Cinderface

Blaine Cooke and Tanner Ember pass a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 between them.

“Maybe we should have gone for Maximus Super,” Tanner says, gagging at the wine’s rancid aftertaste.

“You mean Maximus Stupor. You know you can’t handle malt liquor,” Blaine replies, catching himself as he nearly sways off the shoulder and onto Hook Road.

The pair of teenagers have spent the night drinking, smoking cigarettes, and complaining about living in Accident, Maryland, which they feel is aptly named because people find it by accident, and whenever something happens in the town of 450 bored residents, it’s usually by accident.

Trying to look older and cooler, tall, gangly seventeen-year-old Blaine is working on a mustache, while sixteen-year-old acne farm Tanner has been pumping iron in hopes of attracting stunning cheerleader “Lovely Rita” Pelican.

Blaine spots a figure walking ahead of them.

“Well, what do you know? Hardly anybody ever uses this old dirt road except us kids,” Blaine notes. “Especially at night.”

“What say we bum a few smokes off of him?”

The pair close the distance between themselves and the bulky figure shambling along the road’s shoulder.

“Hey! Hey, buddy! Tanner bellows. “You got a couple of spare cigs?”

The man turns around just as fellow student Mercer Grey’s beat-up pickup passes by.

The pickup’s one functioning light illuminates the man.

His scarred, scorched features look as if they’ve melted away.

The two boys grab each other, screaming.

Tanner shrieks, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”

The brakes on Mercer’s pickup squeal as the pickup grinds to a halt.

“What the hell?” Mercer yells as he gets out.

By the time the boys shift their attention from the disfigured man to Mercer, he’s disappeared into the starless night.

Blaine and Tanner run to Mercer’s truck.

“You see that, Merce?” Tanner asks.

Mercer shivers, his normally deep voice as shrill as a Vienna Choir Boy’s. “You mean the guy with the melted face? Yeah.”

“So, who or what was that?” Blaine wonders.

“That was Cinderface.”

                                               ***

The next night, Blaine and Tanner meet Dorothy Dare and Rita Pelican at the Piggly Wiggly, easing their still-jangly nerves with more Mad Dog 20/20.

With shoulder-length dark hair, deep, mesmerizing eyes, and high cheekbones, “Lovely Rita” Pelican is considered a real catch, though some say she’s traded good looks for intelligence. Dorothy Dare’s strongly freckled face, dark red curls, and skinny frame can’t compete with Rita’s eye-catching build. She thinks Blaine lets his ego do his thinking, and she’s not sold on Tanner’s macho attitude. But she’d rather be considered the sensible one in the group than try to navigate high school alone.

“He had a face like a burnt grilled cheese sandwich,” Tanner explains. “His eyes were slits. They looked right through me, like he planned to eat us.”

“Lucky for us, Mercer came along and put a light on him,” Blaine says. “I think it spooked him. He jumped the railing and ran into the woods… My Dad told me he’s the spirit of a kid who died in a car accident twenty years ago.”  

“I heard he was struck by lightning while walking across a bridge,” Tanner says.

Rita takes a dainty sip from the bottle. “My Pop told me he was hit by a train and that his face was torn completely off.”

Dorothy is flabbergasted. “C’mon. It’s probably some poor homeless guy.”

“Wandering around for the past twenty years?” Blaine questions. “I know what I saw, and it wasn’t human.”

                                               ***

Officer Duke Kenworthy yawns as their cruiser swerves through Hook Road.

A handsome, charismatic, and easygoing, thirty-eight-year-old local boy made good, Duke often jokes about the lack of crime in Accident but appreciates that it gives him more time to pursue his passion for sailing. With silvery hair, thick dark brows, and probing, deep-set eyes, forty-one-year-old Torin Torkelson is resigned to his role as the bad cop in the duo, though he is, in fact, known to be considerate and kind-hearted.

“Why are we bothering to patrol this area?” Duke asks. “The only thing out here is beer cans and raccoons.”

“Angie Yurgalevich, the Mayor’s high-strung daughter-in-law, claims she saw a monster walking on this road last night,” Torin replies.

“And when the Mayor speaks, we jump. You know Cinderface is a myth, right?”

“Well, those two to three sightings we get per month aren’t.”

“Fine. My old partner said Cinderface was a drunk driver who killed a family in a head-on collision and was cursed to wander Hook Road forever, a faceless specter seeking forgiveness,” Duke says.

“I’m not writing that in our report,” Torin replies.

“Let’s make a few passes, then head back to town. It’s past midnight on a Friday night. You know what that means…”

“The weekly brawl at Patsy’s Bar and Grill.”

“Angie must’ve eaten the worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle because she’s tripping,” Duke says. “How come in our seven years together we’ve never once seen Cinderface?”

“Maybe he hides when he sees the word ‘Police’ on the side of a patrol car.”

“…Like he can read…,” Duke harrumphs.

                                               ***

Carny Benson huffs in frustration. “I told you to get a rental with a GPS.”

Boze, her beleaguered husband of fifteen years, replies half-heartedly, “You’re my GPS. Any idea where we are?”

“Lost.”

From the back seat comes the complaint all parents dread on road trips: their eight-year-old daughter, Chastity, wails, “I gotta go to the bathroom.”

“Do you see any gas stations?” Carny snaps back. “You’re gonna have to hold it.”

“The rental company isn’t gonna appreciate the back seat’s condition if you don’t stop.”

“You’re such a headache, Chastity. Pull over, Boze.”

Boze pulls the car onto Hook Road’s shoulder. Chastity bolts from the car and runs into the woods.

“She’s growin’ up, gettin’ smart-mouthed,” Carny states.

“…Wonder where she gets that from…,” Boze mutters.

“What?”

“Nothin’. Seriously, where the heck are we?” he asks.

“The last sign said we’re in a town called Accident.”

“Figures.”

Looking out the front window, the pair follow the trail from the car’s lights into the darkness.

“No streetlights, no signs, just wide-open spaces,” Boze says. “Kinda peaceful, and at the same time, intimidatin’.”

“So’s our future together,” Carny admits. “If this post office job in Bethesda doesn’t work out…”

“I know. You’re leavin’ me with Chastity and pursuin’ your dream of being a trapeze artist.”

“We had a good run…”

“I was kinda hopin’ you’d say we weren’t finished yet,” Boze replies.

“You and I both know that if it weren’t for Chastity we’d have been finished years ago.”

“Who knew she’d be the adult in this mess?”

Carny jerks forward in her seat. “What was that? Hit the high beams.”

A large, square-shouldered figure lurches toward them, arms outstretched.

Carny shrieks, “Christ! What is that thing! It’s got no face!”

Boze stomps on the accelerator and the car speeds down the road.

A few minutes later, Boze and Carny return to retrieve Chastity. Their hour-long search is fruitless.

When Torin and Duke arrive at the scene, they find Chastity’s footprints leading into the woods.

Duke points out a set of larger footprints that intersect with Chastity’s.

“Cinderface.”

                                               ***

Prodded into bravery by Dorothy and Rita, Blaine and Tanner return to Hook Road with them a few days later, late in the afternoon.

“Didja hear that Cinderface recently kidnapped some poor little girl?” Rita asks.

“C’mon, Cinderface isn’t real,” Dorothy replies.

“Saw it with my own two eyes,” Blaine says.

Tanner sticks out his chest. “Yeah, we’d have captured it, but…”

“You were too busy running away,” Dorothy jests.

The group ventures into the woods on a mission to find Cinderface.

Tanner shouts, “Hey, Cinderface! Here we are! Come and get us!”

Rita puts her finger to her mouth. “Sssh! Quiet, Tanner. Don’t get him mad. I bet you’ll be the first one back in the car if he does show up. I hear he’s immoral…”

Dorothy corrects her. “You mean immortal.”

“That too. I heard he was a steelworker at the plant and that he was a good-looking man who romanced his boss's wife. They got into a fight, and the boss shoved his face into a vat of acid. Now his ghost steals people’s faces, hoping to be good-looking again.”

“Really? One of the stories I heard was he was a soldier who promised to marry his girl after he came home from a hitch in Kuwait,” Blaine says. “But he was maimed by an I.U.D., and when he came home, his girl rejected him. Now he kidnaps women to be his wife. How about you, Tanner?”

The group encounters a murky green marsh.

Tanner picks up an empty beer can, examines it, then tosses it into the marsh, watching the scummy water suck it in. “I heard he was some traveling salesman’s illegitimate kid, and that when his mother got a look at his mangled mug, she left him in the woods.”

“Well, whoever or whatever Cinderface is, nobody wants him, including us. I don’t feel like slogging through that green muck to find him. Let’s get out of here.”

Dorothy pauses.

She thinks she hears someone sobbing.

                                               ***

Dorothy sneaks into her house through the back door, hoping it doesn’t creak.

She’s surprised to see her mother still awake, enjoying a slice of cherry pie and a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

“Where have you been, Cinderella?”

“Out with Rita, Blaine, and Tanner.”

“I wish you’d stop hanging out with those fools. Rita is pretty, but she has the I.Q. of a brick. Blaine thinks he’s James Dean, and Tanner wants to be Mike Tyson. Not a practical mind between the three of them. I don’t want their ridiculous notions ruining your chance at getting into a good college. Your father doesn’t pull double shifts at the plant for you to wind up calling people on the phone to ask them if they’d like to extend the warranty on their toe clippers.”

“Relax, Mom. I’m getting straight A’s, aren’t I? Can I ask you something? You grew up here…”

“Which is why I want something better for you.”

“Gotcha. You’ll be the first to be thanked when I win the Nobel Prize. Have you ever heard of Cinderface, the monster who walks along Hook Road?”

“Monster? He’s just a poor, disfigured man who wants to be left alone.”

“How come most people in town think he’s a ghost or an alien?”

“Because they’re idiots. It’s the same bunch of clowns who believe George Washington cut down a cherry tree, and we’re getting $5,000 rebate checks from the White House. You’re seventeen, Dorothy. It’s way past time to give credence to ghosts and boogeymen. Any educated person knows that Cinderface is a crock.”

“What makes you so sure?

“I’ve talked to him. He’s really quite nice once you get used to his appearance.”

Dorothy looks at her mother, slack-jawed.

“Are you putting me on, Mom?”

“I’ll draw you a map so you can see him for yourself. Bring your waders. But you have to promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“That you’ll treat him like a human being.”

                                                           ***

Dorothy quietly raps on the cabin's front door. Although modest, the cabin is well maintained and sits in a seldom-trod area deep in the woods.

A young girl answers the door.

“I’m sorry to disturb you… I must have the wrong place.”

“You looking for Cinderface?”

From the back of the cabin, a deep, self-assured voice calls out, “It’s okay, Chastity. Let her in.”

Dorothy follows the girl into the bedroom. Her heart quickens at the sight of Cinderface.

His face, melted away, resembles a dripping cheese pizza.

“I know my appearance takes a little getting used to. I don’t get many visitors. In fact, I don’t get any. Name’s Dupree Neverakin. What brings you here?”

“…Separating fact from fiction…,” Dorothy says softly. “My name’s Dorothy Dare. I don’t want to offend you, but I’m surprised you can speak… And so eloquently…”

“Thanks. I read people’s discarded books and magazines. And yes, people think I’m a drooling monster who eats little girls.”

Dorothy glances at Chastity, whose dimples show as she giggles. “Silly, isn’t it?”

“Speaking of little girls… This one’s officially listed as missing. You should take her to the police.”

Chastity pretends to spit. “So I can go back to the Battling Bensons? That’s what people call my parents because they’re always arguing. They’re two losers going nowhere. Besides, I like it here. Mister Neverakin has coloring books. He’s a good cook, and he’s smart, although he likes his beer and smokes too much. The people in town don’t understand him, but I do.”

“They’re not going to understand this living arrangement one bit. They’ll throw you in jail for kidnapping.”

“I’ve always expected people to come out here with torches and pitchforks to slay the big, bad freak. Chastity ran away from her folks. She needed some space. I figured in another day or so I’d leave her where I found her.”

Chastity’s Shirley Temple looks form into a frown. “You mean I can’t stay?”

“You know you can’t. But you can take the coloring books and magazines you like. Will you take Chastity with you when you leave, Dorothy?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Thank you. So, you want to know how Dupree Neverakin became Cinderface… Most people who know the truth have moved away… Folks would see me walking along the road at night…”

“And a legend was born.”

“Yes. When I was Chastity’s age, I was playing with a group of kids. Some were my friends, but most were classmates I didn’t know well. The electric company was installing new telephone poles in town. One kid dared me to climb one and put a flag on top. I wanted to impress everybody, so I did. I got to the top, slipped, and grabbed the power lines to steady myself. I didn’t know they were live. Twelve thousand volts shot through me. By the time I was rescued, well, you can see the results…”

“But your parents must have been understanding…”

“My parents kept me inside. My mother homeschooled me for four years. When I was twelve, she had a heart attack and died. My father, a trucker, wanted a high school quarterback, not a freak. Two years later, he got in his truck and never came back. I built this place. It’s far enough in the woods to be protected by the forest and the marsh. You know the rest. I stay hidden until nightfall, then I take a walk. Walking, beer, and cigarettes are my few joys.”

“How do you get your supplies?”

“Ask your mother. We grew up together. Once a week, she leaves me a care package in the woods. She takes the doormats, belts, and custom jewelry I make and sells them for me. Thanks to her, I’ve been able to buy the things that have turned this log cabin into a home.”

“Not everyone thinks you’re a monster. You should try going to town.”

“I did, once. Your mother convinced me to go. She brought me a mask and took me to the diner. Half the town showed up to see the mystery man. They stared at me more than when I wasn’t wearing a disguise. I realized it was best to be who I really am.”

                                               ***

“Another nice, sunny day,” Duke says. “I’m glad we’re working the day shift this week. Gives me the chance to get out on the water, maybe do some fishing.”

“The boss wants us to keep an eye out for that missing girl.”

“You kidding? I got a better chance of winning the Newport regatta with the Titanic than we have of finding her.”

Torin and Duke’s cruiser passes a trio of people walking hand in hand along Hook Road.

Torin looks in the rearview mirror and slams on the brakes.

“What’s the matter?” Duke asks. He turns around, and what he sees answers his question.

Cinderface, Dorothy, and the missing girl are walking toward them.

Duke’s first reaction is to spring from the car, weapon drawn.

“Easy, Duke,” Torin cautions. “It’s got hostages.”

“We’re not hostages,” Chastity says, her dimples showing. “We’re friends.”

“Everybody needs somebody,” Dupree Neverakin says, “Even a monster.”

“My God, it speaks,” Duke says.

“Of course I do. Go to the officer, Chastity.”

Chastity takes Torin’s hand.

Dupree looks at the policemen’s badges.

“Kenworthy… I went to school with a kid named Ellsworth Kenworthy. We called him Duke because he was a John Wayne fan.”

“…That… That was me… But…You’re a… a monster…”

“He’s not a monster!” Chastity shouts.

“Who are you?” Duke asks.

“Dupree Neverakin.”

“Dupree? I was the one who dared you to climb the telephone pole. I heard you’d died… This is worse… I… I feel terrible… My God, what a horrible life you’ve had…”

“Could be worse, I suppose. I could be a freak in a side show. At least the folks around here are afraid of me and leave me alone.”

“Is that what you really want?” Chastity asks.

A tear runs down Dupree’s cheek. “…No… I want to be more like everyone else...”

Duke looks into Dupree’s watery eyes. “Can you forgive me?”

“You didn’t push me up the telephone pole, Duke.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you out? Duke asks. “How about a reflective vest for when you’re wandering around at night?”  

“Some beer and cigarettes would be nice.”