House of Skin

THE ENIGMA OF SPIDER

Like Fenn, Lisa wasn’t sure what she made of this newest development. She spent a great deal of time thinking it over. Such a dilemma demanded to be approached from all possible sides.

If what Gulliver had told them was true, then something mad was going on here. It seemed to be his impression that these women weren’t human, but then he was under a great deal of stress at the time. They may have been quite human, but if they were, then that created even more questions. Was it even remotely possible that Spider and Eddy had two female accomplices? It seemed unlikely. Demented as Spider was, there was a certain cold rationality to what he’d said.

Lisa believed that he believed the Sisters, as he called them, were not human but something else entirely.

Accomplices?

How about Cherry Hill?

No, no, not her.

And why not?

Yes, why not? Cherry was involved, Lisa was sure of that now, she just didn’t know in what way. Could she be an accomplice? Was that possible?

It seemed unlikely. She remembered Cherry quite well and she hardly fit the description of the one—fat, hideous—or the other—a thing. No, Cherry had been a very attractive woman. She could hardly imagine a set of circumstances where Cherry would not be considered beautiful. If Gulliver had seen her, he would have been smitten. All men were… at least until her true nature was revealed.

And you sure helped that along, now didn’t you?

She wasn’t going to think about that. Spider had talked to her of many things. If he and Eddy indeed were working with another woman, he would have told her. He was nothing if not honest about it all. But he was deluded. There was no arguing that point. He was seriously, dangerously deluded. He believed Eddy’s father had slipped off to some alternate world called the Territories. He believed the only way he and Eddy could follow was by committing a series of brutal, yet creative murders that would gain the attention of these Sisters, who in turn would show them the way. It was a very complex mania in its own way and Lisa wondered if it was of Eddy’s creation or Spider’s or a collaboration of the two. She knew little of Spider save what he chose to tell her and they had as yet to find out who he really was. But she knew Eddy. And he’d never spoke of these things to her in their sessions. Only of wanting to recreate his father’s crimes. She wanted dearly to know where these mutual obsessions had come from. The very idea of two apparent psychopaths sharing a common psychosis was fantastic. Her book was looking better with each passing day.

Or worse.

It all depended on your point of view.

And Lisa wasn’t even certain what hers was any longer. Professionally, she was fascinated like never before; personally, as a human being, she was terrified. First Dr. Blood-and-Bones himself (Mr. Billy, heh, heh). Bad enough. Then a son who worshipped him, a son with the proper psychological makeup to repeat his atrocities. Even worse. And finally, said son hooking up by sheer coincidence with another lunatic who shared his tastes and outlooks. It was scary. Add a pathological murderer like Cherry Hill in the mix and it became an absolute nightmare.

Christ, where would it end?

And what of Gulliver? Could he possibly have seen what he claimed to? Was it even remotely possible that there was more going on here than mere human dementia? A larger picture that paled everything that was set against it? The Territories? The Sisters? There could be no truth in it.

Do you believe in ghosts?

She’d said that to Fenn and had been completely serious.

Can you believe in something much worse?

A place where people like Eddy and Spider and Zero himself were honored guests?

Bullshit. Sheer dementia.

She had no idea what she believed anymore. She only knew that Spider had pretty much said the Sisters were discarnate entities of a sort and that Gulliver claimed to have seen them. And she knew she believed them both and in the process was beginning to disbelieve in herself and the constants of physical reality she’d always held so dear.

It was maddening.

Time to see Spider again.

It was an easy thing to arrange. Fenn was as confused as she was about all this and he was more than happy to let her have another go at his resident psychopath in hopes of unraveling this insanity.

Back into the interrogation room.

“Well? What now?” Spider inquired.

“I have more questions. I don’t even know where to start.”

Spider rolled his eyes. “Cheap drama,” he muttered under his breath. He was dressed in a jail uniform now and his face was cleansed of make-up. His beads and jewelry were gone. He was just a wiry youth with a pale face, too much hair, and more tattoos than a sailor. His eyes were intense and shiny like those of a mad dog just before it bit.

“When Gulliver saw you and Eddy the other night,” she began, “he said he saw someone else too.”

“The Sisters?”

“Yes.”

“What of it?” He seemed unconcerned.

She was taken aback by it all. Spider was freely acknowledging their existence, that they had indeed been in attendance that evening. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear at all.

“I want to know about them.”

“And I want a cigarette.”

“This is a non-smoking facility,” she reminded him.

“Then pedal your questions somewhere else. Either I get an ashtray and cigarettes or I’m done talking.”

She again explained the no smoking policy, but Spider was buttoned-up tight. He would not even admit she existed. She tried again and again, but he just stared off into space.

She went to Fenn and he okayed it. His boss was going to be pissed, but if it meant getting closer to some answers, Fenn wanted him to smoke his lungs out. Whatever it took.

Once Spider had a few drags in him, he relaxed. Maybe he relaxed too much. “You worked with Eddy at Coalinga. Did he fuck you?”

Lisa reddened, but shook her head. “It wasn’t that sort of relationship.”

“I was just wondering. He has a way about him. He can make women do just about anything. They can’t refuse him. I’ve watched him work. He flirts and teases, gets them hot and bothered and—”

“Spider, please, let’s stay on topic.”

“—then once he’s got them worked up, he turns away from them. They practically crawl after him. I’ve seen them beg for him to use them.”

Lisa squirmed in her chair, thinking of the night Eddy had nearly raped her. But it hadn’t been rape. She didn’t think she’d ever wanted anybody as much as she wanted him that night. She could practically still feel the engorged head of his penis begin to push into her… then he had withdrawn. Spider was right: he did have a gift. She knew it was true. She’d practically begged him to screw her that night. It took great strength to get free of the trap he’d laid.

“I’m waiting,” Spider said.

God, she felt flushed hot from head to foot. She had to concentrate. She had to get goddamn Eddy Zero out of her mind. She was a professional and she had to act like one.

“The Sisters,” she said. “Tell me about them.”

“Ah, yes.” He shrugged. “Their history is a bit hard to trace. It took me years of research to even find out they existed.”

“Then you’re saying they’re not human?”

“Not in the usual sense. I thought I made that abundantly clear?”

Lisa was at a loss for words. Had she not been a psychiatrist, she supposed she would have left now. It was all madness. “Tell me about them.”

“The Madonnas,” he said. “They’re called that sometimes, too. I think the Marquis de Sade preferred that title. I’m not sure of its meaning. Regardless, they’re not sisters as such. Only insofar as common experience goes. One of them has a rather hacked-up appearance, you know. As if she was pulled apart and sewn back up in a hurry. I’ve read certain hints that she’s Crippen’s dead wife.”

“Crippen?”

“Dr. Crippen. Don’t you know your criminology at all?” He seemed impatient with it all.

“Yes, I know who Dr. Crippen was.”

“I’ve read that might be her. Other sources disagree. I don’t think it’s important, do you?”

“Probably not.”

“It’s like Gulliver told you: one’s heavy and big-titted like a wench from an old painting, you know? The other isn’t even human exactly, just a hacked-up, shredded thing.”

She found that interesting because she’d never told him exactly what Gulliver said, yet he was certain Gulliver had given her the specifics.

“And they’re joined?” she asked.

“Yeah. There’s like a birth cord connecting them… so maybe they are real sisters. Maybe they came from the same womb.”

“So if you kill in a certain way…?”

“Yeah, they come. It’s like bait to them. The Sisters open the gates to the Territories for certain aspiring, creative individuals. They’re lovers of art, you see. And the only art form they recognize is that of atrocity. Hence, human flesh is the medium and the canvas. The knife being the instrument with which it is shaped, re-invented to one’s own personal view of masterpiece. It’s all quite simple, isn’t it? Impress them with your talents, they let you in.”

She felt empty inside. His madness was so lucid, so real, it was infectious. “And the Territories?”

“A sphere of existence, nothing more. Different from this. A place of experience and enlightenment that the human mind can scarcely conceive of.” He paused, lost in thought. “I don’t know much about science, except that which I find useful. I only know it’s there. I’ve heard it described as a world between worlds, a neutral ground between this dimension and another. An extradimensional back alley of sorts, a cubbyhole of alternate reality.”

“And the Sisters travel from there to here?”

“Why not?” Spider asked of her. He butted his cigarette and lit another. “But there’s something else you wanted to ask me, isn’t there? Something more pertinent to the matters at hand.”

He was quite perceptive, she noted. “Gulliver said he saw them. If he hadn’t told us that, I would say this is all a delusion of your own creation.”

Spider giggled. “You can trust that old queen, can’t you? They exist.”

“The police want to know if these Sisters aren’t flesh and blood. If perhaps you and Eddy have two female accomplices.”

“That’s crazy,” Spider told her. “There’s only the two of us.”

“Then you insist the Sisters are of supernatural origin?”

“I don’t know shit about the supernatural, Dr. Lochmere. They exist. They have flesh, but it’s not like our flesh. They’re not ghosts exactly and they’re not residents of this boring world.”

“I see.”

He laughed in his throat. “No, you don’t. You think I’m crazy and I probably am. But I’m not wrong,” he assured her. “I have books at my flat. You can read of the Sisters, the Territories, other things your science doesn’t recognize in them. Whether you believe them or not, that’s up to you.”

“Then others have known?”

“Countless.”

For the first time in her career, she was actually frightened by what she was hearing. The delusions of others never held any weight for her before. But this was different. Spider believed this. As did Eddy, she was sure. It had been written in books by others. And Gulliver had seen it with his own eyes.

“Have they found another body yet?” Spider asked. “I’m sure Eddy’s carrying out our plan without me. He’s quite dedicated, you know.”

“I haven’t heard.”

“No matter. Others will turn up and soon. Eddy’s as industrious and compulsive as his father. I imagine he’s keeping busy.”

“I’m sure,” Lisa said. “One more question, if I may.”

“Of course.”

“Do you know a woman who calls herself Cherry Hill?”

“No. Do you?”

“Is she working with you and Eddy?”

“I said I don’t know any Cherry Hill. Who the hell is she?”

“It’s not important.”

“Goodbye then, Herr Doctor,” Spider said. “We won’t see each other again, I’m guessing.” His grin deepened. “What’s the old nursery rhyme? Run to bed children, before it gets dark? Yeah. Take my advice, Doc. Run away. Get the fuck out of here. This isn’t for you, but if you keep nosing into things, you’ll be taking a trip to the other side. You won’t like it there.”

She broke off the session and went to the door.

Behind her, Spider said, “Before it gets dark.”

She stumbled out of there, visibly shaken, creeped out in ways that surprised even her. There was something happening here. Something unnatural and eerie and she was scared. The next thing she knew, she was falling and Fenn’s arms caught her.