THE MAN IN THE WOODEN MASK
I was startled awake once again by the scratching on my window. I glanced over to see the man in wooden mask staring at me from the other side. This was the fifth night in a row that he came to see me. I wasn’t scared of him, despite his best efforts. I just stared back at him until he left, which was usually around 5:30am. I painted a portrait of him last night. He didn’t seem to mind.
I moved to the sticks about 6 months ago to get away from the buzzing of the city. There omnipresent sounds of electricity, cars and people was starting to take it’s toll on me. I moved to Toronto from a place called Alliston, which is about 2 hours north of the city, and it’s also where I’ve since moved back to. It’s quiet here – I like it. Other than the man in the wooden mask, everything has been pretty good.
Suspecting he would come back for a 6th time, I forced myself to stay awake. I stared into the blackness, watching the silhouettes of the trees dancing in the glow of the moonlight. Just when I was starting to doubt that he would come, a figure appeared between the trees. He was quite a distance away but I watched the entire time as he walked slowly towards my house. It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time he arrived at my window. There was no scratching this time, probably because I was already awake. I tilted my head to try and get a better read on him, but he had no reaction. His hood and mask hid most of his face, but I could tell that he was male. We stared at each other for roughly an hour.
I had an itch under my breast and instinctively reached under my shirt to scratch it, almost forgetting that I wasn’t alone. I quickly glanced up in time to see the man in the mask react to this, even if that reaction was slight. I held eye contact with him as I took my shirt off - partly to see what he would do, and partly because I wanted to fuck with him. I reached behind me back and unhinged my bra before letting it drop to the floor. His breathing seemed to intensify a little bit if only for the fact that I could now at least tell he was breathing at all. I kept my shirt off for the remainder of the night until he left. I used to day to sleep because I had to plans to meet my masked friend again in the night that followed.
It was around 3am when he showed up this time. I put my hand on the glass curious to see if he’d reciprocate. He didn’t, and to my surprise just walked away. I pressed closer to the glass trying to see where he might have gone. It was then that I heard the rotating of the handle on my front door. This startled me a little because he had never tried to get in before. The handle rotated for a little while longer before stopping. I turned my attention back to the window. After a few moments of silence he returned.
My display last night must have given him some ideas. I revelled in the opportunity to take control of a situation that was very clearly meant to evoke the opposite reaction from me. I smiled as he glared at me from behind the glass. I reached into my pyjama pants, rubbing myself. I let him watch. I took my hand out and rubbed it onto the windowpane where his mouth was, leaving a streak. He glanced down at the streak before intentionally hitting his mask on the glass, sending me backwards in a startled jump. He repeated this a few times before turning around and leaving. There was something exhilarating about all of this - as if I was dancing around something incredibly dangerous while maintaining the upper hand. I wanted to take it further.
I left the door unlocked the next night.
He approached the window at the regular hour. I wasn’t wearing much this time, just my bra and panties. I licked my lips and once again placed my hand on the windowpane. He walked out of sight and my heart rate increased knowing that he was headed for the front door.
I backed into the corner and waited. The front door opened and I could hear his heavy steps as he approached my room. The light from the hallway that bled under my doorframe became obstructed; He was right outside now. The door opened slowly. There he stood, much taller now than I had realized from the window. His ragged robes covered his lanky body and a foul stench filled the room almost immediately. I covered myself up as he took several steps towards me. I didn’t say a word.
He reached for my hair and pulled me to my feet. He whipped my head back and brought his face close to mine. I grabbed his wrists to let him know that he was being too rough. He didn’t care. His skin was moist and cold; his breathing rough and hollow sounding. For the first time since our initial encounter, I was scared. This wasn’t a game to him.
“Please let go” I pleaded, “you’re hurting me.”
He growled a deeper growl than any human should be capable of. He raised me up by my neck; the desperate grip I had on his forearm being the only thing keeping me from suffocating. He used his free hand to rip my bra off and threw me to the bed with almost no effort nearly breaking my neck in the process. I ran towards to the door only to have it slam in my face. I turned slowly as the man in the wooden mask peered at me from across the room. “Just take me”, I told him with doomed tone. I slowly pulled off my panties with trembling hands.
There I stood, naked and vulnerable, staring at this man in the wooden mask. He seemed less human now than before. He approached me slowly, each thundering footstep shaking the loose furniture. I raised my head as he reached for my neck, allowing him to take control. I wasn’t going to fight back. I closed my eyes as he raised me up with my back against the wall. The blackness of the underside of my eyelids turned a bright red as I struggled to catch my breath. I drifted in an out of consciousness for a few moments before blacking out entirely.
I started to regain consciousness as a throbbing pain from between my legs began to make itself known. I reached down to discover that my sheets were soaked in blood. I closed my legs as the throbbing only seemed to get worse as each minute passed. “Go away”, I whimpered in a cautionary sob, not even sure if the man in the wooden mask was still there.
I remained in a fetal position for the remainder of the day until night fell once again. I was filled with feelings of anger, guilt and dread as I struggled to put my mind back together. I focused my attention to the dark splatters on the wall, which I slowly realized were bloodstains. Bloodstains. Bloodstains.
I drifted in and out of sleep.
I was startled awake once again by the scratching on my window.
