Fluttervile

by Aiet

"... poor bastard."

Chapter eleven”

“... poor bastard.”

A short, skinny man with gray hair and a plain brown suit sat in the lobby of a hospital. He waited, pushing his large frame glasses high on his narrow crooked nose. His withered face and dull green eyes scanned the room of sick and injured people. Then an ER nurse walked over to him with files in his hands.

“Mr. Loma?” the man sitting down stood up and smoothed his suit.

“Please, Monte is fine.” he held out his hand to shake the other mans but the files were placed there instead.

“this is all we have on one Dolorem Pati. The poor bastard has a medical file a mile long. Now if you will excuse me I have patents to see to. Good day Mr. Loma.” the man turned and left him with a large stack of papers and folders in hand. He walked out the door back to his car heading for his office. The trip was fast since he had a special pass for the barriers around the block of the burned apartment. The fire may or may not have damaged a gas line as the city officials told the public and they barricaded it off. It was only yesterday when it was an inferno. He parked across the street from the blackened building, turning off the engine, grabbing the files. He pulled out the medical file first and shook his head in pity.

“that man was right, I’ve never seen a file this long outside of wife abuse. A hand that recovered fully and functional from being nearly severed off. He was in a fire before this too. Tied to post and whipped, who the hell does that? Oh ok that makes sense. Here we go, a suicide attempt.” he read the file skipping over some and when he read the last one he grew specious. Monte Loma was a detective for the fire department and it was his job to determine if the fire was an accident or not. It was starting to look like it wasn't. He placed down the file and swapped it for a police report on the fire, climbing out of the car. He walked to the building when he was stopped by a police woman.

“sir I need you... oh hi Monte.” she walked up to him calmly.

“hello. Just going over the reports. Now can you tell me was a body ever recovered?” they walked slowly together around the building, examining the chard skeleton of the apartment.

“no it's believed that when parts of the interior collapsed he was caught underneath and the city can't bring in the heavy equipment because some endangered bird made it's nest on the site.”

“now that seems cruel. Not giving a man a proper burial because of one fragile bird. Now was any other person killed in the fire?”

“from the records no. he was the only one but there was some major injuries. What do you think happened?” they stopped at the front door or what was left of it.

“on his medical record he has a past suicide attempt and I need to try and determine if this was an accident or another one. Is the building safe to enter?”

“the fire department said you have the green light. I hope you find out the truth.” the officer walked away and Monte went inside. The stench of chard... everything filled his nose as he made his way to the stairs. They had all been cleared of debris and he had a clear path to the very top. He climbed for a time and nearly had a heart attack when the stairs of the sixth floor groaned and shifted slightly. He made it to the seventh floor and to the door from which the fire spread from. He entered the room and scanned it. The fire originated from the kitchen, a melted lump that was once a microwave sat on the floor. He pulled out a handkerchief and tipped it over to what was once the door. He pried it open to find the remnants of the last meal.

“it seems that this was an accident after all.” he talked to himself as he examined the rest of the room. Nothing much was spared from the devouring flames but what caught his eye was a faint out line. He guessed it was seven feet tall and five feet wide what ever it was. Then he heard it. It was distant but not travel wise. He followed it to what had been the bed and he flipped it over. Underneath was a large jagged mirror fragment and he bent to pick it up. He stood up looking at it, his fingers tingling, turning it to him. Monte nearly screamed and dropped the mirror fragment from what he saw. It was not his own reflection but someone else. The man in the file is what he saw. He slowly looked back at it. It was him alright, the exact same person from the picture. But what made it even more strange was the fact that he was moving. It wasn't a drawing on the mirror or anything else, it was like he was staring at the man in his hands. It saw his face and right shoulder, he was screaming but nothing came from the mirror. His eyes darted all around with panic as if he was looking for a way out. Monte set down the fragment his mind whirling. He couldn't understand what he just saw and he back a few steps away. He watched as dolorem continued to fight for a way out when he noticed two large rips in the wall. Monte was a smart man and could piece things together quick. They had to be the other fragments of the mirror and they had to have the rest of the body on them. He knew he had to find them and restore them, but would it bring out the man in the mirror? Only one way to find out. Monte grabbed the mirror piece and headed back down to his car. When he got there he carefully placed it in the trunk driving off tot he direction the rips were made.

“Not every puzzle is intended to be solved. Some are in place to test your limits. I prefer not to.”