Stories to Tell in the Dark

The Mind Game

The Mind Game
"What is it that makes human beings so unique? No, really, what makes us so different from the other organisms roaming our planet? Some people think it's our compassion and our wanting to help others, but even a dog can do those things. What about self actualization: the achievement of realizing one's self worth? Well, not very many make it past the first psychological step on the hierarchy nowadays, making it nearly impossible for them to even realize there is a hierarchy at all! So we can scratch that one off the list... What do you think Airman," he paused, briefly cocking his head to read the name of the soldier closest to him, "Roy? What is it that makes us humans so much better, no- the best living creature on earth?" He smirked from behind his face mask as his eyes scanned the cabin of the C-130, as if he knew something that his captors didn't.
The belly of the aircraft was scarcely lit, with only three dim lights on the ceiling and lighting strips that barely lit up the walkways. It was hard to see anything that was more than a couple feet away. At the center of the cabin, surrounded by cargo and hovering over a make-shift poker table, were four military personnel. The man with the face mask was tied to a large shipping container several feet away.
Airman Roy turned to him, "Eat shit American Psycho," he spat before returning to his poker game.
"Temper, temper," he tsked. "I just asked a harmless question. Perhaps someone else who isn't so dull and dimwitted can answer the question then?" he asked sarcastically, looking to the other three soldiers at the poker table.
Growling in frustration, Roy jumped to his feet, throwing a hard right hook and catching the uncovered part of the prisoner's face.
"Anger, definitely not the answer I was looking for," he chuckled, spitting blood through his mask. "'A' for effort though."
"That's enough, Roy," ordered the much larger man next to him. "Did you even read his file? Ajax Timothy Houston, otherwise known as Mr. Hysteria-..."
"Please," Ajax interrupted, "no need to be so formal, Airman Kole, just call me Mr. Madness. Hysteria is too complex a word for the simpleton to understand," he stated matter-of-factly, nodding at Roy. He grinned widely, showing off his bloodstained teeth from behind his mask as Roy glared back at him.

"Long story short, Roy," Kole continued, as if uninterrupted, "this man somehow managed to convince four local cops to turn on, and kill each other. He likes to toy with people and their emotions, so the more you act up, the more you feed into his ego and his plans."
"Don't forget about the chunk of land they found that he used for some weird science experiment," a woman chimed in.
"Oh stop it, you're going to make me blush," Ajax stated in mock flattery. "They did all the hard work, I just merely told them a few little white lies and some hard truths..." He trailed off as something briefly caught his attention toward the cockpit of the aircraft. Returning his gaze to the table, he quickly switched focus to the other two soldiers. One stifled a laugh, and the other stared worriedly at him. "Do you find how I killed four people amusing, Captain Howard? Judging by the terrified look on Dr. Fahrad's ugly mug, she is a bit unsettled now by this mission of yours."
"I just find it comical that you can maintain such an arrogant disposition after being strapped down and muzzled like a dog, all while you have the knowledge that once we land on American soil, you're as good as dead." Howard chuckled, followed by Roy and Kole.
"Look at you, seeing the comedic side of things... tell you what, if you can keep up that positive outlook of yours till the end of our flight, I will give you a gold star," Ajax joked.
"If you don't give me my gold star when we land, I'll make sure your death is slow and painful," Howard stated, matching Ajax's tone.
"You can check my right pocket if you don't believe me." He grinned.
Shaking his head in amusement, Howard motioned to continue the card game.
"What's got you so strung up Doc?" Roy asked bluntly, picking up and eyeing his cards.
"He knows something that we don't," she stated grimly as she leaned in to whisper to them. "Whatever it is.... it can't be good."
Dr. Fahrad and Ajax locked eyes as she contemplated on what to say next. She wasn't a hundred percent sure, but she could have sworn he'd been staring at something only moments earlier, just before he began his lecture. He almost seemed worried about whatever it was.
"Quit stalling and tell us please!" Roy demanded, getting impatient as she held up a finger to stop him from talking.
"What's your opinion on why humans are so unique?" she questioned Ajax curiously.
"The human mind has always fascinated me. It is what sets us apart from everything else, in my opinion. It provides a firm foundation of morals, yet even the slightest crack can make it all come crashing down. Our imagination creates unlimited possibilities for us to act upon... till it reaches a point where we no longer can tell what is real or fake. It is our greatest enemy and yet, our closest ally. Does that answer your question doctor?"
"Creep," Howard grumbled.
"I-I thought he was going to try to escape but..." she hesitated briefly, before turning to Howard and continuing, "there's a chance he's trying to warn us about something."
"You got that from his stupid rant? You may want to get your ears checked Doc," Roy snickered.
"We're twenty thousand feet in the air," Kole pointed out. "I doubt, even if he wanted to, he could even come close to escaping. Not to mention that one of us, probably Roy, would put a bullet in em' if he even so much as sneezed weird."
"Don't forget, we triple checked to make sure everything was up and running before takeoff. We would know if anything was wrong with the aircraft," Howard stated, "so if I were to chose whether this guy had a heart or not, I'd take the latter."
She sighed to herself, feeling a little less shaken. Reaching down to grab her cards, she froze, then twisted her head slowly to the right as she noticed a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. She was temporarily relieved when she saw a tarp atop a crate rustle slightly as the vents on the floor sent up silent gusts of air.
Seeing how uneasy she was getting, Kole tried to comfort her. "Don't let Madness over there get to you, Doc-,"
Ajax cut him off, loudly whistling a tune that Dr. Farhad recognized instantly as a Christmas song they'd been discussing minutes earlier, 'Do you hear what I hear?'.
"Please shut up before I curb stomp your testicles!" Roy growled.
Ignoring his outburst, Ajax whistled again, staring directly at the doctor... or so she thought at first, until she followed his gaze to her Kindle, which had been sitting on the table in front of her. She whispered the lyrics, "...do you see what I see..." from the old, creepy tune as it crept into her mind. She stared at her own reflection on the screen of the device. A split second later she let out a bone chilling screech and reached for her gun after realizing the reflection wasn't her own. She snapped her head quickly toward the ceiling above them, and instantly, before anyone could react, the lights went out. As the other three shot up from their lawn chairs, the sound of plastic banging against metal rang out, but it was quickly drowned out by shouting and a sickening crunch noise. Immediately following the stomach churning sound, the doctor's shouting ceased abruptly.
Seconds later the lights slowly returned, starting at a twinkle then growing in brightness, as if a curtain was being lifted to reveal the first act of a play. All three men stood back to back, pistols raised and scanning the room for the immediate threat. Sitting across from them in her chair was Dr. Farhad, her whole body seemingly sucked dry. She still remained in the seat gazing up, with her mouth ajar. Her eyes, looking like they had exploded in their sockets, began oozing blood that ran down her cheeks to the tips of her fingers, forming small pools of blood on the floor beneath her.
Roy quickly turned away from his fallen comrade, getting sick behind the closest cargo bin as Kole shook his head in horror. Howard fell to his knees in disbelief.
"What could do such a thing?" Howard muttered under his breath, trailing off into his own thoughts.
"She was right you know, well sort of," Ajax stated smugly, raising his voice to get their attention. "For the record, I would like to state I did not have an escape plan, but I do now."
Roy quickly wiped the puke from his mouth before howling in rage as he stormed over to Ajax, putting his gun to his forehead. "You killed her, you sick fuck," he shouted in accusation, jabbing him with the muzzle of his gun. "How did you do it? Tell us!" he demanded.
"There is no physical way possible that he could have done something like this," Kole stated pointedly.