The Book of Masks (Vol. 2)

The Right Plan with the Wrong Guy

Previously: "Dodging Out of Dodge" 

Geoff and Lisa are around the corner, so you're able to slip down into the stacks without them seeing you. But instead of approaching Caleb directly, you trot along the other side of the shelf until you glimpse his torso between the books. "Tsst! Caleb!" you hiss.

He doesn't respond, so you push over a wad of books and slide your hand through to waggle your fingers at him. "Caleb!" you hiss again. "Over here!"

There's a pause, then a flurry of motion on the other side. A half dozen books disappear, and Gordon Black's dumb, flat face appears in the hole to stare at you. You grin at him. "Hey, fancy meeting you here."

He says nothing, but stares back with a slack jaw.

"Couldn't wait to get into the mask, huh? Jesus, you look just like him." You shiver a little. "But listen, we got a problem. Lisa's not here alone. Mansfield showed up too. The son of a bitch is -- I don't want this to turn into a repeat of the weekend, with people making jokes about how I was on a date with him. So anyway, how about we get this over with. Go hit 'em now, that way I don't have to spend the evening with that fucker."

Caleb doesn't move. "Hit them?" he says in Gordon's dull voice.

"Yeah. You got the mask, right? Look, this is perfect," you continue, and feel your eyes light up. "You can fuck Mansfield up too while you're at it. Haul him out by the scruff of his stupid neck, then go back for -- " The scene as you're imagining plays out in your mind's eye, and it isn't pretty. "Okay, no, maybe not. Let's do it like this. I'll go get Mansfield, take him off privately to talk or something. Ych! Then you go take care of Lisa. But, you know, be gentle with her, okay, not like when you hit Gordon this afternoon."

Right as you say that, you get a feeling like a hot needle in the back of your head. Caleb was going to disguise himself as Gordon, and here's someone who looks just like Gordon, but that doesn't mean ...

"Yeah," the other guy says slowly. "I can't really understand you through these shelves. Let's go talk out front."

"What's to understand? Caleb!" But he's already loping away.

You shove the books back into position and hustle down to meet him. He is enormous when he comes fully into view. He's found clothes -- long, red athletic shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt -- that are dead ringers for what Gordon wears. Only the fact that he hasn't punched you across the library keeps you from running the other way.

But you get that horrible feeling in the back of your skull again when he claps a strong hand on the base of your neck and steers you out of the stacks. "You're really getting into this, aren't you," you say as you squirm.

"So tell me again what's going on?" he says.

"Mansfield is here. Lisa called him, asked him to come along too." You try pulling from his grip, but he just tightens his hold on you. "There's no freaking way I'm going to sit at a table with them while trying to write that paper. Ten to one Mansfield puts his lips on her just to try making me sick."

"And what do you want me to do about it?"

You thought you were heading for the front door, but he steers you up into the other wing. "Wait for me to get Mansfield away," you tell him. "Then you get the mask onto Lisa." You shiver. "Let's get this thing over with, because I don't want to -- Why are we going out here?"

You're asking because he's led you to a set of double-doors leading out onto a second-floor balcony/patio where people can read in the daytime. Only a low metal railing separates you from a hard twenty-foot drop onto a sidewalk below. You gasp as meaty hands hoist you up by the belt and set you atop that railing. You overbalance the wrong way, and a second later only your friend's very strong arm is keeping you from that horrible plunge. You grab onto his wrist with both hands.

"All you gotta do is scream," says the guy who's holding you back, "and I'll let you go."

* * * * *

At first you try convincing Gordon Black -- because, as your subconscious has been yelling at you all this time, that's who it really is -- that your conversation was all just a weird, elaborate, Dadaist joke. "Then explain it to me," he says, and lets you fall back a little farther off the railing.

You gabble and stammer. "I thought you were my friend Caleb!"

"And how the fuck did you make a mistake like that?"

"Because he looks just like you?" You shriek again as he lets you fall a little further. "It's true! He's all done up to look like you! We were going to prank someone!"

"Who?"

"Geoff Mansfield! And Lisa Yarborough! We were gonna make them think he was you! Caleb, I mean! He was going to pretend to be you, give 'em a scare!"

"I don't know anyone who looks even a little like me," Gordon says. "This friend of yours, was he the one who sacked me from behind at the portables this afternoon?"

"Yes. I mean, no! I mean -- " You grab for the railing as Gordon lets you out a little more. "I was the one who sacked you from behind, because that wasn't me, that was Caleb you were about to beat the crap out of!"

You are desperately trying to find some way to shift the blame for this mess onto your friend. Or maybe you're trying to convince Gordon that you're just crazypants. But really, you have no idea what you're saying and why you're saying it.

"Me and Caleb, we have these disguises, you see? And we went to school today as each other? And Caleb, he was done up like me and he went to the library and he mouthed off at your girlfriend, so it was really him who she was mad at, and you grabbed him, and I got you from behind and we ran off? But we switched back -- I mean, we took off our disguises tonight, so I'm really, uh -- "

I'm the guy who mouthed off to your girlfriend. Or I'm the guy who knocked you on your ass at the portables. Neither is a good thing to confess to, even if either one made sense.

Gordon is staring at you with cool contempt. "You are one fucked up little shit," he says, and he almost sounds amused.

"That's me," you eagerly agree. "A totally weird, dumbass little -- "

To your immense relief he pulls you off the railing and onto your feet. But he still keeps hold of your belt. "So are we okay now," you ask him.

"No. Not even close. You know why I'm here? Because my girlfriend kicked my sorry ass to the curb, and she did that because -- "

You gasp. "Chelsea broke up with you?"

Gordon hocks up a loogie, and for one horrifying second you think he's going to spit into your face. But he calmly spits to the side. "No, just for tonight. But that's bad enough. And it's all on account of because I didn't fuck you up like I promised her I would at lunch. So you and me, we're going to -- "

He stops and does a double take. You tear your eyes from his face to see what he's looking at.

Down below you, a figure that looks just like Gordon Black is loping toward the front door of the library. Your sphincter liquefies.

You can feel the tremble that runs through Gordon. When the doppelganger disappears inside, Gordon turns to you with a very queer look on his face. "Hey," you say with a nervous laugh. "I thought you said there wasn't anyone in town who looks like you."

He sucks on his upper lip, and jerks you over to the staircase leading down to the sidewalk below. His grip is unbreakable, so there's no use struggling as he hauls you over to his VW Bug. He opens the hood, throws you into the dark and smelly trunk, and slams it shut on you. A minute later, the engine roars to life and the car jerks into motion.

He makes lots of sudden starts and stops on the subsequent drive, and lots of sharp turns, so that you're hurled about violently. When the car finally stops and he lets you out, you are bruised all over.

You are also ready to tell him everything. Just the threat of what he might do to you in a private setting is enough to destroy your will to resist. So he only has to say, "Let's start over again," and you spill it all. He doesn't even have to touch you.

* * * * *

"So, which one of you dipshits wants to go home as me?" Gordon asks.

You and Caleb -- your friend is divested of the mask -- shift uncomfortably. There's got to be a trick to it.

But Gordon Black is offering to let one of you wear his mask home, and to school tomorrow.

He has even said you can lose your virginity to Chelsea, if you can convince her to forgive Gordon for his failure to beat the shit out of Will Prescott.

Next: "An Offer You Should and Do Refuse" 

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