a rush of air like a shockwave.

"Daniel! Talk to me, man!" I shouted.

"Baby, are you okay?" Francisca asked.

The figure in the lab coat lifted its hand. Daniel's face was gone, erased from his body, leaving nothing but blank skin in its wake.

It turned toward me as it tore a chunk of skin off its face. The flesh melted through its fingers, evaporating as it hit the floor.

It tore off another piece as hair sprouted across its bald head. Beneath the melting skin was an exact copy of Daniel’s face.

"Relax baby, I'm fine!" it said, mimicking Daniel's voice perfectly.

"Nora, can you see him? Is everything okay?"

The thing wearing Daniel's face glared at me. The experience was uncanny. It looked exactly like Daniel, but something about the eyes looked empty.

"Yeah, it's fine," I said.

"Oh fuck this!" Marco shouted.

Francisca cried out in pain. The thing with Daniel's face growled in frustration.

"You stabbed her?" it asked.

"I'm tired of this bullshit! You promised me you would make me a Faceless, but all you've been doing is taking every soul I bring you," Marco said.

"You ungrateful piece of shit!" the thing shouted. It grabbed Marco and threw him like garbage across the room. He collided with my gurney. My entire world flipped on its side as I hit the ground.

One of the buckles came loose in the impact. I slipped my hand through the loop and reached for the other to free myself. I pulled open the foot restraints and crawled away from the gurney.

I stood up and saw the thing with Daniel’s face hovering over Francisca as she screamed and struggled fruitlessly against her restraints. I spotted a set of glass beakers on the counter to my right. Without thinking, I took one and threw it.

The glass shattered on the back of its head. It didn’t flinch; instead, it slowly turned until I was staring down the barrel of its empty eyes.

"Stay right there," it said. I had never heard Daniel so sound menacing.

I surveyed the room as panic overtook my body. I spotted an open door to my left. Before I could think, I was sprinting down the hall.

"Don’t let her escape!" Daniel's voice screamed.

I made it to the end of the hall. My heart sank into the deepest part of my chest when I tried to turn the knob and discovered it was locked.

“Nowhere to go.”

I spun around and saw Marco standing in front of me. The scalpel in his left hand glinted in the fluorescent light.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

Marco stepped forward and pressed the icy tip of the scalpel against my neck.

“Listen closely because I’m only going to say this once.”

I nodded.

Marco leaned in until I could feel his breath hot on my ear.

“When it comes for you, and it will, you’ll only have a few seconds to save yourself and your friends.”

Adrenaline shot like lightning through my veins. My other senses faded until all I could feel was the sound of the words coming from Marco’s mouth.

“Time is a river, flowing swift and true. You'll be plunged into the river when your soul passes through the space from your body to his. When that happens, swim against the current like your life depends on it, because it does.”

He stepped back and locked eyes with me.

“You can change the outcome for both of us, but only if you’re strong enough. If you see me again, tell me you’re a great swimmer.”

“I don’t understan—”

“Move, now!” Marco shouted, brandishing the scalpel.

Marco marched me back down the hall and into the room I had just fled from. The thing turned around. It wore Francisca’s face, but the eyes were again all wrong.

The thing with Francisca’s face smiled. "There's nowhere to run. Just accept it. You're another sheep to the slaughter.”

It held up its hand. In the center of the palm was a bottomless void. A pit of purest black ready to swallow my soul.

"Wait! Just fucking wait!" I screamed.

It paused. "Your spirit amuses me. Speak."

"I'll work for you. Just like Marco does.”

"What do you want in return? To be like me?"

I shook my head.

"No, I want you to bring my friend back. The one whose face you're wearing."

The thing with Francisca's face lowered its palm.

"We have a deal. But only when you've brought me—"

"No. You bring her back now. Then I'll go find you more victims."

It turned and lowered its hand over where Francisca’s face used to be. A flash of light and a blast of cold wind shot through the room. Her body shook like it had been struck with a defibrillator.

I ran to her side and grabbed her hand. I could feel warmth returning to her skin. My eyes wandered up to her face, and I froze. Her features were all wrong—twisted like someone had painted her portrait before smearing the still-wet paint.

Her crooked mouth opened, and she let out a pained shriek as she fought against the restraints. I fell backward into a nearby table and sent medical tools spilling across the floor.

Amidst the cacophony of metal, I saw the thing standing by the door at the far side of the room. It still had Francisca's face.

"What the fuck did you do?" I asked.

It smiled. "I brought her back, just like you asked."

"What's wrong with her then?"

"You never said I had to put her soul back into her body. When things get mixed up, well, as you can see, it’s not pretty."

I shook my head as I grabbed one of the scalpels on the floor.

“This wasn’t our deal!” I screamed, charging at the thing with Francisca’s face. It moved with inhuman speed, and before I could react, I saw the void in its palm descend upon my face.

Everything went blank. The feeling of cold sweat on my skin, the furious thumping of my racing heart, the taste of stale air as I struggled to breathe—all of it was gone. The only awareness I had left was an awareness of nothing at all.

Then came a sensation like falling. I crashed into freezing water. A muffled roar assaulted my ears as it rushed passed me. Then I heard Marco’s voice.

Swim against the current like your life depends on it…

I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel the flow of the current. I turned against it swam with every ounce of strength I had in me. It felt like my arms were moving in slow motion.

I couldn’t tell if I was making progress, but I kept struggling anyway. My lungs begged for air. My body ached from the sudden struggle. At a certain point, instincts took hold, and I opened my mouth to breathe.

I opened my eyes and coughed as water fell from my mouth and face. The smell of booze and the thumping bass of club music filled my ears. I blinked rapidly as I looked around. I was standing in the Lavender Lounge bathroom. I’d recognize those violet lights anywhere.

The memory of the thing with Francisca’s face and the driver, Marco, faded from my mind like an evaporating dream. I stumbled out of the bathroom and back onto the dance floor.

Francisca and Daniel were dancing together, drunkenly swaying to the beat of the music. I checked my phone. It was almost 2 AM. I tapped Francisca on the shoulder. She turned to me with an infectious smile.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“It’s almost 2 AM. Are you ready to go?”

"Come on, one more song!" she said, struggling to hold her husband aloft.

“One more, I’m serious,” I said, returning to the bar.

One song passed, along with another drink. Then came another song and drink; by the night's end, I was impressed I could still function enough to call a ride home.

Just after 2 AM, Daniel, Francisca, and I stood on the curb outside the Lavender Lounge. A street lamp flickered above us as I watched the tiny car on my screen inch closer.

"What kind is it?" Daniel said, still slurring his words.

"It's a black SUV," I said.

Daniel chuckled, "Probably—”

“Probably FBI or something coming for your ass,” I said.

“Yeah, how did you know I was gonna say that?” Daniel asked.

I felt dizzy for a brief moment. The words had just sort of fallen out of my mouth.

“Lucky guess, I suppose. Anyway, the driver, Marco, is here,” I said, gesturing to the black SUV stopping beneath the street light.

Francisca carried Daniel around and put him in the backseat. I opened my door and sat on the leather seat, smelling a rush of fresh cleaner. The car was spotless—you could have told me it had just rolled off the lot. I knew some ridesharing drivers took their jobs seriously, but this was a new level.

"Nora, right?" the driver asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Thanks for picking us up. Oh, and by the way, you should know I’m a great swimmer.”

There it was again. The words came out before I could react, almost like a reflex.

I felt Marco’s eyes burrow into me through the rearview mirror.

“What did you say?” he asked.

“I’m a great swimmer,” I replied involuntarily.

“Let's get you home,” he said, putting the car into drive.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Francisca fell asleep on David’s shoulder, and David passed out against the window. When we arrived at their house, I woke them both up and got them through the front door. The rest was up to them.

When I climbed back into Marco’s car for the last leg of the trip, I could feel him watching me again through the rearview mirror.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve met, is it?” he asked.

A concentrated burst of deja vu crashed into me like a wave. I saw flashes of a hospital, my friends tied down to gurneys, and a man without a face.

“I don’t think so,” I said, rubbing my temples as pain arched through my forehead.

“I don’t have time to explain everything, but just know you passed the test.”

I felt the car start moving. I was still trying to process the sudden influx of memories. They were familiar, yet strange. Marco drove in silence until we reached my apartment. He parked the car and turned around to look at me face-to-face.

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

He answered my question with another question. “Do you remember it? The Faceless from the other timeline?”

I saw the thing without a face in my mind’s eye and nodded.

“Good. I need you to help me kill it.”

“How?”

“We defy our fate, over and over, until it’s done.”

“What are you talking about?”

Marco pulled a gas mask over his face.

“You did it once; you can do it again,” he said.

I felt a cold sensation against my skin like running water.

Marco sighed. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

A low hiss broke the silence. The car quickly filled with a thick white smoke. I held my breath and frantically tried to open the door, but it was locked. I pounded against the window as my lungs caught fire.

All it took was one breath of that smoke, and everything went black.

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Thanks for reading! Here’s this story’s Music Pairing:

Try listening to the song after reading, the way you’d have a glass of wine with dinner. Let me know what you think!

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