Hiding behind a Name (The Maskless Trilogy #2)

By K. Weikel

The Maskless exists because of one person.
Because he wanted to have a voice.
Because he was punished and banished.
Not because he wanted to, not by his choice.
But the Rebellion is alive because of one death,
Because one girl had all she could have.

Because of blood shed to make a difference,
Because her own thoughts were bad.
Things haven't changed much in the city,
But little things are changing.
Everyone noticed Becca Reed's stance
Even the highest government has heard.
The Maskless are disintegrating
But so are the masks that everyone wears.
Everyone has a good side and a bad side.
Now is the time to choose.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. Weikel Publishing
• Release date: Mar 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311096883

K. Weikel

K. Weikel uses her three-dimensional characters to tell stories of life and adventure and magic."The One-Hundred" won the Wattys Award in 2015 and has reached over two million reads. Weikel has also won the 2017 Writers Awards for Building Monsters. She has written 60 books, including her first manga, "Katharsis". To learn more, visit her website: http://www.kweikel.comSERIES:Underdogs (4)Replay (13)Katharsis (1)The One-Hundred (6 Books, 1 Short Story, 1 Novella)The Haunted Mansion (4)The Blood Room [3 Alternate Endings]TRILOGIES:Dead MenMaskless TrilogyTrapped TrilogyCOMING SOON (1)DUOLOGIES:The Unnamed DuologyStop; GoSTAND-ALONES:WaterloggedThrough the Dimension of NightmaresWhen the Sky EatsCreatures of the BelowNord and the BordSamenessBuilding MonstersDollhouseThe Vampire's CarnivalKrystal's WorldLabyrinthFiguresMatchCagedList X

Book preview

Chapter 1

It’s been three months since the death of Becca Reed. Eduard can still feel the nervousness of the crowd as she fell to the ground. He remembers feeling the warmth leave her body as he ran up on the stage to grab her. It all happened so fast…

But nothing changed. Everyone still wears masks, the Maskless have died out and shrunk down to about fifty members, and Eduard has stood on the edge of giving up, daring himself to jump. Although he still believes the government is wrong on many levels, he doesn’t fight as much as he used to anymore. He’s not that thirteen-year-old boy that asked a question that shoved him into the Dark Clan.

He always finds himself wondering, What if Banshee hadn’t have shot her? Would the world be different now if she was still alive? And then he finds himself doubting her death.

But he knows she’s gone. He was there when she was shot. He was there when they lowered her into the ground, covered in black fabric, and her face hidden behind a mask for eternity. She’s gone. Forever.

The sky is dreary and gray, rain should be falling soon. The air is beginning to get cold, but Eduard doesn’t care about the cold any longer. He just cares about living another day.

I lied, saying that nothing changed at all in the city. Things had. Small things. The black masks have started rebelling against the city government and the white masks even more than usual, and there is at least one death in the city reported each day. Thirty days, thirty deaths. Another one should happen today, if all things go as predicted.

The black masks that had committed the crimes are harder to find, due to the Maskless idea of mask-jumping, which is now a crime as well, and is punishable by death. In about two days, the national government should be passing a law that all citizens must wear their ID’s on the left breast of their clothing. The ID’s have to have their face, their mask, and their name clearly printed on its surface, and if they are found with a fake ID, they will be executed.

The events of Becca Reed shook the city a little bit, and the city, Quill, had presented these ideas to the national government and explained the news. He talked about it in one of the meetings he called over the past handful of months.

But Becca Reed hasn’t been forgotten. There’s a wall on one of the buildings designated to black masks with the painting of the mask Becca wore with her name at the bottom. Becca Reed Lives On is what it says. Every time Eduard walks by it he always shakes his head.

The bells ring as Eduard opens up the Dark Clan’s coffee shop. He hears people talking about things, things that don’t matter to him, and he sits down at the counter.

What can I get you? a guy with splotches of colored paint covering his mask says, reminding Eduard of Twitch.

A lump rises in his throat. A club sandwich and some milk, Eduard sighs, the sky outside matching his mood.

The boy nods and smiles, and walks away to go make the sandwich. Eduard plays with the napkin with his fingertips absently as he stares out the window at the front of the little shop. Things seemed to have happened so fast…

…she was shot because she took off her mask.

Eduard snaps around to the sound of the voice.

A girl sits with a boy, pink music notes on her mask, and silver circles on his.

What was her name? the boy asks. Rebecca or something?

Becca, Eduard says automatically before he can stop himself. Becca Reed.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s it, the boy says, chuckling a little. Thanks. What’s your name, bro?

Eduard, he says and holds out his hand as he turns to face them. The boy takes it and shakes.

Harlem. And this is Julie.

Eduard nods and hears his plate touch the counter in front of him.

Here you go, the waiter says, and Eduard can just imagine the boy smiling by the sound of his voice. Enjoy.

Thanks, Eduard says and nods.

Hey, you eating alone? he hears Harlem ask and he turns back around to him to nod slowly. Come eat with us. It’s alright. We won’t bite.

Eduard looks at the two empty chairs on either side of the table beside them and decides to join.

So did you know that Becca chick? Harlem asks as he tears a bite from his burger and slides it up under his mask and into his mouth.

Eduard nods. She was the face of the Maskless.

Oh! Julie says suddenly, a little too loud. I heard about them. Were you in it?

Eduard chuckles a little. I sort of started it.

Whoa, dude, Harlem says, putting his hands up. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.

Why? Eduard asks, ripping a piece from his own food and slipping it underneath his mask. He’s never liked eating like this; he can’t eat as much as he wants to because he gets fuller faster.

Julie laughs. Two reasons. One, she holds up a finger and looks at Eduard. Because we’re supposed to report anyone who was in the Maskless to Quill. And two, she holds up a second finger. Harlem here is Quill’s son.

Chapter 2

Eduard chokes on his sandwich.

Quill has a son?

You all right there, Eddie? Harlem asks as he slaps Eduard on the back to dislodge the piece of bread stuck between the walls of his throat.

Eddie? Eduard thinks to himself as he nods. What kind of name is Eddie? He doesn’t like that nickname or whatever Harlem just gave him. He finds it annoying, actually.

Julie and Harlem laugh as they rip another bite off of their food. Eduard sneaks a glance at Harlem’s ID to see if he’s wearing it already, and sure enough, he is. Harlem Henson.

Eduard feels a prick of fear in the back of his mind. This boy is powerful… powerful enough to get him killed.

It’s time for me to go, Eduard mumbles and begins to stand up.

What? You haven’t even finished eating, Harlem says with a chuckle.

Eduard shrugs. I’m full.

Harlem sighs heavily and looks at Julie. Is it because I’m Quill’s son?

Eduard hesitates, not knowing whether to tell the truth or to lie to him. He chooses the truth.

Yeah, Eduard says, picking up his sandwich. I’d rather not die today…

He begins turns around and throws the sandwich away in the trashcan. As he turns around, he bumps into Julie and Harlem again. They seem to fidget nervously as they look around. Eduard feels confusion tugging at his brain.

Can we talk to you outside? Where there aren’t any people? Julie asks quietly. Eduard almost has to ask her to repeat herself, but he understood her.

He nods slowly and walks out the door, the bells announcing their leaving. The boy behind the counter calls out a goodbye as the door swings shut behind them.

You said you started the Maskless? Harlem whispers.

I don’t think I should tell you any more, Eduard says, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

No, you don’t understand, Julie says a little louder than Harlem. Harlem…

I’m not here to get you in trouble or anything, Eddie, he says, and Eduard starts getting annoyed by the shortened version of his name. I’m here to join.

What? Eduard asks, taken aback, and his heart racing. "What do you mean, ‘join’? They want to kill all of the Maskless, you know. Your father does."

Yeah, I know. Harlem says, clenching his fists. He bounces three times on the balls of his feet before speaking again. Listen. If you knew my story… if you knew what I’ve been through… You’d understand. You would join too.

Why? Eduard asks, feeling as if there’s more to what Harlem is just saying. Whatever drove him to rebel against his father must have been something big.

And as if to confirm Eduard’s thoughts, Harlem speaks again.

Trust me, you want me on your team. No one wants to bring my father down than me.

Chapter 3

Eduard molls it over in his head for a moment, thinking about the possibilities and the advantages that Harlem could bring to the table.

But what if he’s doing this just to get back at the Maskless for trying to break the laws of the society? What if Harlem is a spy, sent from his father to infiltrate the system, just as the Maskless did with Becca?

Eduard shakes his head. Sorry, man. I think the Maskless is over with.

He starts to walk away, but Harlem’s strong hand wraps around his forearm and pulls him back. Harlem is a tall guy, only an inch or two taller than Eduard, but he’s buffed up pretty well beneath his tight shirt.

"I need to join," he says quietly.

Eduard sighs and pulls his arm away from Harlem. Fine. But you have to tell me why before I officially let you join or whatever. I’ll have to find and talk to the other leader before you can actually get in though.

Eduard knows that with his word anyone could be a Maskless, but things have been so different since… Since Victoria, Twitch, and Nixon died. It’s just Mikey and him now. Eduard hasn’t even seen him in a few weeks, but he’s sure he can find him out in the woods or in his room writing. Eduard keeps telling him that no one will take a black mask’s book, but Mikey has always been persistent.

Eduard looks at the boy before him expectantly, waiting for some amazing story where he wants revenge on his father for something he did in the past or something, but what comes from behind the boy’s mask surprises him, almost, if he hadn’t heard it before.

It’s wrong. All of this. I’ve known it for years, actually, but when that Becca chick… when she stood up in front of my father, it gave me a burst of courage or something. I don’t know. I just feel like I have to fight back.

But he’s your father? Eduard says his mask moving as his eyebrows pinch beneath it. Does that have something to do with it though? Is that everything? No revenge for anything, no wanting to give him a taste of his own medicine or anything?

Harlem seems to hesitate for a moment before answering, and the brief moment sends a red flag waving at the back of Eduard’s mind.

Nope, Harlem says quietly.

Eduard looks at him for a moment, still wondering if he should really let this boy, the son of the enemy, in on the most wanted rebellion group in the entire nation.

And what if he isn’t telling the whole truth? Would Eduard be setting himself, and everyone else, up for failure?

But with this boy on the team, they could sneak into wherever Quill went undetected, should he actually be wanting to join and isn’t just a spy.

Either way, he could withhold information from him.

Alright, Eduard finally decides, leaving that last thought burning in his mind as he holds out his hand for Harlem to shake it once again. Welcome to the Maskless, then.

. . .

Well, Eduard found him, and he was right where he thought he would be—writing in his room.

Mikey opens the door and Eduard gives a short hello as he introduces Julie and Harlem. They make their way inside and Eduard tells Mikey about the two new recruits and the situations.

Can I talk to you for a minute, Eduard? Mikey asks, grabbing his mask off of the bed and slipping it on as Eduard follows him into the hallway and shuts the door. "Are you insane? Quill’s son? Why?"

Eduard laughs softly at Mikey’s reaction. I know, I know, but listen. He lowers his voice