Rosemary and Carly Beth stood in front of the glass exterior of Make a Face. Several unique, scary-looking masks stared back at them through the glass, their deformed features twisted and their skin lumpy and warty. Rosemary shuddered just looking at them, feeling another tingle of fear down her spine. But her mother was far more affected.

Carly Beth shuddered as well, wrapping her arms around herself as she froze completely, staring at the masks with wide, fearful eyes. Rosemary looked at her with concern.

"Mom?" She touched her mother's arm.

"Sorry, dear," said Carly Beth, dropping her arms to her sides. "I don't know what came over me."

Rosemary did. But it was strange to see her usually fearless mother overcome by fear.

"None of them are the mask you wore," Rosemary pointed out, hoping to rid her of her fear, or at least ease it. "Uh, they aren't, right?" Rosemary glanced at a certain mask on display that caught her eye. It was a wooden mask painted brown and red, with two slits cut out for eyeholes and the mouth turned down in a scowl. But what caught her attention the most was the other mask protruding from its forehead. It looked like a tiny head. Maskception, she thought.

"No," said Carly Beth, to Rosemary's relief. "But it still bothers me to see them. I don't like masks much anymore, you know? I know that sounds silly, since one of them helped me get over my timidity and fearfulness. But..."

"I get it, Mom," said Rosemary. "Let's go in."

It was the place Kiran had said he had bought the mask from. He had been taken aback by how urgently they had interrogated him, but managed to say he had bought it from that mask shop in Zombie Plaza. Now they needed to make sure the other masks weren't the same way.

When they stepped into the shop, the masks seemed to stare at them, following them with their intense, evil gazes. It made Rosemary shudder, and Carly Beth kept her gaze trained on the floor. She accidentally bumped into the store owner, who was putting some masks in her hand on a higher shelf.

"Sorry," Carly Beth apologized, stepping backwards. The old, stern-faced woman, Morgana, glanced up at her.

"Do you like these masks?" She showed them to her. "They were created by an evil sorcerer. There are five of them."

Carly Beth observed the masks, and had to admit they were very good. They were all uniquely designed, showing a different face. One had the face of an insect, another a white, furry wolf, another a mummy with bandages wrapped around it, another a skull, and the last one some alien pig creature.

"These are so cool," said Rosemary in awe, walking over.

"Feel free to inspect them," said Morgana.

Carly Beth picked up the mummy mask, the bandages slippery under her fingers. "Hey — this would be great to wear on the A Nile-Ator," she said.

"And this would be great to wear in Werewolf Village," said Rosemary, picking up the wolf mask and running her fingers through the thick white fur. "I'd look like a real wolf wearing this."

"Don't put it on," Morgana warned. "Not yet. I'm still not sure how exactly they work."

Carly Beth grew serious. "That's why we came here. We — well, my daughter says she saw someone wearing a mask they bought from your shop the night before. Uh, Rosemary, maybe you should explain."

"Okay," said Rosemary. "I saw this boy holding one of your masks — and it was great. Absolutely hideous and terrifying."

"They are, aren't they?" Morgana grinned. "What did this boy look like?"

"Well, I think he was Indian," said Rosemary. "And he had a half brother he was always fighting with."

"Oh! I think I know who you're talking about," said Morgana. "Yes, he came into his shop and said he needed a mask to help scare his brother." She smirked. "He sounded pretty excited about it."

"I can imagine," said Rosemary. "They were always bickering."

"You know, some of these masks were created by two brothers as well," said Morgana, looking around. "Well, by one of the brothers. He was very talented. But his brother was jealous of him. He wanted to be the famous one. One day, he forced a terrifying mask onto his head, and left while he screamed, trying to pull it off."

"What happened?" Rosemary listened curiously. She knew they should be focusing on something else, but she wanted to know.

"He tried to yank the mask off his head, and it did come off," said Morgana, making Carly Beth sigh in relief. "Along with the rest of his head."

"What?" Carly Beth shrieked.

"He yanked off a good chunk of his forehead," said Morgana, grinning with a malicious glint in her eyes, as if she enjoyed the story. "And blood streamed down the sides of his face."

"Ohhh," moaned Carly Beth.

"Cool!" Rosemary grinned. "Then what?"

"Then he curled up on the ground, lying on top of the mask, and died," finished Morgana. Rosemary stopped grinning.

"Is... is that true?" Carly Beth asked, trembling slightly.

"It's the story I've heard," said Morgana. "Sacrifice has to be required in order to create the perfect mask, don't you think?"

"I don't think so," said Carly Beth in a defiant tone. Now she felt grateful that taking off her own mask hadn't required blunt force or gore.

"Let's get back on topic," said Rosemary. "The boy who put on the mask... it started changing him. He started acting like the monster in the mask."

Morgana nodded. "Yes, that is an unfortunate side effect."

"Side effect?" shrieked Carly Beth.

"Don't worry, it can be taken off," assured Morgana.

"I put on the same mask years ago," said Carly Beth. "How did you get hold of it?"

"Oh, really? That's quite a coincidence," said Morgana. "I acquire masks from all over the world. I'm an expert at it. It's far from the strangest mask I have in my shop."

"Yeah, I think the ones you have now are stranger," said Rosemary, taking the skull mask from the top shelf and placing it on top of the wolf mask. "They're so cool, though."

"They were created by the evil Dr. Screem," said Morgana. "Or was it by the evil witch Belladonna? I'm not sure. Either way, they were made by someone evil."

"Well, you have to get rid of them," urged Carly Beth. "That mask I put on years ago was a nightmare. It started to become my face, and made me act out. I was horrified when I learned it was in this place."

Morgana smiled at her, not seeming fazed. "Well, these masks aren't ones you put on, are they?"

"No," admitted Carly Beth. "But you just said they're evil as well."

"Actually, I said their creator was evil," Morgana pointed out.

"Does that mean they aren't evil?" Rosemary asked hopefully.

"No. They're evil too." Morgana grinned.

"So when you put them on, they become your face as well?" Carly Beth demanded.

"That sounds kind of cool," Rosemary admitted, staring at the masks on the top shelf. "Imagine becoming an insect, or mummy, or wolf."

"It doesn't do that," said Morgana. "Well, not completely."

"Aww," said Rosemary. "I always wanted to be a werewolf."

"You'll see plenty in Werewolf Village," Carly Beth quipped.

"When you put them on, it transports you to another location," said Morgana. "At least, that's what I heard."

"So when I put on the wolf mask, I'll get transported to a pen of werewolves?" Rosemary asked.

"No," said Morgana. "It's a snow wolf mask."

"Oh. So I'd get transported to a snowy mountain?"

"Yes, probably," said Morgana. "At least, that's what I heard."

"And if I put on the mummy mask, I'd get transported to Egypt?" Carly Beth asked, taking the mummy mask from Rosemary and placing it on the top shelf with the others. She seemed far more interested in the wolf mask, anyway.

"Alyssa told me her dad was from there," Rosemary added. "Maybe she'd like that mask."

"Maybe," said Morgana. "But it isn't real. At least, I don't think so. It's like a projection in your mind."

"Like, 3D?" said Rosemary. "That's kind of cool. Those must be some great special effects."

"I don't think special effects could do that," quipped Carly Beth.

"You're right," said Morgana seriously. "It's the work of the sorcerer who made them. They have powers that make them great at using special effects."

Rosemary burst out laughing, smirking at the horrified expression on her mother's face. "Come on, Mom. It's obviously a joke," she said, shoving her. "I think it's a pretty good one."

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Carly Beth.

"Let me try it on," said Rosemary. Before her mother could stop her, she raised the wolf mask over her head and slid the thick, furry head on with some difficulty. "It's hard to breathe in here," she reported, taking deep breaths and struggling to see out of the eyeholes.

"Take it off! Now!" Carly Beth shrieked, waving her hands frantically. She was convinced that her daughter had temporarily become an idiot.

"Okay, okay," said Rosemary. "I just wanted to try it on to see what it would do. I thought I could handle it."

She reached her hands to the sides of the mask, but before she could do anything, she saw the world spinning in the space inside the mask, and stumbled forwards, feeling like she was being transported through the air. Carly Beth grabbed her arms to support her.

"Rosemary!" she cried.

Carly Beth watched in horror as her daughter fell to the ground, lying on her side on top of her arm. She knelt down.

"Rosie? Are you alright? Can you hear me?" She gently nudged her shoulder.

"Oh, wow..." Rosemary moaned. Her voice sounded faint and muffled, and slightly husky. "It's so cold."

"You're cold?" Carly Beth took off her long velvet scarf and draped it over her. She looked furiously at Morgana, even though it wasn't really her fault. "What's wrong with her?"

Morgana shrugged. "She must've been transported temporarily to a cold, snowy area. Don't worry, it'll wear off in a little while."

"So... so she's not really here?" cried Carly Beth as Rosemary shakily got to her knees, shrugging the scarf off and not seeming to notice it at all before looking around in confusion.

"In her mind, she isn't," said Morgana. "She feels and thinks she's somewhere else, but she's really in the mask shop. It probably looks very realistic, though. Just like if you or I were in a freezing snowy region. It'll wear off."

"How... how long will it take?" Carly Beth cried, trying to grab Rosemary as she stumbled around.

"A few minutes, maybe half an hour," said Morgana. "Let's just wait."

"Couldn't we just take the mask off?" Carly Beth pointed out.

Morgana paused. "Oh, yeah. I suppose you could. That would make her normal again."

Carly Beth was relieved, thinking she'd say it was impossible to take it off. She grabbed the white fur on Rosemary's head and almost let go, startled by how cold it was. It almost froze her fingers. Suddenly, Rosemary let out a scream and started to run forward, but Carly Beth kept a tight grip on her. She yanked the mask upwards, more gently because of the story about the man who had torn his head off. The mask was thick and bulky, but tearing at the thick strands of fur, she managed to hoist it over Rosemary's head. After seeing the bottom of her chin revealed, Carly Beth let out a sigh of relief before yanking the rest of it off.

Rosemary panted, running her hand over her hair and looking around frantically with wide, confused eyes. Carly Beth dropped the mask and wrapped her into a hug, beyond relieved.

"What... what happened?" Rosemary gasped, shivering slightly. "I was so cold..."

"Were you in a snowy area?" asked Carly Beth.

"Yeah. I was on a freezing, snowy mountain," said Rosemary, still glancing around the shop in shock, which was hard to do with how tightly her mother was holding onto her. "It was so cold, but at least it wasn't snowing even more around me. But then..." Her eyes widened. "I saw these... these wolves in the distance. There weren't many, but I suddenly felt the urge to charge at them."

"Instead of running away?" said Carly Beth in disbelief. "Oh, I get it. Was it because you felt some kind of kinship with them, since you were also wearing a wolf mask?"

"No," said Rosemary. "It was because they were rearing up and staring at me like they were about to charge at me, and I thought I had to beat them to it. I thought I could fight all of them."

Carly Beth grinned. "That's my girl."

Then she became serious. "But I'm not thrilled that you put on that mask."

"Mom, it wasn't a big deal," Rosemary insisted. "It was kind of cool, actually. It stopped as soon as you took the mask off. It's just a bit of fun."

"I guess you're kind of right," said Carly Beth, staring at the mask on the floor. The gleaming wolf eyes stared back at her. "It temporarily transports you to a location?"

"It felt so real," said Rosemary wistfully. "I felt like I was really in the middle of the Antarctic. But I guess I wasn't."

"I guess it does sound kind of fun," admitted Carly Beth. "As long as you have someone to take the mask off for you."

Rosemary looked pleadingly at her mother. "Mom, can I try on the other masks? Can I?"

"What?" Carly Beth exclaimed. "Absolutely not."

"But it was so much fun!" Rosemary insisted. "I want to see where the others take me."

"Fun? You looked absolutely terrified," Carly Beth pointed out. "You kept looking around in shock."

"I was not!" Rosemary protested. "I was just a bit shocked, that's all. And it really was fun. I would've liked to stay for a little longer, and give those wolves a piece of my mind! I want to try the others. The mummy one might take me to Egypt. I can tell Alyssa about it."

"I think you've had enough excitement," said Carly Beth, putting the mask on the shelf with the others. "Being transported to one place by a mask is enough for one day."

"So I can try another tomorrow?" Rosemary asked excitedly.

Carly Beth had to suppress a smile. Her daughter looked so cute, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet and looking at her eagerly with her flushed cheeks.

"Maybe," said Carly Beth. She looked seriously at Morgana, who had gone back to sorting through masks. "You should warn the other customers here about those masks, though. It might shock them a little."

"Just a little," Rosemary griped in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't worry, I will," assured Morgana distractedly.

"Really. Promise you'll tell them," Carly Beth insisted, looking at her seriously.

"I will," said Morgana, annoyed. "Actually, I'll put up a sign explaining what they do."

"Good," said Carly Beth, relieved.

"Would you like to buy any of them?" asked Morgana.

"I don't think so," said Carly Beth.

"Come on, Mom, let's buy them," Rosemary insisted, clutching her mother's arm. "You could take them off me whenever you want, or when I don't want to stay in the place anymore. It sounds like great fun."

"It does," Carly Beth admitted. "It's like traveling across the world, except you stay in the same place from everyone else's perspective."

"So can we buy them?" Rosemary turned pleading eyes on her mother. On occasions, she could pull off a wide, innocent puppy-dog look that rivalled her brother's.

"Oh, alright," Carly Beth conceded. "It'd stop the other customers from buying that one, anyway. But only one or two of them. And you aren't putting it on today."

"Yay!" Rosemary hugged her mother around her middle. "You're the best, Mom."

Carly Beth ran her hand over her hair. "Maybe not all enchanted masks are completely awful."

I don't know if that's exactly how the masks in The Five Masks of Dr. Screem work, but whatever. The mask that caught Rosemary's eye is a reference to a mask in another book.