Author Anonymous

Part 3

-hands everyone a cookie- Sorry! I would have responded to your reviews, but I kinda got really lazy…

Song 1: 'Masquerade' from 'The Phantom Of The Opera'. How Lyrics Were Written: Completely cut up to make it shorter

I lunged towards my desk and heard the tacks stick into the wall. I braced myself with my hands and looked back as they tried to unwedge themselves. I squeaked and held up a binder as a shield as a fresh group of tacks flung themselves at me. Oh crap…. This is not good. If I don't get down to the factory who knows what else could happen. It could be thumb tacks now, but it could turn into more dangerous things.

I threw the binder at another group of tacks and stood too quickly. The liquid in my ears became unbalanced and a wave of dizziness washed over my head. I stumbled and all went silent. Any and all tacks had formed a pointy cloud in front of me, just waiting for the right moment to strike. I put a hand on my head as my vision swam. A tack shot at me; the others followed in pursuit. I shut my eyes.

The sound of something pelting cork made me open my eyes. The liquid in my ears became balanced and I looked up at Ulrich's backside. He was holding a bulletin board covered in the rampaging tacks. He looked back at me and smiled.

"Ready to go, Princess?"

I smiled back and nodded.

This battle in Lyoko was really weird…. Xana didn't even send the Scyphozoa. He looked to be concentrating more on draining all my life points than anything else. Yumi said it was probably because he realized Jeremy wasn't there and he wanted to make him miserable, but win at the same. I didn't really get what she was talking about… Odd just made another comment about being blind and I whapped him upside his head.

Even so, I was able to deactivate the tower and everything was returned to normal. We sat in the factory afterwards, trying to figure out how to work the jump back in time program in case we needed it. We'd looked through Jeremy's manuals, but none of his instructions made much sense to any one of us. We eventually gave up.

I sat on my bed once more, reading and looking over the letters I had received. My friends had told me I was looking too far into this, but I didn't agree. My curiosity kept me hooked, and it would stay like that until I find out who wrote them. I tacked the first letter back on the wall and pulled the second letter down, along with Jeremy's letter. Hrn….. Well, I'd have to take his word on him not being apart of this. I've read some of his attempts at poems and lyrics… Two words: Not. Pretty. He can't write for beans. Well, not beans LITERALLY. Like… Yeah, you get my point.

As I tacked the papers back in their places, someone knocked on the door.

"Light's out, Stones," Jim said, opening the door. I smiled softly and nodded. Had I really been looking at those for that long? Wow… I quickly changed, plugged my phone into the wall to charge, and flicked my light off.

I received another letter from Jeremy the next day. I slid a finger under the two layers of paper that made up the envelope and pulled out the scribbled on note paper. His familiar writing comforted me slightly and gave a sense he was near. I looked down the hall before putting my nose to the paper. Darn. It doesn't smell like him. I put the letter away into my bag and decided to read it aloud at breakfast while the others are with me.

"Dear Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi,
Hi guys! I'm writing you with another update on what's going on over here in the United States.
I really haven't seen much of Gabbie; she's moving to a new house. It's just down the street, actually, but they have a lot of furniture and stuff in their house it's taking a while to move it all. Her new house is really nice. It's very large.
My mom took my father and I to a big fancy party the other day. It was kinda… boring. I would have enjoyed it if you guys were there. The only kids there close to my age was Gabbie, two girls named Alyssa and Madison, and a pair of twin boys named Kevin and Kyle. It turned out Madison, Kevin and Kyle were all related… They fought a lot.. And uh.. Broke a lot of wine glasses… Their 21 year old sister Lailieand her fiancé Mace had to separate them..
I don't mean to bore you all, so I'll" The rest of the letter was quite smudged with what looked to be dried water, and completely illegible. The only thing partly legible was his signature: Hugs, Jeremy.

I looked up at my friends once more, then held the letter out to them. Ulrich took it from my hands and Odd leaned over to look at it. Odd plucked it forcefully out of his friend's hands and held it to his face.

"Either someone flicked saltwater on it or he was crying," Odd said, pulling the paper from his nose. He held it back out to me. I blinked and took it back.

"How can you tell?" I asked, examining the rubbed at paper closer.

"It smells like it," the blonde responded, taking a humongous bite out of his oatmeal. I blinked again and looked at the paper. Why would he be crying? Someone in the house was probably just messing around with water and got the paper wet. Yeah. I silently folded the paper and slipped it back in the envelope.

Today was really weird, actually. It was full of little mysteries. Jeremy's letter still kinda puzzled me and I tried to decipher it when I was bored in class. I almost got in trouble for it… Then, at lunch Sissi smacked my forehead, seeming to try and stick the envelope in her hand to it… Yumi told her to buzz off and Sissi dropped the envelope in my lap before stalking away. I blinked and picked the gold and white letter off my dress.

"Another one? So soon?" Ulrich asked, leaning over.

"I guess. I wonder why," I responded, slipping my finger into the paper. I pulled out the glossy paper and read it a loud.

"Masquerade!
Paper faces on parade
Masquerade!
Hide your face
so the world will never find you
Masquerade!
Flash of mauve
Splash of puce
Green and black
Queen and priest
Trace of rouge
Face of beast
Faces
Take your turn, take a ride
on the merry-go-round
in an inhuman race
True is false
Who is who?
Ace of hearts
Face of clown
Faces
But who can name the face?
Masquerade!
Burning glances,
Turning heads
Masquerade!
Seething shadows
breathing lies
Masquerade!
Leering stares
peering eyes
Masquerade!
Run and hide -
but a face will still pursue you!

--Never again, I tell you; never again."

"..Ok, that made no sense at all," Yumi commented, setting her fork down.

"Agreed. What kind of moron writes about a Masquerade?" Odd asked, poking at his spinach salad.

"What I don't get, is how this one is completely different from the others," I said, looking up from the paper. The three friends of mine exchanged glances. "The other ones have at least something in common with love, but this one doesn't."

"Hrn. Maybe they started making this a sort of hobby for them," Ulrich suggested, leaning back a little. I looked back at the paper before folding it and putting it in the equally thick envelope. This was awfully strange. I usually only receive an unmarked letter once a week.. but now I've received two. It's very weird….

Ahh.. Sorry for the shortness, I'm at a block right now. x.X Hopefully part 3 will be out soon!