Chapter XII - Glass Eyes

Lord Horror Hill had remembered that he had to return Butler Burns to his family's organisation after a certain time or there would be problems; it was such bad timing as they didn't have the butler to give back. Many servants collected the deceased bodies and disposed of them into the morgue. Lord Horror Hill busily mopped up all the blood that was beginning to dry on the floor. He had a big day ahead of him. The Horror Hillians were planning on burying Butler Burns tomorrow and visiting the cemetery, so they had to do a lot of cleaning before that. Dr Lazer was hunched over the floor, collecting each individual shotgun pellet. Sir Hollow Eyes and Viscount Phantom were helping Lord Horror Hill wipe the blood off the floor. All the Horror Hillians worked mercilessly through the afternoon except Electro, who lacked concentration. He refused to complete the cleaning task with the others as he insisted on wanting to do it by himself. It was a shame because Lord Horror Hill liked everyone to collaborate and work as a team. Electro liked roaming the corridors and going into different rooms - arranging different items in different places. He was extremely fond of annoying the Horror Hillians.

"Electro, can you get Butler Burns' body out of the morgue and place it in the coffin I bought yesterday? The coffin is just outside my office." Lord Horror Hill asked, whilst clearing a streak of blood on the wall.

"My pleasure, Lord! I do like those types of jobs," Electro declared eagerly.

Strolling towards the morgue, he grabbed the coffin from the Lord's office and dragged it down towards its destination. He arrived at the morgue and noticed a massive chip out of the bottom of the coffin - where he had been dragging it along the corridor.

"Never mind, they won't notice," he thought ignorantly.

Dumping the body of Butler Burns into the coffin, Electro realised that it was obvious that his eyes were gouged out and the white froth was easily visible, so he needed to disprove Dr Lazer's suspicions to the rest of Horror Hill. Anyone would suspect something if they saw it and would believe Dr Lazer's conjectures.

Without hesitation, he whizzed up to his room; he grabbed the two glass eyes from his ventriloquist doll. Jumping down two stairs at a time, he reached the morgue, scooped the mush of the rotting eye out of the socket with his hands and maliciously inserted the new glass eyes into the Butler's loose sockets. He wiped the mouth with his handkerchief and quickly stood up when he saw two people slowly approaching.

Hobbling down the hallway came Lord Horror Hill and Dr Lazer.

"So, Dr Lazer, is it true that when you saw Butler Burns, he had no eyes? How has that happened then?" Lord Horror Hill queried.

"Well, yes, it truly is a horrible sight, Lord. Do you want to see it?" Dr Lazer spoke frantically as they stood beside Electro and the coffin.

"Well, hello Dr Lazer and Lord Horror Hill. I was just putting Butler Burns in his casket for the journey tomorrow," Electro explained.

"We were just wanting to see Butler Burns as Dr Lazer insisted that he saw something strange about him," Lord Horror Hill smiled kindly.

"Go ahead," Electro spoke in a compassionate manner.

Opening the coffin, Lord Horror Hill stared in bewilderment.

"I don't see anything Dr Lazer, were you lying to me? His eyes are fine," Lord Horror Hill spluttered in distress.

Dr Lazer slowly looked behind him to see Electro grimacing in accomplishment. Thunderstruck, he gulped in horror before the menacing villain began to speak in a low toned whisper:

"I know you know, Dr Vincent John Lazer," Electro hissed, his voice slithering through the suffocating air like smoke. His bony hand rested heavily on the doctor's shoulder, each gnarled finger a threat in itself. "You know... there are so many things I could rid myself of - things that weigh on me, hold me back. But I don't, do I?"

His fingers dug in slightly, a subtle reminder of his control. "And you, Dr Lazer... you're a risk. A liability. A loose thread in the fabric I've woven so tightly, so perfectly. And threads, doctor... well, when they unravel, they tend to take the whole thing down with them."