Daniel cracked open his eighth can of beer. By this point he was quite drunk, but he was still not nearly done. After the Silver Mask had come into his life and changed it forever, he had started drinking quite a bit. It was the only thing that helped him cope in some small way with the life he now led, a life bereft of so many of the things that had brought him happiness before. Even in this inebriated state, however, Daniel was still unable to stop remembering what had happened.
*****
Daniel burst into the reception of the private forensic lab that had been analyzing the mask for him. He had seen an ambulance outside, and when he came in he saw Harvey, the analyst that had been working on the mask and trying to ascertain whether it had any drugs on it or anything, raving while bound to a stretcher and being carried out by a couple of paramedics. His face was contorted as if he were in dreadful pain, and his eyes were constantly rolling up until the pupils disappeared.
The woman that had called him, Stella was her name, rushed up to him. She was the receptionist at the lab. “Mr. Bullock!” said Stella, “I don’t know what happened. It was just… we were… we were just playing around as a joke. We were just trying to blow off some steam so I dared him to put it on. And he did… he did put it on… but pretty much as soon as he put it on he started screaming. And… I don’t know what to do.”
“Was he able to complete the tests?” asked Daniel.
“Yes!” said Stella. “That’s why we were so sure! The tests had come back negative for every drug we tested for. We were positive that the mask was clean, that’s why we tried it on in the first place!”
“I get it,” said Daniel. “No drugs found and yet the mask still had this effect on him. Not to mention the effect it had on Bethany.”
Daniel stroked his stubble thoughtfully. He looked up at Stella and said, “The mask definitely has some kind of impact. I just don’t know how to find out where this impact is coming from. What can I do now?”
He sighed and sat down. Stella sat down beside him and said, “Whatever the source of the mask’s effect, the fact of the matter is that it is hurting people. Someone has to stop it otherwise it is going to keep hurting people.”
“Where is the mask now?” asked Daniel.
“It’s in the lab,” said Stella.
“Keep it there,” said Daniel. “Keep it under lock and key.”
“Where are you going?” asked Stella as Daniel got up and started to rush off.
“To the hospital,” he called out. “To collect some evidence.”
