Bride De Grondement, digital drawing, Twig Katerina Selma Saidoglu '25

The Mask Keeper by Jay C '27

"Hello?" My voice echoes in the cavernous room, twisting and bouncing back to me, distorted. The cave is mostly dark, a few scattered torches burning throughout. I can hear whispers coming from the far wall, shelves full of plaster masks sitting above a wooden chest. 

I sigh, shaking my head and leaning against the doorway. My eyes zero in on the locked chest, noticing that it's positioned differently than before. "Sis, were you in here again? You know you're not supposed to be in the archives, it's dangerous!" 

Alice sighs and comes up behind me, her face paler than usual. "I'm sorry Luce... but listen." She cups her ear dramatically. "The whispers are different." My eyes flick from her face to the chest, and I take an involuntary step into the room. 

“There is nothing wrong with this planet!” 

I hold my hand out behind me, beckoning. “Key. Now.” 

Alice reluctantly pulls the necklace out from under her shirt, fingering the small key strung around it. It's tied on with a blue ribbon, the color a stark contrast to almost everything else down here. 

I glance at her and she delicately places it in my outstretched hand, quickly stepping backward and out of the archive room. She knows that despite being older, she’s more fragile than I am. Life has drained her, and if I’m not careful, it will drain me too. 

Inhaling, I cross the cavernous room and kneel by the chest, carefully lifting the lock. I rub the cold metal of the key against my skin a few times before inserting it, turning until I hear a click.

The chest opens quickly, the contents glowing in unnatural light. I shield my face and take a few deep breaths, glancing back at where Alice stands. She blocks her face as well, and I nod. Catching a glimpse of the contents would only increase her curiosity. 

Without looking, I know exactly what the chest contains. Five porcelain masks, all encased in foam. All with intricate designs and beautiful sculpting. All with secrets. Our family has been “blessed” with the gift to see these- a curse is a better word for it. A mask appears every time someone changes their true personality for someone else. Or lies. Lies are, unfortunately, common. Which is why, long ago, our family chose to live in isolation. Deep underground, where we aren’t overwhelmed. Of course, the government was informed of our inherited power. They requested that we archive all their masks “for the history books”. My uncle was the last chosen to live on the surface, passing masks to us underground. His position is empty now, the flow of masks long halted. 

We don’t have proof, but I suspect that whoever wanted my uncle dead is also the one who murdered my brother. The surface is dangerous for our family, and the murders only made it more obvious. So Alice and I kept ourselves hidden, trying to figure out the path of the world above us with masks that belonged to the deceased. 

“Luce. Lucinda!” Alice snaps her fingers. “Hurry, please… you know we can’t have this open for long.” 

She’s right. It takes energy to hear the whispers. I turn back with a sigh and lift one mask delicately from its casing, running a finger along the side. "Trust me."

I frown and discard it, glaring at the mask beneath it. This one always causes trouble, always revealing something new, something my sister cannot resist. The mask lies in foam, a purple porcelain face inlaid with blue and gold paint. It is deceptively beautiful, holding precious months of work. Holding precious secrets. I reach towards it, then wince, repulsed by the aura around it. This is President Mason’s mask. The president of purple majesties. The president who successfully united the world and saved our people. The president who died holding important documents, burnt in a fire, never to be seen again. 

The only mask that the government considered worth keeping. Unfortunately for them, it had already been sent down here. So me and Alice had essential secrets no one else did. 

We, however, couldn't put anything together. It was incredibly different to extract secrets when you don't know what you're looking for. That, and when you have no experience with how the government works. 

I sigh and shake my head, releasing myself from my thoughts and reaching for the mask again. A headache slowly forms as my fingers brush the edge of the porcelain face. 

"Alice, could you grab some aspirin? This one's gonna give me a lot of trouble today..." 

Her voice trembles. "Lucinda, please- be careful. You know how much energy that one takes."

"I know." My voice is calm and steady, a stark contrast to the anxiety balling in the pit of my stomach. "I can feel it. I only need to see the newly recovered memory. I won't do anything else." 

“Promise?” Alice’s voice pitches high. 

I don’t bother replying, instead grabbing the mask and concentrating. I’m immediately immersed in the vivid memory, the sights and sounds assaulting my senses. With just a bit of concentration, I manage to force the vision to become dark, trusting that the dialogue will tell the story for me. 

“So, you’re saying that we don’t have long?” 

“No, I’m saying we have to alert the other countries. We need their expertise here!” 

“So you’re saying that the people I’ve hand-selected aren’t enough?” “No- no, Mr. President! But when it comes to protecting the world…” “Why should we care about other countries? They’ve done nothing for us. I care 

about our country, our people. We will survive this. Now get back to work!” “Y-yes sir-” 

I frown and tug myself out of the memory before it continues, using the pain of my headache to ground me in the present. “Ow…” 

Alice rushes over, grabbing the mask from my hands and swiftly placing it back in the chest. She gasps and sways slightly, the simple gesture of just touching the porcelain sapping her strength. 

I quickly shake myself and support her, frowning at her pale face. “You shouldn’t have done that! You know that you can’t take much more.”

“No, I’m… fine…” Alice glares at me. “Stop worrying.” 

“I’ll stop worrying when you stop being foolish!” I explode, my worry fueling the anger behind my voice. "You know how much that drains you Alice! It's not safe to even be near them!" 

Alice protests weakly, "Luce, I'm fine!" 

"No, you're not. You won't ever be fine again! For almost two years, you were bedridden. You can't just recover from that! Face it Alice, you're weak. It's way too dangerous for you to be near these masks. Don't save me, focus on you." My voice softens slightly. “You're the only family I've got, I don't want to lose you." 

Alice sighs and presses her mouth into a thin line. "Alright. I'll be more careful. But the same goes for you!" 

I bite my lip, knowing I can promise nothing. I am the caretaker of the masks. I must uncover their secrets. It is my responsibility, and mine alone. 

The cave trembles, snapping me out of my thoughts. Alice practically flings herself upright, stumbling slightly and then steading herself with a hand. I stand worriedly as well, glancing up at the ceiling. This is the third time this week that the walls have shaken, and I have a feeling something is very, very wrong on the surface. 

Alice sighs and runs her fingers along the wall, smudging something between her fingers. “This dust… is red? Like- sticky red…” 

I frown and stride over to the shelves, brushing the stuff off the masks stored there. “This is definitely blood. What in the world-” 

Alice squeaks and shakes her hand, scattering red everywhere. “What?! How did that get down here?! Why did it come from the ceiling?!”

“I- maybe the earthquake killed some underground animals? You know we occasionally hear something outside the walls… maybe they were in the blocked up mask chute? Like…” My brain races to try and rationalize the situation. “Just… it doesn’t smell like human blood. That’s for sure. Way too sweet.” 

“How… how do you know what human blood smells like?” Alice sniffs the air, frowning at me. 

I shake my head silently, snatches of dialogue floating into my head. “Oh gosh- it’s bleeding so much- Alice, can you hear me? Alice!!” 

“What do I do… I never learned first aid, and this is- so much-” 

“No, it reopened! Oh please please please please…” 

“Alice, please, wake up… I need you…” 

I pull myself back to the present, exhaling. “Not important. What matters is that we figure out what’s going on. Which I think is hidden in that chest over there.” My finger trembles slightly as it points. “Based on what I heard, it sounds like the world was in danger or something.” 

Alice gently places a hand on my shoulder. “Luce, you didn’t answer my question. Why do you know what human blood smells like?” Her face pales as she processes a thought. “Did- did I- did he-” 

I nod silently, shuddering at the memory of the sticky mess coating the lobby floor. “Yes, Kaden bled quite a lot. And so did you. It didn’t help that you were in the kitchen when you fainted. Sharp things…” I wince and unconsciously reach my hand up to Alice’s head, checking that the wound is still sealed. “With Kaden, I expected blood… and you were there after a bit. But I was on my own when you-”

A crash sounds from outside the vault as the ceiling shakes again, sending a few plaster masks tumbling from low shelves. Alice shrieks as a rock dislodges from its position and thuds down a few feet from her. 

My mouth feels like it’s glued shut as I dash out of the room, heading to where I thought I heard the crash. Alice calls after me but I can’t reply, my brain is too caught up with what’s happening. I can barely breathe, the walls feel like they’re closing in… what is happening?! 

I’m panicking. At least, I think that’s it… until the walls start trembling around me. That’s when I realize that I’m not having a mental breakdown, the room is really collapsing. 

My immediate thought is to protect Alice. Get back in the vault, the safest place in the bunker, and protect my older sister. But she’s one step ahead of me. “Lucinda, in here!” Alice yells from behind me, grabbing my arm and tugging me back toward the storage room. 

I take one last look at the crumbling hallway and then spin, running with her into the vault. It is an absolute disaster here, so many precious masks lie crushed on the ground. So many secrets lost… 

Thankfully the oldest masks have written ledgers, records of what our ancestors saw. But the most recent visions we’ve experienced I haven't bothered to write down, foolishly believing that we had time. 

I'm not sure if me and Alice will survive this earthquake. Shelves are jostling from their positions, more and more things are smashing on the floor, and the ceiling threatens to cave with every new quake.

Desperate, I look to Alice. "I think, if I figure out what's hidden in Mason's mask, we could get out of this. It's at least a start, right? And even if we don't survive, at least we'll die knowing?..." My voice trails off, the implication of what might happen fully hitting me. 

“Luce…” Alice gently hugs me, blinking dust out of her eyes. “Let’s figure out what’s happening, together.” 

We both stride over to the chest, lifting the lid fluidly and reaching in for the porcelain mask. I grab the casing first and lift it out, setting it on the floor next to us. Motioning for Alice to follow me, I slowly sit, leaning against the chest. My fingers tap out a rhythm, first three taps, then two, then one. 

We touch the face at the same time, the mask forcing us into a sort of waiting room. I quickly scan the memories, mentally filtering them before I choose another newly recovered vision. Alice’s presence is beside me, and I make sure to include her as I’m sucked into the sights and sounds of the President’s memory. 

It’s natural to turn off the visuals, but I keep a bit of our surroundings in my sight, in case something happens that I need more than dialogue to understand. “Mr. President, we have an update. The planet… it’s slowing faster than we thought.” 

“So? We can still prevent this.” 

“Mmmm… it’s not that easy. See this graph?” 

I squint at where the voice is coming from, the computer coming into focus. It shows a line graph, the line rapidly dropping as time passes.

“That is the rate our planet is turning. With all the modifications we’ve made to nature, the earth is fighting back. We cannot reverse this change.” 

“So, the world will stop spinning. What’s the big deal?” 

“Supersonic winds will rip through this world, and after we stop spinning, one side of the planet will bake, and the other will freeze. We will all die, Mr. President.” “And you’re sure we cannot prevent this?” 

“I’m absolutely positive. If we had enlisted other countries' help beforehand, there was a possibility… but no, we’re too far gone. I’m sorry.” 

I throw Alice out of the memory before yanking myself out, gasping from the weight of the news. The world is ending. The world is ending! 

Alice turns to me fearfully. “Luce… we’re not going to survive this. Our bunker has protected us for this long, but it won’t last. We’re going to die here!” Her voice morphs into a wail towards the end. 

“Sshhh, shh, it’ll be okay. At least we know now, what was happening. At least we’ll die knowing, together.” I take her hand and squeeze it tightly. “I love you, sis. To the end of the world.” 

She laughs forlornly and pulls me into a hug. “To the end of the world,” She echoes, tears smudging her dust-covered face. 

I sigh and look at the ceiling, coughing because of all the dirt that’s dislodging. I’ll die here, having fulfilled my role as a Mask Keeper. I’ll die here, having fulfilled my role as a sister. I’ll die here… the last sensation I have is of Alice’s arms falling limply at her sides, her fingers cold and icy. Then I feel nothing except contentment. I am the last of my kind, and I have done well.