THE TWILIGHT ZONE
SEASON 6 – EPISODE 1
THE MASK
Written by Kar-zid
A young man dressed smartly walked into a store on the corner of a busy street. The sign above the store proclaimed it to be 'Thad's Costume Shop'.
On the other side of the road from this shop was a man, his name was Rod Serling. None of the people walking neither the streets nor any of the people in the cars whizzing by seemed to notice him.
"Glen Burnbury is a hard working man, but he is still a very social person, and when he was invited to a Halloween party he immediately said yes. They are to wear a mask and a costume, but little did Glen know that he isn't just entering a mask store, but he was entering… the Twilight Zone" Rod Serling said, introducing the chilling tale you are about to witness.
The bell above the door chimed as it was pushed open by Glen. He walked inside and let the door slam behind him. The store he now stood in was filled with all sorts of masks and costumes, werewolves, zombies, celebrities and mummies.
Glen walked into the maze of racks and stands, his hand held out touching the costumes and masks he passed. He had a look of amazement on his face, for he had never seen so many masks. Since the lighting was non-existent the farther he walked into the shop the darker it got.
Finally he came across the counter. It was a dark marble colour and a cash register stood upon it. Everything looked like it hadn't been touched in centuries, even though there was no dust. It just had that look, that look that sent chills down your spine. There was no one behind the counter, which was odd.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Glen called out, ringing the small bell that also stood upon the counter.
Glen turned around and stared through the dark shop.
"This is sure a creepy place…" Glen murmured, and shivered involuntarily.
'Hello sir!" a voice suddenly made Glen jump and turn to face a man behind the counter.
Glen gasped in shock, staring at the clerk who had apparently just appeared from thin air. The clerk was obviously Japanese or Chinese.
"What can I interest you in today Mr. Burnbury?" the strange man asked.
"I, wait, how did you know my name?" Glen asked, quite confused, "Have I met you before?"
The man just repeated what he had just said, a slight frown appearing on his face.
"Umm, I'd like a werewolf mask please" Glen asked, feeling a bit freaked out.
The man grabbed a mask from behind the counter and passed it to Glen without a word.
"How much do I owe you?" Glen asked, pulling out his wallet from his pants pocket.
"Nothing, you can have that for free. Some kindness before tonight begins would do you at least some good" the man said, his words confusing Glen.
But Glen didn't want to worry about what the man said, so he thanked him and made his way out of the store, very confused and a little scared.
As he walked back down the sidewalk towards his humble abode, he rolled the mask around in his hands. The hair on the 'Werewolf's' face felt very real, and the skin had a strangely realistic look and feel to it.
But werewolf's don't exist, he told himself, so it's just very good craftsmanship. No way had they used real skin and hair anyways…
His mind wandered to other things on his walk home, and when he finally got inside he put the mask down and left it there, not even sparing a thought for it for the rest of the day.
That night however he got ready, wearing wolf claw gloves he had bought recently, and his werewolf mask. Off he went to the costume party; he was in for a big surprise tonight.
The party was very fancy, being held in a large hall. There were many people there, and they all wore a mask of some kind that covered their whole face. Loud music played throughout the hall, drowning out most other sounds. Glen stood near the drinks table, holding a glass of wine in his claw-gloved hand. He couldn't see anyone that he could recognize, which was odd. He knew a fair few people in town, but he could not see one person he knew. Even the person who had invited him had not come and greeted him; in fact no one had talked to him.
He felt very out of place, as if he was an intruder no one had noticed yet. He felt alienated, but he didn't want to leave, hoping that he could have some fun here. He decided to go try and talk to someone.
He walked up to a woman close to him, who also held a wine glass in her hand. She seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with someone else, though Glen could hear no words. She was wearing a feathered mask that was multi-colored, and the man she was talking to was wearing a devil mask, which sported a very large and malicious grin.
"Hello, how'd the party been for you?" Glen asked the woman, trying to spark some conversation.
As soon as he spoke the music stopped. Everyone was silent, no noise could be heard. Everyone stopped what they were doing, not moving at all.
Glen stood there, a frightened look on his face, he know felt more alienated than ever before, and more scared, and more confused.
Everyone in the hall suddenly turned towards Glen, their masks hiding their emotions. One-by-one they reached up and pulled off their masks.
As the first person's face came into view Glen screamed. It was more horrifying than anything he had seen before…
The person in front of him had no face. No features, no eyes, no nose, no mouth, just a blank space of skin where their face should be.
As everyone in the room pulled off their masks Glen found that none of them had faces, just that blank space of skin.
He screamed once again as the faceless thing closest to him raised it's arm and pointed at him. As if that thing had given an order, all of the faceless beings in the room began to shamble towards Glen, their arms raising up, reaching towards him, grabbing at him.
He only had time to scream once again before they were upon him.
The man in the suit, Rod Serling, appears just outside the hall for his final message.
"Usually parties are fun, and costume parties are especially fun. You get to become someone or something else for a night, and get to be with other beings you would normally never see. But when Glen Burnbury stepped inside that strange mask shop, he was not in the safe and comfortable world we all know of. He had stepped into the Twilight Zone."