PLAGUE

Chapter 3: The Doctor

Have you wondered why some people just do horrible things for no reason?

I know.

You see, most of the insane do not realize they are insane. People don’t know they’re crazy for the most part, but a few do. They know that they are demented; hiding their intentions because they know the ensuing asylum time they’ll suffer if they do something to someone for no good reason. It isn’t with the fun they’ll have acting out their darkest desires. 

That’s why people who seem normal suddenly torture and massacre others. They stopped caring about the consequences, or they simply can’t keep their madness at bay anymore. You might be asking how I know this. Well, you can say that I have personal experiences with that.

I live among you and I could be anyone. I hide in plain sight and I have much practice concealing who I am. You can’t know until I strike, and then it will be far too late. 

I would love to see you like this-

Oh, you’re awake.

Roana heard that faint sound of what seemed like a deep male voice.  She couldn’t tell for certain, as it sounded as if she’d been submerged under water.  The words were far too muffled for her to understand them.

Slowly, long lashes parted to the darkness of the now empty house.  Her body ached and felt heavy, as if her limbs were made of concrete. Moving them took a lot of effort, even to shift to attempt to knock off the stiffness her form held from being in one position too long.  The piercing stare of another bore into her skin, and a shadow was cast over her that didn’t seem to be anywhere else in the room.  Her dark blue eyes cast glance across the wooden floor only to find her mask staring back at her with vacant lenses.

Redirecting themselves, her pupils fell upon the source of the shadow – a doctor.

He was tall and lanky in build, donned in black canvas covered in wax.  His plague suit wasn’t like that of the other doctors.  It held familiarity to it.  She could have sworn she knew another doctor who dressed in that exact same attire.  That same hood with fabric that extended over the shoulders and to the elbows, the same black garment underneath with a row of gold buttons, those black, elbow-length gloves with straps and buckles…and that gold cross he wore around his neck…

She knew that she had seen it before.

Around his waist was a brown, leather belt, a bag that clasped over the top and a string of garlic cloves.  His long skirt held two golden clasps to keep it together and he wore black boots with high heels that seemed more fashion-oriented than comfortable.  His bone-white mask with stitching across the seams stared down at her with lenses red as blood.

“Uh…” Roana groaned. She felt the haze of unconsciousness cling stubbornly to her body.  She wasn’t really certain of what she was seeing. “Please tell me I’m not still trapped in that place- huh?” The doctor’s form came more into view as she laid eyes on his long, wooden cane that curved around at the end and possessed metal hooks to hang lanterns from. “You’re a plague doctor. Do you know what happened to Josephine?”

Surely, he had some explanation. If not, then how did he get into this house and how was he looming over her as if she had fallen victim to some sort of grave illness? It was never a good thing when one opened their eyes to a death doctor staring them down.

“No,” the doctor’s deep voice sounded in her ears, “I showed up here upon your awakening.”

Roana sat up slowly as pain shot through her back from the scuffle she had from her friend prior. “Did you think I was dead?”

Who knew how long she was out…or how long he had been staring at her like that.  Roana had wondered just how much time passed between the two events.  The house was silent, so much so that no one could have possibly been home.  If they were, he wouldn’t be in here staring her down as if he had some kind of moral question of what to do with her body. No one was there but the two of them, and she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“I knew you weren’t. I came here upon noticing that you were unconscious. It’s a miracle that you responded. You have strength that could be useful for the field I reside in,” the doctor’s voice had a mechanical quality that shone through his speech.  He was very distant and cold. From behind red lenses he spied her plague mask.

“So, that’s why you’re here.” It sounded a lot less insidious from the way he explained it.  

Maybe he heard the commotion through Josephine’s window and decided to go inside to see what was going on.  Granted, he obviously had no permission to enter the premises.  However, it wouldn’t have been hard with Josephine’s parents being absent. That still didn’t answer the question of where Josephine had gone.

The green-haired girl may have left after she passed out, assuming that she had killed her and left her in her house to die. Roana still didn’t know the passage of time, so the doctor coming in to see her could have happened minutes to even hours later.  Nothing made sense.

Roana grabbed her mask and rose up; fighting off the numbness in her legs as she awkwardly stepped around a few paces before she dusted her dress off with her hands and stood straight to face the doctor.  It was now that the height difference between the two was noticeable.  Roana only came up to his shoulder, which made him a good six foot tall and every bit imposing as he was from ground-level.

“Do you need my help?” She turned to him.

Roana felt alright, so there was really no need for him to stay around her unless he knew something that she didn’t.

“If you aid me then I will give you your wildest desires. My curse will become your blessing,” those words were odd considering the situation.

What did he mean by that? Roana was taken aback by such a sudden statement.  She didn’t understand how he could even live up to what he put forth. Did he just go around asking people these things or was she special? Did he see something in her that she had not in herself?  Even so, how could he simply know that without knowing her?  Why did he seem familiar, despite her clearly not knowing who he was?  This man was a walking enigma and a part of her desired to figure him out.

“My every desire,” she repeated that part of his offer in a whimsical tone, “tell me, doctor, how will you accomplish that?”

“I will make you the best in your profession,” he had seen the mask. Only those in the medical profession even possessed such things.  There was no mistaking it, she was an apprentice at the very least.

“What if I desire wealth?” Roana decided to challenge his promise.  She wanted to know what he would do in a hypothetical situation.

“That’s an easy desire to fulfill,” the doctor had no problem making her rich.  There was much to be gained with the amount of sick that were willing to pay out for being treated.  The upper class families would pay the amount that was asked just for some relief that there was hope in the bleakness of the pestilence.

“What are you? A genie?” The question was half in jest. Roana had a hard time believing that this man could give her anything that she desired. It sounded too good to be true, and it more than likely was.

“It will be payment for my services,” the doctor’s voice never wavered. He didn’t find a joke in any of it.

“You’re a very eccentric doctor and I know it’s hard to get people into your profession. I can see what you see in my resilience and I assume you think I am one considering you’ve seen my mask. I am aware of the prices of this profession as well.” Her fingers wrapped tightly around the white mask in her hands, feeling the rough texture of the leather against her skin.

Roana’s mother was one of the few doctors in the town and she was the only female doctor. She had gotten her plague mask from her.  Roana contemplated her situation.  This man had walked into her life and offered her something too good to be true.  Should she take it and all of the risks associated with it, or should she decline him and tell him he’s crazy for speaking like he was?

“Your knowledge is impressive,” he knew that she was so much more than some mere girl.  Her very presence itself was enough to make him turn a glance at her.  The doctor had a feeling that she didn’t realize just how much potential she had.

“My mother is a beaked doctor. I have vast knowledge on the job for someone my age,” Roana had always inquired about her mother’s profession. It sparked long conversations between the two and caused her to take interest in it at a young age.

There was something fascinating about medicine and what the doctors were able to achieve with it.  Beaked doctors were something that ran in her family, with her uncle being one as well, and one that was renowned for his practices. In fact, when she stared at the man before her, he reminded her quite a bit of him.  Roana longed to help the suffering people, and work towards a cure.  She wanted nothing more than to aid her mother. It was why she took up learning about it and being an apprentice of sorts.  She wanted to help out when she could.

“Be that as it may, you could not escape your nightmares without my help,” the doctor was certain about that.  

The nightmares this girl had would have plagued her. Projections of a psyche in that condition had the ability to trap one in an astral limbo of horror.  They were the kind of agony that could throw someone into the purgatory of their own mind.  His cure was most effective in bringing her out of the bloody waters of hell and into the light of reality.

“Nightmares?” Was that what it was that Roana had? Everything in it felt so real.

“Judging from the anguished look on your face, I could tell that you were in distress. What were you dreaming of? Purgatory? Exile? Going insane?” The doctor placed a hand under his beak and cast an inquisitive glance at the ceiling in thought.

“You said you helped me.”

Did he mean that he came into the house and found her?  Did he keep Josephine from assaulting her?  Did he walk in after she lost consciousness and Josephine saw him and ran off at the presence of another? He kept reiterating that he helped her, but he wouldn’t explain what he did as a result.

“Helped is an understatement. Without me, your injuries would have gone untreated,” the doctor noted.

Roana paused for a moment and jerked in place as the realization hit her.  That was what he meant! The injuries that she had accrued during her confrontation with Josephine.  He must have seen that she had been assaulted and treated her bruising and scrapes.  Whether he came across her laying there or he saw Josephine choking her out didn’t seem to matter as much, and things began to make a little more sense.

“What if I accepted being your understudy?” She wanted to know what he could provide for her.

The girl was interested in his offer.  Besides her mother, this man was willing to teach her his craft. Every doctor had their own way of going about their practices, so she knew that he had some unique tricks to show her. Roana couldn’t help but be drawn to this man and his familiar plague suit. There was something about him, some grand mystery to solve, something that pulled her in and hooked her fascination.  It was almost as if she couldn’t turn away.

“I will always be with you. From the time you accept I will be watching over you. I will follow you and be your companion. I will stare at all angles, keeping constant watch – yours loyally. I will be here, even when you are alone. I will sit across from you at breakfast and wonder if you truly fathom how close I am. I will lay with you at night and watch as you drift off to sleep. I can wait forever. I will smile only at you from behind this mask until the day you too pass and I will pick you up in my arms and prepare you for those gates as your guardian.” The doctor placed a hand over his chest as he proclaimed his pact.

Roana blinked a couple of times and remained silent at the thought of his words.  This doctor was very hell bent on being loyal to her and being by her side.  From most, these words would be creepy and harbor hidden malicious intent, but she didn’t take them like that from him.  Beaked doctors were solitary figures, often cast out by people from being in constant contact with those affected by the plague.  No one wished to house them and they spent their time being homeless or wandering the countryside until they were called to duty once more.

That kind of life would make one very lonely.  

If she accepted his help, then they would be two of a kind. Roana would be someone that he could confide in, and someone he could find commonality with.  They may even become friends in the profession.

“And if I refuse?” Roana wasn’t going to let her thoughts of empathy sway her too much.  She wanted to know just what kind of man she was dealing with.

“There will always be others,” the doctor removed his hand from his chest and placed it on his painted staff. His tone held no hint of anger or sorrow.

“You did help me,” Roana paused, deep in contemplation, “tell me…what do I call you?”

“You can refer to me as the doctor,” he gave no name, but a description.

“A beaked doctor named…Doctor? How odd,” Roana wondered why he wanted to conceal his true identity.