Mine(17)

“MMMMM!”

That noise again. I blinked hard. It was coming from my left. My muscles felt heavy, weighted down. I let my head fall to the side. Staring back at me was something out of Nightmare on Elm Street, a monster with a face of blood. It made the noise again and I realized that it was Gary.

I screamed.

The whole side of Gary’s face had been peeled back, revealing all of the muscles and tendons of his cheeks. The only thing that had been left alone, it seemed, was his eye, and that same eye now turned to lock on mine, fixing me with a dead gaze that had no eyelid.

I screamed again and tried to shove myself away, but nothing happened. My arms and legs wouldn’t move. I twisted my body to try to get away, but I realized that there was something tying me down to the bed I was lying on.

Then I saw him.

It was the anesthesiologist. He had taken off his surgical cap, and his dark hair fell in front of his eyes as he bent over the top of the table I was tied to.

“Help me!” I cried. “Dr. Damore, help!”

My mind was slow, muddled, and the walls of the room spun around me like a carousel. What had happened? He had kissed me, and then—

Oh, shit.

My eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. He had stuck me with a needle. It was him.

“I’ll help you,” he said. “You and your husband both.”

My husband? Oh, right. I was supposed to be Susan. I blinked again.

“But please, call me Rien,” he continued. “Now that we’re getting to know each other better.”

“Rien?” I echoed dumbly. Was I awake, or still dreaming? A thought spiraled through my mind as I looked wildly around the spinning room. Maybe this was still part of the role. Maybe I was on a prank show right now.

“This isn’t real, is it?” I asked.

“Real? Nothing is real. Isn’t that what you were telling me before?”

“No, but really. I mean…” I trailed off. If this was a show, then I didn’t want to break character. I would lose the cash. On the other hand, he had stuck me with a needle! It couldn’t be a show. Could it? God, what was happening to me? I swallowed and tried to clear my focus.

Next to me, Gary squealed. I darted a glance his way. Blood pooled onto the sheet, and his face was peeled off of his head. Okay. Right. Not a show. Definitely not a show. I looked back at the doctor. Rien. Even though the walls were still blurry, his eyes were sharply focused.

On me.

“Holy shit. This is real.”

“Real? Maybe. What does real mean? You’re both living a lie already. Fake people, fake lives. And now you want to go start fresh somewhere else.” Rien, if that was really his name, twirled a scalpel in his fingers. I stared at the silver blade flashing in the light. It was hypnotizing.

“This is a mistake,” I stammered. My tongue felt thick in my mouth as I talked. I couldn’t get my head clear, and the room hadn’t decided to stay still yet.

“I agree, you’ve made quite a few mistakes if you ended up here,” he said. Next to me, Gary was still making that horrible wet noise behind his gag.

“No, you don’t understand. I’m not Mrs. Steadhill. You’ve got the wrong person.”

“Really? Is that so?”

“I’m serious!” I said, my voice rising in panic. The room was getting more steady now—the adrenaline of my panic seemed to be slapping my senses back into focus. It was still hard to breathe. “I’m not married to him!”

“Funny, because when we were out in the waiting room you told me you were married to him. Not that your marriage seems that stable—”

“I was lying! I was acting! I’m an act—mmmmmmm!”

Without warning, he shoved a ball of cotton gauze into my mouth.

My tongue went suddenly dry, all the moisture soaked up by the cotton, and I gagged. Whatever he had stuck me with was still in my system, and I felt my throat muscles spasming as I tried to push the cotton out of my mouth with my tongue. Rien slapped medical tape across my mouth, pressing the ends down on my cheeks, to hold it in. Tears burned my eyes.

“Maybe your husband can help you figure out this situation, Susan,” he said.

I shook my head. I’m not Susan!

“Would you like to say something to your loving wife, Mr. Steadhill? Before I get started on her?”

Panic burned at my nerves. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. He was going to cut my face off, too. He was a crazy killer pretending to be a plastic surgeon, and Gary had walked us both right into his house. A low whimper rose from my throat involuntarily. What was I doing here? What was happening?

Rien leaned over and ripped off Gary’s taped gag. I was pretty sure part of Gary’s lips went with it, because he screamed at the top of his lungs. Then Rien waved the scalpel over his face, and he stopped screaming. I could see the blood vessels in his face throbbing as he held back the scream. That terrified me more than anything else.