ah, what the hell. I know I'm new, but I love this story. I love sharing it. It was based on a nightmare I once had. Unfortunately I didn't have the skill to describe the scariest part of the dream (when it turned out that one of my teachers was a succubus and I was stuck in a room with her), but the rest of the dream was still pretty scary.

Masks

I will always remember my first encounter with the Devil. Each time I try to recall it, the memory surfaces as vividly as if it were happening once again. To describe the experience, however, is difficult, and it may prove to be beyond my skills to describe it.

I believe I may have met him before I had experienced any of his power firsthand.

I don’t know how many of us there were. A dozen. Perhaps more.

He was among us, wearing a long hooded cloak. He just walked up to Bridget, my friend, and stabbed her in the heart.

She died almost immediately. I was so shocked that I didn’t even thing to attempt to stop her assailant.

I saw him again later, without the cloak.

In his dark blue clothing he looked incredibly handsome.

It seemed to me that he was only fourteen, although I knew from his eyes that he was much older. Somehow, I implicitly knew who he was.

He was standing behind his counter on the second storey of the mall, with giant tin soldiers guarding his back. They were new to the mall and were too oppressive for my taste. Most other people liked them, and said that they gave an air of structure to the otherwise lawless mall.

As people passed him, he would ring his bell, inviting them to come and buy the masks he was selling.

Nobody went by without putting on one of those masks. They were of many colours. I was people wearing orange and red, while others wore green, brown or yellow. Not once did I see a blue mask, however. It seemer that this colour was reserved only for those in the upper echelons of evil.

I had no choice but to pass him. The crowd forced me in that direction. He looked at me intensely, as if he had been waiting for me to come. He began to ring his bell harder: a summons for me to come to him.

“I have a mask for you.” He gestured to a solitary blue mask lying amid the dull earthy colours that predominated throughout the stall. “Put it on.”

I took one look at that mask and ran.

Eventually I had to stop. I had reached the end of the mall and there was no way down. I hid behind a stand that had been left in front of a store. I knew that it afforded me no protection, but its bulk at least parodied safety.

I was fortunate. Rather than come to me himself, the Devil had hoped to lure me to him, by sending out a masked person who I knew to assure me of my safety.

“Why don’t you come out?” she asked. “The Master’s very fond of you.”

I shook my head. It was dangerous out there.

“You let him kill Bridget.” She said. “You didn’t even try to stop the Master then.”

Hearing this, I cried. I could hardly breathe. I didn’t want to remember that.

My friend called over to the Devil, saying that I was not capable of fighting. My fear returned. I left my hiding place and ran through the crowd to the stairs.

I never reached them. The crowd pressed in around me, urged on by the Devil. I was trapped on the edge of the balcony. I could see the Devil coming towards me, his shoulders half a head higher than the next tallest person there. He had aged considerably in the few minutes since I first saw him. Although I couldn’t see it, I knew he had the mask with him, to force me to join him.

I climbed the railing and jumped down to the ground floor of the mall, the Devil’s magic cushioning my fall. He wanted me alive, it seemed. Reaching the ground, I ran. I could feel the Devil’s glaring eyes following me.

I had friends outside waiting for me. I went up to them immediately, thinking that I would be safe with them.



But they too had been given a mask.

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Ooh! and comments please!