Thunder rolls in the distance, lightning striking the ground silently behind the walls of the ballroom. A young lady, Esmeralda, sits in a golden plated chair, alone. She never wanted to come to this masquerade, in fact, she knew no one here. And she also had no dance partner.
She looks around, occasionally sipping champagne from her glass. Sure, it was beautiful. But she's had better days.
People start to line up, gentlemen linking arms with elegantly dressed ladies. She sighs. She's been watching them dance all night, and this was the final dance before the party officially ended.
A figure sits across from the lonely lady, folding his hands and smiling ever so slightly. He looked at the girl through the eyeholes in his mask, and marveled his discovery.
"Ma'am?" His words glided across his lips over to Esmeralda's ears. She looked over, surprised, only to see a finely dressed young man, giving her a small smile.
"Um- yes?" She replies, not sure of who he was. He was handsome, she had to admit.
" Have you been sitting all alone here, all this time?" The words sunk into her, as she looked at him skeptically. Had he been watching her? That was a crazy thought.
"Yes, quite frankly. I hardly know anyone here." she says. With her looking away, his eyes lit up. Perfect. She was perfect. And of course, the timing was almost as perfect as her.
The young man elegantly gets up and stops in front of the girl, holding a gloved hand out. She looked at him.
"May I have this dance, my lady?" He sincerely asked, so perfectly that it was almost fake.
She placed her gloved hand in the young man's hand and she walked with him to the middle of the ballroom, as a single crack of thunder boomed and the music began to play.
She and the young gentleman swayed to the violin, their eyes never leaving each other's eyes. He smiles as he spins her around once, and Esmeralda awkwardly returns, trying not to lose her balance. She returns safely, and they sway away from the crowd, towards a wall of mirrors.
She smiles back at his sudden gesture, taken by his beautiful blue eyes. She faces towards the mirror, and she looks at it in surprise.
Only her reflection is present, holding nothing but air. The young man isn't even in the mirror.
"What's a matter, darling?" The boy asks her, a worried expression plastered on his face.
He changes his position, where he is facing the mirror.
The mirror.
He wasn't in there.
The poor girl was probably freaking out, and the young man decided that he wasn't going to stay any longer.
The young man let go of shaken up Esmeralda, and bows ever so slightly. He begins to walk off, and Esmeralda grabs his arm in an attempt to stop him.
"But I must know your name."
He looks at her, surprised. Was he supposed to?
"Derick. Please, do not mention my presence." Derick spoke and pointed behind Esmeralda.
She glanced and the turned back when she didn't see anything.
But Derick was gone.
Faster than the flash of lightning.
