The Book of Masks (Abridged)

The First Day of the Rest of the Project

YOU TROT OVER TO SCOTT AND MINDY, who were just coming out of the post office, which is next to the bank, when they called to you. "Hi," you greet them brightly.

"Dressing kind of casual, huh?" Mindy's a catty one.

You make a face. "I could, like, so kill my mom, you know? She made me come over here to mail a package? And she couldn't wait for me to finish changing my clothes?" You roll your eyes.

They both laugh, but Scott looks over your head to the Caleb's car. "Is that Johansson? What were you talking to him for?"

"Oh, he's been bugging me about Lisa. You know how she dumped Will Prescott? Like, finally! It was so embarrassing seeing them together." You twinge and twist inside, but the expressions of contempt flow out of you very easily. "Anyway, I'll catch up with you guys later. Wait, hang on. Scott?" Your tone turns wheedling.

"I was supposed to get some stamps, too," you continue, "but my mom didn't give me enough money, and I left my purse at home?" You look up at him from under your lashes. "Could you, like, loan me ten dollars?"

Mindy rolls her eyes, but Scott laughs and pulls two crisp new fives from his wallet. You take them and playfully fiddle with the buttons on the front of his shirt.

You go into the post office and lurk near the front until the coast is clear, then hurry back out to the car. "God, that sucked," you say as you duck into the passenger seat. "But I scored us some extra cash, and Scott and Eva are gonna be pissed at each other in a day or two." You snigger. "Now let's get out of here before anyone else spots me."

* * * * *

Over the next few days you acquire the rest of the supplies for the new spell. Sure enough, digging up four hundred pounds of dirt from the cemetery is not any fun, especially since you have to get it from the middle of the lot in the dead of night so no one will see you. But you get it and the other stuff back to the "clubhouse." By Thursday you are ready to proceed.

In the basement, you carve the large sigil onto the top of the conference table and—since you, not Caleb, are the owner of the book—it's a hank of your hair that you place in the middle of it. Then you cover it with a large, berm-like mound of dirt taken from the cemetery. You soak it in the mixture of fluids and fuels and put a match to it. Purple flames that give off no heat briefly erupt and then die down into a low, dim, steady aurora.

"This is to burn away the impurities," Caleb says, reading over the spell. "When they die out, we have to set it alight again. Keep repeating until it no longer catches on fire." He squints down at the book. "Christ, I think this is going to take a couple of days."

"We can't stay down here for a couple of days!"

"Then we just have to let it do its thing while we're not around."

"And if we burn down the school?"

Caleb sticks his hand into the aurora. "It's not hot. It's not going to set anything on fire."

"Still! I mean, what if someone comes down here?"

"They haven't yet. But—" He cocks his head. "Help me pile up some of this furniture." Together, you quickly erect a barricade against the window to hide the ghostly glow.

"So what do we do now?" you ask.

He frowns. "I wish we knew what this spell did. It could help us prepare for when it's done." He looks back over at your other supplies. "You know, we still have that band with that copy of Lisa's brain."

"You haven't tried that out yet, have you?"

He makes a face. "Dude, I don't want to know what she was thinking and feeling when she was kissing you. But we could make a mask of her, maybe, to go with Eva."

"Survey says no."

"Copy Jeremy's brain?" He gestures at the Jeremy mask.

That had been the original reason for copying Eva, so he has a point. But you also feel like you've past that point. Maybe you should do something else.