The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

A Pair of Jokers

Previously: "A Surprise Visitor" 

"Aiieeeeee!" you scream, doing your best Japanese kamikaze imitation. You snatch up the other mask, jump onto a table, and run its length toward Patterson. You've just time to see the look of wintry amusement in his cold gray eyes before his fist fills your vision, and everything becomes very red and then very black and then very painful and then--

* * * * *

When you're next aware of anything, it's of something very big and very soft sitting on your face. It is trying to suck your face clean off the front of your skull. Alarmingly, it seems likely to succeed, for your face feels only loosely attached to your skull. The back of your head is aflame with spidery cracks of pain.

You exhale, open your eyes, and carefully touch your nose. Either your fingers have gotten very small, or your nose has gotten very big, for they are alarmingly out of proportion to each other.

You hear voices, which stop as you groan, and something shuffles into view. It's your own face, bending over yours with a sardonic smile. "So the fuckwit's back," your double says.

A backwash of pain dissuades you from sitting up. Behind your duplicate stands a very pale Caleb. "What happened?" you murmur. "Where's Patterson?"

The other Will Prescott snorts. "You fill him in," he says to Caleb. "I'll be back in twenty." He disappears, and your consciousness reels as you turn your head to follow him. You gasp again with pain.

"Here, maybe this'll make you feel better," Caleb says, holding out a mask. "C'mon, it's just Eva. Maybe you won't feel like shit if you're wearing her face."

"What're you doing?" you ask irritably. "Whydja swap out masks on the golem?" You groan again.

"Just put it on," he says wearily. "It'll save me from having to explain things five or six times."

You sigh and let him put the mask on you. Blessed emptiness closes around you, and when you again wake all the pain and muffle-headedness is gone. You're actually feeling rather pert, and sit up with a spring.

That's when you discover that you're naked. "Jesus, you pervert!" you exclaim, and slap hard at Caleb, who ducks too late. "You can get an eyeful of Eva whenever you want, and I'd rather it not be when I'm looking like her!"

"It wasn't me, I didn't undress you," Caleb says, nursing the side of his face, which is already badly bruised, complete with split lip. "Patterson's got your stuff, you moron."

"Patterson?" Memories flood back in ...

From the corner of the room, where you were polishing a mask, you'd passively watched as Patterson and Jeremy entered and struggled; as Caleb and then Will charged the ball player, only to get knocked about; as Steve pulled Caleb onto his feet and twisted his arm behind his back until your friend howled with pain and told him everything about the masks; how Steve barked in disbelief, until Caleb pulled the mask off the just-recovering Jeremy; how Patterson put it on himself and then looked incredulously at himself in the mirror; how he strode over to you and, under Caleb's directions, pulled at your face ...

Which is the last thing that you remember, since they are the memories inside the Eva mask.

"Wait, that was Patterson who walked out looking like me?" you say.

Caleb nods grimly. "And he went back to your place to get a sleeping bag. He says you're gonna spend the night here, and he's gonna take your place at home."

"The fuck?"

"I don't know what he's got planned. He says he wants to study the book, and wants your head while he does it."

"Oh, God!" you cry. "Patterson with the book? Oh, Christ!" You pant. "We have to take him out. We'll jump him when he gets back--"

"I dunno," Caleb says unhappily. "After he put your face on I tried jumping him, but he's a lot better fighter than you, even with your shit body."

You pace the room, holding your head between your hands. "What about Jeremy? Where's his mask?"

"Patterson took it with him. Packed it and buncha other stuff in his kit. He knows what you know, and--it pains me to say this--but I think he's smarter than us. More cunning, at least."

"Jesus! He'll turn us into golems!"

Caleb's face tightens, but betrays no surprise: clearly, he's had the same thought. Before he can reply, though, the door opens and Patterson--still wearing your form and clothes--enters. "Oh, calm down, you pussies," he says in a tired voice. "Speaking of which, nice bush you got there, Prescott." He thrusts his hips at you but briskly returns to the topic of conversation. "No one's gonna hurt anyone, as long as you do what you're told."

You're pretty sure you yourself have never worn such an expression of masterfulness, and you suppress a shiver.

He drops a big bag onto the table and pulls your own black sleeping bag from it. "This'll keep you warm tonight," he says, "so you can start by thanking me for that much."

"You bring me any clothes?"

He gives you a pitying look. "Like I want you running around while I'm pretending to be you. You can stay like that--and like Eva, too, if you want and yeah, I know you kinda want to."

"Bite me, Patterson."

He snickers. "As long as you're dressed out like Eva, it's negotiable. Okay, Johansson, let's go."

"When'll you let me out of here?" you call out, and wince at the whine even you can hear in your voice.

"Tomorrow morning," he replies. "No way I want your shit life for keeps." You and Caleb exchange desperate glances as the latter slowly follows Patterson up the stairs. Your heart drops to the soles of your feet as you hear the padlock close on your prison door.

* * * * *

True to his word, Patterson appears early the next morning, and has already restored himself to his natural form. "Spent the night as Eva, huh?" he smirks. "Lemme smell your fingers."

"Fucker. Just give me my shit."

"Okay, here's your face." He hands you a mask. "You'll want your memories of last night. I jacked off too. You know, it's a shame your equipment's wasted on a guy who can't get laid."

You snarl inarticulately as you put the mask to your face. When you wake, you are very cold and very stiff. Patterson is nowhere to be seen, which is a relief, until you realize he hasn't left you any clothes, and the door is again padlocked. Your mask also appears to be missing, and with mounting panic you put your hand to your face and tug while reciting the magic words. The mask shouldn't have bound to your head, but it's the only alternative. Nothing happens, and you're grimly forced to conclude that Patterson has taken it, too.

You're right back where you were before he even showed up. So why did he bother to stop by?

It takes nearly ten minutes for you to realize that the golems--which Patterson had left with you last night--are now gone.

Fuck! You don't know which is more disappointing, that he used the mask's knockout effect to put you to sleep while he made off with golems that would have been under your control, or that you missed your chance to spend the night in the company of--rather than as--Eva Garner.

* * * * *

Naturally, the day passes very slowly, and the light outside is coppery when you hear tires, and hurry over to peep furtively through the window. You can't see the car, but a few minutes later there appear some shoes that you recognize. "Caleb!" you hiss. The feet turn in a tight circle. "Down here at the window!" A moment later, your friend's astonished face appears as he kneels. "You gotta let me out!"

"How'd you get locked in?"

"Patterson didn't let me out this morning like he promised!"

"But you were at school! We skipped third and fourth period so we could-- Oh, shit!" His eyes narrow. "You can't fool me with that thing, Patterson. Will Prescott's a friend of mine, and you're no--"

"Don't be stupid! How do you think I got locked in if I'm not the real Prescott?!"

"That's a point," he says. "Only the real Will Prescott would be dumb enough to get himself trapped." His eyes narrow again. "But I'm only here because you--well, the guy I hung out with at school today--told me to meet him here. Said he had a surprise. Maybe it's that he caught you, Patterson. Why else would he want me out here?"

"To trap you? I don't know. Get down here and try pulling the mask off my face. That'll prove it's me, because I'm not wearing one."

He gives you a skeptical look, then drops to his stomach and reaches gingerly through the window. It's very awkward, for there's only a narrow space for his arm, and you have to balance on your knees on a table, but eventually he gets a grip and tugs while muttering arcane words through gritted teeth. Eventually he gives up. "Okay, it really is you. Fuck. Patterson double-crossed you and faked me out at school. He was so totally you. He even whined for twenty minutes straight about Lisa."

"You have any idea what he's up to?"

Caleb shakes his head. "We're gonna have to get rid of him. It's the only way to be safe."

"What do you mean?"

"Do to him what we did to Jeremy," he says grimly. "Turn him into a golem."

Next: "Purchasing Peace of Mind" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 3)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)"