by K. Weikel
Chapter 15
Becca wakes as someone shakes her shoulders. Her body is covered in sweat and her mouth is dry. Eduard is kneeling over her, his face twisted into worry as he stares into her eyes. Her body is partially sitting up, and she feels the familiar sting in the back of her throat. She had had a nightmare.
It all comes flooding back to her, the fire, the masks… it had been the same dream she had had the night someone visited her while she was asleep. But it was slightly different. This time, it wasn’t her about to get shot while Banshee holds the gun, but Eduard—with her finger on the trigger.
That’s when she woke up. She started screaming and crying in her dream to try to make herself stop, but her body wouldn’t obey. She was going to shoot him, no matter what.
And now the irony of that same boy waking her up to the unrealness of the dream… What is it all supposed to mean? Is it supposed to mean anything?
“Are you okay, Becca?” Eduard asks as she looks at him with wide eyes. She doesn’t know whether to be relieved or scared. But scared of what? Scared of him? Scared of herself?
She nods and tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes drift to the mask at her bedside and suddenly she wants to put it back on. Maybe she wouldn’t have these nightmares if she wore it. Maybe she could disappear from sight, from the Maskless, and no one would ever find her. She could have a family, a job… she could leave this all behind.
But I can’t… She tells herself as she looks away and back at Eduard. I can’t leave them…
However much she wishes it were true that she could, she knows she can’t. She feels too strongly for the group, for Eduard, and she actually does want to make a difference.
But what if she dies trying?
“Do you want to go for a walk?” Eduard asks quietly.
Becca nods slightly before she can stop herself, and he gently grabs her hand to help her up.
The sun is rising. She was probably only asleep for an hour or two, but feels as if that’s all she needs. She doesn’t want to go back to sleep, afraid more twisted dreams await for her to put her head in its spindly claws.
“What’d you dream about?” He asks as they walk on through the trees. Eduard looks behind him every now and then, and Becca guesses that it’s to keep track of where they are and where they have been so that they can get back to camp easily.
Becca shakes her head, not wanting to talk about it, especially to the boy she was going to shoot dead in her dream.
“What do you think it takes to be driven mad?” Becca asks quietly.
“What, like, crazy?” Eduard chuckles a little bit and shrugs. “I don’t know. All I know is a lot of people end up going crazy here.” He pauses, the silence almost agonizingly painful for Becca as she tries to get her head on straight.
“I guess that’s another reason why we’re doing it…” He goes on. “People need help and no one’s giving it to them because they’re on the Dark Clan.”
Becca nods. It makes sense. The black masks don’t get as much treatment as the white masks because of purity issues. Becca starts to feel the emotions of pity for the second group, a small fire growing slightly inside of her, but only lasting for a moment and waiting to reappear for when she needs it again.
“What are we going to do?” Eduard asks her.
“What?”
“Yeah. What are we going to do?”
“Um… uh, why are you asking me this?”
“Because you’re the Face.”
“But you know all the battle strategies and stuff,” Becca says, her brain finally woken up from the nightmare. “I just do what I’m told.”
Eduard shakes his head slowly and sighs. “Fine. What we need to do is get you back in there to make your way to Quill and find a way to bring him down. Do you know how you could do that?”
Becca shakes her head. “But I can try.”
Eduard nods in agreement. “If we can break a part of the system, maybe we can bring the entire thing down. If not, maybe we can work our way up from there. We just need to figure it out before they figure us out. So. When will you want to head back out there?”
She sighs and claps her hands together thoughtfully, taking it all in. “I guess today would be okay… I just have to not blow my cover.”
“You can do it,” Eduard smiles as he touches her shoulder.
Becca smiles back politely, trying to cover up the fear inside of her. She has to face Quill again…
“You never told me what you…” Becca’s voice trails off as her eyes lay upon a black mask a few trees in front of them.
Banshee would have blended in with the forest if the sunlight hadn’t been streaming from behind him, and Becca would have run straight into him.
Eduard stops as she does, and they stare at the man, different thoughts running through their minds.
“Ask,” Becca hears Banshee say. “Ask.”
Eduard looks at her questionably, but Becca ignores it and turns back to the man she’s seen so much of since she chose to be on the Light Clan. Why is he following her? Why does he say what he does?
She decides to ask him, but she can’t get any one of the questions out. She stands gaping at the man in black in front of her, racking her brain for words so she can speak English to him, and not nervous gibberish that flings off her tongue.
“Ask!” Banshee screams, the impatience tearing at his insides trying to escape into his voice.
“Why are you following me?” Becca asks. “Why do you want me dead?”
The man moves his head slightly to the side and cackles, his shoulders shaking with the laughter. What had driven this man to be so mad?
“I am following you because one day you will be dead. One day you will be alone. One day you will need me.”
“I’m sorry, Banshee, but I’m never going to need you,” Becca says harshly, feeling the side of her she’s just now getting to know slip out. “And everyone will die eventually, whoop-dee-do.”
The man moves his head a bit, his body looking like she hurt him. She almost feels sorry for him. Almost.
“Oh, Becca!” He cries suddenly. He walks forward hastily and stops right before her, Eduard bucking up a bit in case he needs to protect her. “Becca, Becca, Becca… you aren’t pure… that’s why you needed the black mask. That’s why you needed to die at the court meeting. But you didn’t die.” He cranes his neck to look at Eduard. “He didn’t let you die.” Banshee takes a deep breath and looks back at Becca. “You’ll be alone one day. All alone. And he won’t be there to protect you.” He laughs hysterically and backs up a bit.
“What are you talking about, Banshee?” Becca asks, the masked man starting to grind her gears. Her breathing is shallow and her brain is going insane with the presence of this man, not letting her think straight.
“I’m talking about the future, Becca Reed.”
“No one can predict the future,” Becca hisses. “You’re wrong about what will happen, Banshee.”
“Am I, Becca Reed?” He chuckles, and leans forward towards her face. “Am I… Your mask!”
The man shoots back up into a standing position and searches frantically for her mask. She looks at Eduard and nods. She wants to get away.
She turns around to walk with Eduard, who places his hand between her shoulder blades to escort her to the campsite. He looks back at Banshee, who is still searching for the long lost mask.
“No!” She hears Banshee screech.
His hands are on her shoulders before anyone can react. Banshee pulls her down to the ground, her head hitting the dirt and her lungs losing the air they hold inside. He sits on top of her so she doesn’t move as much, saying things Becca doesn’t understand. Banshee’s weight fluctuates as Eduard pulls at him and as he smashes mud in Becca’s face. Banshee’s gloves feel rough on her face, almost as rough as…
It was him.
She was right.
Becca tries to shove him
off, suddenly in the light about everything she’s been doubting the past few days…
Abruptly, Banshee stops wiping the mud on her face and looks down at the artwork he had created on her face.
“That’s better,” He says in a soothing, relaxed tone as Eduard rips him away from her.
Becca takes that moment to stand and rip off Banshee’s mask. The sound of the ribbons tearing apart frightens Becca.
And she watches the face appear as she takes away the mask, she watches the brown hair move out from under the black material that had been sewn to the mask, she watches as the face with the long scar appears, the face that had killed Victoria.
