The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

The JM Witch Trial

Previously: "Making a Splash" 

by Mastrix

There’s no way you can let your chance with Mark slip. You don’t know what Todd and Marius want, but it can’t be that important and you’ve got a spotless record. So, instead, you flick your blonde hair and stretch out those long, smooth thighs right in front of Mark’s eyeline. The boys talk; you laugh and try to say as little as possible as always. Yet while in your usual body that comes across as morose and dull, somehow Stephanie Wyatt makes it feel like you’ve got a timeless allure. And when Mark ‘accidentally’ bumps his hand across yours, you don’t fight it.

You wish you could stay here forever. But you can’t really; a wetsuit isn’t particularly comfortable, and you need to switch back to your real self before the boys invite you somewhere. So, you make an excuse about needing to get home and stand up. It only takes a slight tap on Mark’s arm to get him to follow you.

“So, Stephanie. Do you prefer something shorter?”

“Steph’s fine,” you say, trying to keep the air of command.

“Alright. Steph. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out together sometime?”

“Oh?”

“You’ve got incredible eyes. Has anyone told you that? They’re like emeralds.”

You trace your fingertips up the sides of his arms. “Yeah,” you lie. “But you can keep on telling me.”

And then it happens. He stoops, and your lips meet, and you feel the warm slip of his tongue inside your mouth, and your body quivers so hard to feel as if you’re going to melt into his chest. You swing Stephanie’s arms around his neck, and you stare deeply at each other until you know what eternity feels like.

***

Your trip back to the St Francis Xavier School is a happy one, a dreamy grin on your (real) face. Your afternoon as Stephanie Wyatt, you think, might just have been the greatest of your life. You’re going to be late for dinner, but that’s fine: you’re not hungry. You walk into Founders Hall as dusk falls, still smiling stupidly, then make your way up to your room, swinging the door open. Tammy-Lynn leaps to her feet almost immediately, and you’re about to ask why when you realize your bed has been tossed.

“The fuck!?” you say, dropping your bag and rushing over. Your desk drawers are open and the lock on your footlocker has been smashed off, leaving it hanging meekly from its hook.

“Todd and Marius,” Tammy-Lynn begins. “They came up about 15 minutes back, knocked, then began searchin’ through your things.”

You shove your personal items around looking for the book. You breath a sigh of relief when you spot the half-finished second mask and the leftover paste, but the book and the ingredients are all gone.

“It wasn’t the whole girls’ wing, just you. Apparently it’s Washington house business, so…” ,

For the briefest moment you wonder if this is Mary’s payback for you putting paid to her messing with the townie kids. But she’s more subtle and calculating, and sure as hell wouldn’t have got the prefects involved. You turn on your roommate, face now as red as your hair.

“Why, Tammy? Why me?” you jab a finger at her. “What the fuck did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything!” she gasps. “I just mentioned to Todd that you were spending a lot of time reading that book and it was distracting you from your studies and…”

You dash off down the corridor, taking the stairs two at a time, second and third-formers scattering in front of you as you rush into the dining hall. At one of the tables, eating their dessert, Marius and Todd are sat. They look up at you.

“Ah, there she is,” Todd says with a malicious grin.

“Why the hell are you doing going through my stuff?” you snap.

“Jocelyn, please. We’re trying to eat.” Todd says.

“The hell…”

“After our meal. Why don’t you go wait outside?” Todd’s enjoying this.

Marius sets his spoon down. “Todd told you about the meeting,” he says, calm and direct. “Before dinner, in the dining room?”

“He never said what it was about.”

“He didn’t need to, JM. He’s a prefect. We’re here for your safety and the safety of others.”

“And how does that mean you get to raid my fucking locker?”

“Oooh, language, Jocelyn,” Todd says, barely able to hide his glee.

Marius sets his food aside. “What’s done is done. Come with us, we’ll get it straightened out.”

You’re shaking with fury as the duo put their trays away. Marius treats the whole thing like a business meeting, walking with you to the dining room and offering you a seat at the polished table, before sitting opposite, joined moments later by a smirking Todd.

“First up,” Marius says, his face serious but voice light as he tries to sound measured and reasonable, “I’m sorry that we had to break into your footlocker. But the school operates on an honor system, and breaches of the code have to be investigated. I had hoped we could settle this amicably, but your no-show at the meeting meant we had to take a more direct approach for the good of the student body.”

You look at him blankly. “Marius, what the hell are you talking about?”

He takes a breath, giving Todd a chance to interrupt. “Jocelyn Moss, do you denounce Satan and all his works?”

You snort in surprise. “What?”

Marius gives Todd a hard stare and goes back to his calm – and ridiculous – line of questioning. “JM, this is a Catholic school, although of course we accept and tolerate other recognized faiths. And, as part of the honor code you signed up to, the possession of…” he tries to think of the right words, “occult paraphernalia is prohibited.”

You blink, barely able to restrain your incredulity. “You’re accusing me of, what, devil worship? Is this an actual witch hunt?”

“JM, please,” Marius says. “This is serious. For now, we’re keeping it a Washington house matter. But, and I know this sounds ridiculous, it’s written in the school bylaws that, uh…”

“Thou shalt not tolerate a witch to live.” Todd interjects again with a grin, only to fall silent from a sharp gaze from Marius. “We found your book, JM, with its stupid little pentagram and fancy-ass, creepy Latin. Acker told us how you’re looking at it virtually every night.”

“It’s just an antique!” you protest. “I picked it up in town, and I thought it made a cool art project.” It’s Todd. He’s hoping on some bullshit old rule as a chance to cause trouble.

“I get it,” Marius says. “But rules are rules – I didn’t write ‘em.” He scratches his nose. “Thing is, if it was just the book we’d let it go. But when we searched your locker – as per school regulations – we found a few other things. A vape pen, lighter, and several chemical bottles marked as school property. You want to fill me in?”

You close your eyes. “I told you! I’m doing an art project, OK? As for the vape pen, you know half the kids in this place smoke or drink. Shit, Baldwin here’s…”

“Todd isn’t the one we’re talking about,” Marius says, his voice grave. “Any of this on its own, we could probably turn a blind eye. But all of it together?” He thinks a moment. “Two weeks, no exeats. You stay on campus. And obviously the pen and the chemicals are confiscated.”

“Oh come on!” you say with a groan, watching Baldwin lean back and smile viciously behind Marius’ back. “Fine, sorry I took the stupid supplies. And I confess, you caught me vaping. What about the book? It’s totally innocent.”

“That’s staying with us,” Baldwin says. “Until we determine whether it’s,” his lips curl into a laugh at Marius’ ridiculous phrase, “occult paraphernalia. I’m going to pass it over to Vee Macklin, Marius. She’s a Latin scholar, she’ll soon tell us what it’s about.”

“Oh no,” you interrupt, both prefects turning their attention to you. There’s no way you can let a bitch like Vee Macklin get hold of the book: if she realizes it’s real you have no idea what she’d do. “No. Like I’m going to let you drag her into your dumb inquisition. You said this was a Washington house matter. Macklin’s in Jefferson. Pick someone in our own house.”

Todd’s about to argue, but Marius nods his head. “She’s right,” he says. “I’ll get Mathilde to translate it when she gets back tomorrow, she’s just as good as Macklin. In the meantime, I’m going to hold on to your ‘art project’.” He taps the desk, as if calling a meeting to order, then repeats your punishment. “I’m disappointed in you, Jocelyn,” he says. “you’re supposed to be a role model for younger students.”

It takes all your restraint not to tell him to kiss your ass.

Meeting over, you head out of the dining room and along the corridor to the games room, sinking against the wall and closing your eyes. You have to come up with a way to get that book back. Right now Marius has it, then he plans on giving it to Mathilde. But how you’re going to get the book without either of them noticing isn’t going to be easy – at least not without help. Mary’s probably still pissed about you spoiling her fun with the townies, but there are other options. You doubt Tammy-Lynn meant the prefects to go this far: you could easily guilt trip her into helping you get the book back. Or maybe you could expand your magic conspiracy? You’ve got a working mask, after all, and it’s more than enough to convince Aiden you weren’t messing around.

And, you realize, you don’t just have one mask: you have two. With a little time, you can get your spare mask ready. Maybe there’s an identity you could borrow to sort out your prefect blues…

Next: "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Marius?" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 4)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)"