The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

A View from the Sidelines

Previously: "The Girl in the Golem Mask" 

by Masktrix

You nod. “Deal.”

Abi smiles – the evil grin that you’ve worn yourself, the cat-that-got-the-cream smirk when she’s not faking a pleasant demeanor. “OK,” she says. “Get on with it.”

You spend the next half-hour going through in detail the masks, how they’re used, and the options available to you. Abi, to give her credit, sits and listens, rapt; she asks questions when she has to, but mostly shows patience, occasionally twisting a loose strand of hair in thought. You tell her virtually everything… the only thing you hold back is that the real Shelly, the dead Shelly, is about six feet away from her. When you finish, she leans you back on the wall and tilts your head, appraising your appearance.

“So you’re wearing the tennis coach as a meat suit right now? Kay. Let me have it. And the blank mask. And that stuff you put inside the mask to make one of those slave-things. If I slather that stuff inside a mask it will be your slave, right?” She flicks at a loose nail. “Obviously those clothes, too. And I’ll need your truck.”

“Why do you need this mask? You could take the Ruth one.”

"Because," Abi says, "I’m going to go back to Xavier’s and switch places with someone. Once I'm inside, I'll try to get your book and stuff."

"Who?" you ask, your head in a whirl. "Who are you going to—?"

"I don't know! I'll improvise. I'll go in as this tennis coach and see who I can talk tennis to." She cocks her head. "I’ll take that Ruth mask too, as a backup, just in case."

"And what am I supposed to do?" you ask.

"Wait to hear back from me. I'll call. What day did you say it was? Saturday?" She muses. "I should try to get there around noon, classes will be getting out, day students will be leaving. Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne/ He travels the fastest who travels alone.”

“That poetry?”

Abi flashes a smile. “Kipling. Now come on, time’s a-wastin’. What’s the matter? Get out of the mask.”

You think about it for a moment. If you do, you’re going to collapse, helpless. Abi will be able to do what she likes, until you get in another mask. And the only one available is…

Fuck, no. I can’t be Shelly. I can’t do it. Can I? Except I have to be. Just once more.

Abi looks at you expectantly. You’re virtually shaking at the thought. You close your eyes, lay on the floor, say the words, and haul the Acuna mask off your face.

***

Welcome to the world of Abi Steiner, Will Prescott. Fuck it up with your stupid book and I’ll tear out your goddamn eyes. Abi’s voice echoes in your head. You see her in the mirror, staring at you in her, appraising herself. Your body is on fire as something tugs and pulls at you, lifting you up, dragging you across the room. Instinctively, you whip your hands up to your eyes, trying to protect them, trying to stop her, but the hands just bat you away.

“Stay still,” Abi says. “I need her clothes.” The top comes free and there’s a rush of chill, but the fire burning on your forehead more than matches it, spinning you in a flux of freezing ice and soaring heat.

“Mask,” you croak. You don’t know if you’re trying to avoid putting it on, or if you need to. You can’t stomach being Shelly, and yet you know you’re useless now. You’re broken, helpless in the hands of Abigail Steiner. She could do anything to you… God, she’s going to kill me. She tricked me. How could I be so…

“All right. Hold up a moment. Here…”

The world goes black.

***

Oh my God Will’s gonna get everything back! He’s so freakin awesome! We’re gonna show those Hogworts kids who’s the best!

You shoot up, full of youthful vigor and nervous energy. In the far corner, toward the door, Carmen Acuna is also coming around. Carefully, she reaches up and touches her face, then runs a finger through her jet hair. Looking down, she traces the curves of her body.

“Fuck,” she says, her accent absent once more. “This is incredible. I mean, look at me! I’m her. And I can…” she furrows her brow. “Ah, puedo hablar español. Asombroso...”

“The memories take time,” you squeak in Shelly’s voice as you grab her hoodie. “It took Kristen a day to act like you. Your biggest problem is Acuna’s accent. But it comes.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Abi says, as she finishes changing clothes. “It’s not like anyone at St Xavier’s is going to know or care.” She throws Acuna’s hair over her shoulder and straightens her top. “This is so odd. Everything’s different. My height, my weight. Even my vision. I think I understand how addictive this must be, now. I’m sorry for what I said, Will. I didn’t realize just what wearing one of these masks was like until I tried it.”

You shrug. “It’s not like many people know what it’s like to be someone else.” You finish your change and stand up. “But Kristen and Vee do. And we need to get moving.”

“That’s the plan, Will. Or do I call you Shelly?”

“Will,” you say, walking over to the workbench to gather the paste and the Ruth mask. “I guess I’ll wait here. Maybe walk to the Cherry Brook Bakery, up on the corner that way. Shelly’s diabetic, got to keep her blood sugar up.” You pass the items over, along with Shelly’s number.

“I’ll tell your, ah, golem? I’ll tell it to come straight back. Wait for my message.”

You hope she knows what she’s doing.

***

“Shelly! Hey! What are you doing here!” The young girl is approaching you from the bakery counter.

Shit, shit shit! This is all I need.

“Sit, sit, sit! You’re just who I need!” you bounce in your seat, grinning at Helen Kim. “Oh my God I was going to text you! I was reading online about how to adopt a pygmy puff! Not, like, a freakin’ real one or anything, because magic isn’t freakin’ real and that sucks! But like, a plushie one! And then I was gonna pretend it was a real pet, because my mom won’t let me get a cat because allergies!”

Helen comes and sits down with you. It’s pure bad luck that you’re out at the Bakery when she passed by, and now you have to pretend to be a deliriously excited girl while her irritating, morose friend shoves a macaron in her mouth. You’re just glad Shelly’s brain can autopilot her breathless, continual stream of thoughts, and Helen’s natural moodiness means she tends not to say too much.

It’s almost 3pm. She was supposed to get into Xavier’s and message you. And so far – nothing. That means either she’s been captured by Vee, and you’ve squandered all of the advantages you had, or she’s betrayed you. You feel a little nauseous at the thought.

“Shelly, you OK? You look like you’re going all pale.”

“I’m fine,” you mutter, trying to regain your train of thought. “So, uh. What was I saying? Oh, yeah. So I was… was…” you’re struggling to hold on to your identity. Shelly’s thoughts are there to access, but you can’t concentrate.

“You got your insulin kit with you?”

“It’s not that,” you say, waving off Helen’s concern. “Uh, I’m just gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be back.” You get up from the table and tap your plate. “Don’t you dare take a bite of my shortbread, ‘kay?”

You rush away from Helen, rush straight into a stall and slam the door, staring anxiously at Shelly’s cell, almost willing it to buzz. “C’mon,” you say, bouncing as Shelly would. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon.” If magic is freakin’ real, I should be able to make a cell ring—

The phone buzzes. Your eyes go wide in shock. Giggling at the serendipity, you read the text.

I got to Kristen and I'm sending her back to you under that coach's mask. No one knows I'm back to being myself.

It’s a far more joyful Shelly, buzzing, dancing, hopping, skipping Shelly-bean that practically leaps into her seat opposite Helen. Your day has just got a whole lot brighter.

***

Coach Acuna arrives at your basement hideout about half an hour later, a few minutes after you – or Shelly – have managed to shake Helen Kim with an imaginary message from your mom about heading home. Acuna greets you warmly with a 'Hey Boss', but your mind is already on other things. A second text has come through from Abi.

Shit Kristen hid the book and didn't tell anyone else where she put it, and now I have to pretend with V and them that someone must have stolen it. LOL, they all think you and Shelly are hiding at St X anyway, so they believe me. But you need to find out from Kristen somehow where she hid it.

Yes! You’ve begun to turn the tables. You’ve got the real Abi Steiner back among the Xavier’s gang, and Vee is convinced she’s Kristen. Paranoia is running rife, it seems – and it sounds like the real Kristen has tried to betray her gang! You’ve got little option but to question her.

But once she’s told you were she hid the book so you can pass the news on to Abi, what are you going to do with her? This was, after all, a girl who planned to throw your body onto a railway track. A girl who taunted you as she held you prisoner in that storm drain. A girl who ordered her lackeys not to visit, who let you starve and freeze to the point that your own body is a damaged, fever-soaked shell. You could put her under the Will mask, as you did with Abi… or you could give her a taste of her own medicine.

Next: "Turnabout Interrogator" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 2)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)"