Leo's heart began racing as he heard the gang members walking closer. But then it dawned upon him. He felt great. No, better than great, it was as if all the pains and woes that ailed him throughout his rough life were of no consequence, that he was above all of it now. A warm comforting feeling began to spread throughout his body and Leo almost lost himself in the moment.
"Hey buddy, what are you, deaf?"
Hearing the thug speak, Leo felt offended that those worms would even attempt to shake him down, who gave them the right? His thoughts froze as the idea entered his mind. Leo could practically feel his mental state being warped by the corrupting influence of the mask.
Why would I think that?
A chill ran down Leo's back, this mask was evil, through and through. Leo almost immediately wanted to throw it away and never think about it again. Standing there in shock, his mind was racing, unsure of what to do.
"You got one chance; we can either do this the easy way or the hard way."
Then one of the gang members smacked Leo in the back of the head. The other two thugs began to chuckle, clearly looking forward to what they had planned. Leo knew the rumors of what Hollows members did, though he wasn't sure how much of it was actually true. Even if the worst of the rumors were true, it was still nothing compared to things he had experienced at the puritans hands firsthand.
"Though we'd prefer to do it the hard way." The thug said as he pushed Leo.
Leo slowly turned around, and as he did the three thugs' laughter slowly died as the trio became horrified as the inhuman corruption and wrongness that had been eating at Leo all day was amplified and focused completely on the gang members. They looked at his eyes, full of fury and madness and felt their blood run cold.
"Fuck dude it's a puritan!"
One of them exclaimed as they began to turn. But before the thug could even take one step, Leo's hand reached out and grabbed their collar and threw the thug to the ground. Leo wasn't even aware of what happened until the thug's head hit the ground. The other two thugs just looked on in horror and froze in place.
Leo heard a disturbing crack echo throughout the alley as blood began pooling from the back of his head before he finally registered what just happened. Shortly after the sounds of choking and gurgling could be heard from behind the thug's black mask, as the boy drowned in his own blood. The other two thugs dropped to their knees and began to beg for forgiveness.
Leo looked at his hand in shock. He didn't mean to, he hadn't tried to, and yet the mask wanted more.
Was this why the puritans were so uniquely cruel in their methods and games, because their pure masks had twisted their humanity so perfectly that they couldn't imagine being more humane? Or were the pure masks like this because of the inhumanity the puritans practiced?
Leo couldn't say, but he was terrified of either answer. Just putting on the pure mask had already changed Leo considerably. The urge to immediately throw the mask away and never look back became even more tempting.
He looked down upon the two thugs that were pleading before him, and he could almost hear the mask whisper to him. Without meaning to Leo instinctively raised his left hand but fighting the pure masks influence over his mind and body, he grabbed it with his right hand and yelled to the two thugs.
"Leave!"
The pair nodded and scrambled to run away, the fear and dread apparent in their voices and movements. As soon as they turned the corner Leo placed his hands on the mask unnatural white material to try and remove it from his face. But it gave him no purchase, his grip seemingly weakened whenever he attempted to pull.
Then Leo felt a sharp pain in his abdomin. In the moments of dealing with the thugs, he failed to notice that the warmth he felt had been slowly become hotter and hotter until now it felt as if someone had put a hot rod on his stomach.
Not that he was unaccustomed to such a thing; he had once been one of those poor souls that had sold themselves to a puritan for their sick games. Though what slumfolk and puritans considered fun are two very different things.
Soon after he could feel the burning growing as it expanded to his chest. His breathing became labored, and Leo could hardly draw breath. Yet the burning did not stop, only spreading further. Leo's mind was in agony as it felt like every single atom of his body was being torn apart by the unholy power the mask held.
His initial scramble quickly turned into horrified panic as he continued to try to gain any leverage over the mask. Leo tried grabbing it from the sides to no avail. He tried grabbing it from the top with no luck. He attempted using both hands on the same side, and yet nothing worked.
"Get off of my face!" Leo cried out.
The agony was almost unbearable; Leo's mind was beginning to falter, succumbing to the pain that was consuming his body.
The mask refused to budge. It's presence invading Leo's mind, corrupting his sense of self, and yet the power it gave was intoxicating. Leo's fractured mind began racing, trying to figure out any way he could get it off of his face before the pain and influence of the pure mask consumed him completely.
It's strange material almost slipped away from his fingers as he continued his attempts to pry it off. Leo knew he couldn't walk out of the alley way with the mask on, doing so would effectively signing his death warrant.
He wasn't too concerned about the two thugs, as slumfolk generally tried to steer clear of puritans, let alone snitching to them. Plus, in the brief interaction they seemed to genuinely believe he was a puritan. Go complain to a puritan that another puritan killed your buddy? Good luck.
Panic had completely consumed what remained of Leo's mind. Through the pain and corrupting power of the mask he began to smash his face into the side of the building seeking any form of relief from the pure masks twisted presence, only for the wall to crack under the mask's unnatural material.
What the fuck is this thing made of!
Leo clawed at his skin under the mask, hoping to get any purchase on the mask, but all that it did was leave the side of his face raw, bruised, and bloody.
Leo could feel the masks influence growing every second, as the burning sensation consumed his entire being, and his ability to resist almost gone. The worst part is the corrupting presence of the mask was that it was making his body stronger, making it more resilient, more... alive?
Leo's mind was in complete disarray, part of it fighting trying to get the horrific white mask off of his face, part of it crippled by the pain, part of it soaking in the madness of it all, part of it accepting the mask, and part of his mind still in panic that he just killed a member of the Hollows.
The mask was almost whispering in Leo's ears, that everything would be ok, that he can relax now. Leo's body almost instinctually went limp; his mind trapped in a body that he was slowly losing control over. Leo felt as if time had slowed to a crawl, as every second of the burning agony he experienced lasted an eternity.
With one final gasp and struggle Leo put his bloody hand over his face and softly spoke to the mask directly.
"Please."
And then mask relented. The pain that had been ravaging his body was gone, as if someone had dumped him into a cold pool of water. The relief was intoxicating, and Leo was unsure of what was real anymore as his fingers found purchase on the mask's unearthly material. With his bloody hand on the front of the mask, it simply accepted it's removal.
Leo collapsed onto the ground, his body almost releasing all of the stress and tension it had been under due to the unspeakable torture it endured as the two wills battled inside of his very being.
Breathing in the slum air in relief, it felt disgusting; Leo had never particularly liked the air within the slums, but now, it was revolting. Leo looked at the pure mask sitting in his hand, the runes that covered the inside of the mask were glowing bright red, as if they were responding to Leo's blood.
What the hell is this thing? Leo thought to himself.
Sitting up, Leo felt extremely lightheaded. He leaned his head against the wall and sighed in relief the moment had passed. Taking in several deep breaths, his body felt refreshed and brimming with energy. Leo opened his eyes and picked up his old mask that had long been dropped onto the ground.
As he gazed at the two masks sitting in his hands, a conflicted look twisted his face. The light-yellow mask was comforting, the mask having been carved by his father and then painted after he joined the dump. Meanwhile, the pure mask terrified Leo to his very core, its unnatural powers and feeling of wrongness that it permeated the air with almost made Leo wish to finish the job the puritans had failed to do.
Leo sighed before putting his own mask back up to his face. As it came close, he hesitated and froze with fear.
It isn't the pure mask, I will be fine, there is nothing to worry about.
Leo reassured himself as he pulled the strap back to wrap it around his head. Feeling the rough wood rest against his face, it was as if he had never noticed how uncomfortable this thing was.
Shaking his head away from such thoughts he stood up and began to put the pure mask away. As he handled it, he noticed that the strange and corrupting force that the mask had over him previously, was no longer bearing down onto his soul. Instead, he had an intense desire to put it on again.
Like one of those druggies that withered away in the drug nests that littered the slums, Leo felt like he needed to wear the strange white mask, just one more time...
Leo's body shivered in horror of what that might mean. Thinking once more Leo ripped a piece of cloth from the dead Hollows member and wrapped the mask in it before he hid it in his clothing once more.
Leo headed back out of the alley, his body still reeling from shock at the masks influence. It had only been a few minutes, but Leo was forever marked by the mask now, for better or worse.
***
The dull sunlight began to peak into the alley as Leo approached the street once more. Looking around Leo saw a frail girl with black hear wearing a nice dress, at least by slumfolk standards, and a pink mask sitting by the fountain they agreed to meet at. Well, what was supposed to be a fountain, as the water had long ago been shut off.
Haily stood up and waved as she saw him approach.
"Leo!" she called out to him. "I'm shocked I made it before you, did you work late?"
Leo shook his head.
"I wasn't feeling well so I had taken some time to rest. I'm feeling much better now."
Leo was almost surprised by his own response, but now that he spoke the words aloud, he did feel much better. The heavy unease and wrongness aura the mask had been crushing him with was gone, but even that did not account for how his body felt. It was almost as if the mask had reconstructed him from the inside out.
"That's good to hear, well are you ready to go on our date?"
"Let's" Leo smiled under his mask.