Unmasked (20 page)

Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw
the Author
, with his arms outstretched ready for her to collapse into them away from harm.

Mallei strode into the room with the pistol and slipped it into Noelle’s hands.

“This isn’t what I want,” Noelle cried, suddenly placing the gun on the floor. “I’ve had a messed up life, but I’m not ready to give up on it now.”

“Oh, but you are,” the Principal purred. “Noelle, what else do you have to live for?”

“You aren’t beautiful,” Hera said.

“Or powerful,” the Principal added.

“Or loved,” Blade hissed.

Perhaps they were right. What did she have to live for? What was left? She didn’t have a friend to her name, and the story board analysts never saw the point to her anyway. She would never be beautiful, or loved.

She scooped the gun with trembling hands and cast a sorrowful glance at the Author.

He shook his head, and held out his arms beckoning for her to come to him.

She glanced back at the single file line of tempters who began swerving back and forth like a snake.

She had fallen so far, how could she ever overpower them and get to the Author?

Perhaps death would be easier.

She slowly raised the gun and pressed it against her head.

Noelle cringed her eyes shut, imagining herself in another place far from this nightmare. She tried to erase the burning image of her serpents swerving back and forth like a serpent poised to strike.

Reaching the Author, on her own, would likely be impossible.

It was too late to run back to the Author now. They would overpower her easily, and she would lose that battle in a heartbeat.

She clasped the cool metal of the gun in her hands.

Is this what it came down to? She would take her own life because no one could spare it? No one could save her now.

Not that anyone would want to.

This is not what I want,
she thought desperately.
My life isn’t perfect, but is it all coming down to this?

But if she were to fall, would anyone hear? Or care?

Perhaps the Author would. Maybe he didn’t want for her to collapse into the hands of her enemies.

She threw him another wary glance; it shattered her heart to see his arms outstretched. Why was he waiting? Was he simply waiting around to punish her later?

She had betrayed him, after all. She even fought on the side of the armies opposing him.

Perhaps he didn’t know about her past.

Noelle shook away this thought. Of course he knew. This was his story. So why did he have him arms outstretched?

Why was he waiting for her to run to him?

Forget it, Noelle, you already ran away. He’s not going to take you back. Not after everything that you’ve done.

Maybe if she could get to him, maybe, just maybe, he would take her back.

As a servant perhaps, like Bri had mentioned when they stood at the Principal’s door, she could try to make up for all her wrongs by doing so.

Even that would be far better than this fate.

As a last resort, she formulated a plan to run to him, but it seemed like there was a gap between her and the Author.

How could she possibly get across without a bridge?

But she had to try.

She flung down the gun with a horrendous noise, and sprinted toward the Author outstretching her fingers as he ran forward as well. Her mind raced as she drew closer and closer clawing at the thin air hoping to find him.

She clasped his hand, but a horrible jolt shook her stomach.

She felt and army of hands clutch her garments as they threw her back with a tremendous strength. She flew about five feet and slid another five on the floor. Dizzily, she took a few moments to regain herself, but her enemies did not allow for any rest.

The Principal glowered at her, and then, with a swift movement, motioned for the others to pursue Noelle. She paused only but a moment to join the rest of her army.

Much to her surprise and horror, the images of Blade, Hera, and Mallei, dissolved as they transformed into Lapsi.  Noelle stared at them bewildered wondering if her friends had really been Lapsi this whole time, or only for the past few minutes in the kitchen.

Noelle’s nightmares had awakened, and she was certain to lose this. Much to her dismay, images of the forest with Elm popped into her head. When she was attacked by one Lapsus, she barely made it out alive. She didn’t even defeat the Lapsus, but some boy uttered a few words as light disintegrated the beast.

But three? How could she ever outrun three Lapsi, plus the principal?

She was certainly a goner within a few minutes.

If she had even that.

The swirling darkness began to choke Noelle as she gasped for air. She needed to get to the Author. There she would be safe.

She pushed herself back up from the ground arms wobbling, headache throbbing, but the whirling hurricane of her enemies shoved her back down with an even harder force.

Again and again her fingers clutched anxiously hoping to find the Author’s hand, but she lost every time that she tried to make it to him on her own.

They clawed at her clothes, as she began to hear a ripping sound, but she didn’t care. Unfortunately, the openings in the fabric left raw area for claws to swipe.

Tears streamed down at her face as she caught a swift glance of the Author before darkness encircled her again.

I need you. I always have and always will,
she thought realizing that this was true. She never felt content with anything else that the story had to offer.

Why hadn’t she realized this earlier? Why did she have to go through hell in order to realize that she knew where heaven was all along?

If only she could get back to him. If only she hadn’t dug herself so far.

With a mighty swipe, one of the Lapsus lashed a talon with a magnificent blow across Noelle’s cheeks and she was thrown back once more, paralyzed with a burning flame crawling up her face.

It was too late. They were far stronger.

She curled up into a ball as a last defense as the cold air suffocated her lungs.

There was no hope for her now. She could never reach him. She had fallen too far to make it on her own, and now crystalized with despair, this is how she would finally die at the hands of everything that tempted her. Every test that she failed had come to devour her.

Suddenly the cold air thinned as the darkness began to evaporate.

She spun around to find the Author right behind her pinning the Lapsi back who began clawing ravenously at Noelle ready to demolish her. They threw themselves over the Author’s shoulders, but he began to expand his arms as he towered over Noelle. The Lapsi couldn’t get past his strength.

He outstretched his arms as the Lapsi dug their talons in a very harsh grip.

With a pained expression, the Author still managed to hold them back as Noelle realized that he had done this all for her. She deserved to be clawed to death by the Lapsi, but he was bearing them for her.

They would be Noelle’s fate soon. She needed a savior.

She needed the Author.

“Please,” she pleaded feebly barely raising her voice above a whisper, “please help me. I can’t do this on my own. I need you, Author. I need you.”

The Author hunched over, but with a violent force, threw back the Lapsi as a great light flooded the room. They let out the most horrific shriek as the darkness scattered away.

Relief flooded Noelle as she realized that the fight was over. No more running, no more hiding, she was finally free from the burdens that weighed her down.

But what would happen to her now? After all she had done to betray the Author, certainly his wrath would be next to follow.

Noelle, with unable to hold herself up, collapsed to her knees and whimpered, “I’m so sorry. P-please, forgive me. And if you would have me, please take me back. I don’t care what part I have. I don’t care if I have any friends. I don’t care what happens to me…”

She paused, as she caught a swift glimpse of his expression.

To this day, Noelle decided that you could not pay her any amount in the world to “unsee” that face.

He smiled warmly, radiantly, and outstretched his arms.

Noelle shot him a puzzled expression at first. Why wasn’t he letting her have it? Why wasn’t he dishing out his wrath now?

Noelle grasped his hands feebly as he helped her rise from the ground.

She threw a downward cast at her clothes, noting that they lay tattered with several claw marks engrained in the sides.

She glanced up at the Author as he collected his blood-spattered robe and swung it around her.

Much to her surprise, the robe transformed into a white dress that seemed to glow elegantly. Not a single stain blemished the fabric as Noelle gave an enthusiastic twirl feeling ten times lighter on her feet.

She had half-expected it to turn to black, as her garments usually did, but it radiantly glistened like snow.

She glanced up at the Author gratefully and nodded her head, unable to speak, knowing full well that this meant that he forgave her. Tears glittered in her eyes, and he nodded seeming to understand their meaning.

“Come, child,”
he said outstretching a hand.
“Follow me.”

Without hesitation, Noelle nearly floated out of the kitchen hand in hand with the Author.

After a few moments of silence, she finally piped up.

“Were Blade, Hera, and Mallei really Lapsi?”

“No, you will find that they are safely in their beds asleep, but often times Angela likes to work through people to promote her army.”

Noelle shuddered at the thought that days ago she had been a part of that army striving to tear down anyone who loved the Author.

But she was changed now. Radically. The old Noelle felt like a skin that she had molted out of and left to die on the kitchen floor.

“Certainly you must have questions, child,”
the Author prompted.
“It has been a while.”

Noelle considered her wording for a minute. Certainly nothing could harm her now. He had already forgiven her, and he didn’t seem like he would hold anything against her.

“It’s been a rough year,” she admitted. “But I think I’ve always wondered, and one of the reasons why I didn’t turn back to you right away was, why didn’t you show up when I needed you the most? When I was tempted, you never seemed to be there.”

The Author gazed at her seriously and replied slowly.

“But, child, I was there. I was there when Hera made you believe that I had made a mistake in creating you. I was there when Blade offered you a drink at and I was there when he convinced you what his definition of love was.”

Noelle frowned slightly wondering why she had never seen him there.

Then again, she never really was looking for him. Those were the times when she wanted to push the very memory of him far away. She didn’t want him to see her in those places.

“And all I had to do was turn around,” Noelle said glumly. “Like I traveled the entire globe, when you were right there behind me.”

The two passed the Extras’ dorm as the Author opened the doors to the outside of the building. Noelle ducked underneath him as he followed her out to a field seemingly untouched by a lawn mower for months.

“Lacey said that there’s a war coming,” Noelle continued. “Is that true? How soon do we have?”

“It is true that the ending for one story will come to pass as well as the beginning of another, and it will come very soon.”

But how soon?
Noelle wanted to ask, but guessing by the vagueness of the Author’s answer, she would likely receive no more than just given to her.

“Any more questions, child?”

“Just one more, I think,” Noelle decided. “What am I supposed to do, now that I’m free of Angela and the Lapsi?”

“Tell others about me, so that they can be free as well.”

Noelle nodded for a moment as they passed a patch of daisies, but then a troublesome thought stirred in her mind.

Why would he put them to that task? She, Bri, Lacey, and well everyone else who followed him. They were far from perfect, and he would do far better at the task himself.

Then it hit her.

He probably already knew this, but he gave them an opportunity on his team. Like a parent, who has a child help them with the dishes in the dishwasher. The parent doesn’t have the kid help with the dishes due to ability.

Or the likelihood of the amount of dishes that will break in the child’s hands.

The parent lets them aid with the dishes because they’re giving the child a chance to help with fixing and cleaning what needs cleansing.

“Come child, there is one more thing that we must do.”

The Author interrupted her thoughts by beckoning her back inside. She forced down a protest. It felt so peaceful outside, and she would have rather not jumped right into the midst of battle in the school once more.

But he knew what he was doing, Noelle was certain of it now.

Without another word, the two placed a step within the doors as the Author led Noelle toward the Supporting Character dormitory.

#

When they reached the mirror in the center of the room, Noelle glimpsed at the glowing white dress that shined warmly in the light. But immediately her eyes centered on her mask. It seemed terribly out of place.

“It’s time to take that mask off. No more hiding.”

“No more hiding,” Noelle repeated feeling surely unsure about the words the more she said it.

While she despised that mask with every ounce of her being, a warm familiarity encompassed it, and she hardly wanted to let go of it now.

What would everyone think when she didn’t have it to hide behind? They would certainly hate her as they always did before.

She would no longer be beautiful.

Seeing her hesitation, the Author placed her hands on his and grasped them tightly.

“It does not matter what they think. I created you with my own hands, and your beauty takes my breath away. Don’t you know that the number of hairs on your head are numbered? If I know that, how much more do I care for you, child?”