Iron Quill: In the Dark of the Night -Behind the Mask

[Ender101]

On any normal night at the Malifaux Museum of Natural History the doors would have been locked tight, the rooms and corridors would have stayed dimly lit if they were lit at all, and the only live souls walking the halls would be the security guards and curators. On any normal night the all prevailing silence would be oppressive and absolute. Tonight, however was not remotely normal.

The halls of the museum were bright, loud and full of the most influential and famous personalities in Malifaux. The curators were dressed in their finest livery and the security guard had been tripled. The gala in honor of the newly discovered soul stone mask was in full swing and the museum was positively lively with noise and light. Laughter, clinking glasses and singing covered the hushed conversations and whispers floating around the corners of the main hall while the guest of honor sat under glass; propped up on an iron bar as she throbbed with a quiet power as the light of nearby gas lamps danced along its polished surface.

The mask had the smooth features of sleeping woman, perfectly crafted eyelids faced the audience, and seductive lips seemed to pout, perhaps at its strictly voyeuristic role in the festivities. Every few moments one of the guests would come to stare at its beauty, to marvel at the craftsmanship that could sculpt sheer soul stone into a flawless and priceless artifact. Standing before it now was a tall, wiry man. He was reaching his middle years, with telltale sparks of iron flecked throughout his hair. His face was smooth and he stared intently at the artifact with blue, watery eyes. A small smile played at the corners of his lips as he took in every detail of the mask for the hundredth time. It was as unsettling as it was beautiful. Most of the face would have looked almost human if it hadn’t been sculpted without a nose. He could almost imagine that it could be the death mask of some human-reptile hybrid, and would have if he could see it for anything other than what she was.

“It’s a beautiful piece, ain’t it Casper?”

The tall man turned to face the southern accent that called out to him. His smile grew both wider and more strained as he met her eyes. “Eet is. Like so many of ze wonders here at our museum, including,” he grinned charmingly at her, “some of ze evening’s guests.” His voice was soft and smoky as he spoke; his own French accent infecting the words. Years ago he had been one of the most famous, if not the most notorious cat burglar on Earth before he had made his way to Malifaux less than four months ago. The woman standing across from him in the low cut black dress before him was one of his major competitors.

“You’re a shameless flatterer Casper,” but she didn’t correct him. Looking at Sasha Grey, thief would not be the first profession to spring to mind. One could easily imagine her as a singer or dancer on the stage of the Star, or posing in front of a camera’s lens before appearing on billboards and posters around the city.

He found his eyes drawn to her scandalously exposed and impressive décolletage, not only for the view, but because of the necklace made of finely cut, glittering soul stones that hung around her freckled shoulders. “But it won’t do you a bit of good,” her voice lowered and she leaned forward, improving the view considerably. “That mask is for me, and you won’t stop me this time.” She smiled wickedly before she sauntered off into the crowd, her body moving hypnotically as she trailed away.

He blinked and looked back towards the mask, the pale glow of the soulstone reflecting in his eyes. “Don’t worry mon cher, I wouldn’t dream of keeping you two apart,” Casper muttered as he too, stepped back into the party.

The party faded after the Governor General’s speech, as it was the head curator’s turn next, and the guests found reasons to depart with almost indecent haste. As the guests filed out and the oblivious words of the head curator echoed to those brave enough to remain, the museum began its trek back towards normalcy: the rooms were swept, the lights were dimmed, and the doors were securely locked and barred.

But it wasn't quite normal yet. Of all the guests, only one man remained inside the building. Like a ghost he had evaded the guild guards and security officers, waiting until they would be dulled by the quiet of night.

With agonizing slowness he rose from his hiding spot, underneath an exhibit of a sarcophagus from Earth. He stepped away from his hiding spot and surveyed the room, stepping up to the various lamps and dousing them. He paused as the last lamp and listened to the air, nodding to himself as he turned the lamp off and darkness enveloped the room.

Casper moved to the shadow of a nearby pillar as he felt more than heard the mouse quiet footsteps of Sasha approaching. He carefully peered around the corner, watching her as she looked for him. Her face was shrewd as she stared into the darkness of the corners of the room, looking for a trace of her rival, but her human eyes saw none.

Finally she decided that she was alone with her treasure, and she set about freeing the object from its case. With extreme care and slowness Casper approached her, circling the architecture of the room to avoid her sight or instincts that something was where it shouldn’t be. He watched her as she carefully removed the glass and delicately lifted the mask from its metal prop. He watched without lust as she reached between her breasts and produced a small, ebony figurine of a knight and balanced it on the prop for all to see. It was her calling card, the pet name she had adopted for their profession, the Black Knight. It was a clever enough name, as it always assumed by the autorités that the Black Knight was a man.

He approached her, quietly in the dark and produced a black jack. He was standing behind her as she continued to gaze at the mask, hypnotized by it. She collapsed into a heap as he brought the sap down on her skull.

As soon as he’d seen her collapse he knew that time was against him. Any moment now a guard could wander by and see him as he performed the ritual. He laid Sasha on her back and pulled the soul stone necklace from her body, the line broke and they scattered around the area. His deft fingers shot out and grabbed the two longest. He smiled as they glowed in his hand. With a speed and delicacy only a man of his experience and profession could wield he lifted the mask and held the shards of soul stone directly behind the sleeping eyes. They held there, like magnets against the back of it.

He saw that she was starting to stir and he grimly straddled her as she began to regain her senses. “Casper?” She moaned in fright. “Wh-why are you doing this? What are you doing?” Her words were slurred, and her voice raspy, she saw him placing the mask over her face and she tried to scream for help, but his weight on her drove the air from her lungs. Sasha tried to turn her head, but she was paralyzed from the light of the icicle points settling less than a scant inch above her eyes.

Casper said nothing as he pulled a wooden hammer from his belt and brought it down on the mask, right between the eyes as a chime filled the room. Her scream turned to a gurgle as the mask slammed against the hard bone. He knew that behind the mask her face was a ruin; that her features would be flattened and her eyes gouged. She twitched beneath him and he brought the hammer down again, the chime echoing louder around the chamber.

Slowly Casper removed himself from corpse, watching in awe as the face glowed with the power of Sasha’s soul sucked into the mask. The eyes blinked open blearily and the lips moved with a gasp. She woke by degrees, moving her fingers and hands before struggling to find her feet. Casper held her arm for her as she found her balance, and then fell immediately to his knees. The mask was an artifact no more, but an animated face, the eyes looked around the room and settled on him kindly. Her blue tongue, sticky with Sasha’s blood, ran over the full lips.

“Well done my servant,” the ethereal voice cooed as she pulled the man who had freed her to her bosom. “Well done my Casper.”

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Updated! I hope you enjoyed, and encourage your comments and critiques.

Ingredients used: The Black Knight, Soul Stone Necklace, Becoming the Necklace.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Ender101
No matter how hard you try, the typos find their way in

[FearLord]

Really good! I liked it - clever and creepy. Just the right amount of Horror, sex and violence without going over the top.

Not sure I understand the expression "beyond proportional" though - is she out of proportion?

[Ender101]

Thank you for your compliment FearLord.

The proportional comment was a hold over from my initial write up where I'd had a joke about Sasha's generous assets. But I dropped the joke due to word count, and I missed that part. I need to change that piece of description out.

[Ender101]

Edited and updated.