it all ends with us: ruins

049

Chapter Forty-Nine:

"Burnt bridges."

The day of the ball had already arrived. Both Ren and Atlas had sat in front of a mirror and started doing their own makeup. Atlas had decided to keep it simple since her face would be covered up for most of the night with the mask that Ren had given her. It covered the top half of her face and made her almost unrecognisable. Ren's mask, on the other hand, was unique and covered the left side of her face only.

The two had sat in their dresses with a spell that Hallie set so that they wouldn't get creased. She had agreed to apparate the girls both to the Malfoy mansion and back once the ball had ended. Pansy had suggested that they should stay the night, however, Ren's mother felt it wouldn't be safe enough for Atlas. She was already risking a lot to be there in the first place.

Ren had chosen a dark green coloured dress for the ball. It was a floor length dress with one strap going across her chest. The dress was fitted and hugged all of her curves nicely. Atlas' dress was black with a heart shaped neckline. The dress was poufy and looked like it was straight out of a fairy-tale. The top layer was made of net and had an intricate lace design sewn into it. Overall, both girls looked stunning, a direct quote from Hallie Rivera.

"Hey, you finished?" Atlas asks, referencing Ren's makeup.

"Yeah, want me to do your hair?" She asks.

"Please." Atlas responds.

It didn't take long for Ren to do Atlas' hair and the other way around. And the two girls were now waiting around to be taken to the mansion. Both girls were slightly nervous. Atlas and Kiera were the only ones with dates that night as neither Rory nor Ajax could make it. The rest of the girls had decided to go as a group but urged Atlas to attend with Theo since he had already asked.

"Are you girls ready?" Hallie asks.

"Yeah," Ren responds and it didn't take long for the three to be apparated to the front of the Malfoy mansion.

It was no surprise that the mansion had been decked out in expensive decorations including a twelve feet Christmas tree with elegant decorations and bright fairy lights which attracted everyone's attention. Both girls wished Hallie a goodbye before making their way into the house. The interior was just as intricate as the exterior and Atlas could only hope that the house elves were allowed to rest after putting so much effort into the place.

"Atlas?" Someone asks in a hushed whisper.

"It's me." The voice whispers again after watching a confused Atlas look around for who was talking to her.

"Who's me?" She whispers back.

"Lorenzo silly." The invisibility spell he had casted wore off and he slowly appeared beside her.

He was dressed in a dark maroon suit with a matching tie and dress shoes. His mask was a plain one that went around his eyes, similarly to the one batman usually wore. The only thing out of place was a scar that looked fresh on his forehead and the slight bruising around his neck which made Atlas furrow her eyebrows at the young teen.

"What happened to you?" She asks, reaching over to get a closer look at his forehead.

"Nothing, just fell down the stairs." Lorenzo laughs awkwardly.

"I don't believe you." She mutters in response.

"Let's go find the others." He exclaims, pushing her in the direction of the stairs.

He left her with no space to argue and instead he led her up at least three flights of stairs before directing her into a room at the end of the left side of a hallway. At this point Atlas was not only out of breath, she had no idea if Ren had already made her way up and if Lorenzo was okay after spewing his obvious lie.