An hour after homeroom, the school district canceled the next two days of classes as school staff went about investigating the incidents that occurred that fateful morning.
Meanwhile, Katelyn locked herself in her bedroom as she stewed over the tense exchange with her boyfriend. She resolved to deflect any blame for what happened and felt a growing sense of betrayal fume within her from his accusations.
"That rat bastard! He got everything he wanted from me: daily booty calls, romantic outings, and a fun loving girlfriend. And what did I get back in return...?"
"Nothing, my dear?" Kandy suggested rhetorically as she stroked her subtly cleft yet smooth chin with her delicately polished fingernails. She took pleasure in guiding Katelyn's thoughts towards her more raw and depraved instincts. And thanks to her cunning techniques of persuasion over the past few months, she repelled any efforts of getting disposed and instead had a perch to sit on as an angel on her shoulder... her left shoulder.
"I feel used..." Katelyn sighed to herself as she flipped herself over and stared at her eggshell-white ceiling.
"Ya preaching to the choir, sister~" Kandy snickered as she continued to contemplate her next steps.
The foundational drive of the mask has always been to carefully lead its host towards their deepest and inner-most tendencies. Whether it be Peggy's vanity or even Eve's unrelenting love towards Stanley. Since its inception, it was a genuine breath of fresh air to be passed down from host to host and attach to some of the most consequential humans in history. From its long stint with Queen Cleopatra to its religious-like worship among Scandinavian warlords/Vikings and ancient tribes in Africa. It's wooden facade and signature green complexion had been an aiding mechanism to move humanity away from greater societal progress and towards egocentrism. But over the years, it had also developed another goal; control. With each host that it came into contact with, it found itself eventually being discarded or thrown aside just as it grew comfortable with its surroundings. But with Katelyn, it saw an opportunity to grant its wish of being used less like a novelty prop and more of a dominating part of a person's lifestyle. First, it sought to impress its host with examples of its wonders and feats which enticed its host to explore its mystical abilities in order to satiate their curiosity. And with enough persistence, its host would spiral down a state of self absorption until their originally held ethos and morals became mere suggestions while pleasure and unyielding power became their main drive.
"Maybe that naughty boy needs to be taught a lesson..." Kandy murmured in a British accent as a lightbulb popped above her shiny crown. Katelyn paused for a moment to realize what she was suggesting.
"Maybe he needs to know who's... still in charge," she continued and spun into a twister.
Katelyn furrowed her brow and shifted her body towards her mirror as she saw Kandy step out of her magical twister wearing a revealing business suit with her golden mane that was tied into a bun.
"Hmmm, what do you propose?" Katelyn asked.
"Well..." Kandy started as she pulled out her hair ties which let her hair expand into a long golden whip that let off a crack as it extended and hit the floor. "Maybe we do to Danny... like we did to that bitch who hurt us."
Katelyn slumped her head as she tried to digest what her other was advocating. On one hand, Danny needed to be put in his place and learn to deal with what he gets; beggars can't be choosers especially when she was so god-like with her mask. But on the other hand, she didn't have the heart to directly hurt someone who she still kinda liked. After a minute of deeply thinking about the cons, she shook her head.
"I can do it! You can leave it up to me!" Kandy raised her hand as she volunteered herself. Katelyn shook her head once again.
"W-we can't... we can't hurt him like we did with..." Katelyn sighed as she closed her eyes and slid under her covers. Deep down inside, Kandy also knew that her other wouldn't go along with her plan. But then, she had another lightbulb pop above her skull.
"Hmm, well someone else could teach him a lesson instead..." Kandy said with her voice modulated to sound more like Katelyn. "Who do we know has a long history with him and has the penchant for a little revenge...?"
Katelyn pushed aside her covers and stared into her mirror as she realized what Kandy was hinting towards.
"And since we still have this..." Kandy giggled to herself as she pointed towards the dusty sister mask on her dresser, "...we can still pull the strings on our little narrative."
Katelyn's eyes grew wide as she pondered deeply about Kandy's new proposal. Maybe she just needed to give her boyfriend a little "tug" in the right direction to see the errors in his ways.
Katelyn returned a menacing grin. "I hate you," Katelyn teased in a sarcastic tone as her mind raced to figure out the logistics behind her new scheme.
Kandy smiled and waved as her apparition faded away; leaving Katelyn alone in her musty bedroom.
"Nobody will ever cross me..." Katelyn said menacingly as she picked up her phone and scrolled through her texts. "Ever."
--------------------------------
Later that day as Katelyn waited at the door steps in front of a nice beachfront house that overlooked the Rio Del Mar coastline, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she had been there before. She could vaguely recall the white columns that arched over the entranceway and the two sets of windows on the second floor that looked out towards the driveway. Nevertheless, she patiently waited with bated breath as she kept her mind focused on the plan.
A moment later, she saw a shadowy figure pass by and soon the door unlocked to reveal a person who she hadn't seen in months.
"Hi Maria."
================================
"A shared enemy makes for an unlikely friend..."
Let me know your thoughts down below in the comments and vote up this chapter if you enjoyed the wholesomeness! If you'd like to see more stories in the future, please consider supporting with a cup of coffee for some late night writing at: https://patreon.com/manifestbound
