[Lost] Unforeseen Consequences

[lslaw.livejournal.com]

Gehenna stared at himself in the mirror, trying to see the man behind the altered features: the lengthened face; the huge dark eyes; the high, equine ears.

"Who are you?"

It hadn't been difficult to find a Swedish student in Cambridge to translate the words which had been nagging at him. Well, difficult, perhaps, but not arduous; he'd managed to go through a Dane, a Norwegian and a Finn before finally locating a Swede, but seducing the wrong Scandinavian was really its own reward.

Actually getting the translation, that had been far more worrying and had given a name to his fears.

He reached out and touched the mirror. Was there a real man behind that face at all, or was he just a shell, filled up by... expectations? His head reeled and he wondered if this was what it felt like to go mad.

"Who are you?" he demanded again.

The cellphone on the table beeped insistently. He picked it up and read the text message; characteristically blunt, the hard lines of the final 'V' like a splash of ice-cold water to his face.

He smiled and turned away from the mirror.