Sunrise filtered through the window of Katelyn's empty bedroom. After last night's "therapy"; Katelyn sought a warm shower.
Katelyn stood in the shower while a stream of warm water rained down upon her skin. Her head tilted down, her eyes closed and her hands twirling the locks of her hair. To her, last night's dream was the most lucid and memorable she ever had. She meditated on what her other-self told her; we can do amazing things together...or you can stop using us altogether. She contemplated both options:
If she stopped wearing it she can go back to her previous life. On the other hand, what would happen if someone else don the mask... not all wearers are mentally stable.
But, Katelyn admitted life was more fun with it. Just the fleeting thought of trying it on again started to warm her core and made her shake with excitement. It was liberating to do whatever she wanted regardless of how impossible it may seem. And each time she tried it on, it just further increased her tolerance to its magic; making subsequent outings more and more outrageous. Then again, it did come with some consequences like hurting Maria; or the byproduct of hurting Danny...
"KAT, ARE YOU STILL IN THE SHOWER?" her mom yelled through the bathroom door.
"Crap. Gotta get going..." she whispered to herself.
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As Katelyn walked to school, she thought through some ground rules with the mask. She would start by limiting herself to only using it at night; there might be a way to wear it during the day but she didn't want to draw unneeded attention. And it was all hers; nobody else was going to wear it... at least without her permission.
But she also wanted to be able to somewhat control it. She thought back to when she wore it before going after Maria. She didn't quite have a solid plan but it seemed like her other self knew what to do. Maybe she just needed to tell herself what she wanted done and let her alter ego figure it out...
"Hey!" Danny called to Katelyn; breaking her train of thought.
"Hi Danny. How are you feeling?"
He sighed, "Better. Maria is gonna be out of the hospital on Monday but..." he paused and looked into her eyes, "I'm thinking of taking a break from her."
Katelyn's hands started getting clammy.
Danny continued, "So a couple of my friends are gonna visit my Uncle's place down in Pebble Beach this weekend. You're welcome to join."
"Sure..." Katelyn stuttered.
"Cool. I'll text you the details."
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Back at Katelyn's home. Her mom was on the phone talking to Mrs. Shannon, Danny's Mom.
"Nice to speak to you too. Bye." Katelyn's mom finished and ended her call.
"So...?" Katelyn asked.
"Let me talk with Dad... but I'm okay with you having a sleepover with your friends." Katelyn's mom responded.
"Cool. Thanks Mom, I'll start packing!" And with that Katelyn headed to her room.
"I knew it'll all work out" Katelyn's mom thought to herself.
Katelyn opened the door to her room and started packing her suitcase. Katelyn was a bit anxious to party with the cool kids; it was her first real non-family party ever since moving to California. She paused, if she was going away from home she didn't want to risk anyone else discovering the mask; she needed to keep it close by. She walked to her closet and opened her lockbox. Horror washed over Katelyn; the mask was missing.
She quickly dropped the box and started frantically looking around her room. Did her parents or her brother look through her stuff? Did she leave it somewhere? She swore that she kept it...
She looked over to her open suitcase. "You cheeky devil" she thought to herself. The mask sat on top of a pile lingerie in her suitcase; face down. Katelyn saw a streak of green wash over the interior almost pleading to take it along with her.
She smiled and took the magic slab of wood and tucked it away at the bottom of her suitcase. She didn't know if she would use it with Danny's friends but it seemed that the mask read her mind and invited itself to the party.
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What mischief will she get into this time with a group of teens away from home?
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