The Ocean Arrow

Great, He's Not Dead

"Oh my god, I swear, you're so insufferable sometimes," Felicity swatted at Rene, and covered her ears.

I laughed until I was dying on the floor. That was supposed to be metaphorical. I'm not dead. Metaphorical. Mom, don't kill me, I was joking. . .

~~~~~~~~

Oliver

I went to a few meetings and conferences and did some other work that came with the job. I was currently in my office, sitting in my desk, fixing a document regarding the city's budget when I got the call.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I quickly fumbled it out before accepting the call.

"Hel-?"

"Sir, you need to come to the hospital immediately," the person on the other side of the call who I recognized as Dr. Eliza Schwartz, the doctor who helps my team and I when we're injured, and the only doctor who I trust with my identify interrupted my question. But by their sound of her voice, I knew it was an urgent matter.

I hung up and immediately called for a car so I could get to the hospital. And in a few minutes, I entered the car, I told my driver to get me to the hospital quickly and the speed never went below a 65.

As I entered the hospital, Dr. Schwartz greeted me and took me towards the morgue, and I had this pit feeling in my stomach that this wasn't going to be something I'd like. "What's going on?" I asked. "How come I was called in so urgently?"

As we were walking, she halted to a stop in front of white double doors. She opened them and they swung open dramatically. If doors could open dramatically. However, before she went through the doors, she faced towards me. "You'll have to see for yourself."

There were a few people in the room, but as soon as they saw the both of us, they all scurried out.

She led me over to the metal table where a body was covered in a body bag. She took a deep breath before unzipping the bag and the dead body was Tobias Church.

But I don't think she took me all this way just to show me his dead body.

"What's the problem?" I asked, looking up at her

She looked at me and back down at his face. And I actually got a good look at him, he seemed so peaceful like this. I don't think I've ever seen him when he hasn't threatened me, mocked me, shoot at me, or try to kill me.

But Dr. Schwartz began to do something unimaginable.

She began to peel his skin off.

I took a surprised step back from the table. This was a weird sight, but she literally pulled his skin off his face. It pulled off like a face mask would from the skin.

I was going to throw up but beneath the skin mask Dr. Schwartz pulled off, was an unrecognizable face. I looked up to her in confusion but when I looked up, it wasn't her face, it was Church's

I flinched but she said, "It's a mask."

And she pulled the mask off her face just like she did to the man. It must've been nanotechnology. It would've been impossible for a creation like that to have been made with the modern tools we have now. No, this was much more advanced than I could've imagined.

I finally connected the dots.

"That son of a bitch."

He wasn't dead. This man who laid on the table wasn't Church, it was one of his gang members. He literally sacrificed one of his own just to save his own ass. He was still out there.

Walking free.

"Gah!" I scrunched up my hands on my head and Dr. Schwartz spoke up, "One of the doctors who works here in the morgue was investigating him. He said he felt like Church wasn't really Church. None of his coworkers believed him, so he investigated on his own. And after awhile, he found the mask and told me immediately. I told you as soon as I found out."

"Have you identified this man yet?" I pointed towards the stranger in the body bag. But she shook her head. "Not yet, we still have people who are working on figuring that out."

"Is the doctor who found out about the mask still here?" I asked.

She looked at her watch and said, "His shift ended a few minutes ago, if we go fast enough, we might catch him before he leaves."

"Great, let's hope we can catch up."

And I sped out of the room, with Dr. Schwartz on my heels. There were a few people waiting for an elevator but it would take too long. So I took the stairs. I skipped a few steps along the way and soon I opened the doors into the entrance. I had no idea what this man looked like, so I turned to Dr. Schwartz who wasn't behind me. I waited a few seconds impatiently, and she finally exited the stairwell doors.

"Do you see him?" I asked as I looked around the room. Some people glanced at me, but I was too focused on finding the doctor even though my eyes wouldn't help since I don't know who he is.

"There he is!" She pointed to a young man through the window who was in a locker room.

She used her ID to scan her way into the room and in doing so, the doctor glanced up and saw us.

He was tall and slender and had short blonde hair. He looked young for a doctor, maybe a few years after college. "Oh Doctor! And uh, Mr. Mayor," he scratched the back of his neck, bowing slightly.

"This is Lincoln, he just started working here a few weeks ago. Mr. Queen here wants to know more about how you found out about Church," She explained for me, and he looked over towards me.

"Oh well, it's not that much of a story, I'm guessing Dr. Schwartz told you most of the information. But Church looked suspicious. I mean, he's obviously suspicious since he's a criminal but it was his face. His facial features didn't look normal and I wanted to know more. So I tried asking for my coworkers help but they all brushed it off saying it was probably because he got too many hits in the face but I didn't believe them. So I spent the last few nights trying to figure out what was wrong, but last night, I might've pressed something because his face made a weird beeping sound. So I started looking around the source of the sound and I accidentally chipped his skin, but instead of it coming off, it connected to the rest of his face."

"And?"

"And- I knew it was protocol to not damage the persons face, but I was already too deep in. So I just kept on pulling. And the skin began to peel off of his face. And it all came off until it was a mask. My roommate is a scientist so I asked him to see what the it was and he told me it was a mask. So I told Dr. Schwartz who seemed to have told you. And yeah, that's it."

"That's it?"

He gave a small, awkward laugh and said, "Yep. Like I said, it's not a fascinating story."

"Okay and you haven't told the police about this yet?"

"Oh not yet, was I supposed to do that?"

"Yes, you go do that. We don't want to keep this from the station. And Lincoln, thank you for your help."

Tobias Church is still out there. And I'm going to find him.

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HEY PEOPLE! I GOT YOU ANOTHER CHAPTER. SO YAY!

Okay so here's the question for today...

What's the weirdest tea going around at your school right now?