Darkness Hunts(78)

 

"Whoever this person is, he's very adept at covering his tracks and keeping his identity secret—neither of which the insane tend to be." He hesitated. "Can you tell us anything else about him personally?"

 

"Well, he had hair this time." I frowned suddenly. "But oddly, it didn't really have any color."

 

"So it was gray?"

 

"No. There just wasn't any color. It merged with the shadows, as if it were part of them. It was weird."

 

"You know," Elga said suddenly, "he could be blind."

 

We both turned to look at her. "Why would you think that?" Rhoan asked.

 

"Well, if he was born blind, then he would have no understanding of color," she explained. "Of course, the blind can be taught to associate certain levels of heat with specific colors through the use of various colored-light filters, but they will never know colors as the sighted see them." 

 

"Would that explain why he has no features on the plane? Because he's never actually seen his face?" I asked.

 

She frowned. "Not really, because while he may not see it, he can feel it. He would know the shape of his nose, mouth, and face, at the very least."

 

"Then why are his features missing on the field? I thought your soul wouldn't allow such deception."

 

"Normally, it doesn't. However, he may not be concealing it. What he may be doing is changing your perception of what you're seeing."

 

"Which means we're dealing with a very powerful inpidual indeed." Rhoan thrust to his feet. "Damn it, Ris, I like that you're involved in this even less."

 

"And you think I'm any happier?" I shook my head. "Trust me, if I could go home and leave you to it, I would."

 

"I know. It's just frustration speaking." He made a sharp motion with his hand. "Until we get our phone call, there's not much more we can do. I suggest you go home and catch some rest while you can."

 

I wished I could, but I still had a meeting with Jak to get to. I downed the rest of the Coke, then said, "He wanted me to chase the leads, not you."