The appearance of one should not deem who one truly is. Sparkly eyes to a pretty smile, everything is false. A demon's true identity is always hidden behind a mask. But for the events that are about to unfold, identity is truly nowhere to be found. In this town, everything happens for a reason.

~ Behind A Mask ~

Season I, Salem:

Revelation

The door frame lets out a slow, ear-piercing squeak and soft sunlight begins to shine across the floorboards. "Who is there?!" yells Bowser, his back arched, inspecting boxes sat on a shelf. "Oh, it's just you. I had hoped someone would come along and help me search this place. Want to help?" he continues, staring at the person in the doorway.

Their boots stomp against the floorboards as they step inside, closing the door behind themself.

"I've come up with a solution that I don't think the mayor has thought of yet. Ready to hear?" asks Bowser. The silhouette nods, stepping forward closer to the creature. Bowser coughs.

"I believe if we find the check-in book, we can see who last visited Zelda... We'll know who killed her and Falcon!"

The darkened figure takes another step forward.

"So, want to help?" Bowser asks, the shadow nodding afterwards. "Good, let's get hunting..."

The pair both split up, Bowser slowly trailing up the stairs into the captain's room, searching through bedsheets and through drawers. But down the stairs, the being starts their search. They scavage through the kitchen, searching through the presses, into the closet and looking through pieces of junk before returning to the living room. Frustrated, they pick up one of the wooden stools and throw it against the wall, one of the legs snapping into two.

"Are you okay down there?!" shouts Bowser, his voice echoing off the walls.

The shadow pulls open the small drawer on the table holding up a glass vase filled with flowers, digging through the random objects inside with no luck.

"I heard a bang," says Bowser appearing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the silhouette. "But I was going to come down here anyway because I found the check-in book!"

The figure takes a step forward as Bowser begins to flip through the pages. "Why aren't you talking today?" asks Bowser, cautiously taking a step backwards up the stairs. He comes to the page most recently filled in, scanning to the bottom where he reads a name. His mouth drops open wide, realizing who he's speaking with, but that's when his mind goes blank. His vision blurs. All he can feel is the pain.

"It wasn't your fault, Mario," chirps Peach, placing one hand on the mayor's shoulder.

"I know," he replies. "But I bet you thought that I would think that. But I don't. None of this is my fault. My own cow is dead because of this person..."

"You don't have to rely on milk from the cow, you know," says Peach. "You can just have water from the well..."

The old well, you and I when the sun falls. Tell any of them and one of them pays.

"Peach, I think I just realized something," says Mario.

"What?" she asks.

"That message in my mind really was a warning. But Moorio was just practice when they said that one of us will pay."

"So you're saying that one of us is still going to pay?" asks Peach. Mario nods and they both stare at each other, their mouths slowly dropping open. They both have the same thought on their mind, at least that's what they both think. Instantly, they both run side by side through the doorway and towards the open exit.

"Moorio was a distraction!" exclaims Mario as he bursts out of the house and back out into the cold air. They both look up, staring at the noose that hangs from the giant oak tree. Bowser covered in blood, the rope keeping him hanging from his neck firmly, his eyes shut and head tilted towards the ground.

Peach looks in horror, but Mario has no time to waste.

"I left Bowser in Falcon's house!" he cries, dashing down the steps and across the grass afterwards. Trails of blood dribble down the steps of Falcon's home and Mario leaps through the doorway, into the darkness, the light outside casting his shadow on the floorboards. Stools broken. Paper everywhere. Boxes trashed on the staircase. Blood splashed against the wall spelling out three words.

HE KNEW TOO MUCH

"Oh my god," whispers Peach behind Mario. "They got to Bowser while we were back at the pen.."

Mario breathes out slowly. "I think it's time that we get down to business."

The town bell rings and within minutes everyone is out of their houses, standing in a line in front of the podium beside the oak tree. "Another has fallen, but this will be the last person to fall," Mario begins, everyone standing in silence and listening carefully.

"And so from this moment in time, I am placing a curfew on everyone in this town, beginning now until I next ring the bell," he says. "There's no more time for fun and games anymore. There's someone among us who wants us to suffer. They're playing with our minds. Killing us. No one is safe no more..."

His vision blurs, his mind blanking. All he can do is try to stay stable by grabbing onto the podium as hard as he can. No voice. Just words. Words that appear in his brain. He reads them carefully before they're gone within seconds.

One more chance. You and I at the old well when the sun falls. Tell any of them this time and every single one of them will pay.

He gently presses his palm against his temble, trying to block out the throbbing headache. His vision restores and the fresh faces in front of him bring him back to his senses. One of those fresh faces warning him again for the second time. An invite to play a game. He stares at them all.

Doctor Mario, Pacman, Link, Toon Link and - the one he hates to consider a suspect - Peach.

One of them playing mind games. One of them just sent the message is all he can think of. He glares at their bodies, trying to catch any twitching or unusual behavior, but there's nothing to be found. All standing oblivious to the words stuck in his mind.

One more chance. You and I at the old well when the sun falls. Tell any of them this time and every single one of them will pay.

"That is all for today," he announces. "Get home and be safe tonight.."

And so they all go home, Peach, Doctor Mario and Link all bundling into one house while Pacman and Toon Link flee into their own home. One of them guilty. One of them smiling with an evil grin on the inside.

Mario steps down from his podium, staring at Bowser's pale body slumped against the tree on the other side.

"I'll avenge you, don't worry.." he whispers, a tear forming in his eye. The water blurs his sight, making every color blend and shine to their extremes. And that's when he sees the pale red crossing the pathway.

He wipes the tear from his eye and stares at the cobbled path, faded, bloody footsteps leading up the steps to one of the house's. He looks around at his surroundings, trying to remember whose home this is, but he simply can't recall. He walks forward up the steps, pushing open the door that opens with a creak. He creeps inside the dark house, looking at the cobwebs forming in the corners and the rat that scurries across the floor.

"Hello?" he calls out, waiting for a response, continuing to walk forward after a few moments of silence, following the bloody footsteps up the stairs. The stairs eventually end and lead to a small, dusty room fit with a double-bed with a small one placed next to it off in the corner. He stares out through a window showing the orange swirls in the sky, the sun finally beginning to set.

He picks up a small book on top of the drawers beside the bed and flips through the pages. Immediately, shock hits him as he scans the words. His own signature. Little Mac's signature. Bowser's signature. Everyones' signatures. They're all here, fit with the date of the previous day. He glares down at the bottom of the page, looking at the name of the person last to visit Zelda.

He drops the book, it hitting the ground with a thud. His mouth opens and he stares out the window continuing to look at the setting sun. The double-bed and the small one beside it. Fit for a couple and a child. Bloody footsteps. The check-in book stolen from Falcon's house and in this house. The person's name bounces in Mario's mind over and over as he dashes down the stairs, ripping a blank piece of paper from the book. He scrambles throughout the house, eventually finding a pen, snatching it up and writing a message on it.

He scurries out of the house, folding the note up and placing it down beside Bowser's lifeless body. He stares up at the sky, watching as the clouds begin to form and the sun continues to set. He eventually begins to speak out in the open air to himself.

"I'll meet you at the well," he whispers, hoping they can hear it. "I'll do what you say."

He steps closer to the oak tree, continuing to watch as the sky darkens.

"But if you want to play a game, I'll play your game and beat you at it, Link."

A closet door is pulled open forcefully, revealing the array of clothes inside. A pair of hands scan through the racks, eventually coming to a stop on their own creation. They reach forward, locking onto the thick fabric and yanking it out.

The figure looks down and admires the dark black clothing, grinning just before they stuff it behind their pillow. They peek out the window, watching as the mayor stands tall beside their victim's body, letting out a quiet chuckle as he mutters to himself.

They step backwards, jumping back onto their bed and looking out the window from the corner of their eye, slowly waiting for the sky to turn pitch black.

Author's Note:

Wow... It's all about to go down! :D

Hello everyone, and I hope you all enjoyed chapter six of Behind A Mask, Salem: Revelation! And obviously the title comes from that ending with Mario and his thought about Link... So do you believe his thought about Link? Or is he wrong and are the pieces just floating in front of him, waiting to be put together?! ...Or is that what is happening with YOU?! ;D

So we've got Mario, Doctor Mario, Peach, Pacman, Link and Toon Link. In the next chapter, the person behind this all will be revealed once and for all! But who is it? Leave your guesses in a review if you have time, because I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter and who you think it is ;D

So, Mario. Is it him? Is this really just one story where Mario doesn't think he's the one behind it all?! Is this a whole new universe?! ;)

Peach. What about her? Sweet and innocent. It can't be her, because the innocent ones are never evil... right? c;

Doctor Mario. He went through his suspicious phase, and obviously if the mature part of your mind has caught on, he is being a bit... (let's put this in a child friendly way) 'mean' to Peach. But is he being 'mean' to the whole town and behind this all?! ;D

Pacman. So far, he hasn't really been suspicious. He has shown that he was quite upset about Little Mac's death and he can be competitive, but will the emotions end up being an act and will he be the evil one?! :0

Toon Link. A precious little child... Could he really do such a thing? Even with his soul corrupted by evil, would he kill his own mother? Who knows? (Well I do know, actually.) ;)

And last but not least, Link! So obviously Mario suspects that he's the one behind this all. The big question is this: Is this going to end with an ending from movies/TV shows where the main character suspects someone but it ends up being someone else, OR is it ACTUALLY the suspected person for once?

Find out all the answers in the final chapter to Behind A Mask Season I, Salem. It's being really, really fun to write (and super quick), so I know I'm going to enjoy Season II! Please leave a review if you have time as I love hearing the support from everyone, and let me know if you are going to read Season II or not :)

Thank you all so much for reading, byeeeeee! :D