Holder of the Face

In any city, in any country, go to any casino or betting house. But before entering you must have a fair amount of money, and wear sunglasses and a hat of any kind. It is also recommended for you not to be physically attractive, particularly in the face, for the Holder has an affinity for pretty humans.

Find any croupier and ask to play with someone who calls himself "The Holder of the Face". The croupier won't say a word, but will hand you four playing cards; a Jack of Clubs, a Queen of Hearts, a King of Diamonds and an Ace of Spades. If you did not receive those specific cards then run, escape from the place and do not stop until you find any store that sells masks, any kind of masks, and quickly place one on your face. Buy it and do never, not even for a second, take it away for the rest of your life; for the croupier didn't deem you worthy of playing against Him and the Holder won't rest until your face becomes part of his ever growing collection. However, if you did receive the Jack, Queen, King and Ace, but all suited, then no mask in the world will save you from His servants, for the Holder found your face unique and impossible to part with.

As for the nature of his collection, it will be described later.

If you did get the cards with the right suits then turn away from the croupier as soon as possible and take a good look at the cards again. You will notice that the figures of the Jack, King and Queen are no longer the well known caricatures but depictions of ordinary looking humans. Only the ace will remain unchanged.

You will have to find customers in the casino whose faces match those in the cards. Whenever you find one, politely interrupt him/her from whatever he or she is playing and address him/her according to the corresponding card, saying exactly this words: "My dear Jack of Clubs/Queen of Hearts/King of Diamonds, the Face wishes to play". The person you addressed will seem to enter into a trance and, not saying a word, stand up and follow you. Be warned however, that you may not find the three of them the same day, and since your life is in danger from the moment you accepted the cards you will not be allowed to leave the place unless you wish a quick death, which might be tempting for some. If you have decided your life should not end yet, then you will have to feed on the food on sale in the place, and no one will ever question you as to why you have decided to pass the night inside the casino. Your companions may sometimes recover from the trance and try to go home. Do not allow this, for their lives are also in peril and should they die you will be damned to live the rest of your life unable to pass those doors.

It may take days or months for you to find the faces matching the cards. But once you do return with the same croupier and ask again to play against "The Holder of the Face". The croupier will ask you for the cards and the players, should you be missing one of them then consider your trip a failure, for your head will be cleanly cut off from your neck, and prepared for Him. If you did bring the three he will then ask for the Ace of spades, you should reply "That would be me of course."

"The Ace has no face," He will reply.

"Neither do I," you should reply, for should you say anything else you will realize how true this statement is when your face painfully melts away from your head before meeting the most terrifying death.

The croupier will comply and take you to a door that you had never noticed before. The truth is that door never existed before from the beginning. The Croupier will open the door and a dark but short corridor will appear. Enter into the darkness until you reach the end, a oval private game room with a bar man and a croupier, both of them with several blood stains on their elegant attires. Seating on the table you will see the figure of the Holder. Keep your sanity, for many have lost it after realizing the Holder is an identical copy of themselves.

Once the five players have taken their seats a round of poker, Texas hold em, will start. You don't need to win, or check at all, as long as you don't lose all your chips. Instead, focus on studying the face of the Holder, that would be your face. Try to detect the gimmicks on his face that will betray him when he is bluffing or actually has a good hand. If you decide to test your luck and lose all your chips, you will wish you were never born, because not even death will spare you from the suffering He has in mind for you.

When you feel you know well your opponent's face you may start playing more seriously. The barman, croupier, and players will often ask you questions. Do NOT speak a word for they only want an excuse to call "cheater" and behead you before you can even make a reply. Continue playing until you are sure the Holder is bluffing. Only then may you ask a question: "Can they be fooled?"

If the Holder smiles back to you, then he was not bluffing and your never ending death by his hands will grow only worse as the eons pass. If, on the contrary, He stands up angrily then his bluff was clear and you have won that game. Everyone in the room will scream, you will recognize thousands of voices, and only then you will realize every single one of the chips is screaming as well. This is the Holder's collection. But do not try to recognize the face captured in the chip, for this will only consume your sanity even more.

Instead fix your eyes on the face of the Holder, your face, as it twists unnaturally seeping with hatred. The screams will become even louder and more unnatural as time passes by, but you must not distract yourself from the sight of his face. After what will seem like years for you the Holder will abruptly take his hands to his face, only then you MUST turn your face away and close your eyes as the sound of flesh being ripped fills the place and the screams, those insane screams, augment with the passing seconds. You will also recognize the sound of your screams in the growing cacophony. Fight to keep your sanity, for this choir of madness won't last long.

Once silence reigns again you may open your eyes. The players, freed from any obligation, will be gone and see themselves in a hospital bed being attended for some strange hallucination-inducing illness. The chips will be blank, and the croupier and barman nowhere in this universe to be found. Where the Holder once stood you will only see his clothes and right in front of them, on top of the table, you will see your face.

Put it on as if a mask and it will painfully, but quickly, adhere to your skin. You will then see yourself in psychiatric hospital room, where a psychiatrist you have never seen before in your life will congratulate for your amazing improvement on your dissociative identity disorder. Go home.

Your face is object 2090 of 2538. Whoever you chose will forget ever having met you before, and your real intentions will remain unknown to all. You may fool them, but will that be enough to keep them from coming together?

Credited to Anonymous