Faces

I took in a deep breath and brushed my hand through my hairs. The traffic was busy with all those cops blocking the roads, every few minutes. The cab I was riding, was hardly moving before it stopped again. But I had to hurry and reach the hospital as soon as possible, and hence, I couldn't help but be more anxious by the minute. 

I looked up at my reflection in the rear view mirror of the cab. It hardly showed my forehead and my eyes. My common dark brown eyes. They were both shaped almost like my sister's. They could've been exactly similar to hers. But God loved her more. 

I looked out of the glass window to read the advertisements and banners. I always enjoyed this. Reading things on the road. But suddenly, my eyes stopped at something I couldn't ever enjoy. My sister's picture.

A huge picture of my dear elder sister and the most famous plastic surgeon of the city. Her name written just beneath it, Dr. Mariah Bennet. But that wasn't what concerned me. I was never the one to be envious of my sister's success. It was instead, the big and bold letters above her picture that said;

M I S S I N G  &  W A N T E D 

My throat dried up as I watched her lively and beautiful face with those World-class rare hyperchromic eyes. One blue. One green. She was an art of paradise. But even that wasn't what she was famous for anymore. 

I looked away from the poster back in the cab to realise the driver had started the radio in the meanwhile. Flipping through various channels of songs, sports and stuff, he finally stopped at the sound of a news anchor. 

"-is reported missing since last two days. The famous actoress and singer Michelle Donovan was gaining haters since she posted that tweet which sounded allegedly against the #blacklivesmatter movement. She'd even clarified herself and apologised for any misunderstandings but she didn't seem to have convinced her haters. However, where there are people showing no remorse of her disappearance, there are still many fans who are worried about her. And after the appearance of those deadbodies over last few weeks, they might have a bad news coming their way. On the other hand, the surgeon accused of all those merciless murders too, is reported missing currently. Dr. Mariah Bennet is held as a prime suspect of Michelle Donovan's disappearance and is thought to be on a run. But nothing can be said as w-"

The anchor's voice suddenly died as the driver shut the radio off. 

"What's happening in this nation Christ!" The guy on the driver seat exclaimed making me realize I'd been listening with my jaw dropped and a trail of tears dancing at the brim of my eyes.

I smiled at him in the rear view mirror and looked away to wipe the stupid tears away. 

I didn't even know why I was crying. Apart from the fact that my loving sister was missing and that she was being accused of serial murders, I had nothing to be upset about. Because I knew it was all a lie. Her success had made people hate her. She had grown many competitors on her way who wanted to drag her down and that's exactly why she's being framed. I knew.

After all Mariah was a- no, Mariah is a great person. She's loving, delicate and friendly. She gives people new faces and grants them new lives. She supports all good things and stands against all the evil, no matter what it takes to prove them wrong. She protested for the rights of pride community, she protested for the Black Community. She's a good human at heart. She couldn't do any thing bad.

Yes, she was missing. Maybe, because she knew she was in danger. Maybe because she wanted time to sort things out. She can't really walk out on streets where there are cops standing at every 10 metres to catch her and throw her behind the bars for crimes she couldn't even think of committing.

But now, I had to find her. And that's why, when I recieved a call from the hospital this afternoon, saying that they know something about her. I rushed before even taking another breath.

The cops or anyone else, had no idea that Mariah's sister was in the city, still, I adjusted the mask on my face to cover it properly before I stepped out of the cab. 

The hospital was as crowded as it is on any other working day. I made my way directly to Mariah's cabin at the 13th floor. 

This floor was different from the other parts of the building. Mainly because there aren't as many plastic surgery patients as there are of cold and cough. And also because of the new trendy reputation going around.

Apparently, 47 deadbodies have been found over the last few weeks in the city. And that isn't the worst part. The worst part is, all of those corpses had the same face. The face of Michelle Donovan. 

When the first deadbody was discovered, it sent a shock wave around the world. And the news of the sudden death of the popular figure spread all over the globe. However, later it was proven fake by the forensic reports of the dead, which said it wasn't the person's real face. Michelle herself went live and told her followers she was safe and sound.

But things turned horrific when another corpse with the same face was found. Then another. Then another. And the trend continued until yesterday, when 2 more deadbodies were found, making the total count 47.

The head surgeon of New York City Hospital being the main culprit of the crime, had severely affected its reputation. Which is now evident with the deserted state of the department I was walking through.

I took my mask off and knocked on the glass door of Mariah's cabin. That was where the person had asked me to meet. The sound of my knocking echoed in the entire floor, sending a creepy shiver down my spine. 

Through the blur surface of the glass door, I saw a figure approaching. I stepped back and stared at the floor, waiting for it to open. 

The door opened and when I raised my eyes to look at the person behind it, she'd already turned her back at me and she was walking back to the table at the centre of the dark room. I followed her.

"Hello?" I said in a whisper.

"Hi Sarah." A voice of a middle aged woman replied while she kept facing her back to me as she stopped at the table.

"You- you know where my sister is?" I stuttered.

"Yes."

"Tell me, please." I pleaded.

"I can't. But I can tell you something." 

"Why? What is it?" I was ready to know whatever she could tell me about Mariah. I just wanted to know she was fine.

"Follow me." She said and started walking towards a dark door, I followed silently after her.

When I stepped in the room, the environment changed drastically. The air in there was suffocating. Or maybe, it was the smell. It was as dark, or perhaps darker than the cabin. 

"Sarah, what do you think about those murders?" The woman asked.

"I- What do mean?" I didn't know how to answer it. And was it even safe to answer it?

"I mean-" she sighed. "Do you think she did it?"

"No!" I blurted out. "No way. Why would you suggest that?"

"Calm down Sarah, I was just checking." Her tone was casual, it irritated me. But I had to know what she had to tell me. 

"What do you know about her? Tell me and I'll leave." I said in a determined tone. 

"Ah... Wait Sarah. Follow the process." She started walking ahead. The air grew more stinky with every step we took. 

"You know all those murders, she would never do it."

"I know."

"Right. But even if she ever did any of it... She must have had a reason. I mean she has a right reason for everything she does."

I struggled to understand what she meant. "Yeah, she never does anything without a right reason. If that's what you're saying." 

"Yeah. Yeah of course, that's exactly what I'm saying Sarah." I heard her exhale and her voice had suddenly turned softer.

We walked ahead until she stopped and hence I stopped as well. I looked around myself to realise I was standing in a small space surrounded from all the sides with translucent plastic curtains. I tried to peek across the curtains, but all I could see were blurred colours. 

"Mariah had a great heart." She continued speaking, and I noticed her voice changed more. "She always had a reason to do everything she ever did. She never did anything evil. She was a pure heart Sarah. She was a good person." 

"Yeah." I murmured.

"But, you know Sarah, nothing is good beyond limits. Even good isn't good beyond a limit. But she didn't notice it. She thought she was being good. She thought she was doing the right thing. She had no idea good had consumed her so much that she wasnt even understanding what means she was resorting to, to do good to the world." 

Her words were confusing and crept slowly, one after the other in my skin. She seemed to mean something else and say something else. All I understood, was that she definitely was creepy. It was all creepy. The place, the woman, her voice, everything. 

I stepped back in horror. I wanted to run away but I also wanted to know what all this meant. I took another step back so I could see across the curtains from their ends. And to say I was shocked is a major understatement.

My breath stopped wherever it was. I couldn't inhale or exhale for a minute there. I turned my head and peeked across the curtain on the other side and I saw the same thing. 

I was standing with deadbodies on both my sides. Both of them with Michelle Donovan's face on them. I realized, that till that moment I still did not believe in all of it. 47 corpse. All same faces. I somewhere thought it was all a story. I somewhere, still didn't believe in it until it was right in front of my eyes.

"You're not answering Sarah." My eyes suddenly flinched towards the woman in front of me, who had now turned around to face me. She had a face mask on, hiding most of her face. And whatever wasn't hidden behind the mask was hard to see because of the lack of light.

"What? Yes. I agree." I blabbered hoping my answer wasn't suspicious.

"So you believe Mariah wasn't completely wrong, don't you?" Her voice was now nothing like what it sounded when I first met her earlier. It was soft, breaking, and familiar.

I had no answer to her questions. I merely nodded at her but it wasn't satisfactory enough to ease her. 

I took a step closer towards her to have a better look at her face but she turned around before I could catch anything.

"So you agree she deserves a second chance?" She asked flipping through a few metallic tools on a plate. The clanking sounds of which filled the place.

I had to leave this place and this person. My instincts were all irking me. I had no time to put up with her psychological questions.

"Where is she, what was it that you wanted to tell me about her?" I demanded urgently. 

"Oh that. I wanted to let you know that her search will soon be over." Her voice was alarmingly calm.

"What? You mean she will be found?" I couldn't help but let the happiness show in my words.

"Yes, but not like what you are assuming. Actually... Her deadbody will be found." 

Her words hit me hard in the chest and my lips fell apart in the lack of breath. Infact, her words weren't the only thing that was wrong. Her voice was what made it worse. It was a familiar voice. Terribly familiar. It was Mariah's voice. 

"Why do you say so? How do you know?" I asked, breathing deeply to keep myself together as I took another step towards her.

She turned around and now she was close enough for me to see everything that her mask left on display. 

I shuddered at the sight of it. The eyes. The same hyperchromic eyes. One blue. One green. I took several steps backwards in reflex. My brain wasn't ready to process anything.

Those were a rare set of eyes. Never in my life had I seen those on anyone's face apart from my sister. A question suddenly flashed through my mind.

Who was she?

She understood and replied by taking her mask off and I gasped. 

Whatever I'd expected to see behind that mask, I hadn't expected that. There in front of my eyes, stood my own face. The same skin, the same nose, the same forehead, the same smile. Just a different pair of eyes.

"I know Mariah, because I will be the one making sure they find your deadbody." She said. 

"W-what?! W-why would you call me that. Mariah, you're, you're Mariah, I'm Sarah. I'm not Mariah" I stuttered as my skeleton shivered in terror. 

"Well that's what you know dear sister, they won't know that when they see you lying there breathless and limp with my face and well, I'll have to take those eyes off or they'll sell you out. And thank God, that reminds me-" she started fiddling with her pockets. "-of this!" She exclaimed and showed me a lens box. 

Without waiting for me to respond, she suddenly opened it and put them on while I watched her speechless. When she finally opened her eyes, they weren't her eyes anymore. They were my eyes. The common dark brown. 

She batted her eyes at me asking my opinion on them like she did when she asked my opinion on her clothes and make-up.

I bit my tongue in fear as I watched her pick a pair of sharp scissors and another sharper tool in those hands, which weren't mine as she started approaching me with a sly grin on her face. Which actually, was my face.

"Now now dear sister, nobody knows the truth apart from you." Her voice sounded as sharp and evil as it could and I felt my ears ache. 

"So tell me Sarah, can you keep a secret?"