Daniel awoke from his deep slumber with a start. Sunlight was just starting to seep through the bottom of the window, leaking on to the floor. His mouth was extremely dry, so he staggered to the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. After gulping down two glasses he washed his face, staggered back to his chair and then collapsed. He had been dreaming of the mask, and now that he was awake the swirling memories in his mind were coming to the forefront once more. He sighed. It had been over twelve hours since he had buried the mask and yet it still haunted him.
****
Daniel rushed to the lab. He had had an idea; he could simply ask Stella to give him the security tape, then he would have the evidence he needed to give to the police. He rushed into the lab and when he saw Stella he grabbed her and said, “Stella, I need the security tapes. I need to take them to the police. I have my friend Bethany’s medical file, that’s all I need for the police to realize that I am not crazy if I have the security tapes from this place as well.”
“Okay,” said Stella, “wait here.”
She rushed off and came back in fifteen minutes with a CD in hand. “This is the security tape for that day,” said Stella. “It has all of the information you are going to need.”
“Is the mask safe?” asked Daniel.
“Yes,” said Stella. “Don’t worry, the mask is completely safe I made sure of it.”
“Good,” said Daniel. “That is good. I am going to go to the police now.”
“Good luck!” said Stella. “I hope they see what we see.”
Daniel rushed off. He could not help but fidget with the CD while he was driving. It was the sole indicator that everything he had been fearing all this time had been true, and that maybe now he could find some justice for Bethany.
He knew what he was going to ask the police to do. The mask had been placed in the park. Either someone had dropped it there, or someone had put it there on purpose. Based on the impact that the mask had on people, he knew that there were two possible reasons why someone might have done this. To start off with, they might have done it in order to save themselves from the effects of the mask. On the other hand, this person might have left the mask there with malicious intent. They might have wanted someone to find it so that they would be able to watch the chaos with glee, so that they could enjoy the satisfaction of having hurt people.
Daniel was desperate to have someone to blame for all of this, and in this desperation he had failed to consider the possibility that maybe the mask had a mind of its own.
