USING THE MASK

THREE DAYS LATER..

  It was Alessia's supposed wedding day and Bryan hasn't muttered a word since he woke up.

 “We'll dispose her body in the river after the molding has been done”

Those words of Stephen's uncle haunted Bryan all through the night, he couldn't sleep a wink and as if the heavens weren't on his side, Alessia's image didn't leave his head all through.

“How could you be this cruel, intending to have the body of a billionaire's daughter rot in a river?” a part of him didn't stop reminding and stabbing him with its whispers.

The guilt, alongside the pain of losing his lover overwhelmed him.. 

Besides, he was supposed to walk down the aisle with her today but she was going to be replaced by a lady who had to spend the last three days learning Alessia's likes and dislikes, friends name, walking style and how to speak in Alessia's accent. Although, he had allowed her to move around freely still with her identity.

“Her relatives will be here anytime soon, what are we going to do?” Jenna panicked, staring at Bryan whose face was buried in his palms.

She sighed, understanding the reason for his sad expression.

“It's a few minutes to seven already,” she said, settling on the arm of the couch.

“I thought you said the silicone mask will be delivered as early as 6AM, why hasn't it been delivered yet?” she asked and Bryan was forced to let out a groan.

“Can you just stop talking? It's annoying!” Bryan spoke for the first time that morning with anger obvious in his voice as he raised his head up. Jenna instantly noticed his red eyes and she gasped, he had been crying!

Before she could say a word, the doorbell rang and their eyes widened. 

“Her mum?” Jenna gasped and Bryan placed his forefinger on his lips.

  “Shh,” he said.

“We need to—” she tried saying but he covered her mouth with his palms, stopping her from completing her statement.

“Don't make a sound" he warned, pushing her into the kitchen. He wiped his face and tried to maintain a calm look as he walked over to the door.

“3…2…1”he made a countdown, heaving a breath before opening the door. Lo and behold, it wasn't any of Alessia's relatives but Stephen.

   “Geez, I was scared” he breathed and of course, Stephen couldn't help noticing the redness of his eye.

“You were crying?” he asked as they both walked back in, Bryan only sighed, giving no reply.

“You got the mask?” Bryan asked back, digressing and Stephen nodded, pointing towards the bag he was holding.

  “It wasn't easy, forty workers worked on this to hasten the process” Stephen said, falling heavily on the couch.

“Bryan, who's that?” Jenna's voice came from the kitchen and Bryan breathed..

“Come out, it's a friend” Bryan said and immediately, Jenna appeared from the kitchen door.

“Hi..” Jenna said, trying to speak in Alessia's voice. Stephen smirked..

“What?” she asked, raising a brow and Stephen cleared his throat.

“We are in this together okay? You don't have to pretend" he said and she bit her lip shyly.

 “As fast as possible, you should wear this” He said further, bringing out a white box adorned with a suitable logo. 

Inside it was a silicone mask that had eerily life-like features.

  “Wow” Jenna's lips formed an ‘Oh'. All her life, she had never seen a silicone mask so it seemed surprising.

Without hesitation, Bryan unsealed the box and removed the mask from its resting place, examining it thoroughly. The craftsmanship was exquisite, the details were precise and the details were uncanny.

Surprisingly, Jenna felt her heart skip a beat. It felt so scary to be about to wear the exact face of a dead person.

“You're scared?” Stephen smirked, collecting the mask from Bryan before standing up. She replied only with a gentle nod, hiccuping repeatedly and with that, the mask was slowly lifted to her face and placed over her features.

It perfectly molded into her skin with ease and Bryan's eyes widened. She looked perfectly like Alessia! Her expression was transformed already and her eyes seemed more bright.

The mask was really disguising, no one would detect even with a closer look. She rushed to the television and since it wasn't on, she could see her reflection.

She indeed looked perfectly like the girl in the picture!

“This is crazy” she muttered under her breath, turning down to the duo.

  “Seeing her face feels like her spirit is haunting me,” Bryan admitted, placing his hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat.

“We have to go now” Stephen said and Bryan nodded, standing up too.

“Huh, where to?” Jenna batted her lashes.

“Do you expect the bride and groom to get dressed in the same place?” Bryan smirked, giving a blunt answer and she gulped down her saliva in realization.

“Don't make a mistake of getting anyone suspicious, I've shown you the pictures of every of Alessia's relatives and told you their names, be careful” Bryan warned, without looking at her though. It was like he was seeing Alessia again and even though he tried pretending to be strong, it was weakening.

“Yeah” Jenna rolled her eyes, folding her arms.

“The wedding gown?” she suddenly asked on remembering and he sighed.

   “It will arrive alongside the makeup artists, relax" he said and she mouthed an 'ohh'.

“We'll meet at the altar” Bryan said and with that, he took steps forward, walking out of the house with Stephen.

  “Impersonating the dead” Jenna's lips moved and as if her words were magical, she felt her heart ache and she let out a loud groan.

“Argh!” she winced and almost immediately, the pain disappeared.

  “What was that?” she breathed, heaving a sigh.

Jenna rushed upstairs, entering Alessia's room and her eyes widened when she saw her face in the mirror. Truly, her reflection in the television screen had given her a clue of what she looked like but the mirror gave a better explanation..

“Oh my..” she breathed and almost immediately, Alessia's phone beeped. Bryan had given it to her the previous night and had told her the password.

It was still so surprising that she was now looking exactly like the lady on the phone's wallpaper.

It was message's notification and with furrowed brows, she unlocked the phone, clicking on the message.

‘Mum' was inscribed boldly as the sender's ID and she read the message immediately, identifying who it was.

“I'm sorry, I won't be attending your wedding with my daughter. I got into an emergency situation. My regards to her” the message read.

Jenna was surprised, not only because the message was like she was referring to Bryan but also because Alessia's mother could willingly do other things and skip her daughter's wedding.

Her lips moved before she could realize and she spoke.

“What sort of mother is this?”