All of their faces were blank.

  They were all pointed in my direction, almost as if they were expecting something from me. What did they want?

  I looked around in an attempt to get a read on the situation, or at least find my bearings. It didn’t feel like anywhere in particular though. Those three faces could’ve been anybody. I couldn’t discern any identities from their presence; only that they were there. But I knew somehow that they could’ve said the same about me. Why did I know that?

  An overwhelming sense of anticipation set in all around me, hitting me like a crashing wave. The feeling was agonizing. I had to do something about it. Before I could ask what exactly that task was, my question was answered for me. My own face began to loosen its grip on my skull. Without hesitation, I reached up and removed my face, holding it in my right hand like a mask that one would wear to a party. I glanced back at the faceless. At that moment, I felt like one of them; like we were one and the same.

  But that moment quickly passed. A breeze started to blow. The temperature dropped. I could sense their disapproval. Did I do something wrong?

  Suddenly, I felt a weight in my left hand. It was no longer empty. I opened my palm, only to reveal another mask. Compared to the mask in my right hand, there were subtle differences. What those differences actually were wasn’t important to me. I had a much more pressing question on my mind. Where did it come from?

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Without any other options, I placed the new mask upon the canvas that the previous had left. Hope began to flow through me; hope that this was the solution to whatever they desired of me. That hope slowly turned into dread, as the awaited judgment of the faceless seemed ever so distant. The wait just kept getting longer and longer. I could have sworn that each time I expected it to finally arrive, the result only became even more distant. How long had it been? Minutes? Hours? Days?

Eventually, the air grew colder.

  I quickly tore the mask off, sensing that they were still displeased. The answer seemed so near, but what could it be? Was the mask itself just not the right one? As that thought crossed my mind, more masks appeared at my feet, each one looking more different than the last. I grew desperate and, without thinking, I frantically tried them all on, one by one, while my fear and panic rapidly accelerated. With each and every mask, I was more and more unrecognizable. It got even colder. It became so frigid that almost all my energy had escaped my body, leaving barely enough left for me to reach down and grab the remaining masks. The pile appeared endless. The faces on them were foreign to me. If I kept going, I surely would’ve frozen to death.

  Looking down one last time, I saw a singular thread sticking out of what should’ve been my chest. I didn’t have any other options. It was too late to ask any questions now. Using the last ounce of energy I had left, I yanked the thread with all my might.

I fell apart.

  My heart, my soul, my entire being was exposed. The faceless simply stared at me with what I instantly recognized as expressions of disgust. Despite their lack of eyes, I felt several gazes pierce through my soul before they turned around and walked away.

  While the sound of each and every footstep continued to echo and rattle throughout all of space and time, getting louder and louder every second, I laid there completely motionless. The color in my heart faded. And as their distance from me grew, so did my list of regrets.

  Eventually, the noise stopped. All that remained was what used to be me, lying in the cold they left behind.

Never once did it get warmer.