Olivia spent the remainder of the day feeling dreadful. She was under constant watch from the other patients outside of her room, the security walking around, the staff members constantly checking in on her and the reporters who were hungrily waiting for her to take a step outside.
The news had kept the small amount of video they were able to capture when they arrived at her room late last night, in a constant loop. The world outside was buzzing around in excitement while she sat in an melancholy state, waiting to hear some news from her friends and family.
She decided to leave the TV on mute, she was sick of hearing the reporters assumptions about everything that was going on with her and her family. It had already been a few hours since she woke up. She looked at the clock on the wall, it was only 4:41 p.m. and groaned. She saw that the news finally changed what they were broadcasting. Now everyone was buzzing, the news anchors were brimming with excitement when they heard that cars were starting to appear. Some reporters were able to get close enough to the venue to do a live feed.
A row of luxurious cars formed a line down the road before the gate. An attendant was standing at the end of a red carpet, in waiting. He was standing tall in his black tuxedo and had a mature and refined look to him. Olivia grabbed the remote and unmuted the TV when she saw a blonde, model like male appear on the screen.
"Roderick Glade here, if you are just tuning in now. We are at the Rune Regional Police Association and Recreation Centre, located at the outskirts of the City. 56 beautiful acres of landscaping, flower gardens, forestry and of course an outdoor pool. As you can see there is quite a line up of cars wanting to be the first people to get into the hall but not just anyone can walk down the red carpet and get through these doors."
"Earlier some 'guests' tried sneaking in, some were posing as hired help just to be thrown out. This reporter got word that the exclusively invited can't get in without presenting their invitations. They also need to abide by the very specific dress code. Ladies and gentlemen I need to remind all our viewers, this event is to not be taken lightly. We are dealing with a rather powerful lady who is holding a gala at a police hall. Trespassers will not be handled delicately, rowdy guests will not be handled delicately, guest not abiding by the rules and regulations set out will be removed from the premises. So if you think that just anyone can walk into this event, well think again."
"In this reporters opinion, I think Mrs. Steel is making sure that a repeat of the debutante never happens again in our history and I believe the fine police force of our good City feel the same way. Oh it looks like some more notable guests are starting to arrive." He said excitedly as the camera zoomed into view. A Bell*cci pump in black and baby blue Taormina lace delicately decrorated with crystal embellishments and a snow white leg stepped onto the red carpet.
Another foot and leg stepped onto the carpet before a delicate hand stretched out pompously, signalling the attendant to help the fair maiden out of the vehicle. "Which lady could be arriving on the scene so early?" The reporter asked as the camera stayed glued to the hand. The attendant promptly stepped in front of the camera's view and blocked the viewers from immediately seeing who had arrived. All they could tell was this lady was wearing a black and baby blue dress as pieces of fabric would peak around the attendant. Once the attendant completed his task of helping the lady he stepped back into place, revealing the guest.
"Ladies and gentlemen it looks to be... oh wait I'm getting confirmation... yes it is Ms. River Ruse! Heiress to Ruse Financials! Oh wait it seems she is waiting for someone else to get out of the vehicle." The reporter said anxiously. The viewers watched as River had ever so delicately turned her body back to the car. She had worn a Victorian Duchess gown that had a modern feel to it. It had three, spaghetti straps going across her dainty shoulders. The top half was baby blue satin and went vertically down her waist. From there it turned into three giant sections of ruffles before it changed into the black satin and continued its ruffled layers untill it reached her knees. On the back was a giant baby blue bow while on her head was two giant baby blue ostrich feathers and one black feather, attached to a baby blue fascinator.
Next came out a dark beauty that was followed by a familiar face with a distinctive set of green eyes. "Oh it seems like Ms. Ruse is not alone tonight. She seems to be accompanied by Ms. Annabelle Willows, daughter to the our very own Mayor Willows of Rune City and Quinn Delmira! Quinn Delmira, son of Renowned lawyer and author of Caspian Delmira and Fallon Delmira, an equally talented music producer who has helped us all realize our favorite artists of this century!"
Olivia felt a rock sink into the pit of her stomach when she saw River and Quinn together on the screen. She watched as each person placed a mask over their faces and walked up to a well dress man standing in front of some strong looking men. They each handed the man what looked like golden invitations, the man gave them a pleasant smile and had the other two men open the doors. The three looked at the cameras and waved before entering the building.
Her imagination starting to run wild. She couldn't help but picture River doing something cruel to Laila, just to turn Eli's head. She felt her heart rate pick up and her mouth go dry.
There was knock on the door, Olivia felt relieved that someone was able to pull her thoughts from River. A plump, red head walked in, carrying a tray of food from the food cart. "Hello." She said politely. "Ell-o Miss Olivia, are you feel-ing al-rite? 'ave you gotten on upset stoma-ck recently since taking the new prenatals? Mood sw-ings or any-t'ing?" She asked as she placed the tray on the table next to Olivia. Olivia gave her a small head shake and looked back at the TV screen. "You sure you've been feel-ing fine?" She asked again, placing a hand onto Olivia's shoulder.
"I'm fine... um... I'm sorry I don't know your name." She said shyly as she looked at her face. The nurse had brown eyes, fine laughing lines and a round face. "Don't worry love, my name is nothing but a blip in your life but between you and me..." She said before she started to look around dramatically. When she was satisfied that no one was listening she brought her plump hand up and cupped it around her mouth. "I snuck in an extra servin' of flan... you know one fer you and one fer the babe." She said and then gave Olivia a very awkward wink.
Olivia smiled at the gesture and thanked the nurse. The nurse just waved her hand in the air, brushing away her thanks. "No t'anks needed love. Just remember to eat your dessert after your meal. Balance and all., well I got to get back to work. Take care dearie." She said sweetly and left to finish off her deliveries. Olivia turned to look at the screen again and decided to change the channel, she groaned again, just her luck the next channel showed the interior of the building.
Inside was a grand hall that could easily hold 500 people. At the back wall were floor to ceiling windows, with a beautifully decorated head table, with red and white roses, fairy lights and canopy backdrop was placed on slightly elevated platform at the edge of the dance floor.
A DJ was set up in a corner, an extravagant photobooth sat in the opposite corner of the DJ with a giant champagne fountain next to it. There were round tables covered in white linen clothes and had red runners on top of them. The chairs had white, slip covers over them and a red, satin sash was tied around the top of the chair. The sash was tied into a giant bow on the back of the chair, in the center it held black and white roses. Two rows of canopies with fairy lights decorated the ceiling, from one edge to the center.
People in over the top gowns and suits were mingling with one another. Some people wore full face masks, some just had a phantom of the opera masks, some used makeup to give the illusion of a mask while others like River had small masks that only covered their eyes. Olivia sighed and decided to turn off the TV and just eat dinner instead. She slowly and absentmindedly are her chicken noodle soup, spinach and kale salad and rice before she looked at the two cups of flan. She wasn't in the mood for sweets and decided to drink her cup of ice water.
She found that it was more ice than water, so she removed the lid. She looked into the cup and shrugged, she tipped the cup up to her face and started to shake some ice into her mouth. She sat there in silence eating ice cubes and watching the scenery outside her window. After eating the last of the ice Olivia looked at the clock. It was only 20 after 5 and she figured she could grab a quick nap before the gala was in full swing.
She made herself comfortable and wrapped herself up with the blanket. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. She felt like she wasn't alseep for long when she heard someone knock on her door. She figured it was the staff checking up on her again and decided to not stir. The person walked up to Olivia and torn off the blanket. Olivia broke out into a cold sweat but didn't dare move. She wanted to know what this person wanted and try to catch them by surprise.
She felt the person grab her anklet and slowly started to fiddle with it. She felt the anklet slide off and the person went back outside and to fetch something. Olivia kept up her sleeping act as she heard wheels approaching the bed. The person lifted her up and placed her in a sort of bag, she felt she was surrounded in sheets and then covered with linen. The moment it became dark she shot open her eyes. Whatever she was in started to move and Olivia placed a hand over her mouth to stop any sounds from coming out.
She couldn't afford to be reckless, if she made one wrong move it would cost her the little lives she was carrying dearly. Especially since she had no idea who was trying to get her to leave the hospital and who was involved. She heard a ding sound and figured they were at the elevator. She started to tremble as she heard the wheels move, so she started to think of a plan.
She felt a small bump, thinking that the elevator came to a stop. She could hear the wheels and person's foot steps start to echo. 'The garage!' She thought. The person was trying to get her out of the hospital by vehicle, she would be dead if they managed to take her. She reinforced her resolve, the moment the person stopped moving she would jump out and make a run for it but the wheels never stopped turning.
Her heart started to beat loudly, every step that person made. She started to wring a linen sheet, making it as thin as she could. She slowly wrapped the rope she made with the sheet around her hands, she clenched her jaw and slowly adjusted her position, ready to pounce.
The wheels stopped rolling, the echoing of the person's footsteps had ended, she readied herself to jump out. When suddenly the blankets that were on top of her head were taken out. She reacted to slowly and one large hand reached in.
She acted on instinct and bite the hand as hard as she could. "Ow princess! Not so hard!" A familiar voice yelled. Olivia let the hand go, she let the rope she made slip from her hands and allowed her body to slack, not bothering to look up. "Edmond?" She called. "Honey please don't bite me this time." He cooed and reached further in. When he was able to touch her face with his fingertips, Olivia grabbed his hands. He quickly pulled her out and examined her.
After a moment he sighed a breathe of relief and gave her a wide, toothy grin. "Hi princess." Was all he managed to saw before she jumped in to his arms. "You scared me! How could you do that without so much as a word! My God do you even know how worried I've been about you. Agni said you were sleeping your life away..." Edmond squeezed her back, tightening his hold with every word she said.
"Edmond your squeezing too hard." She said breathlessly. Edmond let her go right away and helped her out of the laundry cart. "Princess you have it wrong, it was this guy on the floor that had you not me. I just finished my rehabilitation for the day and came by to see you. I almost had my heart jump out of my chest when I saw your room was empty and a tracking anklet was left on the bed."
Olivia looked behind Edmond and saw a man completely knocked out on the floor. A chill ran down her whole body, making her weak in the knees. "Hey, hey, hey now. Where is my warrior princess?! Come on let's get you out of here for now and do something a little bit more fun." He said as he gently helped her stabilize her footing.
Olivia saw the twinkle in his eyes and felt the blood pumping. There was only one person brave enough that would try and pull this stunt, she needed to repay her kindness in her own way. Edmond could see the thoughts running through her head. He looked into the laundry cart and saw the sheet she had wrung up. He pulled it out and snapped it. "Well princess, let's give this f*cker the same hospitality that he has shown you before we hit the town!"