I watched as a white van with the words "Golden Construction" written across it in gold lettering, drove up to the black gates of The Castle. Those gates then opened on their own to let the van through then close rapidly after it missed the van by only inches. I watched as the van hastily disappeared from view as it went over the hill. The cherry blossom trees were in full bloom this time of year making the concrete road look insignificant underneath them. As I turned away from the gate, I noticed a new store I have never seen before, Golden Masquerade. I've lived here my whole life and this store never existed. It looked eerie and ominous. I got pulled away from my thoughts and curiosity of looking at the store front because my mother was calling me.
"Hello?" I answered in a light feminine voice the sound of flowers almost. I was still walking from my friends house on the way home.
"Where are you?" My mom inquired through a crying baby in the background and a barking dog.
"I am on my way home," was all I could get out before she interrupted me.
"I need you to stop at the new store for our masquerade stuff. Quiet down peanut. I recieved a call saying an order with them was ready for pick up and I need you to meet your dad there to pick everything up." My mama spoke quickly in-between trying to soothe my baby brother with his crying.
"Yes, mama," I said promptly staring at the store in front of me. This store had red velvety curtains on all the windows. In the store window, were two mannequins one in a gorgeous blue three piece suit and tie with a white under shirt along with black dress shoes. While the other was in an astonishing dark green dress that had matching heels. Each mannequin had a matching black mask. Above them in gold lettering was Golden Masquerade. The entrance had a flashing open sign on it with a black curtain behind it. Something seemed strange about the way the store was made up and I still got the ominous and eerie feeling from the place.
"Thank you, sweetheart, be safe and careful. Your papa is on his way to meet you. Wait there for your papa. I love you," my mother spoke before hanging up the phone.
I put my phone back into my pocket and walked into the store. A buzzer rang as I walked in. The smell of honey, whiskey, and evergreen chewing tobacco filled my nose. I stood astonished by all the masquerade items around me. Masks of all sorts covered all the walls. The lights from the ceiling illuminated each one perfectly. They had masks tiny enough for infants. As I took in my surroundings I noticed gowns were sporadically positioned on hangers all over the floor mixed in with various suits.
"Can I help you, darling?" A southern accent came from behind me making me jump from being startled. The honey smell intensity increasing around this lady. This woman had on a cowboy hat the was black as midnight over lengthy blonde hair that was nearly faultless white. Her green eyes stood out from her lightly tanned complexion. She was following me closely with her eyes. She grinned showing her white teeth with purple lipstick smudges on them. She was so tall I had to lean my head back just to gaze at her. She wasn't obese by any imagination. Her purple and white flannel covered a white tank top that left zero to the naked eye. Her breasts nearly fell out of her shirt as she leaned over on the counter with her athletic arms folded in front of her.
"Uh-huh, I mean, yes ma'am." I couldn't help but be captivated by her. She had some aspect of the lustrous aura encompassing her. She was gorgeous and I couldn't help but notice. And the smell of honey almost intoxicating.
"Whatcha need sweetness?" Came that southern draw at the end you only hear in films. The smell of whiskey on her breath.
"I am picking up an order for my mama, uh, Claudia Velvadeen, please miss." I was attempting to use my manners with this bizarre woman. She leaped up and started looking through an enormous book on the counter, flipping through pages. I hadn't noticed it before. She unexpectedly pointed to something and strolled into the back room behind the counter. It took a few minutes before I saw her start walking backwards out of the curtains to the back rooms. Her blue jeans leaving nothing to the imagination. She appeared hauling a chest with red and blue all over it. It looked like a treasure chest to me. She also wasn't hauling it alone. A man about six foot seven appeared with her hauling the other side of it. I saw etched on the chest in white was The Velvadeen Family. They set this enormous chest down in front of me. The smell of honey, tobacco, and whiskey intoxicated my senses from these two figures in front of me.
"You're not gonna be attempting to carry this here chest all by yourself are ya?" The man's smooth voice came from in between pink lips. The smell of whiskey mixed with evergreen tobacco rolling off his lips. He had the exact complexion as the woman and similar clothes. He had shoulder-length brown hair under a black cowboy hat. His eyes were the pigment of the sea. When his clothes slightly moved you could discern tattoos hidden beneath the flannel shirt he wore.
"No sir. I'm waiting on my Papa to get here in the truck. Do pardon my vulgarity, but are yall from here?" That topic gave rise to them both commencing laughing and the smell of whiskey rolling off their breath.
"Lord no. I am just laboring this here store for the approaching festival. My husband and I always get to be early in this cozy tiny community of yours, nonetheless," the woman explained with a smile.
"Where are yall from if it ain't here?" my curiosity was peaked, but the man got intense.
"Now don't you go interviewing us," the man commenced then halted promptly gazing at something behind me. I heard the buzzer again and looked back to discern my papa strolling into the store.
"Pardon me, folks. I hope my daughter hasn't prompted you all any trouble?" my papa declares instantly sensing the uncertainty in the area.
"Of course not. Do you prefer us to assist you loading this chest up in your vehicle mister?" The lady raised a question directly with a smile and a wink at me.
"That would be great. Thank you." My papa immediately acknowledged. The man thus picked up the chest by himself and followed my papa to the pickup truck awaiting us outside the storefront. I turned to follow when a hand touched my shoulder causing me to look back at the woman who was staring down at me.
"Word of guidance. Don't inquire of visitors with numerous questions. Some take tremendous offense to it. Nothing personal, but the further you implore the more the hosts will be watching you. I've observed several people vanish for investigating too extensively about aspects long forgotten. Please take this as an indication to quit while you still have a chance to." The woman proclaimed hastily to me before permitting me to take off and sauntering into the back of the building. I instantly jogged outside to catch up with my papa and the unusual visitor. They had the chest already loaded into the back of the truck by the time I caught up. The mysterious man sauntered back into the building. He tipped his hat to me as he passed. The smell leaving me slightly dizzy as the fresh air mixed in.
I hopped into the purple pickup truck throwing my purple bag at my feet. I watched as my Papa drove. He has a lengthy athletic type structure to his body, a haircut an inch in length underneath a black baseball cap. He wore a blue t-shirt with black jeans. His shoes were black boots.
"Lexi, you have to be careful asking visitors questions like that in any shop for the festival. We don't dispute anything that happens around it. Do you understand?" My Papa sternly scolded me with a thick transylvanian accent.
"I just don't understand why. They weren't from here, this town, so where did they come from?" I asked my Papa.
"Nobody knows and nobody asks. If you ask, you disappear. I just don't want to lose you like we lost your aunt. Can you just trust what I am telling you for once, please?" I heard my Papa's voice break for the first time. I knew then that this was very serious. My aunt vanished without a trace five years ago and my Papa has never been the same since then.
"Yes papa," I answered quickly. I saw him vividly relax as we pulled into our driveway. My mama came out and the three of us pulled the heavy chest inside. She opened it and my brother's costume was on top of everything else. It was a royal blue three piece suit with a white under shirt and blue bow tie to match. His tiny mask the exact color of his suit and the most adorable tiny black dress shoes to go with it.
"Should I take Grandma and Grandpa their things as well?" My Papa asked my Mama. She shook her head and closed the chest.
"It's dinner time and I'm not done cooking yet." My mama answered as she walked into the kitchen. Papa then went back to his study. Our dog was sitting at the back door waiting patiently to be let in. I walked to the back door and let her in. I heard my brother start cooing from the living room where Shrek was playing. Our dog going over to the play pen my brother was sitting in to watch tv. I was suddenly hit with a wave of pure exhaustion. I decided I needed to go to my room for a nap. I walked from the back door across the living room to the stairs that lead up to our bedrooms. I slowly walked up each step as my body began to feel heavier. I walk past all the rooms until finally reaching my purple door that had a painted "Keep Out" sign on it. I walked in shuting the door behind me. I walk over to my bed and quickly climbed into it pulling the blankets over me as I kicked my shoes off into the floor. I fell asleep quickly.
As I drifted off to sleep I felt cold air surround me and I felt as if I was floating. The beginnings of my dream or so i thought. I was transported to an enormous library. Rows upon rows of bookshelves lined the walls and filled the giant room. It was a two story library for i found myself climbing steps up into a deeper part of the library and to a door that lead to what looked like an office inside. The door closing behind me as I found myself seated in a comfy black chair infront of me a huge wooden oak desk. The smell of honey intoxicating my senses once again. I looked to the right of this desk where the woman from earlier was leaning against the wall with her eyes trained on me. The man was on the other side of this huge oak desk also leaning against the wall. His sea eyes fixated on me unwavering. This black chair in front of me however facing away towards a large window over looking thousands more rows of book shelves. I could barely notice an outline of an older man sitting in this chair. His grey almost white hair being the only thing I could see in his reflection.
"Oh good, you are awake," came a eerie deep voice from the elder gentleman. I tried to speak but no words would come out. I also couldn't move my body whatsoever.
"You are not here physically. Therefore, you cannot move or speak. You are only here to listen closely." Came the woman's voice from the store with the smell of whiskey still on her breath as she spoke.
"I am someone you do not want to see again. This is your only warning. Stop asking long-forgotten questions or we will be forced to eliminate you. Derek here loves taking care of people that get too nosey and stick their hands in places they don't belong," the older man's eerie voice came as he gestured to the man from earlier.
"I know who you are Alexis Xavier Velvadeen. Do not force me to physically come to get you. That will be the last you will ever see your family again. We are your hosts for the festival. It would be wise for you not to piss us off again. Your body is currently asleep in your room. I brought you here by your soul. You take after your Aunt and I would hate having to do to you what I did to her. I hope you remember this and take this to heart because the next time I won't be so nice." The elder man sneered as he turned the chair around to face me. He had to be in his ninety's for he had wrinkles everywhere. His black suit sitting nicely on his elder frame. He places his hands together on the oak desk as he looked at me closely.
"Do you want me to give her the mark?" Derek asks with his evergreen tobacco smell drifting off his breath.
"She is just a kid. I don't see how the mark is necessary," came the woman's voice.
"Anastasia, do explain to me why you are so against the mark on this one? You are usually just as eager. What has changed?" Came the old man's inquiry watching her movements closely.
"Master Victor, I do apologize if I am overstepping, but I can feel that there is something different about this girl. She smells of magic. I can feel something within her. I don't think she's asking questions as normal citizens do. I also believe she may be asking to try and unlock something buried deep within her. If we mark her, she doesn't stand a chance to unlock whatever is within." Anastasia spoke softly staring at the floor then meeting my gaze.
"You know the rules, Anastasia. The mark has to be placed on her regardless because we brought her here." Derek snapped at his wife.
"She is different. I can see a magic binding on her. Can you see it?" Master Victor asked looking at something I couldn't see.
"No sir," came Anastasia's voice quietly.
"No, I do not," Derek spoke with astonishment clear on his face stopping him in his tracks.
"Ah. This binding is placed by an old one. It cannot be seen by the likes of you two. I will take this bind off. When I tell you, place the mark upon her left forearm, but do not infuse it with any magic Derek. I will do that. After this, we must keep a close eye on this girl. If the higher ranks catch wind of this they will snatch her. She must make it through the festival." Master Victor's words came sharply.
Derek steps over and grabs my left arm roughly. Victor starts mumbling something I could not make out. As the mumbles grow louder I feel something inside of me shatter like glass. I screamed out in pain as fire rushes throughout my bones. The fire washing over my entire body engulfing me in purple flames. Derek steps back quickly letting me go. I fall out of the chair in painful agony screaming and tears trying to slide down my face before they evaporate from the fire.
"Why is she reacting like that?" Anastasia questions as she is frozen in her spot staring at me unsure what to do.
"What was within her was kept under a binding spell. It was in the shape of a box. More and more layers have been added to it since she was born. My best guess is to keep it hidden from everyone including herself. Someone in her family knows the elder ways. Someone elderly slipped between our fingers," Victor angerly spoke. The agitation clear in his words.
"I burned five layers of the magic. When the fire goes out place the mark on her left arm quickly," Victor instructs Derek who had taken several steps away from me. My entire body is shaking as the fire slowly disappears allowing me to stop screaming. I am crying uncontrollable. Derek quickly grabs my left arm and attaches a golden bracelet to my forearm. As it latches itself I feel needles pierce my skin all at once making me scream once again. Derek takes the bracelet off revealing a black tattoo on my arm in the form of a rose.
"She may not be able to handle me taking all of the binding off without her physical body. Derek, quickly retrieve her physical body. Leave a dummy in her place until we can switch them back out. I make quickly finish this. Annie help him," Victor quickly jumped out of his chair and around the desk. He was kneeling beside me on the floor as the pain was getting unbearable within my body like a thousand needles piercing every inch of me. Victor touches my head with the palm of his hand before beginning to mumble again. The fire igniting once again except it was so painful I couldn't even scream. Everything went black within an instant from the pain I was in.