Faces! Faces everywhere!
“Walking all day with my mind on fire trying not to think of you…”
Anton walked the street humming the song. “Pu-pu-pu… What else was in that song?”
He stopped right on the corner of an old, creepy building. A strange bas-relief that looked like a little face had appeared on the wall. Anton hadbeen walking this road every day for a couple of months but had never seen the face before. Strange. The face was no bigger than the coin and painted with color similar to the color of the wall. Some sort of white egg shell shade. Anton took a closer look at the face. It was the face of a tired and emotionless middle aged man. Suddenly, for no reason, Anton felt freezing cold rising from the base of his back and goose bumps covered his skin. There weren't any traces of glue between the wall and the bas-relief. There were no edges. The wall smoothly transitioned into the face, as if a little man had tried to break through the wall but was frozen at the mid-action leaving only a face on the surface of the wall. And something familiar was in the face. It felt like he had met him. Or had seen his photo. Who knows. Not the bas-relief itself of course but the man on whom this small face was based. Anton ran his finger along the edge of the face and touched its nose. He couldn’t shake this feeling that face was watching him. Something was off. Something was wrong. But he couldn’t pinpoint what. After taking a photo of the bas-relief, he finally continued his commute.
“Hey, Kate!” Anton approached his colleague. “You won’t believe what I found in the morning. – a small relief on the wall of this horrible old building on N-th street. It looks like the face of an NPC stuck in textures.”
“Today? I hadn’t seen anything earlier this morning and I came to work after you.”
“Strange. But it was so small. Maybe you missed it.”
Anton picked up his phone to show Kate the pictures of the face but found nothing.
”I was sure I took a picture of it. Hmm. Are you heading to the metro station after work? Let's walk together. I am not crazy and I’ll prove it.”
"I don’t doubt your sanity," Kate said. "But sure, I’ll walk with you."
Anton touched the wall and ran his palm over the surface where the bas-relief was attached. It was empty. Not even a silhouette where glue might have left a mark.
Kate’s face was skeptical. "Maybe another wall? Or even another building?"
“Do you think I can confuse this monstrosity with something else?” Anton pointed to the building.
“Yeah, it is impossible. Ok. Maybe you saw it in your dreams? Got any other rational explanation?”
“No, you right. But it was so real. I still have this feeling that something is off. Not terrifying, but I don’t know how to explain it.” He exhaled. “Let’s go home. I’m tired.”
They walked to the station in silence. In his head Anton tried to explain to himself morning events. It wasn’t a big deal. He could confuse buildings. Or this face was just a product of his imagination. Wasn’t it? That’s a possibility, yeap.
Something on the wall of the metro station caught his eye. The face but now it was brown like the granite wall of the station.
“Hey look!” Anton pointed on the wall.
“What am I supposed to see?” Kate followed the gaze.
“Don’t you see? The face… wait. It was right there I swear!”
"You’re scaring me, Anton. Are you okay?"
"I… don’t know. People don’t just go insane in one day, do they?"
"They might. Go home. If you’re still like this tomorrow, call a doctor. I know one. Good psychiatrist."
"I think it’s a little too early to call a doctor, but you’re right, I need rest. I’ll take a taxi. Not in the metro mood. Bye."
He decided not to tell her that new face wasn't as emotionless as the morning one. It was in pain. And it was staring straight into his eyes.
The face, twisted in pain, was staring straight into his eyes from the supermarket wall. Anton dropped the plastic bags of food and leaned against another wall. Not again! It had been the fifth encounter with the bas-relief in two days, and every time, the face expressed a new level of pain. And every time, it appeared closer and closer to his house.
Now it’s only two buildings away from me. Why does it follow me? He tried to focus his phone camera on the face, but it disappeared, as always. Maybe it’s time to call the doctor. He remembered Kate giving him a number and imagined himself in a white robe under sedatives, then shook his head. No! Not like this! I… I’ll conceal myself somewhere. Like… like in a hotel, yes!
Anton immediately booked a room in a hotel on the other side of the city and took a taxi. The face will never find me there! Anton laughed hysterically in the car. Never!
Forty minutes later, he jumped out of the car and ran into the hotel lobby. A young woman smiled at him from the desk.
“I have a reservation,” said Anton. He checked the letter with the confirmation - Room 17.
“Just a minute. May I see your passport?”
His gaze slid to the wall behind the girl. The face was there - the color of red wine, number six on the pain scale.
“Are you alright?” The desk lady recoiled when she saw Anton’s expression. “Do you need a doctor?”
“Can you see it?” whispered Anton.
The girl looked at the wall behind her and shook her head. “What should I see?”
Anton turned back toward the exit.
“Sir?! You have to finish your registration -” she cried out. “Sir!” But Anton had already rushed outside.
He ran without looking where he was going, his lungs burning like hell. A quick glance around told him nothing - he didn’t know the area. All the walls around him were empty.
I need to calm myself down. Maybe now it doesn’t know where I am. Because I don’t know. He turned off his phone.
Okay. Now I won’t reveal my location.
Anton spotted another hotel building across the street and headed there. The face hadn’t appeared yet. He entered cautiously into the lobby and looked around. Still, empty walls. Okay.
He booked a random room and asked where he might find a computer to use. The desk lady - she was a lady indeed, elegant and graceful - said they had a computer club on the ground floor.
First of all, it’s better to google - maybe someone has encountered something similar. And I should remember why this face looks so familiar. Anton dwelled on this as he went down to the computer club.
Several hours of reading news, blogs, watching YouTube, and scrolling Reddit hadn’t advanced his understanding of the bas-relief problem. It looked like no one had seen anything. Then Anton decided to look through Instagram - maybe he’d remember the owner of the face.
Work. Kate took his picture behind the desk. A mirror in a club - he stood with a cocktail. A mirror in a fitness club - he tried to show off his pump. A lot of pictures.
His pupils dilated. He looked at himself smiling. This selfie he took over a month ago near the mural of a famous street artist. What was his name? No, I don’t remember. He was alone in the picture, but now he recalled that right after he took it, a crazy man ran up to him and screamed, “Do you see it?” and pointed to the empty wall. Anton pushed him away.
“Why does nobody see it?!” the man cried. “Faces! Faces everywhere!” And he ran down the street.
Yep. Now I remember. Anton was shocked to his core by this encounter and decided to forget about it.
And now the face of that man is haunting me. Is this condition contagious? Goosebumps covered his skin from head to toe . What should I do? Is going to a church an option? Maybe the Holy Spirit or holy ground will protect me?
The face watched him from the wall across the room. Pain level seven.
It has found me.
“What do you want?! Tell me!” Anton screamed.
“Sir, are you alright?” The frightened desk lady looked in from behind the door.
“No - I mean, yes. I’ve just read a disturbing email. Sorry if I frightened you. Could you be so kind as to order a taxi for me?”
“Of course! Where are you going?”
“To the nearest church, please.”
“Excuse me? Have I heard that right? To a church?”
“Yes.”
“The nearest church is right behind the corner of the building. You don’t need a taxi.” She smiled.
“Excellent! Then it’s time for a prayer!”
Anton sat down on a chair and started to cry.
He had never let himself cry in front of anybody, but emotions overwhelmed him.
The desk lady left him alone.
It was a small church with no parishioners inside. The building seemed old, but the interior had been newly redecorated. Anton looked around. At first glance, there were no bas-reliefs on the walls-just icons, altars, and a lot of burning candles. Maybe holy ground does matter. He bought a candle and asked where the proper place was if he wanted to pray for mental health or protection.
An old lady in a headscarf told him that the perfect option was the icon of Saint Panteleimon, but they didn’t have one, so it was always helpful to pray to the icon of the Mother of God. “She will protect you.”
“Even from demons?”
“She will help you with your inner demons.”
“My inner demons don’t concern me.”
But the old woman didn’t hear him and waved her hand, showing the right direction.
Okay.
He stood under the Saint Mary icon and tried to remember a single prayer, but the words wouldn’t come to him. He felt emptiness inside, like a black hole where his soul should be. Maybe I don’t have one. And because of it, the face follows me. Anton lit a candle and tried to stick it in the sandbox under the icon. The face in the sand looked straight into his eyes.
A wave of rage washed over him.
“Stop it, you crazy old fucker!” he shouted out loud.
Anton furiously stuck the lit candle into the face. The tray of sand tipped over. At the noise, the old lady from the shop ran in.
“What is going on?”
“Sorry. I burned my hand and knocked over the box.”
“Get out!” The woman angrily pushed Anton toward the exit.
“Please, let me help!”
“Get out, or I’ll call the police!”
“Can I at least buy a Bible?”
She stopped pushing and watched him with curiosity.
“You want the Bible?”
“Yes. How many copies do you have?”
“Do you need more than one?”
“Yes.”
She went behind the counter and looked in the bookcase.
“We have five copies.”
“Excellent! I want them all.”
“God bless your soul.”
He already failed, Anton whispered and took the plastic bag with the Bibles.
He went outside of the church and looked around. He remembered that somewhere nearby was a DIY shop. Yes. On the second building down the street, he saw the sign. Wallpaper glue and a utility knife were added to the Bibles in the bag. Finally, Anton turned on his phone and ordered a taxi home. There are no safe places. Even the church doesn’t protect me from this creature or angry spirit or disease. I don’t know. What options do I have left? Barricade myself at home. These faces have never appeared on paper surfaces-only on concrete walls or sand. Maybe if I glue Bible pages to the walls of my room, the face will have no surface to appear. Anton giggled. “Face… surface.” I have enough food for two weeks. Thanks to COVID. But what about water? And I’ll need a restroom. So maybe it’s better to barricade myself in the bathroom-less area to cover with Bible sheets. Yeah. Better in the restroom. Anton giggled again.
The taxi driver turned to look at him with suspicion.
Yep. I’ll lose my high rating as a perfect passenger in the app. The thought seemed so absurd that Anton laughed. I’m probably going to die in a few hours, and this is what worries me? Pathetic!
Suddenly he realized it was the first time he had admitted to himself what he was afraid to think about: All these faces are going to kill me. It was obviously a countdown, and Anton had no illusions about what was waiting for him at the end. The tenth face will be my last; I have no doubts.
On the edge of a panic attack, the taxi stopped.
Fresh air came in handy, and fear was washed away.
Only when he turned the key in the lock did he notice something unusual above the doorbell. The face watched him, suffering from pain - almost unbearable. It looked like the face was trying to free itself from the concrete trap, but it was too agonizing. Anton saw how its skin stretched at the edges, almost tearing apart.
“Stop it!”
Anton ran into the apartment and slammed the door.
I have an hour, maybe less, before the final encounter.
He found a bucket, prepared wallpaper glue, and tore the Bibles apart. Inch by inch, he covered the walls, ceiling, door, and floor with Bible pages. Even the mirror was glued and wrapped. One final piece was left between the mirror and the sink. Anton scooped up glue with his hand and threw it on the wall. Splashes of sticky liquid flew across the bathroom. He reached for the last piece of the Bible but suddenly stopped. Something was growing beneath the layer of glue on the wall. Anton screamed and tried to cover it with paper. Futile. He felt under his fingers the nose, eyes, and mouth of the face-twisted in unbearable pain. He could swear he heard it screaming through the tips of his fingers. The face grew bigger and bigger, its chin hanging down from the sink, approaching Anton. He tried to run from the bathroom, but the slimy Bible pages stuck and trapped him inside. He turned to the face and saw nothing but the darkness of the stone throat. The mouth slammed shut.
Kate was walking home while talking with her friend on the phone.
“Yeah. I haven’t seen him since the accident. He just disappeared. I talked to his mom, you know. She said his flat was locked from the inside. They needed a handyman to break the lock. The apartment was a total mess. The bathroom was locked from the inside, but when they finally got in, no one was there. But all the surfaces were covered with pages of the Bible. Even the mirror. He went crazy, yeah. Only one spot was empty-in the bathroom. And they found a few strands of hair sticking out of the wall. His hair! They tested the DNA! Totally! No, he couldn’t have escaped through the windows. He lived on the 15th floor. It looks like he just disappeared from his bathroom with no trace. They still have no idea what happened to him.”
Her gaze lingered on the wall. Something small stood out from the concrete.
“Hold on a minute.”
She stepped closer to the wall. A little face was glued to the surface. Like a bas-relief. Something about its features was familiar. Kate cried out. She recognized it. Recognized him.