Chapter 1

October 30, 2004

It had been nearly ten years since Carly Beth had last experienced the horror of nearly losing herself to the Unloved Haunted Mask—that face that she would rather have forgotten. Though it had made her brave after years of torment by her classmates, that horrific visage still came to her in thoughts and nightmares. She thought she would be rid of it forever once she had conquered its cruel influence with the Symbol of Love her mother had crafted for her. But even now, as a grown woman, she was plagued by dreams of its return and that constant feeling of dread whenever Halloween came around that it would find her again and fulfill its deadly purpose of taking over the body of a living host and bend body, will, and mind to its own devious devices.

Carly Beth, now a student at the University of North Texas (far away from the quiet Midwestern town where she experienced the nightmare firsthand), was in her dorm room, shifting to and fro as another nightmare ruined her sleep just as it had on an almost daily basis since that fateful evening ten years ago. She could see the Mask coming towards her. Its' evil, glowing, orange eyes peering from within those deep set sockets were fixed on her, like malicious fireflies illuminating its sickly green face in the abyss that the dream was set in. The mouth, almost overfilled with sharp animal teeth, extended back in an expression that Carly Beth could interpret as something between a smile and scowl. It was floating closer to her, and Carly Beth couldn't force herself to run. It was like her feet had been hacked off and she was stuck in a dried block of concrete. She put her hands up defensively, trying to stop its progress as she pleads with the face that was mere inches beyond the outstretched fingers.

"Please… Please don't!"

We are one, Carly Beth, the mask whispered in its raspy voice that was more akin to a snake than a semi-human face. We are destined to be. You love me, and I -must- have you. Come with me, and we will be together… FOREVER! As it passed through her hands, they turned ugly and green, with sharp talons, long and dangerous like a bear claw, tipping each of her fingers. Carly Beth screamed in horror at this transformation as the last thing she saw was the mask bearing down on her. The walls of the skin closed in against her own as she uttered a final, insane "Noooo!" to the mask that was soon to own her.

That is when Carly Beth woke up, sitting with a jolt on her dorm bed. The pink nightie she wore was soaked through with sweat, and she frantically checked her hands to discover with a relief that they were the same: delicate, soft, and nimble—the hands of the artist, not the killer. To affirm her observation, they went to her face… to find sharp animal teeth lining her mouth. She screamed once again…

Only to wake up for real this time. Rather than sitting up, Carly Beth curled around herself, pulling knees to modest-sized chest, as she whimpered and shook in the embrace of the night. That dream was far worse than the others, and she had been having these dreams nightly for three weeks, since October rolled around on the Cthulhu wall calendar she kept thumb-tacked on her corkboard next to this week's major assignments.

Hardly the last thing I need with midterms coming up, she thinks bitterly. Not only is she scared by these dreams, she is angry that even after ten years, she is still terrified by a childish nightmare she isn't even sure actually happened anymore. Her gentle sobs rouse Sabrina, who had come to UNT with her and managed to work on getting them roomed together for their first semester. Still exceptionally elegant-looking, Sabrina was going out with this guy called Ian, who was a Creative Writing major in the English Department. Carly Beth got the two of them hooked up, for she met the guy in her first Creative Writing class she took as an elective, and knew that his obsession with Cthulhu and H.P. Lovecraft would be an instant shoe-in for a long-term relationship. They had been going steady for several months now, and Sabrina seemed to like him a lot. But concern for her childhood friend supersedes her euphoria as Sabrina goes over to Carly Beth's bed and gently shakes her.

"Carly Beth, what's wrong?"

The tormented young woman, wiping a tear from her eye, looks up and towards Sabrina with a gentle smile, taking comfort in her face. "Just another nightmare, Sabrina."

"Ugh," Sabrina utters as she closes her eyes exasperatedly. "Carly Beth, you gotta get this checked out. Midterms are next week, and you haven't been able to study or stay awake in class or anything since you started having these nightmares. Look, I know the department head for Psychology. I have a class with her. I can arrange…"

"No," Carly Beth said quickly, stubbornly. "I don't need a shrink."

"Then take sleeping pills, or something. You have to do something about this."

"I'll be fine, Sabrina. I don't need you mothering me all the time. I'll work around this… somehow…"

"I sure hope so," Sabrina says, unconvinced. "Because if you continue having these nightmares, it's gonna be both our asses by the time exams come around."

"I know, Sabrina. I know," Carly Beth responds with a sigh, her anger dissipating as she realizes that Sabrina is not trying to damage her pride. She only wants to help, and Carly Beth trusts in her. "Maybe seeing somebody is not a bad idea…"

"Good. I'm glad you see reason finally. I'll talk to her tomorrow and see when she can see you. You try to get some sleep now," Sabrina says as she bends over and kisses Carly Beth gently on her forehead.

"Thanks, Sabrina," Carly Beth responds as a smile crosses her face. Then taking her friends advice, she turns over on her side and closes her eyes, ready for another bout with the dream of her own personal demon.

Meanwhile, back home…

The mist rolled around the base of the tombstones, a white blanket of moisture and gloom that only added on to the eeriness of the ancient cemetery. And yet there was one small patch of grass yellowed by the oncoming winter that the mist did not dare touch. In the center of this unoccupied patch, the earth churned as though it was a zit ready to pop, or a volcano just making itself known on the bottom of the Pacific. Except this eruption did not produce rock or ash, but a horror far worse to mankind.

The Mask pushes itself through several feet of dirt, having only this handful of days surrounding Halloween, or Samhein as he knows it, to act without a host. But now, after ten years of dutiful work and silent meditation and planning, he is free, and he knows precisely how to enact his vengeance against the one who had once accepted him, but then turned him away as the monster he is: Carly Beth. Rising into the air, the Mask took in his surroundings, and with an evil chuckle, floated into the night towards the home where Carly Beth had first worn him, loved him, and been taken over by him…