MASK! DREAMNOTFOUND

21 - Epilogue

SONG: Gone Away; Han, Seugmin and I.N (SKZ)

"A mind wants to forget, but a heart will always remember." - Bliss

GEORGE
5 1/2 MONTHS LATER

I want to say that the rest of our endings would remain happy, successful, over the moon. Yet some of ours turned out to be the complete opposite. After the death of Clay, I ran away from home, completely leaving everything I cared about. Worst president of history going to me and my families reputation.

I blamed myself for his death every night, crying myself to sleep or drinking my feelings to end up getting beatings from those who I started to pick fights with. Clay would say that I was a loser for mourning him this way but there was no easy way. I killed the man I loved the most.

No matter what I was the one who pulled the trigger, and wouldn't even face time because who cared for those who lived in the Haven.

For the others, their lives weren't easier.

Sapnap dealt with two deaths at once. Karl's condition ended up getting worse and he had taken his last breathe in Sapnap's arms, forgetting who he and his fiancé of two months was.

He believed his life would get better. He believed his some Lord or higher power that would see the struggles he was going through and grant him the peace to live one last beautiful life with Karl.

I never saw him after that, rumours said he was somewhere far living in the wilderness were he left Karl's memorial near Clay's where he would be buried when the time comes. Turns out that time was near, he would rest from the large amounts of stress that kept him up at night and refused him sleep. 

He left a letter to me, everything written from life being too hard, the suffering of losing both of those we cared about, to an apology and forgiveness of what me and my people have done. For he was a true nobleman that I praised.

He was resting with the ones he loved.

As for Alex and Wilbur they would follow each other after the fall of MASK and their names on every hit list. They headed back to Las Vegas, their sweet home to get drunk and sleep their nights away.

Their names would end up being in the headlines of the local newspaper a couple months later as they would pass from a drinking addiction and the hanging around of evil men. With dignity for the brothers of MASK I had forgiven Wilbur in my mind for the shove that had killed Clay.

It wasn't easy but with growth came solidarity and I felt it needed to be expressed to those who also had moved on from this life.

For Tommy and Toby, their lives would be vastly different. Toby would end up still becoming president, changing the system of the wealthy completely for the future generations to come. He would be an inspiration for all as he changed laws, creating everyone to be equal and destruction of the walls that divided us as regions.

No more wealthy, no more middle-class, and no poor. It was the life that Clay and the others of MASK would've dreamed of, something that they fought for even though it wasn't in the most morally just way.

Tommy though would end up in prison for the rest of his time. Too many offences to even be considered not guilty so he would end up becoming the golden boy of confinement.
With no parole or chances of even coming out, I would visit him from time to time to just listen to his plans of escaping.

Something that would get him killed but that never seemed to cross his mind once. He kept mentioning the help of BONES who were still in touch with him.

It was good to know that MASK wasn't completely a myth, so I put my faith in Tommy to carry the legacy of who they were and the change they had tried to bring. They weren't perfect, nor were any of us, yet they opened so many eyes to the challenges that those with impoverished lifestyles faced.

All of these memories slowly fading away as I was left lonely. No legacy to carry because I was the fool.

I sometimes questioned why it was me who survived and would tell the tale. Why wouldn't it be Clay, who wasn't afraid to die and could live a life of change and success.
That would be some noble tale to tell.

As it snowed and the temperatures dropped, the flowers now withered around their graves. I stood before them, Patches in hand as I usually let her see Clay as if she understood that he was six feet in the ground.

That scared the living out of me, that they were now withering to bone right underneath me. Yet, I had to be strong, I had to survive to fight for them. As she purred in my arms I began to put batches of flowers at each of their stones, wiping off the falling snow so that their names were still visible.

Karl, Nick, Will, Alex, Clay

I repeated their names so that they still felt real. As if they were still here to face this corrupt world with me head on. By far were any of us that close to being friends but I could say that their were times where it sure felt like it.

I bent towards Clay's stone where Patches nuzzled her precious body.
"Yeah, I miss him too." I whispered as I kissed his grave to then pull on object out from behind me. It was his mask, the smile somewhat cracked but all was still in perfect shape.

"This is what started it all." I gave a small laugh before running my fingers over the sturdy material that glowed with the snow reflection. Only one thing lingering in my mind. Something that screamed my name, almost as if it was him.

After putting one last kiss on the grave and saying peace to the rest, I stood, lifting Patches who meowed desperately to stay with her previous owner.

Not only did Clay teach me about love, but he also taught me about the pain and suffering people like me had caused his home. It made my blood boil knowing that he had given up his life this young to do something that was way bigger then he was. Never wanting that legacy to leave.

It felt like a duty calling me. Or was this my lingering love?

With that I pulled his bow and arrows off of the floor and onto my back, they were heavy but manageable as I added a few extras of my own.

Pulling the mask towards my face. With one deep breath I knew this job called me.

With the mask now on I could only see what Clay had saw when he created MASK.

Revenge.

For I was now Dream, and MASK would live for still decades to come until Clay and I are reunited again.