Chapter 2
Quentin held the mask next to his body. He had got it. it was his, the mask of Baal, that had once given Zachary his power. Now the power would be his to command.
He sneaked back into Collinwood, looking anxiously at the dark corners, worried that they might hide a thief ready to take the mask from him.
But there was no one. He raced to his room, undressed and lied down in bed, slipping the mask under his pillow.
So he had kept his childish treasures once, he could not keep from thinking. When he was a little boy in this great house...
But that was long ago. He was not a child, and what he hid was not a toy.
No, never again would he be a helpless child, looking afraid at the dark. He had found his way to freedom and would use it.
Nicholas watched the scene pensively. Quentin had now the mask and would not part willingly with it.
Well, it would not stay long in Quentin's possession. He would have Yolanda do something about it.
Derek and Liz studied each other, trying to assess what they saw.
"I have heard of you, Mr. Pearce." Liz said.
"All good, I hope."
"Not all good. But what I heard makes me believe that you are the one I need."
"Oh?"
"They seem to believe that you'll do anything for money."
Derek stiffened. "Not everything. Nothing that would involve hurting people."
Liz took out her checkbook "I don't want to hurt anyone. And I can pay you well for your services."
"What kind of services?"
Liz wrote the check and placed it in front of Derek. Then she explained what the services were.
His face reflected his shock. No one had asked that of him.
Still, it was good money. And it did not precisely involve hurting people...
"All right. I'll do it."
"Starting now."
George could not hide his disgust at seeing Comet chained outside.
"Must you keep him like this?"
"Like what?"
"Chained to a tree."
"How else would you keep a dog? He has shade, food, water, and I take him out regularly for walks and exercise."
"For God's sake, you know what I mean! That is no ordinary dog. He was a man once!"
"What is the point of turning him into a dog if you treat him like a man? he has to learn to be a dog."
"Like this?"
"I do not mistreat him. I treat him better than most people treat their dogs."
"But that's not really a dog"
"He is more than a dog, but also less. he has to learn a few hard lessons. If he wants to stop being a dog, he has to embrace his humanity. He has a lot of dog virtues, but not enough human ones."
George shivered as Barnabas went to Comet and petted him.
"You see." Barnabas said. "He understands how things will be with him. He had begun to accept it."
"It is wrong."
"Why?"
"Because there are certain tings that you do not do to a human being."
"Not even when he's done far worse things to other human beings? Not even when it is a way to teach him right from wrong?"
George growled, too angry to form words.
"George" Barnabas said softy " I know how this sticks in your throat, but you'll have to be patient with his. It is a hard lesson that Comet is learning."
"Nunez, damn it, Call him by his real name!"
"His name is Comet until he has learned what he needs to learn."
George turned away, disgusted.
"You, of all people" he said bitterly "I thought that you knew better than to get revenge. What would have happened if I had taken revenge on you for killing Dave?"
"It would have been wrong. But it was not wrong for Dave to teach me a harsh truth or two, nor make me aware of my responsibilities. That he forgave me never meant that I could to walk away from what I needed to do for Julia, or for you."
"For me?"
"He told me that he died before he could release you. That you were still stuck being his boy instead of your own man. That I needed to help you grow up."
"And that passed through my bed? Nice to know that you sleep with me to settle that debt."
"I would have slept you once or twice fort that. If I had not liked it, I would have found other way... No, only the first couple of times it was duty or gratitude. After that, I wanted you. I still want you."
"So... what has it to do with... Comet?"
"He needs to settle accounts with Norma and the others. He needs to see them as people, needs to mourn them, needs to be reconciled to them.. If not, Norma may not be able to rest properly."
"You said that you released her."
"I started the process. But she still has a lot of anger and hate to be rid of. She needs to watch Nunez's repentance, genuine repentance before she can pass on. And you know that I owe her that."
"So I have to let you do?"
"Yes. I know how much Norma still hurts. I wish I could release Carl and the others, but I can't. But I can release Norma... That should be enough."
Quentin tossed in his sleep, dreaming of the power that would be his in the morning when he donned the mask of Baal and called on its powers.
It still seemed impossible that he could have so much at hand.
He was lying now in a golden couch, with precious stones embedded in it.
Barely clad girls danced around him, like the dancers that he had seen in Egypt. And they danced for him... their eyes were filled with adoration when they looked at him.
They knelt by his feet and waited, trying to catch his attention. They crawled on the dirt and kissed his feet. He did not look at them.
That was as it should be. At his feet. Willing slaves for him.
Jenny was there, dragging her red hair behind her. And Magda, young as he had never known her, called him Master and begged his forgiveness.
One of the girls looked like Judith. His treacherous sister Judith. He dismissed her with a wave of his hand and she went away, sobbing. He would not have that face near him.
Other girls came closer, swinging their hips.
"Carolyn" he commanded.
"Master?" Carolyn asked, eagerly.
"You have displeased me, slave." he saw her flinch "you have forgotten your place."
Carolyn wept. "Do not punish me, Master."
"You have to be punished" he clapped his hands and tow of the girls at his feet rose.
"Chain her with the other one." he told her, "The one called Laura. Later I will devise a punishment for them both."
Carolyn was led away, sobbing.
The girls resumed dancing, and he studied them, trying to make his decision.
They collapsed in a circle at his feet. He walked among them prodding them with his feet, seeing how they shivered as he did this.
"You" he pointed to Amanda Harris "you come with me."
She crawled to his feet. He lifted her by the wrists and threw her on the couch.
He fell on her while the other girls stayed still, frozen into position.
Thus he dreamed while Yolanda tiptoed into his room. She placed her hand on his forehead, thus making sure he'd go on sleeping, then took out the mask from under the pillow and left the room as silently as she had come in.
He had it. Nicholas let out a yell of triumph. The mask of Baal was his! All his own.
He had done well in burning the head of Zachary when he had found it. No Master over him!
Yet something worried him. What, he could not tell, but he decided to take some precautions when Yolanda came in.
He lifted the floorboards and motioned to Urien to get up. The living zombie that he had created obeyed and stood in silence waiting for further commands.
"Yolanda will be here. With luck, she will still be under my control. But if anything happens, you will handle her."
Yolanda raced through the woods, clutching the mask to herself. She was now brining tit to her Master, to Nicholas...
And Nicholas watching her in his mini-stage grinned "It is not too far away, my dear." he said, under his breath.
Her foot caught something. She stumbled and fell.
She pulled at her ankle, which seemed caught while at the same time reaching for the mask which had fallen by her side.
As she reached for it, the mask touched the brand on her wrist, the one that Nicholas had put there.
She pulled her hand away, in pain.
She stared dumbly at the burn and then she looked at the mask that was now beginning to glow.
Her skin was changing. She could see it peel away, leaving clean, unmarked skin behind.
The brand was gone. And so was the hold that Nicholas had on her mind.
She remembered now how Nicholas had deceived her and made her his slave.
But no more...
The mask glowed and she turned to look at it. It gave her a feeling of strength, of confidence.
"Get up!" Nicholas commanded her.
Yolanda lifted the mask in hr hands, feeling how her ankle healed.
"I am writing," Nicholas insisted.
She lifted the mask well above her head, a triumphant smile on her face.
"Nicholas!" she shouted "Nicholas Blair! Listen to me! You do not order me anymore! You don't own me anymore!"
The mask made her feel powerful. There was nothing that she could not do.
"Look Nicholas! Look around you!"
There was an explosion behind him. He turned and he saw fire around him. Fire, against which he was powerless.
"Look a the fire Nicholas, and see your death!" she laughed as she placed the mask over her face.
"It is mine, now! The power is mine!"
