Skin Deep

94

Above her head hung blinding lights.

She tried to move her arms, but they would not obey the commands of her brain. The same with her feet. Even her middle felt fixed in place. They had strapped her to the table. Then her vision filled with faces.

“What are you doing?” she gasped.

“A little truth, a little beauty. All you need to know on earth. I’m sure Professor Pendergast would have appreciated that. Pity. The wrong man. That makes two of us.”

She didn’t understand what he was saying and she was too fuzzy by whatever he had given her.

Pendergast. Pendergast.

Her mind rummaged for a connection. She recognized the name. Something to do with Steve. But it was too much work to recall.

Three other faces closed over hers.

“You remember Cho and Pierre. Actually, Drs. Cho Furlon and Pierre Shan. And this is Dr. Max DuPre, your faithful chauffeur.”

Unlike Monks, who was in white, they were in green scrubs. She could vaguely recognize the faces. They smiled at her then pulled up their masks.

Someone put a needle in her arm, and magically an IV bag appeared above her head. She smelled chemical odors.

Please! Her mind screamed. What are you doing? What do you want with me? But the words got stuck in her brain and would not come.

Then her brain quieted.

And the last thing she saw was the light fixtures beginning to spin.

And the last thing she heard was a soothing voice, “Good night, Beauty Girl.”

The last thing she felt was Aaron Monks marking her face with a felt-tip pen.