House of Skin

REVELATIONS IN BLACK

There was a knock on Lisa’s door that afternoon. She expected Fenn or Eddy or Cherry and dreaded them all in their own way. But it was none of these people. It was Cassandra. The girl she’d met downstairs in the lounge. She was wearing a dark business suit with matching skirt and a veiled hat. She looked ready for a funeral.

“I’m really sorry to intrude,” she said. “But I think we should talk.”

Lisa said nothing. Words were beyond her. Now what could Cassandra have on her mind? Her guest pushed past her and Lisa was struck by an overpowering scent of perfume. It was sickening.

“Could I get you a drink or something?” Lisa asked.

Cassandra shook her head. “No, I never drink anymore. It doesn’t agree with me. I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?”

“No, of course not.”

“It’s important that we talk.”

Lisa sat down. “About what?”

“Eddy Zero.”

Lisa felt a headache coming on. Eddy again. Cassandra was involved in this, too? Christ, what next? She’d been secretly hoping this would be about some personal problem. Anything to distract her mind for a while.

“You’re tracking him down. You told me that much the other day. I’m afraid I wasn’t totally honest with you then. I do know who he is and what he is. I probably know better than anyone else.”

Lisa chewed her lip. “I’m listening.”

“This is really hard to say. I wouldn’t have come forward unless I felt it was necessary. And it is.”

“Tell me,” Lisa urged her. “Nothing you could say would surprise me.”

Cassandra laughed softly. “Don’t be so sure, lady.”

“I’m waiting.” Lisa realized there was an edge to her voice, but she didn’t really give a damn if she was being rude or not.

“The other day you remarked that I was familiar, that you thought you knew me from somewhere. You do. I said you were familiar, too. And you are. I knew from where. I sought you out that day. I wanted to talk to you, to feel you out as it were.”

“Why? Where do you know me from?”

“The first girl Eddy murdered in this town was at his father’s old house.” She stopped and let that sink in. “But what you don’t know is that I was there when it happened.”

“You witnessed it?” Lisa asked.

“I was the victim.”

Lisa just stared. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. The body that was found in the house was never identified, was it?”

“No, but—”

“But it turned up missing from the funeral home along with a certain undertaker named Fish. Right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m afraid I’m the missing cadaver.”

Lisa sat up. She could say only one thing: “You’re crazy.”

“No, not at all. I’m probably one of the few sane voices in this entire mess. Look, I’ll prove it,” she said, taking a tissue from her purse and holding up her right hand. As Lisa watched, she began rubbing at it with the tissue. It took only a moment and when she was done, the tissue was stained with dark make-up and her hand was stripped of color. The revealed flesh was gray and mottled.

Lisa was on her feet now. “This… can’t… be…” her voice was saying.

But it was.

She’d been in enough dissecting rooms and morgues to know dead flesh when she saw it. There was no life in that mottled gray skin. Cassandra was either dead or this was an elaborate joke. But she knew better. Once upon a time people returned from the grave on occasion. Back in the days before embalming. They were usually victims of catalepsy, but that was rare. Usually, they expired in their coffins, waking six feet under the earth. But that sort of thing didn’t happen anymore. And Cassandra definitely didn’t fit into that category anyway. She’d been murdered. There was no doubt about that. Slashed to ribbons. And even if some freak occurrence had allowed a bit of life to languish in her body, the following autopsy would’ve taken care of that. Yet, this person before her who claimed to be their Jane Doe, was very much alive.

But the flesh of her hand… it was dead.

“This is insane,” Lisa muttered to herself.

“The world is insane,” Cassandra told her.

Yes, it was. Lisa had no reason to doubt that any longer. The very fact that William Zero had returned from some awful, impossible place as a zombie was evidence enough. And with that firmly in mind, was the idea of a dead woman walking about so far-fetched?

“I know this is hard to take, but you have to accept it. Eddy killed me and I never really died. Physically, yes; psychologically, no. This body moves because I make it move.”

“You’re a medical impossibility,” Lisa said.

Cassandra shrugged. “So I am. What of it?”

“I guess I’d want to know how you did it.”

“That’s not important.” She threw back the veil. She was lovely… yet, there was definitely something wrong about her face. “Wax and latex rubber,” she explained. “I was involved in the theater in high school. Make-up. It came in handy.”

My God, Lisa thought, I’m talking to a dead woman who fixed her face with cosmetics. She felt a tickle of laughter in her throat and she didn’t like it at all.

“I didn’t die because I chose not to. There were things that needed looking after.”

“Eddy?”

“Yes.”

“Did he help you… escape from the funeral home?”

“If by that you mean did he help with my resurrection, no. Nor did he have anything to do with the murder of Mr. Fish. I did that myself and enjoyed it.”

Lisa was speechless.

“Don’t look that way. I had to kill him. He violated me.” She grinned. “Besides, I was hungry.”

Lisa swallowed down her nausea. “You say you came back to look after Eddy?”

“Exactly. The fact that he’s killing people doesn’t concern me too much. Death has a way of opening your eyes to life.”

Lisa massaged her temples. “Either I’m crazy or you are.”

Cassandra laughed. “You’re fine, dear.”

“I wish I could believe that.”

“Please do. As I said, I’m not concerned with Eddy’s killing. It’s his plans for you that bother me.”

“Which are?”

“He wants to take you into the Territories with him.”

“That’s my own fault. I suggested it.”

“You’d better explain.”

Lisa did. She started with her affair with William Zero and talked of everything since: her infatuation of sorts with Eddy, their time together in the asylum, her study of Cherry Hill… everything. Right up to William Zero’s reappearance and Cherry’s visit and the rape… if that’s what it was at all. And she didn’t forget Jim Fenn. He was very much a player in this twisted tragedy now.

“It seems your life is intertwined with that of the Zeros,” Cassandra commented. “I don’t think you should blame yourself for your feelings and desires. As a psychiatrist you must understand that your… involvement with Eddy’s father at such a young age is the cause of what has come since.”

“I’m learning that. After what Eddy did, it’s finally come full circle. I liked it at the time, God help me. Or some part of me did. But I think that part’s dead now. I’m starting to see things the way they really are. I only want to put the past behind me and to do that, I have to deal with Eddy and his father.”

Cassandra nodded. “The Territories are the perfect place for them. If you can seal them in there permanently, you can close that chapter in your life. Which is why I’m here, Lisa.”

“You’ll help?”

“I’ll be indispensable. First, I want you to do something.” She handed Lisa a slip of paper with an address on it. “This is where Cherry Hill is staying. I want you to visit her. I can’t tell you why. When you go there, you’ll discover the last missing piece of the connection between her and Eddy.”

“You know Cherry, too?”

“Very well.” She stood and started to leave. “Go see Cherry. She won’t harm you any more than Eddy would. Prepare yourself for a revelation. Make sure your Mr. Fenn isn’t following. The police could make a terrible mess of everything. I’ll be in touch.”

Lisa watched her leave. She would go. This was a day of revelations, what would one more hurt?