False Faces

(Content Warning: Language, Murder, Gore, Blood, Crude Humor.)

“I’m glad you could meet me here tonight,” Ben said with a warm smile. He placed his empty wine glass at the edge of the dining table and motioned for the waiter.

Tess returned his gesture and licked her ruby lips. “It was my pleasure. I’m just sorry I was a bit late.” She brushed her brown hair back and adjusted her glasses to see Ben’s comforting hazel eyes. Even though this was their first date, she knew there was something special between them.

“It’s really no problem. I know how busy you are, and with this traffic—”

Ben’s words were abruptly cut off when the waiter wearing a black suit and white apron came to fill his empty wine glass. “I trust your evening is going well. Is there anything else I can get you?”

Before an answer could be given, the waiter spilt the red wine on Ben’s lap when he handed him the glass. “Oh no! I’m terribly sorry, sir!”

As the red liquid soaked into Ben’s dark pants, he exploded from his chair and yelled, “What’s wrong with you, man?!”

Tess widened her brown eyes and felt an electrifying thrill race down her spine. There was something about Ben’s angry face that made her smile.

“I-I’m really sorry,” the waiter pleaded. “They make us wear these white gloves, and sometimes it’s hard to work with them.”

“Keep your fucking excuses to yourself,” Ben raged. “I have half a mind to kill you where you stand, but because this is a normal society with law and order, I guess you get a free pass!”

“What’s going on here?” a robust man wearing a posh black tuxedo asked. Ben saw his badge, which read: SHISO, MANAGER.

“Oh, finally, we can get to a solution here,” Ben rasped.

“No,” Shiso said firmly. “I’m sorry for the incident, sir, but threatening a staff member will not be tolerated here. We have a zero-tolerance policy about that. Your bill is on us for the inconvenience, but I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Ben wrinkled his forehead and snarled, but before he could utter a word, Tess grabbed his right hand and pulled him away. “That’s enough for now, tiger. All things come around in time.”

Without protest, Ben gave in to her soft grasp and followed her to the exit. “Don’t worry about that,” she said, “sometimes mistakes happen.”

“Yeah, but that guy… That guy!!”

“I know.”

“I mean, did you see that smug smile on his face when the manager stepped in?”

“I did.”

“Ugh! I wish I could cut that stupid smile off his face!”

Tess curled her lips upward. “I’d love to see that actually…”

“You would?” Ben asked, setting his eyes upon hers.

Escaping his gaze like a thief in the night, Tess replied softly, “Yeah, I think it would be hot.”

“Ha!” Ben laughed. “Oh…if only I could.” He pointed to his soaked pants and grimaced. “I don’t think these pants can be salvaged. Red wine ruins everything.”

The bright lights of the city exposed the stained spot on Ben’s pants, and Tess gave him a gentle smile. His angry demeanor mixed with his soft heart was like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The perfect mix. Her heart fluttered with excitement.

As a flood of taxi cabs sped by them, Ben said, “I’m sorry about tonight. Not much of a first date, huh?”

Tess laughed. “Are you kidding?! This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah,” Tess replied. “Besides, who says the night has to be over?”

“Well, I’m not sure what else we can do…my pants are soaked.”

Tess grabbed his hand once more and said, “We could walk around the building if you like. I would say the block, but there’s not that many people around here tonight, so maybe that would be okay…?”

Ben squeezed her hand. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

Hand in hand, they roamed from The Bumblebee Luxury Dinner and rounded the corner where Steve’s Mighty Pizza Den used to be. The economy just wasn’t what it used to be, and businesses were closing like a midnight special on cheap beer at Riley’s Liquor Store.

Webster Alley was darker than usual because some of the lampposts were out. The ones that still worked were strobing like a seventies disco lounge.

“This street used to be so alive,” Tess sighed. “Now it’s dead like my ex-boyfriend’s limp dick.”

Ben was taken aback by her boldness, but he liked what she said. “Ha, that’s funny! You know…I kinda prefer it this way. The darkness can be comforting sometimes.”

“Oh my God…. You’re right!” Tess beamed. “I feel the same way. The light actually hurts my eyes sometimes!”

“I can imagine. Working those late shifts at the hospital must really wear you out.”

“Yeah, but I work in the morgue, so time goes by pretty fast sometimes. But I do enjoy what I do. Staring at those dead bodies all day gives you a new perspective on life.” Tess bit her lower lip, unsure if what she said was the right thing.

“I get that,” Ben said, respecting her honesty. “To be frank, I think that’s kind of refreshing. I work all day staring at two-inch thick cubical walls where my tight ass can barely fit in the squished space, so I think what you do is really cool!”

“I get that too,” Tess said, nodding her head. “A life like that would make you wanna kill someone.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” he laughed. “There have been times…”

“Look at that!” Tess said, pointing to Mike’s Halloween Shop. “I’m surprised this place is still in business! Have you ever been in there?”

“Surprisingly, I haven’t even though I love spooky things!”

“Oh, my God, I do too! Maybe that’s why you asked me out at the hospital when we bumped into each other that day you sprained your wrist. I am quite the spooky lady, after all,” Tess giggled. “Let’s go in. What do you say?”

It took Ben only a second to reply. “Yeah, let’s do it!”

As the door chimed their arrival, Ben and Tess were greeted by an influx of masks and costumes ranging from truly horrific to kid-friendly silliness. “This place is amazing!” Ben gushed.

“Yeah,” Tess beamed. “It has everything!”

They soon found themselves down an aisle of horror masks and took turns trying on the wolf man’s face, a bloody hockey mask, and some truly horrific clown disguises, to mention a few. It was like they were kids in a candy store. Everything was new and fresh, but what really caught their attention were a pair of clear masks decorated with black and blue eyeliner, purple dot cheeks, dark red lips, and a perfect set of white teeth.

When Ben jokingly tied it around his face, he felt like a different person altogether. The soft plastic meeting his flesh seemed like the perfect match.

“How does it feel?” Tess asked, from behind her new face.

“Like it was meant to be,” Ben replied.

Even though it was only September, Tess and Ben purchased the masks and left the store with rosy smiles. Across the street behind The Bumblebee Luxury Dinner, Tess noticed a fat man smoking a cigarette next to another man wearing a white apron.

“Hey, Ben. Is that the manager and waiter who threw us out earlier?”

Ben fixed his eyes across the dark street and said with wide eyes, “Yes, it is! Those motherfuckers deserve to die for how they treated us!”

Tess couldn’t help but smile as Ben’s face turned crimson. “I’d pay good money to see someone kill them. Do…you think you could ever kill anyone?”

The brash and bold question caught Ben off guard and enticed his inner ambitions. Would she run away at my answer, or would she press further into that dark abyss?

To give in was the best and only solution. “I suppose I would, as long as I could get away with it.”

“Oh, my…” Tess crooned while reaching into her black purse. Her purple shirt was wrapped firmly across her chest, and her nipples exploded in excitement as she revealed a sharp switchblade and spun the blade out like a rapid gunfire shot.

“Damn! You have a knife?!”

“For my protection,” Tess said with a wicked grin. “You never know what filth you’ll run into here in the big bad city.”

“I guess that’s true—”

“Here,” Tess said, cutting his words short. “Take this knife over there and stab those fuckers!”

“A-are you serious?” Ben stuttered.

“Yes, I’m serious, silly. You just said you would like to murder someone.” She waved her hand around the alley and finished, “There’s no one out here, and I don’t see any cameras anywhere, so get to killing!”

“Um…” Ben mumbled, not sure of what to say.

“If you’re afraid, just wear your new mask. It will make you feel like a different person, and you can do anything you want. Your conscience gets tossed out the window like yesterday’s trash.”

Ben pulled his mask out of the plastic bag and stared at it for a brief moment. It was heavy. A sense of foreboding power engulfed his soul. “Yeah…but…”

Tess snatched the bag and removed her mask. As she slowly tied the string around her face, she scoffed, “It’s not that hard. Watch this.”

Ben’s eyes widened as Tess marched across the road like a rage-filled monster. She struck up a witty conversation and had the men laughing in no time. Just as the robust man parted his mouth to let loose another belly-filled chuckle, Tess drove the knife upward and pierced the soft flesh under his chin.

The waiter stumbled backward as his boss choked and gagged on his own blood. Tess quickly removed the blade and slashed his throat before he could make another sound. Blood erupted like an exploding geyser and painted her face cherry red. The fat manager fell to the pavement and bled out like a stuck pig.

Out of nowhere, the waiter balled his fist and threw a powerful punch her way. Tess closed her eyes and jerked backward, but before the clenched fist could connect, Ben stepped in and shoved the waiter to the ground. Tess opened her eyes and smiled because he was wearing the mask.

Ben gave her a quick nod and took the bloody knife from her hand. He slowly turned his skull like a predator searching for its prey and locked eyes with the snarling vermin. As the waiter tried to stand, Ben kicked his face and laughed as he stumbled down again. Holding the blade firmly in his right hand, Ben stabbed the knife into the waiter’s head and carved his face off like a peeled potato.

Screams filled the alley, but no one was around to hear them. Ben took advantage of this and made his victim suffer. He balled up the carved flesh and made the waiter eat it. As he choked on his own face, Ben stabbed the knife into the waiter’s eyeball and watched the life drain from the other.

As he stood with blood-soaked clothes, Ben took his mask off and muttered, “That didn’t happen.”

Tess grabbed his shaky hand and spoke softly. “Oh, it happened. It just wasn’t you who did it. It was whoever the mask allowed you to be who did it.”

“You’re right,” Ben said. “That felt amazing. It was like I was a completely different person. I could get used to this!”

“Really?!” Tess asked. “That’s fucking hot! You wanna get some coffee or something?”

“Yeah,” Ben said with a smile. “Let’s go. Don’t forget your mask….”