The crowd turned silent as they looked at the young woman walking slowly into the hall. She had soft pink hair, curled and pulled back delicately into a ponytail. Curled locks of hair and short bangs framed her face. She had pink and gold butterfly wings done up with makeup and glitter to act as a mask.
She wore soft pink lipstick and had a natural glow that made hearts melt. She wore a peach and burgundy ball gown, with two toned ruffled shoulder straps that went around her arms. Her chest was completely cover with peach coloured fabric that extended down to the dress. While two burgundy straps crossed over in an x pattern across her chest and it went down her hips. Underneath each strap was a single burgundy butterfly wing that delicately lay over her waist.
The peach coloured fabric flared out underneath the two wings and ruffled into a mini skirt. It was trimmed with a sea of burgundy, lace, butterfly wings that held 3 inches of burgundy, waved, sheer satin that went around the dress. At the back of the dress laid two burgundy wings that acted as train that went around part of the dress. The wings were decorated with gold, pink and peach glitter giving her the image of a butterfly princess ready to take flight. Around her neck was a delicate burgundy, lace butterfly wings that were held in place with a small white opal.
Suddenly the music started playing and a young man in a deep green suit pushed himself through the crowd and walked up to the young woman. He swallowed back some saliva, moving his Adam's apple down then back up. He gave the young woman a deep bow. "May I have this dance?" He asked shyly, to afraid to raise his head.
The young woman giggled and moved her hand to his face. "You may." She replied. The young man immediately straighten up his back and grabbed the delicate hand. He placed a kiss on the back and lead her to the dance floor. Everyone watched as the two moved into position. Laila and Romeo were stunned when the two stepped beside them. Romeo composed himself and pulled Laila in closer, waking her up from her daze.
The couples went right into a Quickstep and the crowd watched as the young man and woman had dominated the dance floor and overshadowed Laila and Romeo. Agni was furious that this couple was stealing the spotlight. "Change the song now." She spat at the DJ. "To what?" He shrugged as he watched the young couple. "Something still classy but harder to dance too, stupid." The DJ sighed and checked his playlist.
He cut the song short and the couples looked at one another in confusion. Then trumpets started playing. Laila and Romeo were confused but the young man smiled at his partner. "Do you trust me?" He asked as he closely looked at his partner. "Sir we just met, how can you ask that of a lady who you haven't even introduced yourself too?" She said in an appalled tone.
The young man's smile never left his face. "Trust me." He said as he dropped his hands. The young woman brought her hand to her chin and started stroking it. "Only if you can Cha-cha-cha." The young man laughed as the maracas joined the trumpets and piano. "If I said I can?" The corners of the young woman's lips twitched as she tried hard not to smile. She walked up to the young man and placed a hand onto his chest and strated to circle him, making sure her hand never left his body.
When she circled back she made her fingers walk up his chest up to his cheek. She gently swept her index finger along his lips. "Take off the coat." She said in a low voice. The young man couldn't help but obey as he unbuttoned his deep green coat and tossed it aside. Then the singer's voice could be heard. "Baby, never have I ever wanted anyone like I want you babe."
The young man's pupils dilated as he looked at the young lady. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. Laila and Romeo had looked over and were captivated by the young couple. The young man looked free, passionate and possessive as he danced with his partner.
While the young woman looked stunning as her dress fluttered along with the rhythm of the music. The course of the song started and it seemed to fit the couple perfectly, as if it was made specifically for them. "Cariño, quédate conmigo, I gotta have your love. Cariño, cariño, quédate conmigo, need to feel your touch. Cariño, cariño, quédate conmigo, never get enough. Cariño, cariño, cariño." Laila and Romeo backed away from the dance floor and blended into the crowd, giving the couple the entirety of the floor.
Agni was furious and turned to the DJ. "Stop the f*cking music!" She demanded but the DJ shook his head no. "Your fired then!" The DJ gave her a side look and laughed. "Mr. Delmira hired me so he is the only one that can fire me." He replied as she shifted his gaze back to the couple and watched. Their dance seemed to simmer down when the song was reaching the end. "Así un poquito más suavecito. Ajá así es que me gusta" The crowd heard and the dancers backed off of one another.
The young man started to circle the young woman, like a lion ready to pounce. "Cariño, quédate conmigo, I gotta have your love. Cariño, cariño, quédate conmigo, need to feel your touch. Cariño, cariño, quédate conmigo, never get enough. Cariño, cariño, cariño." He walked up to her and spun her in his arms.
The crowd started to go wild as they watched. "Cariño, quédate conmigo, I gotta have your love. Cariño, cariño, quédate conmigo, need to feel your touch. Cariño, cariño, quédate conmigo, never get enough. Cariño, cariño, cariño." It was finally the end and he dipped the young woman back and started to lean in for a kiss as his chest moved up and down violently.
The young woman covered his lips with the tips of her fingers and giggled. "I'm sorry but I don't kiss strangers." The young man straighten up his back as he gently lifted the young woman back up. The crowd exploded into cheers, whistling and applause. Some reporters ran up to the couple and started shooting questions a mile a minute.
"Miss! Miss! Miss! Please tell us who are you wearing? What made you go to them?"
"Miss! Miss! Miss! How does it feel upstaging Ms. Laila Steel and Mr. Romeo Dokmai? Did you intentionally ruin their couples dance as a sort of revenge tactic?"
"Sir! Sir! Sir! Have you found love at this gala? Can you tell us who you are and what your intentions are with this young Miss?"
"Miss! Miss! Miss! Can you tell our audience what your name is?"
The young woman raised her hands in defeat and looked at the camera directly. "I came here with very pure hearted intentions. I wish from the bottom of my heart that Miss Laila and Romeo find true happiness together.... As for my intentions, I am not here to find love or upstage anyone. I'm wearing a one of kind, designed by a rising star who is known only by a selected number of people and my name? Well my name is..." She turned to look at Laila, then the young man. "My name is Hinder-Rella!"
The reporters started to go crazy as they craved more answers but Hinder-Rella turned her back and walked away leaving the young man to fend for himself. The name Hinder-Rella spread like wild fire throughout the guests and some of the eligible young men decided to track her down for a chat. The DJ grabbed a mic and gave a warning to the reporters. The vultures backed off and the DJ started up the music again.
People started moving to the dance floor and a young man in a turquoise dress shirt, deep green pants and a black and gold mask went searching around the hall like mad man. Autumn and Blair ran up to Laila and pulled her aside for a girls chat, while Marek and Rodan grabbed Eli. "Hey, buddy you okay?" Marek asked Eli while Rodan passed him a bottled water. "Ya... ya I'm okay." Eli said as he uncapped the water bottle.
"You sure? You kinda went... Uhm.. prepubescent there when you saw that young lady walk in." Rodan said as he looked Eli over. "I'm fine... I'm fine really. I don't know what came over me." Eli said as his eyes kept searching. "Eli... are you looking for her?" Marek said in a warning tone. Eli's eyes came right back to Marek as he started to noticeably sweat. "Dude what do you think you're doing?! You have Olivia and she's carrying your babies! My God man you can't be doing this to her!"
Eli took off his mask and tossed it to the ground. "I know! I know... I just... I don't know what happened! Oh my God I'm losing my mind." He cried as he brought his hand up to his fringe and pulled. Roden bent down and picked up the mask. "Eli, put this back on. We can pray that Olivia wasn't watching but I have a feeling they will be replaying that dance for a while. Especially if they catch you without your mask on." Rodan said as he passed the mask back to Eli.
"I know.... Hey where's Porter?" Eli asked as he secured the mask back on to his face. "He went to grab your coat." Marek said as he nodded towards the direction.
....
Outside by a giant tree, Olivia sat on the grass giving her feet have a breather from the black, high heeled shoes. Loreley came out with two plates full of goodies. "Where is the mouse prince?" She asked as Loreley hand her a plate and then sat down beside her. "He found his love and is watching over her from a distance." Olivia nodded and took a bite out of a strawberry. "Good, I'm glad he is happy even though we got to keep ourselves hidden."
Loreley laughed as she grabbed a chocolate covered marshmallow. "Right and you did that so well with that young man." Loreley said as she rolled her eyes. "Oh like your one to talk! You didn't want to wear your wig and then decided with Edmond that you needed to do a giant song and dance number!" She said as she pointed a carrot stick at Loreley. Loreley took one quick bite of the carrot and leaned back against the tree.
"Well we crashed the party and made that monster mad." Loreley started to laugh then the laughter died down and she became serious. "Do you think she wanted to kill you tonight?" Loreley asked as she stared up at the night sky. Olivia leaned over and placed her head onto her shoulder. "I don't know but I'm pretty sure she was going to use me to keep Laila and Eli in line."
"You're probably right." Loreley said and the two sat in silence munching on their snacks. Olivia felt herself starting to nod off and Loreley thought it was about time for them to leave. Olivia mumbled her agreement and watched as Loreley headed back towards the building. She felt her eyes get heavier as the seconds went by and soon nodded off.
She wasn't sure how long she was out but she suddenly felt really warm, safe and comfortable. She let out a small moan and felt something being inserted into her mouth. Her eyes shot wide open and there was a mask right in front of her face and someone tasting her mouth. She pushed the person back, he lost his balance and stumbled backwards until he hit the ground. She grabbed her shoes off the grass, hauled herself up and threw one of them at the person's face.
His mask fell off and she saw his face. "Eli?" Was all she said when she heard a very pale Loreley start shouting. "We gotta go now!" Olivia was confused as she looked at her face. "Wait what?" She started to say but Loreley couldn't let her delay the departure. "We got to go!" She shouted again as she grabbed Olivia's hand as started to pull her away from Eli and the tree. Eli wasn't sure what was going on and picked up the shoe that was thrown at his face.
When he saw the girls running away, he woke up from his daze and tried to get off of the ground. "Wait, please wait!" He shouted but the girls booked it to the other side of the building. He clutched the black shoe in his hand and picked up the mask. He hesitated for a minute and threw the mask away. He looked at the direction the two were running in and started his chase.
"Can you please tell me why we are running?" Olivia asked as they made it to the parking lot. A silver sedan came speeding up to them and stop on a dime. The back door was thrown open and Loreley shoved Olivia in. "No time we need to run now!" She said as she jumped in after her. Edmond didn't wait for the girls to buckle in as he started to burn rubber. He checked his rear view mirror and caught sight of Eli running to where they just were.
"Did Eli figure out it was you?" He asked as he floored the acceleration. Olivia fumbled to put her seat belt on. "I don't know, he didn't ask if it was me. But what's going on?" She asked as she turned to Loreley looking for an explanation. Loreley's face was already pale and she didn't think anymore colour could be drained from her face but she was wrong.
"Romeo wasn't their only plan... Autumn is vicious when you are on her bad side." She replied and her hands started to tremble as she held them together on her lap. "What are you talking about?" She asked but Loreley wouldn't explain so she turned to Edmond. He glanced at Olivia through the rearview mirror and sighed. He decided to keep his eyes on the road as he spoke. "Agni was made. They know everything and I don't know what she'll do in retaliation but I can tell you this, she went on a rampage in there. I got Samantha out and into a cab, she's on her way to a safe house."
Olivia hugged herself and couldn't think of why Autumn would do such a thing now. She needed to think but she couldn't concentrate. "The hospital do they know I'm gone." She asked Edmond as he got into the City. "No, the guards were knocked out with some sort of drug and the surveillance is on a loop." He answered and then came to the same conclusion.
Loreley looked at the two and couldn't understand. "What," She started to say but Olivia grabbed her hand. "Surveillance is on a loop, we go back to the hospital and pretend we never left. We will have to stay there until the cops come and take my anklet off." Loreley was still confused and tried to speak but Olivia kept going. "The cops are in her pocket and she was the one who named me."