Day One of SpookyOQ Mask


Regina looked around at the magical surroundings, she had never seen a sight so amazing. The cave was dark with high walls that sparkled in the torchlight, a tell-tale sign that they hid crystals within them. She glanced behind her to the mysterious man in the mask who controlled the boat, she had no idea what had compelled her to venture down into the dark depths of the city with a masked stranger. It had been almost as though she had been caught in a trance with no chance of escape.

The man had appeared almost from nowhere and whisked her away, she was supposed to have been getting married, to a man she had never met and was being forced to wed. So, in a way she could call him her saviour, even if she didn't yet know his intentions. He had saved her from a life she didn't want but for all she knew he could be about to force her into another.

That wasn't the feeling she felt from him though, she didn't feel afraid or scared. There was something about his presence that put her at ease and made her calm, she didn't even know how that was possible, but it was. She glanced back at him and realised that his expression hadn't changed once since they'd met, he hadn't even opened his mouth to speak.

She looked up and noticed a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, it was a strange thing to have in an underground cave and yet, none of this was normal. Once the boat docked, he moved onto the shore and extended his hand to her, she took it without a second thought and hopped onto the shore. "Where are we?" she asked, only for the man to beckon her to come with him.

Regina followed the silent man, her fingers wrapped around his and she felt him gently squeeze her hand. She wondered why he wasn't speaking and if it was something he was doing to keep things mysterious. Her heart rate increase as they moved deeper and deeper into the cave, the silence was deafening and she wished that he would just break the quiet and talk to her.

"Where are you taking me? I don't understand," she murmured as he stopped and turned to look at her, tilting his head at her in intrigue.

"You looked so sad," he stated, allowing her to hear his voice for the first time, "I wanted to make you happy," he shrugged before pushing a heavy red velvet curtain out of the way to reveal a whole underground room. There were hundreds of candles spotted everywhere and it was like a secret section of the opera house that she never knew existed.

"Oh wow," Regina breathed, glancing to him and seeing a slight smile wash over his face upon seeing her reaction. "I don't understand, you don't even know me."

"And yet you came with me, which must mean that you know I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't know what it is about you," she shook her head, turning her whole body to face him, her hand coming to the mask that covered one side of his face, "why do you wear…" his hand came up to find her wrist, his fingers wrapping around it gently.

"Don't, I don't want you to be scared of me."

"Why would I be scared of you?" Regina whispered, tilting her head at him. She didn't think that whatever he was hiding underneath the mask would scare her, he didn't scare her.

"My face, its disgusting, ugly," he cleared his throat and shook his head, "I just wanted to show you this place before you left. You're free now to do as you please."

"What do you mean?" she furrowed her eyebrows, had he really just given her the freedom she'd always desired? How was that possible? As soon as she left this place her mother would find her again and forced her to marry the man that she'd never met. "I don't think that is your decision, you can't just say I'm free to go and be done with it."

"I can and I just did," he huffed, moving across the room to sit down at a dressing table which had the mirror covered.

"Show me your face."

"Regina, no, now leave, I should never have brought you here."

"Please… wait, how is it that you know my name and I don't know yours?" she whispered, a funny feeling welling up inside her, she hadn't told him her name and had never met him, so how was it that he knew who she was?

"That's doesn't matter, your mother won't be forcing you to marry anyone if that's what you're worried about, you can go, be free and live your life."

"I don't understand," she sighed, moving closer to him and without any warning she pulled the mask from his face. He looked up at her in horror and she could tell that he was expecting her to move away or react with disgust at the disfigurement gracing his cheek. "You were burnt?" Regina whispered, her fingers tracing over the now healed scars.

"Yes, you're not nauseated just from the sight of me?"

"No," she breathed, gently moving across the expanse of his marks, "I'm not disgusted. How did it happen?"

"I was a small child when it happened, everyone was disgusted by me and ever since I've hidden away behind this mask," he sighed. "Regina, I want you to leave, trust me your freedom is something I can give you."

"How?"

"You didn't ask me my name."

"What is your name?" she asked, perching down beside him on the bench in front of the dresser. She had a feeling she knew what his answer was going to be, there was only one way that he would be able to give her the freedom she so desperately sought. "Robin?"

"Yes," he looked down, "you would never want to marry me. I should never have agreed to your mother's proposition. I was just lonely, I'm sorry. I want you to be free and to find your happiness."

Sorrow filled her as she looked at him, he seemed so sad, so desperate and she didn't have the heart to break his. "The fact that you are giving me that choice already tells me that you care and maybe this wedding isn't such a bad idea. Maybe we'll be good for one another." Never in a million years would she have thought that she would ever have said that about a marriage her mother had set up for her, but it was how she felt.

"You don't mean that you might not be disgusted or sickened by my face, but you must be a god damn fool to want to marry a monster like me."

"You're not a monster," she stated with conviction, staring him down, determined to change his view of himself, "you're a man and you are kind, no other person has ever put me first before. I want to marry you, that is if you still want to marry me," she looked down at her lap, feeling self-conscious.

"I can't believe that you would be willing to waste your life married to me," he whispered, shock evident on his face. She looked up at him, staring into his beautiful blue eyes, when she looked past the scars he was actually quite handsome, but it wasn't about what was on the outside, she could tell that his heart was pure and good.

"I don't think that it would be wasteful," she chuckled, "you don't live down here though, do you?"

"No, of course not," he shook his head, "I am actually rather well off," he grinned.

"I don't care about money, I'd happily live in a small cottage," she shrugged, standing from the chair, "all I care about is that the man I marry be kind and considerate. You've proved to me that you are both of those things."

"Regina, please I don't want you to regret this or to do it because you feel sorry for me."

"I don't feel sorry for you; however, I don't think my mother will be best pleased that you've stolen me away before the wedding. We can talk about this after, as for now you can either marry me or let me go, that's your decision but just so you know, I can bake a great cake," she winked. She couldn't believe that she was the one having to convince someone to marry her, it was usually the other way around with her mother forcing men upon her.

"I suppose you make a convincing argument, I am fond of cake. Are you sure?"

"No, but that's what makes the future so exciting, she grinned holding her hand out for him to take, "you gave me a chance, now let me give you one."