Fall Foretold

The Mask in me

It was only a few minutes before 7:00 pm. When he said, "I might come", he had made a promise to show up. He would never fail his promises, neither would he miss his one in a lifetime chance of knowing the secrets of Ashwood which made the Shadowmask more mysterious.

He took the usual route which was the fastest to Spencer's. He had never tried having dinner at Spencer's so the empty alleyway seemed strange to him. There was no one outdoors.

The Street lights were dim and there was unusually less noise for the night. Helen Store put a depressingly slow song in the air, at a low volume.

'Spencer's Joint' appeared ahead. The restaurant was well lightened up. He could almost see the people in. The bright lights changed colours, randomly.

His phone beeped. His battery was running low. He dipped the phone back into his pocket. The darkness was freaking him out; all he had to do was get to Spencer's. When he returned, he would be prepared.

"Now?", a voice said. He turned back, sharply, sweating already. A guy had a phone on his ear. "Yes". The guy approached him, with a rod.

"Who...?", David skipped the question. He ran, heading to Spencer's. Two other guys jumped over the fence, landing in front of him. He had attackers, coming from both sides. They definitely came for him and he knew it.

"Please", he knelt down, quickly. The two guys had guns with them. They meant business. "I will give you anything"

"Sorry, man. They already gave us everything", one of the guys said, striking him with the buttstock of his gun.

David had his heart beating rapidly. He was already expecting the gunshot. Stan was definitely behind the attack and he wasn't alone. Someone or something was making him do it.

A whooshing sound came in. One of the three guys flew back as the Shadowmask jumped in, striking him with his knee. The second guy with the gun turned quickly, shooting indiscriminately at the Shadowmask. The bullets dropped noisily on the ground. The Shadowmask grabbed the gun and buttstroked him, knocking him out. The last guy was left to run away.

A man had been staring through the window when the gunshots began. He was able to take multiple unclear pictures of the Shadowmask.

David got up, slowly, holding his aching head. "Thank you"

"I think it's time for you to stop the blog posts or they won't stop coming for you", the Shadowmask advised.

"What?!", David exclaimed. "I already rejected a job offer just to continue this. Now I have to stop?"

"Those people were sent here for that reason. If you don't stop, they will keep coming. You have to go home and protect your family or they'll be used as bait", he said and leaped on the fence.

"Wait!", David called him back. "What's the secret?"

"Ashwood has mixed with the wrong people. He has sold his soul for a chance to live after the Unchaining. Now, he has to listen to the key.", he jumped up, disappearing in the dark.

Eager to start working on himself, he only took a few spoons from his dinner. He entered his room and locked the door behind him. Then, he slipped under the bed, into the vault and began cleaning.

He connected his phone to an amplifier and climbed back up, primarily, to check how much noise he was making.

"Hmm.. Soundproof", he said and walked back in. The place looked like a*****e of weapons. Whoever used the vault before him must have been a ninja, a soldier, or of any other violent title. A sort of cape hanged there, dusty and covered in webs.

He stripped himself, leaving his underwear only. He covered himself with a blanket and sat on the cold floor of the vault, crossing his legs comfortably. He closed his eyes and thought only about the soft tiny sound of the air. He shut every other thought out of his head while he focused on the sound in his ears, till he stopped thinking, totally. He focused on nothing and the sound of the air vanished from his ears. For a moment, he felt a soft breeze while the blanket's warmth kept him comfortable, like he was on the bed and about to sleep.

"Hey!", the same voice of the Shadowmask called. He opened his eyes, as he felt a tap. "You finally found me"

"Where are we?", Joe asked. They were standing on a building. The surroundings looked weird, like everything he had ever known.

"This is the spot of your calling", the masked man said and walked to the edge of the roof. "This is where our destiny lies. Look around and see everything"

Joe walked to him. The building they stood on was so tall that he couldn't look down from the edge of the roof. "Is this Sterling? Is that Planet News?", he asked pointing at the building in front of them. "There's no building as tall as this in front of Planet News"

"Why don't you look closer?"

Joe looked again and saw his house, and the school, the Metropolis, and all of Sterling City in one spot. "How is this possible? How are you doing this?" "You're the one doing it", the Shadowmask said and walked closer to Joe. "This is your destiny. Let me in". He hugged Joe, tightly.

It was awkward but Joe hugged back. The Shadowmask vanished in his hands, as if he had absorbed him. He jumped back, startled. The cloth on his body had changed. He was already dressed up in the Shadowmask's costume. Wondering how that happened, he laid on his back and slept off.

A whole eternity seemed to have passed while he was asleep. He woke up in the vault, in his meditation position. It was morning, already.

He walked up the stairs. There was another note, waiting for him in his 'diary'.

"Now that you have the body and the soul, the world needs you as Shadowmask, Joe... The war against the Unchaining must begin"

★

He already had eyes on his targets. If he desired, he could take them out, from where he stood. There was Albert Romero, who he merely recognizes to be part of the clique he had to get rid of. There was Stan Ashwood and many other prominent people who he cared less about.

"Hey, Shadow- mask or whatever they call you", Cedric turned. He had sensed his presence.

"You are not going to shoot anyone, are you?", the Shadowmask asked.

"I just needed you to know I can", Cedric said and dropped the gun. "And if I wanted to, I would put every one of them down and you won't be able to save them"

"Last time we spoke, you were eager to prevent the Unchaining so much that you would take any life for it. Why the change?"

"I'm giving you a chance. If you don't show up in daylight, I will never miss this chance again"

The Shadowmask moved closer to him. "I already found my body"

"I don't know what that means but it's a good news if we're fighting the real demons now"

"The war begins"

"What's the plan?"

"We find the key. Build a team. Wage the war"

"And prevent the Unchaining project from happening", Cedric added and held out his hand.

★

"It's good to have you back, i***t", Felix said, as they sat together for Lunch. Joe had missed two working days and his team was angry with him. "Almost missed you"

"I didn't miss you, through the weekend. Didn't even know what happened, throughout", Joe replied. "I woke up in the church, yesterday. Then, I almost missed you too"

"So what happened to you?"

"I have no idea", Joe replied as his eyes darted from Felix to Laura and Jackson, who were staring at him, angrily. "Mom said I was shivering in the night. Then, the doctor said there was nothing wrong with me. Then, the doctor said it was a spiritual problem. That's all".

Laura and Jackson still had the angry look in their eyes, like they had rehearsed the stares. "We have to talk, Joe", Felix continued.

"Uhn?.. About what?"

"It's about these secrets. Why do you keep hiding everything? I came over during the weekend and your mom told me you were sick, and I couldn't see you. I got in trouble for that. You won't tell me what's in your diary or whatever that book is", he said, staring at the book's cover page, which clearly read 'Diary' in Joe's ugly handwriting. "I know that these things bother you but I want to know what bothers you exactly. That's how we help each other"

"And what if we only become baits for the enemies?", that came out from his mouth but it was impulsive, like the Shadowmask had spoken through him.

"Uhn?", Felix didn't hear clearly.

"What if these secrets only put us in trouble?"

"Then, We'll be in trouble together. That's how friends should live", he put his hand on the book, expecting Joe to pull it back or say something. Joe kept mute.

Felix pulled the book, slowly, watching Joe's reaction. "I'm about to read your secret, Joe. You won't say anything?"

"Just go ahead", Joe said.

"You know what?", Felix pushed it back. "I won't read it... I won't read it till you want me to"

Joe pushed it back to Felix. "I insist. It's our secret, now. There's a lot to talk about"

★

John was in another car chase. Some thief had robbed a shop and was escaping on a motorcycle. He had put his focus on the this or else another criminal would get away like many others, lately. Criminals had been succeeding and escaping since John had his attention divided. He had a girlfriend craving for attention. The weight of policing seemed to be on his shoulders as many expected too much from him.

This time around, the i***t on the motorbike is the main focus and he was going no where. However, the thief seemed to be an expert rider. He had a style of giving John the false hope of catching up, then he'd zoom off, leaving the two cop cars behind.

There was no way to predict the turnings he would make so John had no shortcuts or any idea to get ahead. He pulled out his pistol and shot, repeatedly, at the wheels.

He missed. The thief was able to dodge every shot, as if he had expected John to shoot.

He pulled out a gun and shot back. John had a plan. If the thief would have a perfect shot at him, he would have to slow down to aim. The second cop car turned, taking another road to catch the thief from the front.

John lowered his head, as the bullets broke the front glass of his car. He stepped on the gas pedal, hitting the bike which zoomed off at an incredible speed. John raised his head up and drove faster.

The thief looked back to confirm the distance. Then, the motorcycle, suddenly, tumbled sideways, throwing it's rider off. John parked the car and walked out.

Cedric appeared on another motorcycle. He had drifted across the distracted thief, slamming the back wheel in a bent position, against the front wheel of the thief's motorcycle, throwing the rider off balance.

"Thank you, Cedric", John said, as he cuffed the hands of the thief.

The cops in the second car arrived, parking, speedily. They rushed out, pointing their guns at Cedric. "Throw down your weapons. You're under arrest"

"Wait! Take this one with you. Cedric's with us", John said and handed the thief to the others.

. ★

"Are you kidding? You guys still won't talk to me?", Joe said, as he entered the lab where they should be working on their projects. "You think I chose to be absent or what?"

Laura and Jackson just stared, choreographing with their angry eyes. While Jackson's face couldn't be read, Laura looked 'cute ?', worried and upset. While he was worried about what they were thinking, he couldn't stop admiring his crush.

He shifted his stares, quickly, so Laura wouldn't catch a glimpse of the admiration in his eyes.

"So what happened?", Jackson asked, finally.

"I was sick. I wasn't conscious till yesterday so I couldn't reach out to anyone", Joe said, "Sorry"

"Well, it affected us. Now we have too much work to do, or else we'll fail"

"I'm sorry-"

"What sickness?", Laura broke in, and folded her arms.

"Uhn?"

"I think you're lying to us. You're hiding something"

"Are you kidding?" Those eyes!", Joe muttered under his breath and said, "I have to pee".

He ran into the bathroom. Laura's eyes really filled his bladder with a flood of coloured water. He wanted to share his new self discovery with someone but he didn't think he should. He had gotten control of himself as the fierce and mysterious Shadowmask, now he had the urge to tell all the secrets. He couldn't even see himself fighting for a key. Shadowmask might go on a vacation, soon.

He was through with peeing. He opened the door and met Laura and Jackson waiting right in front of the bathroom door.

"Hey! I could have come out naked!", he shouted

"No, you couldn't have", Laura replied. "We're in school"

"You know nothing about me". That came out wrong

"We think you have some kind of disease and you're kee-"

"What?!", Joe exclaimed, laughing.

"Actually, she thinks so. It's her dumb idea", Jackson added, pointing at Laura. She hit him with her elbow. "Whatever the problem is, you can tell us. We became a team, the day we started this project"

"Yea... and we should be closer to each other", Laura added. That sounded cute and flattering.

"Trust me. I'm fine", Joe replied and smiled. "Let's get to work"