They Wear Masks
They Wear Masks: A Tale of Madness
Plot Synopsis
Marcus works as an antiquities dealer who does quite well for himself. The first chapter sets up the type of person Marcus is. Hard working and has a clear disregard for cultural artifacts if it means money. He's somewhat of a playboy, the type to not settle down with one woman, in fact often making use of professional escorts. Marcus also has a secret addiction to Oxy, though the reader finds out that it isn't so secret. Marcus throws a party celebrating his newest acquisitions a collection of black market religious masks sourced from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia during the extended fifty two year civil war the country is embroiled in. During the party, Marcus overhears a collection of potential buyers questioning his lifestyle and mentioning his Oxy addiction as reason to believe he may not be trusted incase something goes wrong with any potential purchase of these illegal objects. Marcus confronts them, the argument turns loud and everyone at the party pulls out of any interest in buying them.
Marcus spends his evening drinking heavily and staring at the masks. Alone now, he is drawn to the one particular mask. A smooth white mask with just the hint of facial features. A slight raise for the nose, no mouth and eyeholes. He puts it on and feels a dark pressure come over his consciousness before he faints. He awakes in his bed, nude with the mask laying next to him. Getting up he briefly believes he just blacked out from the drink. He goes about his morning, showering, preparing coffee, checking emails on his laptop while eating breakfast, then he walks into his front room. The room is covered in gore. Almost every surface, the walls, floors and even ceiling is painted with blood and chunks of flesh and viscera. Marcus is understandably shocked however, he believes he has too much to loose if he reports this. With a lack of a body he focuses on cleaning before realizing it's a impossible tasks. He calls up one of his fence contacts and inquires about cleaners who work on the down-low. The cleaners arrive and get to work and Marcus waits in the bedroom trying to figure out what might have happened. It's at this point the whispering begins, soft in the deepest parts of his mind. At first he mistakes it for his own thoughts. Intrusive suspicion of the cleaners though no clear words. Could they be casing his apartment for artifacts to steal? Might they snitch on the cops? He should do something about them....
Marcus is able to push the thoughts aside and meets the cleaners when they're finished. He swears they're acting suspicious, they leave after getting paid and Marcus turns to work. Though paranoid the police will be coming for him any time. He can't focus. But he sends out feelers for buyers for his newest artifacts, the masks. Finally he hits one and buyers show up and take possession of the masks...though...he is compelled to keep the white mask. He places it in his cabinet with other special artifacts.
The story proceeds with him each night drinking, each night putting the mask on. With every night the whispering in his mind become more clear until finally he can make out the words, spoken in a tongue never heard on Earth. Even though it's utterly alien he understands it.
"Wear us...Join us...They wear masks."
The story continues with him meeting an escort and developing a relationship with her. Over the course of the next few chapters their 'sessions' become darker. Starting with light BDSM and progressing to more debased acts. He still wears the mask at night though still no repeat of the first night.
Finally, the masks convince him to wear it during his tryst with his escort friend. Half-possessed he pushes the limits and begins to choke the woman. When he completes he releases her, she is unconscious and strangely he feels no sympathy for her. He simply waits for her to awaken. When she does she reacts with anger and panic and swears to call the police. The mask speaks to him "Now is the time, Wear the mask."
In an act of unbridled violence he murders her.
The book ends with him peeling off her face and placing it over the white mask he wears. His face becomes her face and his body changes to match hers. He leaves the apartment in her clothes and finds a man waiting for a taxi. Stepping up to wait besides him, Marcus turns to the man and in the womans voice asks. "Looking for a good time?"
