Face Of The Monster

~10~

Lillian watched from a table in a shadowed corner of the pub, tapping her glass against the table while she observed Gabriel and his friends from a distance. She hadn't been able to endure their company for any longer than she had stayed at the table. Their dialect was too abrasive, their humor too crude. Gabriel seemed to enjoy them, though, so she supposed she was in no place to ruin his fun.

Every once in awhile, the entire table would break into uproarious laughter. She would watch Gabriel's broad shoulders bob with amusement and wonder if this would be the last night he'd ever laugh so hard. He was having such a good time, he hadn't even noticed when she got up and slipped away.

As it turned out, someone else had slipped away as well.

He approached the table with a slow, sauntering gait. Lillian looked into the dirges of her empty cup, praying he was not coming toward her. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

Her prayers were not answered. The man drew back the chair across from her, throwing his body into it. He was tall and unhealthily thin, the hair on his head wispy and graying. He had a leather eyepatch strapped over his left eye and a lethargic, unfocused look in the other one. Lillian recognized him. He had been sitting at Gabriel's table but was not having nearly as good a time as everyone else. When the rest of the table erupted in laughter, he merely sat, jowls hanging like folds of fabric. And now he was here, with her.

"Ahoy," he said to her. Lillian didn't answer. "Aw, c'mon, Lass," said the man. "No need to ignore me."

Lillian cleared her throat. She pulled her shawl closer around her shoulders. "I'd like to be alone right now if you don't mind."

"Mind if I be alone with you, then?"

"Please leave," Lillian said. She felt her heart surging against her chest like a swelling wave. She wanted to get out of here. This man's gaze made her feel more afraid with every second that it watched her.

"You know," said the man, ignoring her request. "I heard your captain over there talking of his illness. Has he told you about it?"

Lillian stiffened in her seat. "Yes, he has. I've been taking care of him."

"Well, I've heard of illnesses such as these before, you see, and I thought I might be able to offer you something." When Lillian said nothing, he went on, "It's a plant. A wonderful plant, really, won't cure him, but it should relieve the symptoms at least. I can show you if you like?"

Her brain muddled by the heaviness of alcohol, Lillian let herself imagine presenting Gabriel with such a plant, watching his pain fade away. She couldn't imagine any better thing happening. "Where is it?" she asked.

"Just out here," said the man, standing up.

Lillian stood as well. "Alright," she said. "But are you sure you know exactly where it is?"

"Sure as sure," said the man.

She followed him out of the smoky pub and into the clear, velvety night. From outside, they could still hear muffled inklings of conversations through the grass walls. The man led her away from the noise to a clearing behind the little building. He strayed farther away from the dirt road that ran through the village. He slipped into the trees.

"Sir!" called Lillian. "I'm not so sure about this."

Only his voice came back. "Do you want to help him or do you not?"

She sighed and trudged across the marshy ground to the tangle of trees. She did want to help Gabriel, more than anything. And if that meant following one of his friends into a dark thicket of trees with only the light of the moon to guide her, then so be it.

She followed the sound of his footsteps a little ways, wincing at every other noise: the gulls crying and the bugs scuttling and the leaves rustling above. After a minute, she called out, "Wait for me, will you?"

"Alright," said the man. His footsteps stalled.

She stumbled blindly forward, cracking twigs under her feet. Then a tree root caught the toe of her shoe and Lillian went careening forward. With a groan, she heaved herself to her feet. She shook as much dirt as she could from the front of her dress.

When she finally reached the man, he was leaning against a tall tree, his eyes lit by a strip of moonlight sneaking past the trees into this spot. "Is it much farther?" Lillian asked.

"Not so far, now," said the man. He moved away from the tree, toward her. Lillian tried not to flinch as he reached out his hand. "You have some dirt on your dress," he said.

"Yes, I know. Don't worry about it."

The man moved her shawl aside. He brushed his hand over the top of her breast, dirt sprinkling onto the ground as he moved over it. His other hand settled on her waist as he rubbed harder, set on vanquishing a patch of dirt from the underside of her chest.

"Sir," she said, trying to move back. "Really, we should be going."

But he wouldn't let go. he ran his thumb over her breast, then her stomach, his face move closer to hers. "Perhaps we shouldn't," he said.

She had begun to feel nauseous with fear. "Please, let's just go back. We don't need the plant, really. Gabe must be wondering where I am, anyhow--"

The man cut off her voice with a stiflingly firm kiss, walking her back into the tree he had been leaning on. The rough bark tore into Lillian's dress like tiny, malignant fingernails. His mouth tasted of rum and decay, his hands feeling like knotted branches on her skin. She struggled, but he had her pinned against the tree.

She screamed, but it did no good. They were too far into the woods, too far into a village where screams of delight and frustration were all too common for hers to be identified as one of terror, of pain. He pulled off her shawl and knotted it around the back of her head, the cotton drying her tongue and muffling her voice.

He yanked down the bodice of her dress, then the skirt. Lillian tried to kick, but he stood on her toes. She tried to hit, but he crushed her wrists against the tree behind her back. She tried to jerk away from his kisses, but he only found another place to invade her. His sour, papery lips drew maps of poison along her face and shoulders, breasts and hips. Tears came down hard and fast.

"Gabriel," she yelled, the name coming out as nothing more than an unintelligible mumble behind her gag. "Help me, save me!"

But she knew there was no help coming. In this world, a world where she had to take care of everyone else, no one could protect her against what was about to happen. So she closed her eyes and tried to take herself somewhere else.