In the years to come after Carly Beth, Sabrina and Colin managed to rehabilitate the Haunted Masks and help them successfully reenter society, none of the trio had ever seen any of the masks again. It was a little bit saddening, but they had no need to worry, because the masks were doing very well in their newer and happier homes.
"Thanks again, Victor!" Robert grinned as he pulled Victor on over his burn scars. Robert had been caught in a housefire about a decade ago and even though he managed to survive, his face had been so brutally burnt by the fire that he was forced to go around with a very burned, injured and deformed face. Some of the crueler people he knew dared to call him "Freddy Kruger" and pretended to run from him whenever he drew near. Even though he knew that they were only trying to be funny, their teasing hurt him deeply and it gave him a lot of esteem issues.
Then there came a day when one Colin Fox (chemical engineer, biologist, surgeon, and shopkeeper) put out an ad in the papers for masks that were so realistic they could replace a face. They were designed by him to help those with less-that-gorgeous complexions find a replacement that would help them feel comfortable in their own skins again. The only catch was that there were a very limited supply of these miracle masks and even if someone applied to buy one, they may not necessarily receive it.
Perhaps the terms sounded strange, but Colin decreed that the faces, because they were made of such rare and powerful chemicals, could be very tricky and temperamental and only people with the perfect matching skin-type could wear them safely. This was also why he was not making more of them. He claimed that even if it was a nice idea in theory, making the faces was such hard work and such risky business that he was stopping production forever and his first batch would be his last. The way he saw it, he had no issue selling the ones he'd already created, but he refused to bring any more of them into the world.
The moment Robert saw the ad, he instantly applied for one, hoping against hope that he might be chosen so that he would finally have a way to look handsome again. He was one of the lucky few selected and he received the face known as Victor. With the face had come a very stern warning. Colin told him that Victor was more than just a prosthetic face or mask, he was a sentient creature generously giving up his time, talent and existence to help Robert have a better life. In return, Robert needed to share that life with Victor and treat him well. At first, Robert had scoffed at the idea, thinking that Colin's chemicals had gone to his head, but when Victor began to speak, Robert's mind changed very fast.
"Hello Robert," Victor grinned up at the burned man, brown eyes twinkling mischievously.
"Good gravy!" Robert dropped Victor and nearly passed out.
"I told you," Colin replied calmly, picking Victor up again and admonishing Robert for being so rude.
"I'm sorry!" Robert replied quickly, trembling.
"Did you still want him?" Colin replied, holding Victor out to him. Victor winked at him. For a second, Robert thought he might be sick, but then he thought he saw something like genuine compassion sparkling behind the mischief in Victor's eyes and he decided to agree.
"Yes, I will take him," Robert replied, and he gratefully took the face from Colin's hand. Even though he and Victor had had a somewhat rocky start, Robert unsure of how to treat a sentient mask, it didn't take them too long to become very close friends.
"Thanks again, Victor!" Robert grinned as he pulled Victor on over his burn scars. "I feel beautiful now that I have you!"
"My pleasure," Victor replied, speaking inside of his mind. Robert felt warm and happy thoughts fill his brain and he knew it was Victor's doing. Victor was a very friendly fellow. Maybe a bit sarcastic and gruff, but a gentleman nonetheless.
"I quite like you," Victor had told him after the two had been together for about a week.
"Thank you," Robert had replied, still uncertain on how to treat a sentient mask.
"You're humble, but you aren't self-loathing," Victor continued. "That is good. You wish to look prettier, but you do not wish to be prettier. You are already fully aware of how beautiful you are on the inside, you simply wish that you could look different. I like that about you," if it had been a strange compliment, Victor didn't care, instead bluntly stating the facts about why he had chosen Robert out of anyone else.
Unlike all the other fools who only wanted Victor because they wanted to look sexy or handsome, Robert had only wanted to look decent. Unlike all the other fools who had mistakenly thought that Victor could solve all their problems, Robert had been a relatively happy and grateful man. Unlike all the other fools who had suffered from dangerously low esteem, Robert had been quite loving towards himself. He had not seen Victor as a fix-it-all, nor an easy-out to life's problems. Instead, he'd seen the prosthetic face as an assistant. A way to make life better, but not perfect. That down-to-earth nature and wisdom was what attracted Victor to him and the two had been great friends ever since. Victor was quite happy with his new host and his new home and he thought that life was going quite well. All across the country, all his siblings felt the same way.
ooo
"I feel beautiful!" both Helena and her new mistress, Linda, declared as that new mistress applied makeup onto her/Helena's face.
"Oh, you look absolutely beautiful, darling!" Helena grinned. Linda's face had been ruined in a car crash a few years back. She had been unable to afford the surgery that would've fixed her, but then Colin came in with a cheaper solution and Helena and Linda had been a match ever since.
"Thank you," Linda giggled. The two often wiled the hours away, dressing up and putting on makeup and chatting about everything and nothing. Both of them were very flaunty and flouty and flirty and it had been Helena who helped Linda get a boyfriend.
But Helena didn't just help by being a pretty face. Because she was also a sentient being who was well-versed in the world of love and beauty, she made sure that the guy Linda hooked up with was a good man. He was not abusive or sexist or narcissistic or manipulative. He was kind, gentle, intelligent, charming, friendly, funny and every good thing that any good partner would want out of another. Because of that, Linda considered Helena to be like a guardian angel, for not only was she wise and generous with her knowledge, but she was also very funny and sharp.
"He'll absolutely love you tonight, darling!" she continued to gush as Linda pulled on her favorite red dress.
"Wish me luck!" Linda replied enthusiastically as her boyfriend came calling.
"Good luck!" Helena replied, then she put her mind into a shutdown state. Even though Helena was technically a part of Linda now, she, like all the other Faces, had the power to shut her mind off so that Linda could have her privacy.
ooo
"Oh, honestly Alfred, must you?" Alice demanded as her twin brother made another horrible pun about cats.
"What can I say? I didn't want to waste a purr-fectly good joke!" he guffawed in return.
"Urgh! I knew we should've been sold separately!" Alice hissed. Meanwhile, their owners were laughing as well. Because Alice and Alfred had wanted to stay together after being sold, they made sure that they went to a couple. This did make the dynamic a bit weird since Alice saw Alfred as a brother while their owners were married, but they could always just shut their minds off if their owners wanted to make things romantic. As of right now, though, the group was out shopping for a pet. Alfred's owner, Eric, had his eye on a cat while Alice's owner, Jane, wanted a dog.
"Oh! This one is sooo cute!" Jane pointed at a little golden retriever.
"Oh!" Alice couldn't help but make the same noise, widening Jane's smile as they both took a closer look at the adorable puppy.
"Arrf!" it looked up at the masked woman with its tongue out.
"But check this out!" Eric replied, holding up another cat. It looked very disinterested in the proceedings.
"You're kitten me if you think he isn't the sweetest thing ever!" Alfred made another cat pun.
"Jane, darling, would you mind terribly if I went and slapped him upside the head?" Alice asked her mistress.
"Well, seeing as you would be slapping my husband as well, I would prefer if you didn't," Jane smiled.
"Very well," Alice replied obediently, but she continued to grumble on about her brother's stupid puns.
Jane's face had been severely damaged during her time in the army. She suffered a massive blow during battle and it had only been thanks to Alice choosing to bond with her that she had been able to get a replacement that didn't cost thousands of dollars in surgery. Eric's injury was not nearly as drastic, but it was still somewhat intense. His had been a sports injury, a linebacker accidently slamming into his face during a game. But thanks to Colin's mysterious Faces, both Eric and Jane had found a new look (and Alice and Alfred, meanwhile, had found a new home).
"So, are either of you feline me about this cat yet?" Alfred asked a moment later, Eric still holding onto his most recent find. Alice only heaved a sigh of annoyance, but everyone else in attendance knew she was only teasing. All four of them were very happy together.
ooo
But not every facial problem had to be traumatic in order for a Face to choose to bond with the asker in question. In Edward's case, he had chosen to serve an old man who just wished to look young and handsome again. Perhaps this sounded vain when compared to the other Face's choices, but the old man had been so sweet, kind, gentle and humble that Edward had felt attracted to him at once and had chosen him over the other people who had put in a request. The rest was history and the two bonded, spending all their time together talking, reading or philosophizing. Edward's new master, Stan, was a wise old fellow who loved to read and write.
"Thank you, sir," Stan smiled at his reflection to see Edward's beautiful bronze locks and bright hazel eyes staring back. "I feel beautiful whenever I have you on. I look so young and charming again!"
"No, thank you," Edward replied with a smile, pale and smooth cheeks twitching as he made Stan smile wider. "You gave me a life and a home, the least I can do is give you confidence, companionship and happiness."
"Well, you do wonderfully on all three fronts," Stan promised, patting his face affectionately. "Now, what shall we read together today?"
"Harry Potter!" Edward replied without hesitation and Stan could physically feel his exactment as his voice echoed around his head.
"Aren't we a bit old for such childish stories?" Stan teased, but nonetheless, he went to his bookshelf and found a copy of the story and began to read. Edward drank in every word in sheer delight, filling Stan's head with wonderful images as the story progressed.
All of the other masks were leading similarly happy lives. Each of them had chosen a wonderful new host who brought them a wonderful new life. Not a single one was displeased and not a single one would've ever gone back to that dusty old Halloween shop. They all felt so beautiful and happy and free now that they were living lives of love instead of fear, hatred and isolation. But even though they had no desire to ever return to their old lives, they remained forever grateful for the compassionate trio that had managed to help them heal in the first place.
ooo
"I wonder how they're doing," the leader of the trio, Carly Beth, mused one day. She and the other two members of that famous trio were presently sharing a nice little midday meal at the local café. Even though their mission for the masks was over, their friendship certainly wasn't.
"I'm sure they're doing just fine," Colin replied with a smile. "I've read the reviews from the customers and they all seem exceedingly pleased."
"But you won't ever make anymore?" Sabrina asked. Even though she used to be the most reluctant of the three to work with the masks, after seeing how happy they could be and how happy they could make everyone else, she had been all for helping Colin make more. After all, the aforementioned few weren't the only people in the world who suffered from esteem issues or serious facial injuries.
"It's too risky," Colin replied apologetically. Although he understood and respected Sabrina's desire to help others, she still didn't quite understand just how powerful the masks were. They were not meant to be mass-produced. So no, the number was not going to change.
"Very well," Sabrina replied with a sigh, leaning back in her seat and sipping her coffee.
"Well, either way, even though we couldn't save everyone, we were able to save a few," Carly Beth tried to look on the positive side of things. "Besides, all the money you got for your faces has done good things as well," she added, speaking to Colin now. Even though he had charged very little for his faces, he still did make some money, but he didn't keep a single cent. Instead, it all went to charity. Colin smiled.
"I've learned my lesson," he replied fondly. "I've learned that kindness and self-love are the most important things. Money and superficial, physical beauty will fade, but love and understanding and compassion will not. I feel beautiful when I am kind, cheesy as that sounds."
"Hear, hear!" Sabrina raised her coffee cup. The other two mimicked the gesture with smiles on their faces.
So while they continued their simple little lives in their simple little town, the masks were spread out across the country, each making a new host happy. Even though every case was different, however, every single last mask and human (including Carly Beth, Sabrina and Colin) involved could all say the same thing:
"I feel beautiful!"
AN: Knight-Bishop, here's your mini sequel chapter for "Symbol of Love" that details the lives of the masks after they move on.
To my other readers, take it that every mask speaks telepathically. Hope you like the unique personalities they were given. If anything is unclear, just ask.
Shout-out to Zabbie Q! Thanks for your kind, constructive reviews on my earlier Haunted Mask fics! I appreciate it!