The Masquerade

The full moon rests high in the sky, illuminating the world of the night. A gentle breeze sweeps thoughtlessly through the forest.

I hug my woolen jacket closer as I walk quickly down the old dirt path that weaves about the tree's. They stand tall, black and twisting, as their long, crooked, branches reach towards the starless sky like skeletal fingers.
Their roots jut out of the ground, creeping and contorting with other roots.
It's quite a lot of work stepping, stretching and jumping over them.

A large wind gusts through suddenly, picking up the leaves from the forest floor and twirling them around like dancers at a fantastic ball.

I can feel eyes on me from behind. It sends spiders scurrying up my spine and my guts pivoting. Craning my head back, I look, excepting to see someone else there following, but I see nothing.

Shivering I look back in front of me only to gasp and stumble back. Their face is hidden behind a white mask and their form cloaked in ebony.

"Will you dance with me?"
Comes wickedly cold voice from within the mask, holding out a hand, it's white as bone.
I want to scream, but my voice is gone. I try to run, but only make it a few steps away before my foot catches on a root and I fall to the ground before I have time to put my hands out to stop from hitting the ground.
My skull pulsates with pain, I taste dirt and blood in my mouth and my vision flickers. The mysterious creature is a few feet from me, then it is standing above me, then it is picking me up.

"No" I murmur, trying to get away, my attempts are pitiful, my consciousness fading quickly into a quiet darkness.



Music, soft and melodic. It plays such a lovely tune. I wake to it, my eye site blurring for a moment before coming into focus.
I am not in the chilly forest anymore, with the large full moon above me and rooted soil beneath me.
No, I am somewhere much different. Above me is a beautifully painted ceiling, filled with pictures of angles and demons. I'm on a supple surface, running my fingers over it, I find it's silk.
Sitting up, I look around. I am in a bedroom, the walls and four poster decorated with elegantly carved, mahogany woodwork. The bed is shrouded with ivory silk.
The clothes I was wearing before, my grey frock, red tights and woolen jacket, are gone. They are replaced by a gown.

The skirts are a glowing gold, the bodice black with silver corset boning. Gold gems rim the waistline and neckline and smaller black gems sewn into the hem of the skirts crawl in a swirling upward pattern.
My feet, before wearing lace up boots, are now dawned with black silk slippers with gold and black gems.

'This is a dream, for it has no other rational explanation'

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I get to my feet. There is a sizable vanity at one end of the room. Walking over to it, I gaze into it.

'Well this certainly must be a dream, I don't look this good in reality'

My normally dull and grey toned skin is flushed with a healthy pink.
My dark eyes, usually murky brown, are now a shining chocolate shade.
My blonde hair, once washed out pale, tangled strands, is now a rich mass of feathery, flaxen locks, the strands glittering from the light of the candles that decorate the vanity.

Looking away from my reflection, my eyes catch sight of something on the bed that wasn't there a moment ago.

Walking over, I see it's a black mask with shimmering yellow feathers garnishing the border.

I pick it up, studying it further, a fingertip running across the smooth, glass-like surface.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"
I jump in start, dropping the mask back onto the bed and turning around swiftly.
There it is again, the dark figure, clothed in coal and masked.

"This is a dream"
I say to it, steadying my heart beat.
"I'll wake soon, I'll find myself in my own bed, the fireplace besides my bed will be lit, my mother will be sitting in the parlor knitting and drinking tea, my father will be reading the daily newspaper, just like always."

A deep chuckle reverberates through the mask, the body shaking. A bone white hand reaches up, pulling the disguises away, placing it on the dresser.

He's eyes are dark, his face colorless, the contours of his features extreme, his cheeks almost hallow.
He walks towards me, stopping just before me and leaning down, inspecting my face.
"So naive, so hopeful, so-" He pauses, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply "-Beautiful"

Something about him makes my skin crawl, the hair on the back of my neck raise, my throat run dry.
"Who are you?"
I ask in a soft voice, backing up, only to hit the bedpost, my hands that hang by my side slip about the wooden pillar, my spine pressing up against firmly.

"Halloween"
He mutters, taking up clumps of my curls and bringing them up to his nose, smelling them strongly.

"E-Excuse me?"
I stutter, beginning to edge my way around the post, away from him. He drops my curls and takes hold of my upper-arms, holding me still as he stares down at me.

"Halloween is my name"
He replies, his inky orbs cutting into me

"Interesting name"
I whisper, beginning to plan how to wake up from this all too vivid dream. He reaches over, picking up the mask I left on the bed. He positions it on my face gently, smiling a devilish smile.

"Well"
He starts, walking over to the dresser and picking up the mask there, placing it once again on his face.
"We wouldn't want to keep them waiting"
He turns back to me, holding out a hand for me to take.

"Who?"
I question, with no intention of taking his hand. This dream is so real, too real.

"The Masquerade of course, we only gather once a year, we must make tonight last"
Without waiting for me to say a word, he pulls one hand from the bedpost that I still grasp, holding it firmly and slipping an arm around my corseted waist.
"They are all excited to meet you, Amorette"

"You know my name?"
He does not answer, only tugs me closer to his body.
We walk out of the bedroom and into a long, poorly lit hallway, only a simple candle resting on the floor every five feet. I'm careful not to let my skirts catch in the tiny flames.

It seems like we pass 1,000 candles before we finally reach the end of the hallway. A glowing, rectangular outline of a door finally comes into view. When we reach it, he presses a palm to it, easily pushing it open.

The immense light that hits me makes me throw an hand up to shield my eyes. When my pupils return back to normal dilation, I take in my surroundings, I am not prepared for what I see, even though by now I should be.

Bright orange walls rise beneath the 50 foot ceilings, where large chandeliers hang, there twinkling crystals strung across to connect with one other. Black silk banners suspend from the walls, draping down in magnificent lengths of fabric.
The vast floor is dark, purple tinted marble, gleamingly smooth.

But those who adorn the floor, exceed everything.



Each dons a different, outrageously wonderful outfit. So many different colors and textures of fabric and designs of attire.
One woman wears a red corset, with silver glittering skirts that fall straight, pooling at her feet, her mask comes up high and sharp on the sides, red stones decorating the sides.
A man wears a black suit with a red cape and a red simple mask.
Another woman wore a grey, ripped, skirt that stopped well above her knees, over it she wore a dark purple garment that wrapped around her upper body and fell to the floor behind her, leaving the front of her legs bare, her rounded mask of was of filmy, cream cloth.

This is just the beginning, my mind can barely take in the countless others.

The room is dead silent, all masked faces locked on us. I swallow hard and begin to retreat in the hallway when the door slams shut.
A cool hand is placed on the middle of my back, pushing me forward silently.

"Welcome, friends, may I present, the newest member of our family, Amorette. We have joined together from our worlds for this ball for 150 years, let this night make all the others pale in comparison. Let us celebrate!"
Halloween shouts across the massive room, everyone raises glasses and cries out ''To Halloween!", then a loud cadence of music hits the air and the ballroom floor swirls and blurs as the guests dance.

"We shall dance now"
Halloween says in my ear, puling me down into the crowd. Grasping my body close to his, we twirl around the others in perfect sync with them.

'This is by far, the most vivid and odd dream I've ever had'

No longer resisting, I simply let Halloween dance with me, this dream will end soon enough, it has to.
"You look beautiful"
He murmurs, his long, lanky hand that engulfs my small one, contracts as he brings his face close to mine.

"Thank you"
I whisper, keeping my eyes down.

"May I cut in?"
Hisses a voice softly. I look over to see a man that highly resembles a cat. His mask goes up very high on the sides, his eyes are yellow with slit pupils, his ears are pointed, and as he smiles, I see the rows of a needle sharp teeth.

"I guess one dance wouldn't be too terrible"
Halloween lets go of me and takes a few steps back, grabbing a woman who appears to be a queen or princess of some kind, she wears a lovely sparkling crown .
The feline-man takes hold of me gentle, I take note of his long claws where his fingernails should be.
"I'm Lynx"

"It's nice to meet you Lynx"
I stammer, slightly reluctant, focusing on the buttons of his suit. Out of the corner of my eye I can faintly see Halloween with the crowned woman, his black cloaks a stark contrast to her flowing, blue gown and firey red hair.

"You should feel very honored"

I look back up at Lynx, making sure not to make eye contact.
"Excuse me?"

"You should feel honored" His voice, a series of hisses at different levels, sends unwanted shivers down my spine "He only choices the very best of the best to attend his ball, the Masquerade of Halloween. Whatever realm or world you come from, you must me very important, are you a princess or duchess?"

"No, sir" I say just loud enough for him to hear me. "I'm nobody, just the daughter of a dress maker"

"Well, whatever your statues, Halloween has defiently seen something in you"
He smiles, but thankfully, keeping his mouth full of fangs, shut.

"This is most realistic dream I've ever had Lynx, it's almost frightening how real everything feels"

He lets out a breathy, low, laugh, shaking his head.
"You silly creature, I've heard the people from your realm, Earth? am I right? are very reluctant to believe anything they can't complete explain with their small imaginations"

"If you except me to believe this is real, I'm sorry, but I just can't"
I sigh, looking around.
"A part of me wishes it was real though"

"Just you wait creature, just you wait"

I am about to respond when the songs ends and I'm swept up in the arms of another man, or at least, he looks like a man.
It's the one with the cape and red mask. A faster beat strikes up, and I find myself almost dizzy as we spin among the others.

"You know" He starts with a peculiar accent "You smell terrific"
He lifts my hand to his face, smelling my wrist. I freeze as I see him open his mouth, his incredibly long canines inch towards my flesh.

"Draculla!" I'm promptly torn away from the fanged man. "Don't you know it's rude to drink from someone without premission? especially such a timid creature as Amorette"
Halloween scolds 'Draculla', holding me close.

"I'm terribly sorry"
He apologizes, dipping down in a low bow before disappering into the crowd.

"W-What was he?"
I stammer, falling instep with Halloween as we walk off the ball room floor.

"A vampyr"
He answers simply.

"What is a vampyr?"
I look back over my shoulder, spotting Draculla swirling around with a woman in a short, white dress with translucent wings protruding from her back.

"A creature who's in biological need of blood, whatever properties that is in the blood is keeps them alive, without it, they will die. Just like if you suddenly stopped eating, your human body wouldn't be able to survive without the nutritions of food"
He explains as he settles onto a couch made of black vevlet, motioning for me to take a seat next to him.
I do so, leaning as far as I could away from him.

"What about Lynx, what's he?"

"Too many beasts and too little time" Halloween shakes his head "Tonight is not about questions my dear, it's about celebration. Go forth, dance, drink, eat, celebrate my sweet Amorette"
He says, taking my hand in his, squeezing it for a moment before letting go.

"But I- "And what do we have here?"
I'm cut off by a sensual, gravelly voice. A woman dressed in a skin tight, green dress that falls to the floor stands in front of me. Intead of hair, ringlets of flower petals and feathers cover her head and fall to her mid-back, her mask is made of black bark, fresh moss clinging to it.

"Spirit, this is Amorette"
Halloween introduces, running his fingertips down my arm, I shift away from him.

"Hm, she's very timid, isn't she?"
She smirks, her glowing lavender eyes piercing me.

"Yes"
His smiles, I can't see them, but I can image his shadowed eyes are on me.

"This is a Masqerade, a time to make merry, come with me Amorette, let us dance!"
She does not wait for my reply, taking hold of my hands, she draws me up and out onto the dancefloor.



Time passes, Spirit and her exuberant ways have me lightening me up some. In between songs, she introduces me to many masked creatures. Some as normal as I, some as strange as Lynx and Draculla, if not more so.
The lights above dim into complete darkness, and lines of candles along the walls are lit, providing a small amount of glowing light. The song that begins to play is slow, but quite loud.

In the darkness and my confusion, I lose Spirit. As I search for a way through the dancers, hands grab onto my waist, pulling me into a cold body.
"Now, you will dance with me"

Halloween turns me so I'm facing him and holds me very close. Closing my eyes and leaning my head on his chest, I sigh. It feels the song will last forever as my limbs grow heavy with drowsiness.

"I believe it's time for bed"
Before I respond, he gathers me up in his arms cradling me like a child. I do not bother to see where we are going.

Scarcely before I know it, I'm being lowered down onto a bed.

Barely opening my eyes, I look up at Halloween, who stands next to the bed, towering above me, he has no mask on.
He gently removes my mask, setting it to one side, then sits me up, sitting behind me and undoing the laces of my corset, pulling it off slowly.
He lets me lie back down as he removes my skirts, so I am in my underthings. He removes his cloak, leaving him in only pants.

I don't react as he takes hold of my face in his icy hands, leaning downward.

As his lips touch mine, I feel something so very odd, it starts a blazing feeling in my chest. Afraid, I pull away, only to find myself missing the the sensation.
He kisses me again, this time it's richer, deeper. It sends flames through my veins, my skin tingles all over, my mind becomes hazy. Never in my life have I felt this way, I don't want it to end.

'This can't be a dream, no dream can feel this real, this absolutely wonderful'

He pulls away, leaving me to catch my breath.
"No, I don't want it to stop"
I find myself saying, touching his face lightly, running my thumb across his cheekbone.

He smiles, crawling onto the bed, onto to me. His mouth returns to mine, my hands clutch at his hair.

I don't know when it ends, frankly, I don't know when it really began. It was a heated blur that leaves me shivering, but not out of being cold, because I am anything but cold.
After a short while, my head clears, my heart begins to beat normally once again.

I look over at him where he lays next to me, staring at me with an emotion I can't grasp. What I felt before, after the first kiss, is nothing compared to what I feel now, almost unhuman.
Still shaking ever so slightly, I turn over towards him.

"What are you?"
I ask, biting the inside of my cheek.

"I'm Halloween"