AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

By Adam Thur

Chicago, 1899

A large, dismal house sits alone on Mulberry Lane. Nobody knows much about the man inside. Nobody wants to. His name is Mister Sinister, a mad geneticist obsessed with studying the mutant gene, the x-factor. Beneath the house, in a dank basement lie over a dozen people being held against their will, being used as guinea pigs in Sinister’s malicious experiments. They all are in utter despair, without any hope of escape… or are they?

“What do you mean we’re getting out of here?!” Pearson exclaimed in response to his fellow prisoner Andrew Cordon’s doubtful proposal.

“Shh… he’ll hear you!” Maclean whispered, referring to their maniacal abductor.

Andrew nodded agreeably, then further explained his questionable goal.

“When Sinister brought me back to my cell I noticed he hung the key on the wall, right there.” he said to Pearson, pointing to a hook on the wall beside his cage. “If you can do what you say you can, then you’ll be able to lift the key over to you with your mind.”

“I… don’t know,” Pearson said, with a worried look on his face, “I don’t know how to use my telekinesis very well… I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You have to try, Pearson! I know you can do it!” Maclean said encouragingly. “This might be our only chance to get out of here. You’ve been here the longest out of all of us, you must want out…”

Pearson looked around the room, at all the other people Sinister had abducted. They were all tortured by grief, and the horrible conditions they were forced to live in had ravaged their bodies. He had to try to help them…

Pearson looked up at Andrew and said, “Okay, I’ll do what I can…”

Just a few meters above Sinister’s conspiring prisoners stands Sinister himself, on the ground floor of his enormous home.

He walks towards the front door, putting on a long coat over his dark gray pants and vest. His double-breasted shirt is as white as his chalky face. He activates his image-inducer, altering his frosty appearance to a more handsome façade. He stands up straight, puts on his hat, lets out a sigh of anxiety, then walks out the door, confident that his prisoners below will not cause a problem while he is gone.

Apparently, he is wrong…

“That’s it… you’ve almost got it…” Andrew says, watching the key to their cells slowly begin to lift off of its hook.

He looks over at Pearson, who’s eyes are clamped shut as sweat pours off his forehead. His teeth are pressed tightly against each other, occasionally opening to let out a groan of discomfort.

They key lifts further off the hook and begins to gradually float towards Pearson.

“ARRGGHH!!”

The key drops to the floor creating a faint clang as Pearson cries out in pain. He falls to the ground unconscious, leaving Maclean and Andrew watching in alarm.

Sinister walks up to the iron gate in front of 174 Lake Shore Drive, the home of Elizabeth Grey – the woman whose life he saved the night before. She had invited him here for dinner in thanks for saving her life.

He walks through the gate up to the door of her house. It’s a very wide, attractive three story building – Elizabeth’s father appears to be a wealthy man.

He walks up the short row of stairs leading to the front door and knocks. Short moments later, the door opens.

“Mr Essex! It’s so wonderful to see you again!” Elizabeth exclaims. She looks to her right at a tall grandfather clock, “Right on time I see. Please, do come in!”

“Thank you. And no need to be so formal, please call me Nathaniel.”

“I’ll take your coat, Nathaniel.” Elizabeth says smiling, and Sinister complies by taking off his coat and hat and handing them to her. “Please, follow me into the living room. My father is waiting to meet you!”

The two walk into the living room, where a man stands in front of the fireplace, in which a large fire roars. He’s handsome for an older man, and is exquisitely dressed. A lit pipe hangs from his lips.

“Hello, Mr Essex,” he says, “it’s nice to meet you. My daughter has told me so much about you in the short time since you rescued her last night.”

“Nathaniel, this is my father, Doctor Richard Grey.”

“Doctor?”, Sinister inquires curiously, “A doctor of what?”

“Science.” Doctor Grey answers simply.

“Really?” Sinister says, intrigued. “I too have an interest in the sciences. Genetics specifically.”

“Excellent!” Doctor Grey exclaims. “I like this man already Elizabeth! Perhaps we’ll have a discussion on the sciences one day, Mr Essex!”

“Perhaps.” is all Sinister replies.

“Well, I should leave you two. Dinner is ready. Our housekeeper is a wonderful cook; she’s prepared a marvelous chicken meal, so I hope you enjoy it.”

Sinister follows Elizabeth into the dining room, where dishes and cutlery are laid out for them. Sinister pulls Elizabeth’s chair out for her and she sits down. Sinister walks over to his chair and also sits.

Soon after, the Greys’ housekeeper walks out of the kitchen pushing the much awaited meal on a small cart.

“Oh, hello!” she says gleefully. “You must be Mr Essex. You know, Elizabeth is quite fond of you!”

“Daniella!” Elizabeth says, embarrassed.

Sinister just smiles.

Elizabeth dips her French bread into that last bit of sauce and tosses it into her mouth.

“You really are a fascinating man Nathaniel,” she says, “I’ve never known such an interesting person.”

“Nor I.” Sinister responds.

They both share a profound, silent stare for a moment, until Sinister breaks the stillness. “I apologize, Elizabeth, but I must go now. I have pressing business which needs tending to.”

“Of course. I understand.”

Sinister wipes his mouth with his napkin, then pushes his chair out behind him and stands up.

“I’ll show you to the door.” Elizabeth says, and the two walk into the house’s front hallway.

“I’ll… I’ll see you again?” she asks. They stare at each other for a moment, motionless. Sinister moves closer to Elizabeth. His tall, sturdy figure seems to tower over her. He bends his head down… and kisses her.

“Yes.” He says, then walks out the door, through the gate, and down the street.

Elizabeth just watches him go, still trapped in the wonderment of what just happened.

“Pearson? Pearson wake up!”

Pearson opens his eyes to see Maclean sticking his head through the bars of the adjacent cage. “You’ve been unconscious for almost three hours,” he says. “Sinister just got back home, and he’ll probably be coming down to check on us any minute. You have to try to get that key back on the hook before he comes down! And fast!”

“Wha…? I don’t… I don’t know… if I can…” Pearson says, still dazed.

Suddenly, the sound they were dreading arrives: the sound of footsteps descending the stairs into the basement. Sinister soon reaches the basement and walks down the long corridor leading to the cages. His skin is once again chalky white, and he is dressed in strange blue garb. He wears a tall collar and an odd cape cut apart into separate strips.

He continues down the corridor until he notices the key lying on the floor. He looks down at it, then looks at the hook where it should be placed. He turns his head and stares at Pearson, the obvious suspect.

“You did this.” Sinister says to him coldly, still staring.

Pearson doesn’t answer, he just looks at the ground. Sinister’s eyes close to a slit, as rage takes over. He doesn’t bother to reach for the key. He grabs the bars and rips the cage door right off its hinges. Pearson crawls to the back of the cage in fear, but Sinister picks him up and violently throws him over his shoulder.

“Are… are you going to kill me now?” Pearson asks frightfully.

Sinister lets out a deep laugh, “No, something far worse. It will be much more fun to watch you go insane.” Sinister whispers to him smiling. “I’m going to place you in solitary confinement.”

“N-n-n-no! I-I…” Pearson can’t seem to even think straight. Sinister walks into the next room, with Pearson still on his shoulder. A tall metallic box stands against the wall. To Pearson it looks like a coffin, and he knows that’s where he’s going.

“NO! You can’t!!!” Maclean shouts! “He’s severely claustrophobic! It’ll drive him insane!”

Sinister turns to face Maclean with a devilish grin pinned on his face. “I know.”

Sinister opens the box and drops Pearson inside, as Andrew, Maclean, and all the other captives watch in dread, mouths wide open. Sinister slams the door closed. He pulls a heavy bar down in front of the door, properly securing it. Pearson looks through the small holes near the top of the box with desperation on his face.

“NO!” Maclean yells, “Let him out!”

“HOW DARE YOU COMMAND ME!” Sinister lifts his hand and shoots a fiery blast through the bars and strikes Maclean’s chest, sending him soaring into the stone wall behind him.

“Don’t EVER speak to me that way again! You are a bug beneath my feet! I posses power you could never fathom, while YOU are just a green-scaled FREAK! Don’t think that only because I haven’t finished experimenting on you, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you! Next time you oppose me, I will slaughter you without a second thought!”

Sinister picks up the key and places it back on the hook. He then walks back down the corridor and back up the stairs, his hand still glowing with power.

Everyone remains silent for a few moments, until…

“Why… uh, why is Pearson claustrophobic?”

“It’s a long story.”

“We have time.”

Maclean sighs. “Yeah… yeah right. Pearson’s mother died when he was an infant. His father was an alcoholic, and not an understanding man. When he found out that his son was… different, he locked him in the closet. Left him there for days. Finally one of his friends started to get worried about him, and went over to his house to see what was going on. He found Pearson there… exhausted, nearly dead. Pearson was so angry, enraged. He waited for his father to come home and he… um… killed him… with a pair of scissors…”

“That’s so awful!” Andrew continued to listen astutely.

“He didn’t know what he was doing. His judgement was too impaired with rage. He ran out of town right away. Kept on running, and running, and running… until Sinister picked him up. That was three years ago, and he’s still here.”

Andrew looks over at the metallic box in which Pearson lies. “You… you okay in there Pearson?”

“F-fine… just… not m-much air in here…”

“Can’t you still lift that key from over there?”

“No, Sinister’s not stupid. He knows my powers aren’t strong enough from this distance.”

“What about lifting that bar with your powers and unlocking your box?” Maclean asks.

“I don’t have enough control over my powers to use them with such precision… I couldn’t do it three years ago in that closet… and I can’t do it now. It’s hopeless! We’re not getting out.”

Maclean and Andrew barely slept at all that night. If guilt and remorse hadn’t kept them awake, Pearson’s frightened whimpers would have.

A week later, Elizabeth walks alone through the park. It’s a beautiful Spring morning, and Elizabeth gaits casually, enjoying what nature has to offer. The path leads her around a corner, where she sees a familiar face.

“Nathaniel! What a pleasant surprise!”

“Good morning, Elizabeth. Your father said you were here.”

“I found it to be too nice a day to waste indoors. Care to join me?”

“Certainly.”

“You know, I don’t know much about you, Nathaniel.” Elizabeth says as they continue to walk through the park. “Where are you from? You sound European.”

“Yes. I used to live in London, England.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I… wronged an acquaintance of mine. I found it very unwise to stay.”

“Did you have a wife in London? Children?”

‘What do I say?’ Sinister thinks to himself. ‘The truth leads to too many questions. And I came to America to leave my old life behind. To study evolution without thoughts of Rebecca… Adam… that madman Apocalypse…’

“No… no, I didn’t.” he says.

‘I never meant to become involved with another woman…’ he thinks. ‘I’ve known her for such a short time… but I think… I love her. She’s a spectacular woman. But if I become involved with her, am I destined to meet tragedy again? And does she even feel the same way?’

Suddenly, Elizabeth stops walking. “Nathaniel, I-I have something important to say. This week we’ve spent together has been wonderful. I know we haven’t known each other long… but I want you to know… I love you.”

‘That answers that question!’ Sinister thinks.

He smiles and hugs her tightly, kissing her on the forehead. “I love you too, Rebecca.”

“What?!”

Pearson has been trapped in the box for nearly a week. Every day he’s had to resist the urge to just give up, and let his mind slip away. The already confined walls seem to get closer all the time. Maclean and Andrew’s encouraging words have kept him sane so far, but he doesn’t know how long that will last.

He wakes up from a deep sleep, something that has been rare lately. He wakes to hear an unfamiliar voice addressing all of Sinister’s captives.

“Who are you?” he hears Andrew ask the intruder.

He looks through the holes in the box to see who is there, but the room is too dim to make him out.

“I am your savior, or the end of your world,” the stranger says, “you decide.”

Pearson sees the large shadowy figure advance towards Andrew’s cage, and bends the cage’s bars with his bare hands.

“Th… thank you!” Andrew says shocked, as all the prisoners watch in awe. “But why… why are you…?”

Before he can complete his sentence, Andrew notices that the stranger has disappeared, apparently into thin air. He looks around to see where he has gone. Realizing that it’s not important at the moment, Andrew takes the key off of the wall and frees all of the captives.

“C’mon everyone! Let’s go, let’s go!”

As everyone rushes out of the basement to safety, a pair of glowing eyes watch from the shadows. All is going according to his plan, all he has to do now is wait for the master of the house to return.

“Who’s Rebecca?!” Elizabeth demands.

“It’s not what you think!” Sinister replies, “Rebecca was my wife!”

“Your… wife? But you said…”

“I’m sorry… I’m afraid I’ve not been completely honest with you. I was married in London. Rebecca and I had a son, Adam, but he died tragically at a very young age and it tortured us both. We were excited when she became pregnant a second time, but she died painfully during childbirth. I had everything I had left taken away in a single moment, so I left London to escape my past. I’m sorry for lying to you, Elizabeth, but I’d rather leave that former life behind me.”

“I’m so sorry…” Elizabeth says, taking Sinister’s hand in her own, “I understand.”

There’s a long, uncomfortable moment of silence between them.

“It’s almost noon.” Elizabeth finally says. “Would you like to join my father and I for lunch?”

“Absolutely. But I have something to attend to at my home. Would you mind terribly if we stopped there first?”

“Of course not.”

The two begin walking out of the park and towards Mulberry lane.

“I look forward to having the chance to discuss the sciences with your father. I’m interested in his views on genetics…”

Sinister and Elizabeth soon arrive at Sinister’s large home. They walk up the path leading to the doorway, and Sinister holds the door open for Elizabeth as she walks inside.

Elizabeth glances into the living room, where she sees a photograph of a stunning woman sitting on the mantle of the fireplace.

“Is that Rebecca? She’s beautiful.”

Sinister nods, “I don’t know why I keep it. It must only worsen my angst…”

“On the contrary, my father always says ‘The moment you forget a lost loved one, is the moment they are truly dead.'”

“He is a wise man.”

“Well, hurry along and finish what you need to do,” Elizabeth says accompanied by a broad smile. “Daniella must be expecting me home for lunch soon!”

Sinister laughs. “Very well, I shan’t be a moment.”

Sinister walks through the living room and down the stairs, which descend into the basement. He intends to check on his unwilling captives, but he will instead find something he never expected.

He descends into the basement with his head down facing the ground. When he notices the unusual calmness of the room, he lifts his head slowly. To his astonishment, everybody is gone!

“Wha… what has happened here!?” he demands quietly to himself.

“You didn’t think I’d let you go free of our deal, did you?”

An unexpected voice says coming from within the deep shadows, “I have awakened from my hibernation, and I have come to regain you as my servant.”

The highlord Apocalypse stepped from the shadows, “I have need of your aid in orchestrating my Age of Apocalypse!”

NEXT: Sinister faces off against Apocalypse! What will Andrew and the others do now? And what tragedy befalls Elizabeth?