The untold tales of The Dead Men

A Man in a Mask # 2

The eight of them entered the Saloon, Bespoke and Pleasant at the back, hats dipped low to draw less attention.

"Who are you?" Erskine asked the man
He hesitated then said "That's not important right now, I would love to know more about you and your merry little band of misfits" The man said with a forced smile. Erskine returned a kind smile but gave no answer.

The group moved towards a booth in the corner, heads turned as they passed, staring down this strange group of men but didn't know what to do when their eyes landed on Bespoke, some looked down embarrassed while others blatantly stared, one red faced man gasp then quickly turned it into a coughing fit to cover it up.

They all sat except the man, who stood as stiff as a soldier. "Do you want a drink?" The man asked, but before anyone could answer he scurried to the bar.
The Dead Men exchanged looks. "What should we make of him?" Erskine asked
"Lets not make any assumptions yet, for all we know he could just be a very socially awkward mortal." Ghastly said.
Skulduggery tilted his hat upwards so you could just make out his empty socket holes. "Don't let your guard down, he could still be our man" Pleasant said in that smooth voice
"Or woman, woman are just as capable of murder as men" Dexter said
Saracen ignored Dexter "We know nothing about our target only that they are extremely dangerous" Rue looked over to the scrawny man at the bar "We don't even know his name."

"He looks like larrikin." Dexter said it before he could stop himself.
The was a sullen silence. Skulduggery dipped his head low.

Hopeless, who had been keeping a close eye on the man ever since he was thrown through the window, finally spoke up. "I don't like this "fake larrikin" I don't like his face, I don't like his clothes, he's not right."
"What do you mean he's 'not right'" Anton asked with a glint in his eye.
"His face, it's features are wrong." Hopeless murmured "if you look closely, you can see the cracks, the lines-
"I think he's just old" Dexter interrupted
Hopeless continued "its like he's wearing a face that's not his."
Skulduggery and Ghastly exchanged looks.

"He could be the assassin" Erskine said in a dark voice.
Dexter looked over to see The Fake trip over his own feet and stumble into the bar
"Your right, he has the makings of a killer assassin, I could see it in the way he face planted just then"
"Anyone in here could be the target" Erskine warned 
"What about him over there? Hasn't blinked in over a minute, definitely the assassin" Dexter mocked
"Or what about him? Have you seen the size of his moustache, it's unnatural" Saracen said "if anyone is an assassin in disguise its big ol fake moustache over there"
"Erskine is right, we should keep our guard up and watch out" Ghastly said in a serious tone "especially for the man wearing that giant hat, why is it so big? What has he got under there? Is that where he keeps his victims?"
"Ask him if his hat has eaten anyone lately" Dexter suggested
Suddenly the serious vale lifted and The Dead Men laughed, except Ravel, he just glared.