Dead Man's Deal The Asylum Tales - By Jocelynn Drake Page 0,140
his now-wider jaw had a reddish tint to it and his nose looked larger and crooked as if it had been broken. There were a couple scars on his arms and his neck that hadn’t been there when he walked in. I thought they’d be a nice touch. No one would recognize him. Not our parents. And now not even Robert himself.
He shifted on the table, waking as the sleep potion wore off. I stepped back, turning toward the table where I had left his wallet with his new ID and credit cards as well as some extra cash from my own wallet.
“How you feeling, Chad?” I asked, raising my voice while pretending to look for something on the table. “You dropped off on me about halfway through. Trixie even poked her head in when she heard your snoring to make sure I hadn’t fallen asleep.” I forced a little chuckle as I turned back to him.
Robert, now turned Chad Lancaster, sat up and rubbed his head with the heel of his palm, looking somewhat dazed as his gaze drifted around the room. His memory was going to be foggy for a little while because his mind was trying to organize the holes where I had taken memories and to sort through the new ones I had put in their place. It wasn’t a smooth process since I was forced to distort a lot of old ones rather than risk leaving him with no new memories.
“Yeah,” he said. “Sorry about that.”
“No problem. You warned me you were exhausted. You want to take a look at the tattoo?” I asked, motioning toward his ribs. He twisted in surprise and then winced as the pain reached his brain. Slipping off the table, he walked over to the mirror hanging on the wall.
“I liked your idea of doing two of your Chinese zodiac animals. It’s a very powerful tattoo,” I continued, trying to verbally reinforce the memories I had implanted about him coming into the parlor.
The tattoo was of a monkey and a wild boar wrestling, their bodies curled in such a way that they almost formed a circle. It was one of the best tattoos I had ever done. The colors, while sharp and vibrant, were soothing to the eye. The wild boar, or rather pig, represented the Chinese zodiac sign that Robert had been born under, while the monkey represented the person I was trying to change him into. In the tattoo, the monkey was winning the fight.
I didn’t put much stock in astrology and the different zodiacs, but the animals of the Chinese zodiac had proven time and again that they were effective when it came to tweaking a person’s outward appearance and sometimes personality. It was the reason I had used my own zodiac animal of the tiger to change my appearance when I had my back tattooed.
What Chad didn’t see was the code for the Towers hidden within the lines of the tattoo. With luck, he would never see it. It wasn’t meant for his eyes, but for his protection.
“It looks fantastic,” Chad said, twisting to the left and then right to take in the whole design.
“Glad you like it. Let’s get it bandaged up so you don’t miss your flight tonight.” I walked over to a table, holding a pile of gauze and tape. Chad nodded and quietly let me bandage him up while giving him proper care instructions.
When I was finished and he was dressed again, I handed back his wallet. “Oh, here. A courier dropped off your bag and plane ticket while you were out. Good luck in California.” Bending down, I grabbed a large black bag filled with clothes I had created while he was sleeping and handed it to him. I couldn’t risk letting him have any of his former possessions for fear of them triggering an old memory.
“Thanks. I think it’s time for a change of scenery and California sounds good to me. I was passing through Low Town when I heard about your shop.”
Inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. He had pulled up a thought I had placed in his brain and used it, sounding comfortable and accepting of the idea. My words and actions were matching the memories he had, so he was willing to go with it.
A knock on the door nearly had me jumping out of my skin.
“Taxi’s here,” Trixie called through the door. Her footsteps echoed through the hall as she walked toward the tattooing room.