Chapter 24 TWO: The Masked Man

Kevin noticed nothing unusual when they arrived at De-Marie. Everything seemed perfectly normal—maybe too normal. They rushed into the hospital and quickly head for room 231. When they got to that room, they discovered that the door was locked, and Alex tried to open it.

“That’s odd.” his eyes narrowed when it refused to open.

Suddenly they heard a rustling noise from inside the room. “Someone is in there with her.” he whispered to Kevin, taking out his gun from the holster, leaning against the door.

Soon, back-up arrived; armed police officers trooped into the hospital, making loud noises with their feet. When they had surrounded the room and secured the exit, Alex signalled to one of them to pull the door down.

The officer took the clue. Stepping forward, he fired at the doorknob and forcefully kicked the door down. Immediately, the rest of the police officers swarmed into the room with their guns pointed in all directions.

“Freeze!” they hollered as soon as they entered the room, pointing their guns at every corner.

Alex found Lena on the floor—alone, crouched at the corner near the bed, her body hunched and arms wrapped around her knees. She raised her head in fright when she heard the door burst open, her bloodshot eyes boring into Alex.

Alex looked at her with a puzzled expression, then turned to look around and found no one else in the room. Tucked his gun back in the holster and rushed to where she sat. “Mrs. Lena, are you alright?” he asked, pinning his knee to the ground.

She said nothing—only uttered a scared whimper.

He tried to help her off the ground, but she shuddered at his touch. Raised her head to look at him, eyes swollen from crying and cheek wet with tears. She had a sore look on her face.

Kevin quickly rushed to help her off the floor. Gripped her arm and made her sat up straight on the bed. When he turned to look at her, he saw the fear that lingered in her eyes. She seemed scared out of her mind.

“What the hell happened to her?” Alex came closer to examine her. “Maybe the masked man did something to hurt her.”

Kevin looked at her face, eyes narrowing at her. He observed that her eyes were wide opened in horror and her hands were shaking. “I don’t know, Alex. She looks like she’d seen a ghost.”

He wrapped his arm around Lena as he tried to calm her. “You are alright now. No one is going to hurt you.”

Alex squatted, staring directly into her eyes. “The masked man—where did he go? Did he hurt you?”

His question was returned with a quivering stare.

Then Lena moved her gaze from him to stare at something behind him—something that caught her attention. Her expression became horror-stricken by whatever she saw, and tears welled up in her eyes. She kept staring at the wall horrifyingly, then raised a hand to point at something behind Alex—trembling all over with fear. They all turned to look in that direction. The armed men quickly point their guns in that direction, ready to fire at anything that comes into sight. But they found nothing.

“What’s she pointing at?” Alex asked sceptically, eyes narrowed at the wall as he searched for whatever she was pointing at.

“Lena, what are you trying to show us.” Kevin asked, looking over at her.

But Lena’s finger was still pointing at something at the far end of the wall. It felt as though she was staring at someone standing behind Alex. Kevin looked towards the wall which she was pointing at and found nothing there.

He pressed her arm down. “Lena, there is nothing there.”

She grew persistent and kept pointing at something behind Alex. “No! The man who took my daughter is standing right over there.” she finally blurted out.

They all turned to look at where she was pointing. It was just a wall. No one was standing there. Alex, puzzled, walked to the window close beside the wall which she was pointing. He peered outside and found nothing there. Then he walked back to Lena disappointedly.

“There’s nothing there. It’s just a wall.”

Lena grew more persistent. “He is standing right behind you…” she whined, pointing in the wall's direction. “You have to believe me, he is standing right over there.”

Once again, they all turned, momentarily confused at what was going on. It appeared as though a cruel hoax was being played on them. Kevin, dumbstruck, exhaled deeply and turned to him, then returned his gaze to her.

“I know what this is about. Your daughter just died, I get it. You are simply traumatized. It’s a normal reaction to losing someone dear. Seeing the way your daughter died had affected you psychologically, and it’s making you see things that are not really there.”

“I am not seeing things…” she whimpered between her sobs, her voice getting louder. “You have to believe me, he is standing right there!” she kept pointing at the wall.

“Ma’am, I’m assuring you, we’ll do everything in our power to catch the people involved in your daughter’s murder.” Alex chimed in, trying to calm her, but it wasn’t working.

“He is in the room with us, catch him already.” she wailed, pointing her fingers at the wall behind him.

Alex sighed heavily, turning to look behind once more before returning his tired gaze to her. “Ma’am, I think you need to rest. You’re simply stressed out, and it’s making you see things that are not really there. You need to sleep it off. Trust me, it will clear your head a bit.”

He walked to the window. “And if it makes you feel any better, I’m going to shut the windows.”

Then Alex signalled the armed men to leave. And one-by-one, they trooped out of the room.

“Please don’t leave me here.” she mewled, turning to grip Kevin’s arm as she stared with sorrowful eyes. “He will take me.”

“Don’t fret over it, no one will take you, not while I’m here.” he assured, “There is no one in here with us. Now go to sleep. I promise, I will sit by your side to watch you sleep.”

She argued, “But he is standing over there…”

“Just go to sleep Lena, it will help clear your head.” he said—almost impatiently—with an assuring smile. “I would sit right here. No one is going to take you.” he helped her lie on the bed and then covered her with the blanket.

“Doctor, did you notice the way Mrs. Lena behaved earlier?” Alex asked, peeping through the transparent window at Lena, who was already fast asleep.

The doctor’s shoulder slumped—obviously, he knew what they were talking about. “Mrs. Lena is in great shock at the painful loss of her only child, and this is causing her to slowly lose her mind. That is why I had her room sealed off, so we wouldn’t lose her to the street. Right after she was brought here, she regained consciousness shortly after. That’s when the delusion of the man that’d taken her daughter being in the same room with her kicked in. She babbled gibberish about a masked man that wasn’t actually there. And she’s been that way ever since she got here.”

The doctor turned to look through the window, observing Lena sleep soundly through the thick glass. “I learned she suffered some challenges taking care of herself and her daughter. When her daughter was kidnapped, it traumatized her. But when she saw the brutal nature of her daughter’s remains, it destroyed her. Although there is no cause for panic, yet. We just need to move her to a psychiatrist to have her examined before she gets worst.”

As the minute passed, Kevin felt himself getting more worried.

“We took some men to the streets to search for your daughter and the guy she was with when she disappeared. It is particularly hard to find the guy she was with since we have no ID on him.”

William was disappointed over Sergeant Scott’s failure to find his daughter. He buried his face in his palm. And for several minutes, he was lost in deep thought. Then he raised his head slowly to look at Scott and Frank, who sat facing him.

“She wasn’t with the mayor’s daughter?”

“She wasn’t with the mayor’s daughter, sir.” Scott stuttered, a tone of disappointment in his voice. “She wasn’t at her usual hangout either.”

A leer etched across his face as he turned to look away. “It’s been exactly twenty-four since my daughter disappeared and no one knows where she might be?”

A blot of silence.

“We received a report earlier from the city police department.” Frank cut in. “It’s about a little girl that was brutally tortured to death. They found her body lying in the park this morning. I saw the body a while ago…” his eyes fell on William, and his face appalled. “Heck, I throw up at the sight. The body was seriously disfigured, and by a shifter.”

As the minute passed, William felt himself getting more worried, then he glared at Scott. “Intensify effort to find my daughter and don’t stop until she is found and brought to me.”

“Sir, we don’t have enough information on what had happened back there at the hospital. We don’t know where to look.” Sergeant Scott pointed out. “I suggest we wait for agent Derik to recover. He witnessed everything. He should be able to provide us with solid information, which we’ll need to find your daughter.”

William shot him a venomous glance. “You are suggesting that we wait until my daughter’s body is the next they would find lying at City Park?”

Just then, Catherina busted into the office without knocking, interrupting them all. Held a laptop in her hand.

“Miss Catherina…” Frank snarled at her. “What do you think you are doing? Are you trying to get yourself fired?”

“I am sorry for the way I barged in.” she quickly apologized “… but you have to see this.”

She gently placed the laptop on the desk in front of them all. “This is the footage from the security camera in Mrs. Eulich’s room—the one you asked me to dig up for you.” Then she pushed the play button and set it at an angle where they could all view it.

The video started with Mrs. Eulich sleeping, and then the door slid open. In walked a man wearing a mask. He closed the door gently, making sure not to wake Eulich. The masked figure then walked up to where she lay, and taking a moment to examine her, he clutched her neck.

Eulich came awake—gasping, gaping, her eyes wide. She gurgled as she struggled to breathe, and was terrified when her eyes fell on the masked figure that was looking over her, squeezing her neck with such powerful arms. Struggled against his tight grip, but he was too strong. Then she started hitting his arm, struggling to breathe, face turning red.

She kept stroking his powerful arm to lessen his tight grip on her neck, but he did not flinch. She hit his mask hard, nearly causing it to crack. He quickly held her hands to stop her. Eulich inhaled loudly after the grip on her neck was released. The masked man tore her flesh with powerful claws, and Eulich shrieked. Then his hands came down upon her neck, strangling her, his grip stronger than before. She struggled to fight him, but his grip was too powerful.

Finally, her neck snapped, and her hands fell on the bed freely. She died with her eyes open and mouth hanging open. He move his finger closer to her neck to check for pulse—any sign that she was still alive. And when he was sure that she’s dead, he walked away from her, but stopped at the door to look up at the security camera stationed high up on the cinder board wall. After glancing at it for a second, he walked out of the room. The video ended and there was complete silence in the room.