I stared down at the mask in my hand, my mind running circles around itself. The open eye symbol was staring back at me, as if it knew what I was thinking. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as a chill flowed through me. I reached up, touching my fingers to the tattoo on the back of my neck.
There was something about the symbols on the masks, the design of them, that reminded me of the symbol marked into my flesh. It was eerie. A dark thought popped into my head, that maybe the person responsible for the Masked Ones and the person responsible for us were one and the same... If that were true it was like we were being thrown around in some sort of sick experiment.
Ren and the other girls were silent as well after Jade's original remark, likely thinking about what this means, how it could have happened. Ren was sitting on the couch rubbing circles into Joanna's hip while she stood next to him. I often find myself jealous of the easy intimacy between them, a kind of peaceful reassurance that I've never really found myself.
After a moment, Joanna's face scrunched up with anger, "I'm so sick of playing these little fucking games. It's clear the Masked Ones know who we are and they're taunting us with it."
I was about to respond when someone burst through the door. Sel's eyes immediately found mine and then dropped to the mask in my hand. It was too late to hide it. My face flushed red, as if I were a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
"I heard a big crash, are you guys okay?" He asked, voice full of concern as he then took in the shattered window.
"Holy shit..." Sel's green eyes widened.
We really need to start locking the door, Jade said through the bond.
Fuck, I thought to myself, this was bad. I glanced at the other girls and Ren, but they seemed as much at a loss as I was.
I heard Jade's voice through the bond yet again, this time tentatively, Do you need me to make him forget?
It would be so easy, though. For her to tell him that he never heard a crash, that he should go back to his apartment, that he should believe whatever lies I feed him. But I could never do that. It went against everything I stood for. Taking away his willpower is much worse than disappointing or angering him.
"No!" I snapped, and everyone turned towards me.
Sel's face wore a quizzical expression now. Shit, I had said it out loud.
I took a deep, shaking breath, as I prepared to come up with some lie or maybe even tell the truth. At this point, who knows what was going to come out of my mouth. I set down the mask and reached a hand out to him, but before I could say anything, Sel's eyes softened.
"You can't tell me, right?" He stepped back from my outstretched hand before it could make contact with him.
He locked eyes with Ren for a few moments, and I'm sure he was thinking about why Ren got to be in the loop but he didn't.
Sel nodded slowly and turned back around to leave, pausing with his hand on the door.
"But you're okay, right?" He asked, looking back at me.
"I'm okay," I gave him what I thought to be a reassuring smile, but instead of smiling back he just bit his lip and walked out the door.
Once I heard his own apartment door open and close again, I turned back around to the others in the room. I felt tears stinging at the corners of my eyes, but there were more important things to deal with right now than having a meltdown.
Jade hooked her arm with mine, pulling me down to sit on the couch with her.
The four of us were silent yet again, before Ren (the ever so helpful friend) stood up and pulled out his cell.
