"Caleb and the science project?" Cassie asks.
You smile and nod then answer Caleb. "Either of us could do it. Not like we have someone else."
Cassie perks up and shifts in her seat, so you smile at her again then turn aside.
"If we put a mask on someone, they'd probably be out long enough afterward to do the spell." Caleb offers.
"Where and how would we get someone?" you reply shaking your head then whisper into the phone as Cassie coughs and pushes her glass around the table, "You know what happened last time."
"Yeah, right. Not going to try it on him again. Who else would you like to experiment on?"
Thoughts of burning Geoff Mansfield or turning him into your slave, if that's what it does, play in your head, but you doubt you could get him to the clubhouse. Although having him dump Lisa might send her right back to your arms. Maybe with a little planning, but ...
You tell Caleb, "I don't see anyone available this evening, so we might as well just skip until ..."
"I'll do it." Cassie blurts out interrupting you.
You stare over and just remain silent, thinking. How much could you tell her or should, if anything? What happens if something goes wrong? She's a nice kid, and you don't want to hurt her, but should you ignore a willing volunteer.
"Yo, Will. You still there?" Caleb brings you back.
"Hold tight. I'll call you back." you tell him and end the call.
"Can I help? I'm really interested in you, er, your project. Those translations were intriguing to say the least. I'd love to know more. That is, if you'd let me."
She has this innocent, yet excited face close to a begging puppy that is really hard to disappoint. Your head starts spinning with ideas as you talk.
"It's not that simple or even safe, for sure anyway," you explain, but she still stares at you with those eyes. You're rescued when your cell goes off again with an alert tone. You check it see it's a reminder to call Lisa that you set after the conference with her and Cassie.
"Um, I'm suppose to call Lisa," you improvise and smile at Cassie. "Thank her for convincing you to help and your great job.
"No problem. She really didn't have to convince me. I mean I'm always available to help you, ... or on Latin ... project ... you know." She looks down and blushes uncharacteristically it seems without words.
You are too absorbed on what to say to Lisa as you play with the phone disengaging the alert and don't really connect with what she says. You hit #3 and think how you're also 3 on hers. It's just Caleb and Keith ahead for you instead of each of her parents for her. It rings five times and you're about to hang up when she finally answers.
"Hi, Will."
There's some noise of someone saying something in the background, but not distinct.
"Hi, Lisa. Just wanted to get back in touch about the translation and maybe getting together."
"Wasn't Cassie able to help?"
"Oh, yeah. She did a great job," you say and smile at Cassie. "It's, well, other things, ... like the project that I hoped we could discuss."
Again there's a voice in the background, and you can tell Lisa's covered the phone and says something to whoever is there before she comes back.
"Ah, I can't right now. You do know Cassie has a crush on you, right?"
You're eyes immediately pop up and stare at Cassie who is staring at the table and playing with her glass. She looks like she's unhappy but tolerating the situation. That's when her actions and words hit you for what they really were.
"Oh. I didn't," you mumble into the phone and turn away. "It's that I, .. well, ... kinda like, ..." You just can't bring yourself to say it to Lisa, so you blurt out, "never, ... thought ... of that."
"I know, Will. But I can't talk now, maybe ..."
Then you clearly hear in the distance, "Come on. Enough with him. Let's go." That's followed by Lisa masking the phone, but you can still hear a garbled, "Just shut up a minute, Geoff."
"Call me tomorrow. I'll be around all day and be glad to talk more about, ... all those things. OK? Bye."
She hangs up even before you can say goodbye, and you now have that same look as Cassie of distant numbness.
* * *
"So this is our little secret lab, and it has to remain secret from everyone, you understand?" you explain as you give Cassie the tour of the clubhouse.
You gave Caleb plenty of time to clean up and hide all of the stuff. There's just the two new unimprinted masks out along with some of the graveyard dirt and fuel. You don't even see the Libras and hope Caleb has it handy to read the spell.
"Oh, yeah. Lips sealed," Cassie excitedly says in a loud whisper and pulling her thumb and finger across her mouth like a zipper. "It's not the high-tech Bat cave or X-Men central, but, ... it's sort of creepy fun. If Caleb wasn't here, I'd figure this was a man cave used to seduce sweet innocents." Her eyes open wide and she tries to pose seductively with her finger on her puckered lip. You can't help but chuckle.
"Although the decor is really lacking for seduction. More like a mad scientist lair. Which one of you is Igor?" she asks but doesn't stop for an answer. "With a little work, this could be a great spot for parties or just hanging out. No parents or other family around to worry about. we could all just have a good time and ..."
"It's a secret, Cassie. Remember?" Caleb forcefully calls out across the room still not thrilled that you brought her into this.
"Oh, yeah. I didn't mean to ..." she starts and looks from Caleb to you. "I promise. I won't tell a soul. There aren't any bodies buried down here, are there?" she adds glancing into the dark corners and holding a stare at a particular lump. "It almost smells funky and that shape looks like ..."
Caleb waves and shakes his head violently as she takes a step in that direction, so you grab her arm and swing her back.
"Nothing dead here except any word about this place to anyone." you tell her bringing her over to a chair.
"Now like I said before, this is sort of a magic science trick. We give you a mask to wear," you tell her as you walk over and pick up one. "Then we sprinkle you with magic dust and liquid and ..."
"Set me on fire," she finishes for you. "But it's really a combination that doesn't burn me. Right?"
"Right," Caleb answers. "We've tested the flames before, and they are actually cool. We can hold a hand in them and nothing happens."
Caleb now seems to be getting into this or just wants to silence Cassie's rambling, you're not sure.
"OK. I'm ready," she says turning to you.
You motion to the chair, and she sits before you hand her the mask. She looks at you then the mask and sighs. You think she's about to put it on when she looks back at you with her cute, sweet smile and asks, "A kiss for good luck?"
"Of course. A scientist would be mad not to," you joke and give her a nice kiss, longer than you had planned.
As you release, she raises the mask with her eyes still closed and slumps in the chair as it disappears into her.
* * *
It's been fifteen minutes since you lit the junk you threw on Cassie, and the flames appear to be dying down. You're nervous and scared, so much so that Caleb took the mask across the room where he had hidden all the stuff and sealed it. Then suddenly the flames went out.
"She looks like the golem in her clothes," you exclaim. "Cassie? Cassie, can you hear me?" you shout bending over her head. After a few seconds, you call again then rise up and mutter, "Oh, my god. We've killed her."
Caleb inspects her more closely for another minute while you sink in the chair almost in tears of fear and guilt at what you allowed yourself to trick her into.
"No, wait. I can hear a very soft breathing and her chest is moving," he says resting his hand on her left breast.
"Pervert," you scream and jump up pushing him aside and putting your ear to her lips in silence for several seconds. "You're right. Cassie?" you call again.
Caleb brings out the Libras and places it on her like you did with the golem. The book glows, and when you turn it over there's an explanation in Latin that looks like "a mask makes this corpse golem human for the master." You're sure it uses the word "corpse" and wonder if you needed a live human at all.
Desperate to revive Cassie, you grab the mask on the table and place it on her face just as Caleb calls out "Wait."
"Wait for what?" you turn to him.
"You put the blank mask on her. Here's the one we imprinted earlier."
Swinging around to a noise, you see Cassie is now sitting up, and turns to you to ask, "Did it work?"
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