Jon looked around the store for a little longer after the man said that he'd be right back. He went to a dimly lit part of the store and found a strange mask hanging on the wall. It was a heart shape with three spikes coming off of both sides. There were strange lines painted all over it seeming to give it curves in the face. It had no mouth, but the eyes were very dark. They seemed to glow in the dim light and stare into his very soul. They were big, orange and round. He picked it off of the wall and he swore he heard a voice telling him to put it back. He took it to the front and the man was standing behind the counter.
"How much is this mask?" Jon asked as he showed it to the man.
"You don't want that mask my boy. It has a very long history that you would not like." the man answered in a dark tone.
"What is so bad about it?" Karyn and Jon said almost together.
The man told them the tale of the mask. "That mask was made almost 200 years ago, in a land that is no longer around. It was made from a tree in the darkest part of the world by a sorceror with a very cruel hart. He made that mask so that no one would dare try and stop him as he took over the world. That mask was then placed on his face and became a symbol of fear for many nations. It was until a brave knighted stood up to him and killed him that his rein of terror was brought over the world. When he was killed the mask was to be burned, but when they tried to burn it the flames would not touch it. It seems that even Hell was afraid of its power and did not want anything to do with it. They tried everything to destroy it, but it would not brake due to the evil that was within it. As time passed a student of the dark sorcerer came to posses the mask, but he had another item of magic. That item was said to have the power to grant wishes, but not reverse them. With the power of the mask he was able to undo any wish that he wanted, but it came with a terrible price. You see that mask is cursed and cursed items are not to be taken lightly. With each wish that he undid, his heart became darker and more tainted by the evil. Soon he was just as evil as the sorcerer that had created the mask and was killed. The people of that time knew that the two items had to be separated, so they were sent to opposite parts of the planet never to be returned to each other. As time went by the mask seemed to call out to people to put it on so that it could get to the stone that made it's power grow, and one by one the people who put it on were tainted by it's evil and their souls stolen by the mask. As it were to turn out the mask was found by someone who knew of it's evil and it was buried in a land of which no one knew about. 100 years later a traveling mask collector heard of this mask and wanted to get it for himself. He did find it but it was stolen by someone who did not know of it's terrible power. The thief put the mask on and the mask took him over. The mask wanted revenge on the land that imprisoned it and almost made the moon fall onto the Earth. If it weren't for a great hero, we would not be here today. That hero was in the bloodline of the knight that killed the sorcerer that created it. The mask is still here today waiting for the next person to put it on so that it can find the stone that grants wishes and take over the world as it tried to do 200 years ago. That is why you do not want it."
Jon and Karyn could not believe what they just heard the old man say. As the story seeped in a strange looking man wearing blue suspenders and a red shirt came in. he walked over to a pile of hats and picked out a red one with the letter "M" on it.
"I'm a taking my hat back!" he shouted in an Italian accent and stormed out of the door.
Jon and Karyn did not notice this happen. Suddenly Karyn turned to Jon and asked, "You don't think that the rock in the story is the same rock that you got from your grandfather, do you?"
"It might be, but if that's the case then this mask really is cursed." Jon replied.
"Oh, come on. We can use the stone to make sure that the mask won't affect us!" Karyn said with the hope that she could reverse any wishes that already affected her and any stupid wishes made in the future.
"Heed my warning, the mask must not be worn by anyone. If it is ever put on, it could mean the end of the world." the old man said in that dark tone again.
"How much is it?" Jon asked again.
"I can't even give that thing away....I mean $30"
"Okay, I'll take it." Jon said as he paid for the mask and walked out of the shop with Karyn.
"Those kids have no idea the power of that mask, I hope that it dose not end up here again like it did all those times that I did sell it." the man said to himself as a taller man wearing blue suspenders and a green shirt looked threw the pile of hats. The man noticed him and mumbled, "They just keep coming in..."
Jon and Karyn went over to Jon's house and just looked at the creepy item that they had. "Let's go find the stone and see what happens." Karyn said.
"I'll go and look for it, you wait here until I get back." Jon told her as he left the room.
Karyn sat in the room with the mask when she hear a faint voice say, "...put...on...the...mask...put...on...the...mask...." She looked over at the mask and it's eyes seemed to glow with each word said, as if it were talking to her."...put...on...the...mask....know...true...power....put...on...the...mask...and...know...true...power...."
Karyn just looked at the mask when Jon came into the room with the rock. "Alright I have the rock, so now what do we do about the mask?"
As soon as Jon said those words both of them heard a faint voice say, "..rock....rock....wear the mask....with the...rock in....your...hand...know...true...power...rock...ROCK....give...it...to...me.."
Jon and Karyn just stood there until Jon said, "Did you hear that Karyn? Maybe we shouldn't do this."
Jon then had the weirdest feeling go threw his mind. "I'll do it, and I know how I can. I wish that my mind could not be taken over by any magical item that has ever been, or ever will be created."
The rock glowed in his hand as the wish took effect. He approached the mask and picked it up. Little did he know that it was not the item itself that would take over his mind, it was the dark spirit that dwell within the mask itself. Jon lifted it to his face but before he put it on he began to have second thoughts about the putting it on. Was this really a good idea?
