Chapter 2

The results are disappointing. There are references to industrial machinery, a handful of unrelated horror characters, and several pages of questionable artwork. You discover an obscure discussion about a masked performer who supposedly appeared at private events during the late 1990s, but the accompanying links have long since stopped working. You are about to abandon the search when you notice a thumbnail near the bottom of the results. It shows a large black figure standing beneath red lighting. You click it.

The photograph is considerably more disturbing than you expected. The setting appears to be an underground nightclub, although it resembles a torture chamber from a particularly unpleasant horror film. Chains hang from the ceiling, metal railings divide the room, and a large cylindrical cage occupies part of the background. Several people stand nearby holding drinks, apparently watching something taking place in the center of the room.

The central figure is unmistakable. He is enormous, with broad shoulders, thick arms, and a protruding belly beneath a heavy leather apron. His clothing is glossy black rubber, reflecting the crimson lighting in irregular streaks. His boots look substantial enough to belong to a construction worker, and his gas mask gives him the blank, insectlike appearance of something that should not be standing upright.

One of his gloved hands holds a short black truncheon. The other is gripping a woman's hair. She is kneeling on the floor beside him, wearing a short white sundress that seems absurdly innocent against the surrounding darkness. Her brown curls are tangled around his enormous fingers, and her face is tilted upward. Her mouth is open in what appears to be a scream of astonishment or terror.

You study the photograph for several seconds. It is obviously staged, you decide. The composition is too deliberate, the lighting too effective, and the spectators too conveniently positioned. It looks like a publicity photograph from a low-budget horror production. Yet there is something unusually convincing about the masked man.

He does not appear to be posing for the camera. His enormous body seems almost indifferent to the scene around him, and the dark glass lenses of his mask reveal nothing about the person inside. Even the truncheon hangs casually from his hand, as though he has no particular reason to display it. You find yourself wondering about the man beneath the costume.

Is he really that large, or has the photographer used perspective to exaggerate his proportions? Does he perform some elaborate theatrical routine, or is his appearance alone sufficient to entertain the audience? Most importantly, why does everybody in the photograph seem so completely comfortable with what they are watching?

You enlarge the image. The woman looks genuinely terrified. Of course, a competent actress could produce exactly that expression. You have seen enough horror films to know that appearances can be misleading. Nevertheless, the contrast between her apparent distress and the casual amusement of the surrounding spectators gives the photograph an unsettling quality.

You notice that one woman in the background is smiling into her drink. A bearded man beside her appears almost bored. Nobody seems particularly concerned about the woman kneeling beneath the enormous masked figure, or her well-being. You close the photograph, but you do not close the browser. Instead, you search again.