Chapter 2.

EPISODE: HAUNTED MASK PART 1 AND 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Carly Beth was even more horrified than when she'd been the one wearing the mask.

Noah chuckled and stared back, his face covered by a hideous, grotesque sheet of leather. The jagged teeth moved with his mouth, and his eyes were already turning a dark color-almost black- so unlike his blue eyes.

"Noah, take that off!" Carly Beth ordered.

"Why?" Noah demanded.

"Yeah, Carly Beth," her mother admonished. "Share with your brother."

"No!" Carly Beth shouted. "You don't understand. That mask is evil. Take it off, Noah!"

Noah blinked, skeptically, before reaching for the bottom of the mask and trying to pull it off.

"That's weird," he said, laughing nervously. "I can't get it off."

"What do you mean you can't get it off?" their mother questioned, crossing the room and trying to pry the mask off herself.

"Why can't I get it off?" Noah said, panic beginning to seep into his voice.

"It's okay," their mother said, soothingly. "I'll go get some scissors, and I'll help you cut it off."

Their mother exited the room, and Carly Beth stared at her brother, too terrified to move.

She'd almost lost herself tonight. She couldn't lose her brother, too. Sure, he annoyed her, but at the end of the day, they were still siblings, and she wouldn't trade him for the world.

"Carly Beth!" Noah exclaimed, continuing to pull on the mask. "Help me please!"

"Noah, I'm going to be quick, but you need to believe me. We don't have much time," Carly Beth said before rattling off the story of the mask and the entire night.

"So how do we get it off?" Noah asked, fearfully. Noah had always been so confident; the frightened tone made Carly Beth want to cry, but she couldn't unleash her tears. Not yet. She had to save her brother first.

"The man at the store said a symbol of love," Carly Beth muttered. "Do you still have the picture our mom painted of you?"

Noah nodded. "Of course. It's in my room."

Carly Beth took Noah by the shoulders and lead him down the hall while their mom searched the kitchen for scissors.

Noah retrieved the picture from the cabinet beneath his nightstand and handed it to Carly Beth.

It was a simple, but very realistic, painting of Noah; it'd been a gift from their mom a few months ago. She'd made it in art class and brought it home to Noah, who acted very excited about it. At the time, Carly Beth thought Noah was trying to spare their mom's feelings (after all, most kids don't like pictures and paintings and such. Typically, drawings are like cards: the kids either throw them away or toss them in a drawer and forget about them), but Noah had saved the painting and had placed it in a laminated folder to prevent it from getting damaged. He obviously cherished the work of art.

"Do you think this is going to work?' Noah asked, still tugging on the mask. "Ow!"

Carly Beth grabbed her brother's hands and gently pulled them away from the mask.

"Stop pulling on it," she instructed. "It only makes it worse."

She stared at the picture for another minute before handing it to Noah.

"Now, focus on the picture and think about how much you love yourself and how much others love you."

Noah focused on the picture and closed his eyes, obviously trying to do what she told him to do.

Sixty seconds passed before Noah opened his eyes. Or should I say the eyes of the mask?

"It didn't work," he mumbled, tears of panic beginning to fill his eyes.

Carly Beth wrapped her arms around Noah, not even seeming to notice the disgusting feeling of the mask under her cheek.

"Carly Beth," Noah murmured, "I'm scared."

Carly Beth nodded. "I am, too, Noah, but we're going to figure this out. I love you, Noah. I don't care about the mask; I will always love you, no matter how scary you look."

Noah nodded. "Thanks, Carly Beth. I love you, too."

Carly Beth pressed a soft kiss to Noah's forehead and leaned her head on his.

Noah froze. "Carly Beth," he said in disbelief as his fingers curled beneath the mask and pulled it off of his face. "Oh my gosh."

"A symbol of love," she murmured. "The kiss."

Noah hugged Carly Beth, and the older sister pressed another kiss to his forehead, thankful for the soft skin beneath her lips instead of the rough leather.

"I love you," Carly Beth repeated.

Carly Beth vowed to save her brother from the mask that would haunt him and change who he was. She was willing to do anything to save him; she was willing to drop everything in order to save the brother that annoyed her, endlessly, and she didn't even care about how much he irritated her. He was her family.

Family is the most important thing.

That's chapter 2. I honestly enjoyed chapter 1 better, but I'd like to know what you thought of this chapter.