The Masks We Wear

by the7Saviors

It's Blue (da-ba-dee-da-ba-WHY?)

I... am a lot of things.

"Look, Terry. I gotta let you go."

Sure, I've been called lazy...

"You're not doing your job... like, at all."

...absentminded...

"We've gotten several calls from customers about long stretches of silence over the phone before they hear a response."

...and irresponsible, among other things...

"The supervisors have caught you reading during a call, drawing during a call, texting during a call, and just generally doing everything but paying attention to the actual call."

...but the one word you can never associate with me...

The manager reached into his desk drawer, pulled out some official looking documents and slapped them down on top of the desk, "I'm gonna need you to sign these termination forms and turn in your VisuaFone ID badge and headset."

...is stress.

"Alright," I said with a shrug. I pulled the headset from where it was hanging around my neck and put it on the desk along with the ID I had in my pocket. My former manager handed me a pen and I signed my name a few times on each of the forms.

He picked up the forms and set them aside with a heavy sigh, "Look, Terry," he began, giving me one of those stern, fatherly looks, "I like you, I really do - hell, a lot of us here do," he leaned back in his chair, "but we've given you a lot of chances - too many chances if I'm being honest - and we can't afford to keep doing that, you know what I mean?"

"No, I get it, Bill," I replied, waving his concerns aside, "You guys have been great, really." I pushed myself out of the chair with a small grunt, "It was my choice to dick around and I guess I messed up one too many times. You're probably better off without me anyway," I said with another shrug. Probably not something you'd say if you want to keep your job but like he said, I'd been given a lot of chances up until now and I was doubtful I'd get hired again, "It sucks, but it is what it is."

Bill nodded his head solemnly, "At the very least you've got a good attitude."

He sat there for a moment before suddenly slapping his hands on the desk, "I'll tell you what," he started with a small smile, "you manage to find another job and I'll put in a good word for you when it comes time for recommendations."

I blinked in surprise. "Wow, thanks, Bill," I said with genuine gratitude.

He held up a hand, "Don't thank me yet, Terry," he said in that stern fatherly voice, then pointed at me, "that recommendation won't mean shit if you can't do your job, so shape up for the next place you work, yeah?"

I laughed a little, "You got it, man," I said with a grin.

Bill nodded in satisfaction and walked around his desk to pat me on the shoulder. "Good man," he pointed to the open door, "now get out of my office."

I laughed again and headed out the door.

---

Well, damn, I thought as I got off the bus near my house, left on friendly terms but I'm still out of a job. I let out a tired sigh and starting walking down the street to my apartment.

"Ten bucks says I finally get that eviction notice," I said to myself with a wry smile. I shook my head and looked around my crappy Tucson neighborhood. It wasn't that it was a bad neighborhood full of thugs or drug dealers or anything like that. It just looked... dirty. It felt... dirty. Like, you'd expect to see all this grime when you walked into a house, even when there wasn't any. You just felt like there would be.

My particular apartment happened to be the cheapest one-bed/one-bath I could afford. It wasn't much but I kept it clean and all the appliances worked like they should. All in all I thought I was pretty lucky to get such a decent place for the amount I paid for rent.

I proceeded to curse my luck when I finally made it to my apartment and saw the note on my door with 'EVICTION NOTICE' written in big, red print at the top.

"Dammit." I muttered aloud. I tore the notice off of my door and skimmed through it quickly. As it turned out, the management wasn't kicking me out just yet but I had fifteen days to pay the minimum amount of-

"$725.00!?" I yelled incredulously, "nnnoooope. Fuck that noise."

I said that, but in reality I was probably just gonna borrow money from my aunt and pay her back monthly once I got a new job. Hooray for debt.

Really though, this was something else I brought on myself. I was usually more than a bit late paying my rent each month. I'm not very frugal when it comes to spending and I would often adopt a 'screw it' attitude when it came time to save money for the rent.

I unlocked the door, stepped inside my apartment, threw the notice on a nearby table, and closed the door behind me.

I took another step and froze, a chill running down my spine.

"...The hell?" I whispered shakily.

The moment passed as quickly as it started and I stumble further into the living room. Thoroughly spooked, I took a quick look around the house. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary I walked to my room breathing a sigh of relief. Well that was a thing, I cracked my neck, walked over to my computer, and plopped myself down onto the seat, Now onto the next job.

I always had a difficult time keeping a job for more than a few months because of my general attitude towards tedium and repetition, but for whatever reason I always had a lot of luck getting hired at call centers which, in my opinion, were the height of tedium and repetition. I dealt with it all the same though, because at the end of the day I was making money, and that's what was important.

I booted up the computer and checked some of the call center job sites. Sure enough, there was a job fair going on at one of the centers. This one was a bit further out from my place but I figured an additional bus ride wouldn't kill me. I went to exit out of the site and go play something on my PS4 when I felt that strange chill again.

"Okay, what the hell is that?" I practically yelled, looking around again. When I didn't find anything I threw my hands up in exasperation, "Alright, you know what? Fuck it. I'm callin' it a night."

I got undressed, threw my clothes in a laundry bin in the closet, and fell into bed. I'm creeped out, tired, soon to be in debt, and today just all around sucked, I thought with a grimace. At least I have another job lined up, even if it is another shitty call center. With that thought in mind I pulled the blanket over me and was out like a light in a matter of minutes.

---

Darkness.

I opened my eyes and that's all there was. Just an endless black void of nothingness. I don't know how long I stared into that all-encompassing darkness.

Minutes?

Hours?

Days? Weeks? Years?

...Who knows.

I didn't bother crying for help. I knew it'd futile. I knew no one was there.

Child...

Actually, I think I might've heard something...

Child of Man... Listen to my words...

I think if I just listened... a bit... harder...

Heed my call, ye who seeks the End!

There! I can hear someone! Who-

AWAKEN, CHILD OF MAN! AWAKEN AND SPEAK MY NAME!

---

My eyes snapped open...

...and then I slammed them shut again with a groan of exhaustion and annoyance.

"Dammit, why didn't I close the blinds before I went to bed?" I grumbled irritably.

I sat up and rubbed the morning gunk out of my eyes. I almost said 'fuck it' and went back to sleep because I didn't feel like I had gotten any rest. On the contrary, I felt like I had just run a mile.

And then there was that dream.

I couldn't remember a lot of what it was about, but I do remember it being... intense. I also remembered something about a name?

Hmmm...

...nope, can't remember.

I decided to set the thoughts aside and ready myself for the trip to the job fair. I went into to the bathroom for the standard shit, shower, and shave. I took a minute to look at myself in the mirror, making sure I looked at least somewhat presentable.

Dark skin.

Dark Brown eyes.

Thin as a rail, despite my god awful diet... thank you, overly active metabolism.

Haven't seen a barber in like what, six or seven years?

Black dreads, long and out-of-control due to barber neglect.

Thick-rimmed Converse glasses.

Yep... everything checks out.

With that done, I walked out of the bathroom and back into my room to get dressed. I threw on a white, short-sleeved dress shirt - the only one I owned - and some black jeans along with my white Nike sneakers. It was about fifty-seven degrees out so I also threw on my black, faux-fur coat.

I grabbed my headphones and smartphone, turned to leave and stopped.

I blinked and tilted my head a bit in confusion.

"...Huh."

I don't remember closing my bedroom door last night, I thought warily, I also don't remember my door being all blue and glowy.

Yet, there it was in all its blue, glowy goodness.

I stood there gaping, at the door for a moment before shaking my head and giving a small shrug, "Fuck it," I said simply, walking over to the door.

This should be good, I thought as I turned the doorknob and stepped through.

---

Behind the door was a short, stone pathway leading to what looked like one of those Olde Time-y taverns you see in fantasy RPG's and novels. The real kicker, though?

It was all floating in an empty, black space.

No joke. There was nothing everywhere I looked, aside from the tavern. Why do I feel like I've been here before? I thought with a shiver. I shook off my hesitation and quickly walked to the tavern door, practically throwing it open.

Blue.

So... much... blue.

All the blue, really. Blue walls, blue floor, blue bar counter, there was a man at said counter dressed in an old-school bartender's uniform... a blue old-school bartender's uniform. Just about the only thing that wasn't blue were the tables and chairs scattered around, and I think even those might've been some kind of really light blue - it was hard to tell. It was also much more modern-looking than previously advertised from the outside.

That was first thing I noticed about this place. The second thing I noticed was that it was dead quiet and there were no patrons. None.

Creepy.

I looked back over to the bartender, who had stopped cleaning the glass he was holding to stare at me in... shock?

"Hey..." I started, waving at him awkwardly, "So... uh... what's up with all the blue?" I finished lamely.

"No, no, no, you aren't supposed to be here," he muttered rapidly under his breath. The poor guy looked like he was about to have a panic attack. He kept shifting from side to side nervously, stealing glances at a door behind the counter.

"Um... hey, dude," I said eyeing him warily, "you okay?"

"He said it wasn't supposed to be a human this time - that we we were going to try something new," he continued, completely ignoring me.

I raised my eyebrows slightly at that.

Not supposed to be human? The fuck?

"HEY!" I finally shouted.

The man jumped and snapped his panicky gaze back to me, "Y-yes?"

I took a second to look him over. The guy was tall, pale, and thin... very thin. Like, almost Thin Man thin. He had an annoyingly reedy voice and gave an occasional nervous twitch every now and then. His hair was a dark brown and slicked back.

And his eyes.

They were squinty, shifty, and ice blue.

I didn't trust this man. Not one bit.

"Look, buddy," I said - a bit of annoyance seeping into my voice, "I have absolutely no idea what's going on or where I am. If I'm not supposed to be here, take it up with whoever decided to replace my bedroom door."

"Oh," the man said in surprise, "m-my apologies sir. I-I assure you, w-we had no in-intention of-"

"Hey," I said, cutting off his nervous apology, "It's cool, dude." I raised my hands in a placating gesture, "My day was probably gonna suck anyway," I took another look around the modern tavern, "whatever this is, it's way more interesting than what I was gonna do."

"Oh," he responded, absently fiddling with the glass in his hand.

We just kind of stood there looking at each other awkwardly for a moment before I cleared my throat.

"Sooo..." I started to ask carefully, "what... exactly did you mean when you said you weren't expecting a human?"

His eyes widened at the question and he shot another nervous look at the door in the back, "I'm... not sure I should say..." he replied, uneasily.

I was getting tired of his not-so-subtle glances at the backdoor and decided to call him out on it.

"Hey, man," I said looking at the door, "is there someone I should be talking to back there?"

The bartender shifted uneasily again, "Ah... well, that is - you see-"

A sudden sinister-sounding chuckle that seemed to come from everywhere at once made us both jump.

Send the boy to see me, Reedus.

We both stared at the door for a minute before I turned to the bartender - whose name was apparently Reedus.

I found it fitting somehow.

I looked back to the perpetually nervous man, "Well, you heard the ominous voice, Reedus," I nodded my head towards the door in the back, "You gonna let me in?"

Reedus shook his head rapidly, schooled his features, and looked back at me with an air of professionalism, "Of course sir, the Tavernmaster will see you now."

I raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in demeanor, but shrugged it off and moved towards the backdoor behind the counter. I was about to turn the knob when I heard the front door to the tavern open.

"What in Celestia's name?"

I snapped my head back to the entrance at the sound of the voice and gaped at the figured that walked - or rather trotted - into the tavern.

Well... that's definitely not a human.

Author's Note:

BAM!

Inspiration struck and I jumped on the idea. This actually came from something I posted in one of the forums on this site (can't remember which one) and I thought it was too good of an idea to not use. I think it goes without saying, but this will be a lot longer than my previous story - though I don't know exactly how long yet.

And to answer any unasked questions - yes, the rest of the Mane Six will get Personas eventually. Three gold stars to whoever can guess what Terrence and Twilight's Personas are going to be.

P.S. I'm not sorry about the chapter title.

P.P.S. Would you believe the bathroom scene was inspired by Fallout 4?

Comments

[Commander Darklight]

looking forward to more

[the7Saviors]

8618280
Working on the second chapter as I type this.

[Starlight Nova]

Will this story have any sex scenes, implied or otherwise, where the woman does most or all of the work?

[the7Saviors]

8619972
Nnnnooo.... why would you ask that? I didn't add a sex tag and I changed the rating to T...