Face And Ghost
Face and Ghost
by NightsDawne

Chapter 2: The Waking Nightmare


I managed after some time to pull myself together enough to chase after Lucretia, concerned that I had so upset her and confused as to her reaction to my proposal. By the time I reached the mansion she was already in her room, her door shut and locked tight. I took the stairs two at a time and threw myself against the door, calling her name and apologizing for having made the foolish assumption that my love was reciprocated. I could hear her tears through the rich wood, but it was a few moments before she could answer me.

"I do love you, Vincent. But I can't marry you. Forgive me, my love. I'm pregnant."

The words hit me as hard as bricks. I had never touched her beyond kisses, so I knew instantly it could not be mine. Yet who else in this mansion had put her in this state? "Who?!" I found myself demanding, anger rising in me at the thought that such a thing could not have been of her will. Her answer chilled me to the bone and sent me sliding to my knees, though it came in a trembling whisper I could barely make out through the barrier that separated us.

"Dr. Hojo." I felt the bile rising in my throat, but she continued, anticipating my conclusions. "He didn't rape me, Vincent, not in so many words. He needed a child for the experiments and offered me the security of marriage in return. I had no idea that you would ask, or that you even loved me. I have no choice now. Please understand."

"No choice?" I pressed my wet cheek to the door, my heart breaking within me. "Lucretia, all I desire is your happiness. But tell me you will be happy and I won't interfere. Tell me otherwise and I will give you your choice."

She didn't answer me, no matter how I implored. Not even her sobs gave me reply anymore, there was only silence from within. I pushed myself away from the door and got to my feet, then ran with all my anguish spurring me on to the laboratory library, abandoned for the evening. In frantic solitude I grabbed books of notes and began to read, pouring over the tormenting tale of Hojo's so-called experiments in search of answers. As I read I began to realize that not only was Lucretia but one of his guinea pigs, but that the madman was conducting the most awful research that could be imagined. He was planning to hybridize the alien corpse with a human being. What monstrous creature this would produce I could only imagine, but I could not stand by and allow my Lucretia to be used in such an unnatural creation.

With singular resolve I stood and made my way to the locked door that separated the library from the antechamber where surely the hideous alien being named Jenova was being kept in one of Hojo's vats. Too impatient to search for the chance of a key, I pulled my revolver and fired into the lock four times, then kicked it open. My hasty act had ruptured some container of liquid that had been on the other side, creating a slippery hazard. I could not stop for caution, my mind was singularly set upon destroying Jenova. Without even noticing the spill I rushed in, sliding to the floor so roughly that my revolver was knocked from my hand.

I cared not about the revolver, but pulled myself to my feet and stumbled forward to the vat that contained the headless and limbless alien body. Even in this state the sight of it caused me to retch, floating like a nightmare vision in bubbling liquid. My hand fumbled for the nearest switch, but pressing it did nothing that I could see. With a cry of anger I began to tear at the instruments, focusing only on returning this thing to a death state. I never noticed what my Turk instincts would have warned me of had I been in my right mind.

"What do you think you're doing, Vincent?" Hojo's question came in his usual mocking tone, his chortling breaking through my rage and causing me to turn to face him. In his hand was my revolver. "You're not supposed to be down here making messes in my laboratory. You'll upset my precious specimens."

His insane laughter rekindled my anger. "You're a madman, Hojo! I'll stop you. You cannot do this to Lucretia or to humanity!"

"Oh, you'll stop me?" Hojo's laughter only became louder. "You imbecile, I'm the one with the lab coat, not to mention the gun. And you're the disturbed young man attacking my projects."

The cold realization of my situation began to hit me, but I was still determined to finish what I had started. With righteous defiance I reached up to the last switch, slamming it down with my hand. The crackle of sparks from the vat and the sound of the gun firing came simultaneously. I felt no pain, simply a sudden pressure and then a spreading numbness. I looked down to see blood flowing across the white of my shirt, the whole scene becoming surreal. So this is what death is like, I thought as I slid down to the floor. I felt a kick as Hojo rushed to undo what I had done, but I was beyond pain now. The room grew dark around me and I knew no more.

When I awoke I was disoriented. From the appearance of the ceiling above me I surmised myself to be in one of the basement antechambers and laying on my back. I could tell the room was deathly cold, but despite being naked I felt no discomfort at it. My chest ached as if it had been ripped open. My left arm was a searing focus of pain. I became aware of cold steel around my ankles, right wrist, waist, and neck. With some effort I lifted my head slightly in an attempt to find out more.

As I looked down I saw a row of sutures binding together a deep incision on my chest, but the pale grey pallor of my skin was what shocked me more. It was not the color of a living thing. I tilted my head to examine my left arm, but all I saw was a bandaged stump. I heard my scream blending into the tormented wails of Hojo's specimens, but unlike theirs, mine still sounded fully human.

"Ah, you're awake. Amazing! A fully revived corpse." Hojo's maniacal cackling filled my ears and I turned my head to see him standing at the side of the table I was bound to.

"What have you done to me?" I growled. His smirk only grew.

"I never waste an opportunity to further my research, my precious specimen. Why bury a perfectly good body? No, a genius finds something to do with it. A few Jenova cells and look! You're fully functional. Death will become a thing of the past." Hojo cackled again.

"You're insane. You can't destroy humanity by melding it to that creature's cells!"

Hojo raised a brow. "I'm destroying nothing. I only study and improve."

I dropped my head back against the table weakly. "What happened to my arm?"

"One of my greater sparks of creativity, I must admit." Hojo's oily smile was mocking and revolting as it came closer to me. "It wouldn't do to have Lucretia nosing about looking for you, now would it? But now she's too busy grieving your suicide." I stared at him in horror, a reaction that only seemed to please him more. "With a chewed arm as evidence she was quite able to accept that you were such a disturbed young man you would throw yourself into a specimen tank to be torn to pieces."

My rage that he would so treat the woman I loved was beyond that for the mutilation perpetrated against myself, and I senselessly struggled under my restraints, screaming my intent to destroy him. Neither had much effect other than causing him to chortle in amusement. "That would be fairly useless, Vincent, considering I am your maker and the one most knowledgeable about the cells within you," he said, reaching behind him for something I could not see. A moment later I felt a needle enter my arm and numbness and drowsiness began to overtake me. "Now enough explanations. I am not through working yet." Blackness surrounded me as the drug forced me into darkness once more.

"Your name is Vincent."

I started. I was asleep, drugged, yet this was no dream. I stood in a field of pure darkness, perfectly conscious that I was within the confines of my own mind, yet I was not alone. I turned toward the inhuman voice and saw before me a pair of glowing red eyes. "You have the advantage on me. Who are you?"

An outline began to take shape around the eyes, but did not solidify, remaining ethereal. I saw a huge creature, muscles rippling under indigo skin, ruby horns curling back from its temples. "The Galian Beast. Superstitious mortals would call me a demon, but they would be only marginally correct." The Beast stepped forward, studying me as I did it, both of us silent and wary, but he showed no hostility toward me.

"Then I am possessed or going mad. Neither of these states pleases me." I backed away a few paces, but didn't take my eyes from the Beast.

"Possessed? Not exactly. Mad? Hardly. You are a conduit, trapped between death and life. You are shared." The Beast turned, looking at his surroundings, although what he saw beyond the endless darkness I do not know. For the first time I realized that he was as trapped within me as I was bound in the physical by Hojo's restraints. I also became aware that he was not the only one of his kind there, although his form was the only one I could actually visualize. "We are bound to you. Have no fear, we cannot destroy you lest we also destroy ourselves."

"How comforting," I replied in sarcasm, straining to put shape to the three other presences I sensed, but they remained silent and unseen.

The Beast looked back to me and regarded me for some minutes without speaking. When at last his voice again broke the silence, it rang with an air of confidence and command. "We will help each other. You will give us what we need to grow strong, and we will protect you."

Insane or possessed, I was not willing to accept the idea of being ordered about by something in my own mind, and so I straightened myself, determined to remain in charge. "I will consider your offer, Beast, but bound to me or not, this is my body, my mind, my soul." I took a chance on the guess that without my help he and the others were little more than guests in a black prison of despair. "If you want my help, you will obey my commands, not demand of me."

The Beast growled softly, his eyes glowing, but after some time nodded his acquiescence, confirming my supposition. I showed no evidence of fear, using the training instilled in me during my years as a Turk to match his powerful confidence. "You said demon was not a complete description of what you are," I said, circling around him. "Tell me more."

The Beast stood his ground, his only movement the flicking of his hairless serpentine tail. "I am an elemental, born of fire, not hell."

I completed my circuit of study and faced him as if reviewing one of the men in my command. "You are then a powerful monster. Perhaps your protection would be valuable. What is it that will strengthen you?"

"Blood." The Beast gazed down at me, watching for any sign of revulsion on my part. I gave him no such satisfaction. I was not unused to death, although the thought of innocents being murdered kindled outrage within me.

"I will not murder for you. But I am not unwilling to kill those that deserve it."

The Beast nodded slowly. "That is acceptable."

I turned away from the Beast, unafraid of him, but seeking peace and solitude. He spake no more, but the presences continued to be felt even in silence.