Just as a side note, the poems that are on here most likely don't belong to me. I recently discovered, after completing a English project, I can't write poetry. Well, I can. I can pick up a pencil, write down words, make stuff rhyme…that's pretty much it. And poetry is so much more than that. So I can write poetry, just not GOOD poetry. So I'll give credit to whoever wrote it at the beginning of each chapter where I use it. This one is "We Wear The Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
The first one came on October 31st. It was the stations Halloween party, what should have been the second one Natara had been to. Mal still hadn't let go of what Natara's costume last year, even though she got the one she was supposed to get last time. She was already getting rather annoyed at Mal by the end of the night, and got even more ticked off when she got back to her car. She opened the door, finding a plain masquerade mask sitting on the from seat. "Mal, what the hell…?" she muttered to herself. She looked up where most of the cars were leaving, including Mal's. She picked up the mask, turning it over. There was a note taped to the back. It read in ominous red ink:
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
"Not funny" she muttered, throwing the mask in the back of her car and driving home. She knew Mal was just messing with her, trying to creep her out. But he should know that was crossing the line and hitting to close to home. How could he even joke about that? She left the mask in the back of her car, walked back to her room and got out of her costume. She was just thinking to herself that she would have to talk to Mal about it in the morning, but remembered if it was a joke he was hoping she would get creeped out. 'Maybe I shouldn't say anything' she thought. She decided to figure out what she would do in the morning, when she wasn't so annoyed from the constant jokes about her attire last year.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" spat Natara the next morning when she saw Mal at work.
Mal looked taken back for a moment "What are you talking about?".
Natara took the mask she found in her car and put it right in his face "Is this supposed to be some kind of a joke?".
"Maybe? Where did you get that?" he asked. Natara knew he wasn't showing any of the signs if lying, but still thought he knew something.
"It was in my car last night Mal! If you're trying to freak me out, it's not working" she said angrily.
"I swear, I didn't put it there. Why would I do that? That's just messed up. Maybe Kai put it there as one of his creepy little pranks" suggested Mal.
Natara shook her head "I don't think so. Kai wasn't even here when we were working the Maskmaker case. Why would he have done it?".
"To creep you out".
By the end of the day Natara could say she was really getting creeped out. Kai denied putting the mask in her car, and didn't seem like he was lying. She knew neither Amy or Ken would do it, and couldn't get her mind off of it the whole day.
"Didn't you have your car locked?" Mal asked later.
"Yeah, but I'm sure there are tons of ways to open a locked car without the owners consent".
Mal looked at her seriously "I don't like this Natara, this is just plain creepy. You should tell someone".
She scowled "I'm sure it's just a prank. I can take care of it myself Mal". But she couldn't help but think maybe he was right, that something about this was just sick. She quickly shoved this thought from her mind. 'Its just a stupid prank' she thought 'Just Someones stupid idea of a prank'.