The Mask Maker

Friend and Foe

The surfer shuffled away. "Y-you're The Mask—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm The Mask Maker. I'm not going to hurt you. You're going to freeze if you don't take this."

"N-no wonder y-you wear a mask," she said through chittering teeth. "Y-your real face is more horrifying!"

Watch it, lady.

Morai helped her into the coat then moved to the other side of the room, as far away from her as possible.

"W-what is all of this? W-why am I here? W-what was h-he talking about with y-you? Are t-the rumors true? Are you r-really a vampire?"

Morai sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. "Vampires don't exist. Don't listen to rumors."

"But they've got pictures and reports," she said, putting the fabric of the coat arms over her nose. She had apparently gotten warm enough to stop stuttering so often. "I saw what you did to that one woman. Y-you're a monster."

"I won't argue with that one. What's your name, anyway?" Morai asked.

"Sara," the woman replied. "I was surfing over from Ula'ula."

"Sara..." Morai whispered. She was restless, but felt that moving would make it worse. Instead, she sat with her eyes closed, resting her head on the wall and trying not to think about who was sitting next to her.

"You can't do it, fool," Sara said. She had looked Morai in the eyes, and Morai had taken control and injected her inner voice into Sara's body. She adopted Morai's mannerisms and way of speech.

"You were supposed to help," Morai said. She was essentially talking to herself, willing Sara to say what she was thinking.

"That's right...but wouldn't it be so nice to just taste—"

"Shut up," Morai commanded.

"Hey, I'm just stating the obvious here. You want to claw and sink your teeth into this poor woman's neck and—"

"Shut up!" Morai shouted. Before she knew it she was kneeling over Sara with her hand around her throat, digging her nails into her skin. The surfer came to and let out what would've been a scream. Morai caught herself and quickly let go and backed away, her hand shaking. Her eyes were wide and her teeth were bared.

"My apologies," she said, shaking her head. "My first plan didn't go so well."

Sara looked at her with a mix of repulsion and fear, and she began to pace around the room. 

"Can I ask you something?" 

Morai looked at Sara with a hint of confusion, but nodded her on.

"I don't want my kids to end up like you...so what happened? What happened to you as a child that made you this way?" 

Morai only looked at her, and was slightly surprised by such a bold question. It was really the first time she had looked someone in the eyes for so long. Her connection to everyone else had been severed by their fear of her power, but Morai was actively trying not to use it in this situation. 

"Your children won't ever end up like me, so you don't have to worry about that, but it is still up to you to make them strong. We are born weak and die weak and are preyed upon by our own fate unless we actively change it. Before you send them off into the big wide world to catch Pokémon and earn badges, make sure they know that one thing." 

Sara pursed her lips in thought, then nodded. 

"It's been said that you saved that Battle Subway in Unova right before turning back to crime. Are you trying to be good again? Is that why you're holding off?"