What the Mask Hides

Prologue-All I See is Red

Red.

Blood. Everywhere. The once white house has been repainted. I'm in the living room now but I know the upstairs bedroom looks worse. My eyes travel over the furniture and I wince at what happened.

The carpet. The sofa. The walls.

Red. Red. Red.

I look down.

My hands. I turn them over gently, watching the shiny red liquid reflect. I reach out and drag my finger down the curtain. I'm fascinated by the red line I leave. After a while, the red stops. I snap out of it and scold myself for creating movement.

I can feel it in my lungs. The metallic taste is at the back of my throat, with every breathe I take I can taste it.

Red.

I'm behind the curtain. They can't see me. But I see them, they came minutes too late. 

They came in, eyes blazing and guns firing. But it was too late. They were gone. The good guys. The bad guys. They're all gone.

I focus more on the people.

Men. Women. Agents. They're agents.

I see the emblem on their suits.

It's stamped on the cuffs.

On the equipment.

The file folders they so furiously scribble in.

A slow red circle, words and lines. The emblem.

Red.

Some agents I recognize. And others I don't. They're in my house. Frantic. They're looking for something. What are they looking for?

I slide my body even further behind the curtain.

I focus on what the people are saying.

"Lilian. The girl. Where is she?"

"We don't know sir," a nervous woman replies.

"You can't find a 10-year old girl?" the man seethes.

"I remind you she was a DeCarlyle sir."

"Yes, well.... Find her."

Me. They're looking for me. I roll my eyes. I'm hiding behind a goddamn piece of fabric.

I focus my eyes on the man. Stone. His last name is Stone. He was near my parents. I remember the calls my parents took in private. He was the boss man. And yet, they trusted him. Can I?

I tense when the woman moves away from Stone, creating a clear path from him to me.

Don't see me, don't see me.

To my relief, as soon as she moves away, he closes his eyes and huffs. By the time he opens them, I'm hidden better.

The bookcase with a holographic side I slid into allows me to see and hear them without risking getting found.

I plant my hands in front of me on the cold bulletproof metal.

It's ok. I'm ok. The walls aren't moving. I'm safe. It's just small.

Breathe.

I throw my eyes open when I hear a gruff yell. Stone is barking to an agent nearby.

"The tracker. Where is she?"

I panic. A tracker? Where?

"We are breaking through the DeCarlyle's passwords now. "