Pantomaniac

Chapter 17

The air was as dead as the last time Kef was there. The only thing he could hear was the occasional whisper of crickets...and his own breathing. Having checked that the dog was not lingering anywhere near the bungalow, Kef had made his way to the front door. He knew it was a rather silly move. The door didn't budge that door and it certainly wasn't going to just because he had decided to come for another try. But Kef had to start somewhere and standing there, staring at the wooden carvings, bought him some time to reel everything in.

Again, he tried the knob and leaned onto the door. But this time, he did not manage to push his weight. For something happened right before that.

A sudden jolt went straight to Kef's head. His fingers slipped from the knob. Staggering backwards, he grabbed his head and tried to steady himself. The world spun. Everything went dark.

Kef was back at the smoky area. But this time, the smoke had already cleared and was floating around him. A few feet in front of him, the mime child stood facing him. She was holding the bottom of her mask, gripping it, squeezing it.

Drops of blood fell to the floor. Kef heard each drop. Like a leaky faucet. But the sound echoed and pierced the silence.

Kef felt himself being pulled by the same invisible string. The mime held her hands out as she took a step back. By the second, they got closer and closer.

As Kef got nearer, the mime pulled the bottom of the mask. He saw the holes where her eyes were shifted. Her chin came to view. It was smeared with thick blood which fell to the floor. A puddle of red was forming under the child's feet. The mask went higher and higher up her face. Kef got closer and closer. He tried not to but he simply couldn't.

Then Kef saw her lips. Her saliva had mixed with the red liquid, drooling down her chin. As she pulled the mask further up, he saw her nose. The first part of her face that wasn't covered in blood.

Kef stopped advancing. He stared at his feet. The mime had stopped pulling him.

But he started to fall backwards. He reached out, trying to grab the mime but she was too far. Kef felt the air rush onto his back as he saw the smoky sky.

A hard thud woke him up. Kef stared at the roof of the foyer. He winced. His back felt like a thousand worms were crawling out of his skin. The burning sensation returned with a vengeance, causing him to tear up.

Kef banged his fist on the floor as he sat up. He almost saw who it was behind the mask. Almost.

*****

The snapshots in Kef's head didn't really go away that time. While he was no longer invaded by the near unmasking of the child mime, flashes of the mysterious child kept crawling back into his mind. Each time, his vision went dark and he had to stop walking. In between those images, he saw the rest of the troupe. The little ones which cornered him at the office the other day.

Kef tried to power through. He took one step after another, slowly making his way out of the forest. He had wanted to explore the premise around the house but his head just wasn't having it.

He was taking another step when what he saw in his recurring vision took a swift turn. He steadied himself against the tree. His morning meal threatened to force its way up and out of his throat. Kef squeezed his eyes shut, fighting between wanting to believe the vision or casting it away. What he saw was nothing like the visions and dreams that had infiltrated his life all that while. What he was killed every other interest he had in mind. Every plan he had formed. Every mission.

Maya.

It was a brief moment but that was who he saw. His daughter was walking in circles. Her eyes dead. Her arms limp. She walked in a zombie-like fashion.