The Dormant One

The White Stag

 "Tonight is about fun Dre, lighten up. All Hallows Eve is about honouring the dead right?" The one speaking was a tall, young blonde thing with sparkling blue eyes staring at herself and her nervously apprehensive friend. Her outfit was meant to be a beautiful faery queen, though in truth, her friend thought she looked more like an elf. The idea was to theme their outfits on "The Wild Hunt '' in the Fae lore. Of course, neither of them took much stock in folklore. Sure, they studied it, but for them it was about seeing what the folklores said about the cultures that they belonged to. A soft groan left the lungs of the other female. She had been a shut in since she moved here. Leighla was right, she had to stop hiding from someone who probably wasn't even looking for her. "Isn't this costume just tempting fate?" The outfit was a humanoid representation of the mythical white stag, said to be the prize of "The Wild Hunt ''. With a white wig flowing down to her hips and big white "antlers'' made from tin foil, masking tape and paint, the main outfit wasn't exactly modest. "Trust me, that outfit is going to turn some heads!" That was exactly what the green eyed female was afraid of. This was at a cabin, in the woods and she was dressed like a damned deer! "Alright, ok, I'm coming." Responded the defeated voice of the shut in extraordinaire.

The two women left the bedroom and meandered through the crowd in the hallway and down the stairs. A red tint came to the cheeks of the white stag as people's eyes followed her. Some people stared with lust, some with awe and others with envy. She wasn't used to it. She hugged herself, rubbing her upper arms as her best friend laughed at her awkwardness. 'Just whose side are you on here?' She thought to herself. At the base of the stairs, she was handed a drink in a plastic cup. The liquid inside it was a seemingly glowing blue colour, she figured, it was Halloween so it was most likely some kind of special effect. She took the drink and decided to down it in one. Dutch courage, right? The guy handed her another, looking amused and then greeted other party goers with drinks.

She stopped walking and turned as she felt a wave of warmth wash over her like she had just walked out of the shade on a summer's day. The feeling was something that she couldn't explain, but her eyes locked with peridot green eyes that, if she wasn't mistaken, were glowing at her from a darkened corner of the room. "Dre, honey, you ok?" Leighla's voice made her blink and the moment she did, the warmth and those eyes, were gone. She couldn't understand why her heart seemed to sink, but she turned to her friend and smiled. "Yah, I was just people watching." The white stag gave her best smile of innocence. Leighla was her best friend, yet after everything, Hydrangea hadn't been able to tell Leighla everything, only that she had escaped someone who meant her harm. The more she knew, the more at risk she would be, or so she thought. Her friend gave a secret, knowing smirk and Hydrangea could have sworn her friend made a brief glance to that very same corner, but she decided not to press her about it.

Following her friend's effortlessly elegant strides with her own, not so elegant, instead awkward steps, Hydrangea watched every person they passed. It was just long enough to assess a possible threat. Turning her eyes back to her enchanting faery guide, she flinched upon seeing a slightly disappointed stare meeting her gaze. "Dre, I said lighten up. Stop looking for threats. You're safe here." The blonde spoke. Her tone was half scalding and half supportive. She placed her hands on the white stag's upper arms, giving a reassuring smile. "Drink up, it'll help." Leighla continued, motioning to the drink in Hydrangea's hand.

Taking a deep and shaking breath in, Hydrangea nodded and knocked back the drink again. This whole party was an uncertainty, recognising people who were wearing costumes was impossible, so she really needed to just stop and trust her best friend. This was the land of Leighla's family, a very old and well respected family in this town. "I need another one, I'm not drunk enough for this." Hydrangea remarked, the nerves threatening to lock up her vocal chords like a caged bird. Leighla and another woman chuckled with soft amusement. "None of us are." The gentle, soothing voice of the new woman lulled. "I'm Illy, Leighla's cousin." The woman looked to be of Chinese ancestry, her long, chocolate brown hair was tied up in an immaculate high ponytail. Her eyes were a deep honey brown and Hydrangea could have sworn there were streaks of gold when her eyes moved. Illy was dressed like a humanoid Chinese dragon and she was stunning. "Hi Illy, I'm Dre." She almost whispered in her nervous response. Why was everyone in Leighla's family so flawless?

Both Leighla and Illy stood at the sides of Hydrangea, each placing a hand on her back as they led her through a curtain of fake cobwebs. The sensation made her shudder, but she had decided to trust them. She didn't look around the room doing a threat assessment, rather, taking in the spooktacular decorations and dim blue lighting which was a stark contrast to the hall's bright lighting. There, all the females picked up a glass of that glowing blue drink. Someone in a beautiful pixie outfit brought over a tray of shots and they each took one. "So what's it like, moving from a big city to a small town like this one?" The Chinese dragon inquired. Raising a single eyebrow at the question, not knowing that Leighla gave her cousin a look of caution, The White Stag downed the unknown shot. It gave a pleasant burning sensation on the way down, leaving an aftertaste of liquorice and, was that honey? "Honestly, it was weird, but safer. Less people I guess." She responded more freely than she normally would have with someone she had just met.

Leighla looked both impressed and surprised whilst Hydrangea tilted her head in mild confusion. "It's ok, everyone tends to feel safe opening up with me." Illy explained. This seemed to make Dre think for a moment before shrugging it off. Who could doubt that sincere smile? Taking a sip of her other drink, she finally noticed the raspberry taste that it had. She shifted her shoulders as she felt an odd, tingling pressure between her shoulder blades. 'Maybe I should have gotten a massage before the party.' She thought to herself. Music jumped to life, snapping her out of her own thoughts and she placed a hand on her heart. All three women burst out laughing at this as they all seemed to have been caught by surprise. Leighla's sparkling eyes lit up more at the sound and sight of her best friend laughing so joyously. It was a rare sight indeed.

As a few more people filtered into the room, it became apparent that Leighla and Illy combined made Hydrangea feel so at ease, that she hadn't noticed at all. "So, the Xiao Long Dragon huh? They are really intriguing, it was a great choice." Dre spoke to Illy just a little louder to be heard over the music. Both cousins gave each other a knowing glance as Illy took on a soft blush. They didn't say anything, but Hydrangea knew that the compliment had been well received due to the blushing. She gave an awkward chuckle and sipped at her drink. She softly swayed to the music of Theatre Of Tragedy, their song Siren had a slightly hypnotic feel to it that she had always enjoyed. At this point, she no longer cared who was around her. Maybe it was the alcohol?