It starts with a phone call

It’s early January. When you answer the phone the voice on the other end is agent Keller’s.

He sounds nervous.

You’ve never know Keller to get scared so you pay attention.

“It looked like another one of the Amanita killing, Mat”

He takes a deep breath and you imagine you can hear his heart beating wildly.

“I know you’ve done some work on the case so I thought you might be interested in getting some first hand experience on his work.”

You think to yourself that you’d rather just stay in your office and never have to see another dead body as long as you live but, instead you say, Yeah-sure, and ask where he’s at.

He gives you the address and you recognized it immediately.

780 Colony St Estavio Penthouse.

20 floors and 3,550 sq ft. Everyone knows that address.

 Ten minutes later your there.

You stepped off the glass elevator and entered the first floor of the penthouse. The chaos that greets you is only the beginning. Every piece of furniture had been smashed. Torn pieces of fabric scattered over surface make the 180 square feet of space look like a child’s art project.

Of course it is art...everything is...but, that not why you're here.

The next seventeen floors are the same. Great accumulation of wealth had been collected in these spaces and great pains had been taken to choose the right colors. All of it has been reduced to a collage of rubble.

But at least one thing is not lost in the chaos. That is the delicate time consuming color coordination. Almond Beige walls and Dark Desert floor are decorated with Brown Suede splinter and Sandy fabrics.

Yup, at least it still matches.

The forensic department’s men sort through the pieces making the whole thing seem like some abstract depiction of modern poverty.

Anything can be considered art these days, you think to yourself, Take a Holo-Pic of this place and you could probably sell it for fifty thousand no problem. It will sit in some rich eccentric’s house and he’ll invite all his rich friends over to envy him and how much he can afford to spend on a picture of crap.

For some reason the next two floors are the worst. The fist one is painted all in black and it’s ebony furniture is still intact. The windows are all draped with different shades of black lace and crepe material.

…Very Goth.

Black iron shelves stand in orderly rows lined with notes, paintings, sketches, and pottery.

Then you see the masks.

There are hundred of masks. They make an eerie display sitting there on the shelves in rows. More masks are scattered about on the floor. Even more masks hang from the ceiling. Every where you look masked heads stared back at you.

Thousands of faces.

Some grin, some frown, some scream, and some have no mouths at all. Some are blind and some have many eyes. Most lay waiting for your own eyes.

Like you said, anything can be considered art these days.

The top floor is even worse. The windows are painted over in black. A backwards message scratched into the paint on one window portrays it’s message in sunlight on the floor:

Only God can save you now.

Every piece of furniture is welded and shaped from glossy steel. Here the floor is scattered with shining metal surgical tools. Everything is so spotlessly clean...like a hospital.

You have a sudden feeling of unease and fumble in you pocket before remembering that you gave up smoking two years ago. As you look up the last straw sends your stomach into flip flops. You've seen dead bodies before. In fact you've seen much worse than this. But, this one...something about the atmosphere perhaps...you barely make it to the can in the corner before throwing up.

You expect to hear Keller's mocking voice follow your display of weakness but he never makes a sound. You turn back to see him staring in the opposite direction. Your eyes are drawn in the same direction...to the body.

In the center of the room stands a table.

A table shaped like a coffin.

A naked body lays there on the table.

Leather straps hold the body in place.

And the wires…wrapped about the neck.

A mask placed over the face.

The mask is blank but for the lips.

Crimson red lips.