It was a beautiful night in New York City. A fresh rain was falling, leaving the air clean and crisp. The buzzing concrete jungle was dotted with umbrellas of various sizes and colours, giving the city a whimsical air. In a dark building somewhere deep in the heart of Manhattan, Danny Messer turned his key in the lock and opened to door to his apartment. Once inside, he kicked off his shoes, removed his dripping jacket and all but collapsed onto the sofa.
It had been a long, hard day for Danny. Work had been especially brutal, with a case involving three young children found dead in a warehouse. Stella, being a sucker for little kids, had broken down; he had to admit it was difficult for him to maintain his composure, as well. To make matters worse, they hadn't been able to catch the son of a bitch who committed the awful crime. It was days like this he truly hated his job.
Eventually, Danny dragged himself off the sofa and headed to his room to change. He was so tired, he wanted nothing more than to climb in between the cool, crisp sheets and let sleep take him. With a sense of I'll-do-it-in-the-morning, he hastily removed his clothes and flung them in a pile on the floor. He then pulled back the blankets, slid into bed, closed his eyes and was asleep within seconds.
Moments later, he heard a voice whispering urgently in his ear.
'Danny. Hey, Mess, it's me! We need to talk,' the familiar female voice hissed.
Sleepily, Danny opened his eyes. What he saw shocked him to such a degree, he was sure his hair must've turned white on the spot.
'Aiden?' he asked, not daring to believe his eyes. 'I must be dreaming. You're supposed to be dead!'
'Way to go, genius,' she said with a laugh. 'I can only stay for a minute, so listen up, ok?'
Danny, too shocked to do anything else, simply nodded.
'Ah, I've finally found a way to shut you up,' Aiden teased. Any thought that she might've been an angel immediately left Danny's mind. 'Anyway, I'm here about that case, the one with the kids. You need to keep your eyes open for the man of many faces. You got that?'
'Wait, that doesn't make sense. What's that supposed to mean?' he inquired, becoming more and more befuddled by the second.
The ghostly figure rolled her eyes, exasperated. 'Look, that's all I can tell you right now. But hey, you can figure it out when the time comes. I always said you were dangerous.'
This wasn't enough to satisfy Danny's curiosity. 'But what do you mean by 'right now'? Will you be back? How can I know you're not just fucking around with my subconscious?' He wanted answers, and he wanted them now.
'Like I said, you'll figure it out,' Aiden coddled as she faded into nothingness. 'Just trust me for once, will you?' At that, her ghostly image completely disappeared, leaving Danny alone in his room.
Just then, Danny awoke with a start, panting and drenched in sweat. He sat up in bed and looked wildly around the room, half-expecting to see her familiar face smirking at his confused state. After a quick inspection, though, he found himself alone. Leaning back and resting his head on his pillow, he mentally played through the supernatural conversation. While Aiden never really seemed the type to leave freaky ESP-style phone messages or send signs from beyond the grave, she had always been serious about her work.
'She did say to trust her,' he thought to himself as he stared up at the ceiling. Still, how could he know for sure that it wasn't just the dream of a troubled mind?
After tossing and turning for twenty-odd minutes, Danny decided to get a drink of water. As he walked into the kitchen, he was forced to do a double-take as he went passed the chalkboard on the wall. There, in clear, block letters, were the words 'THE MAN WITH MANY FACES'. Even more chilling was the signature, in letters so tiny Danny had to squint to read them; 'A. B.'