The Bleeding Rose

The Belly of the Beast

Cater cautiously pushed open the barn door, magic pen raised at the ready as he crouched down. Preparing for a sudden burst of magic to come his way or for some kind of alarm to be triggered.

His breath left him in shock as he looked into what should have been a hay covered wooden barn. Instead, he peered in and saw just as was advertised. A dance. The inside of the barn was cast in blue and pink lighting that swayed and spun languidly around as music drifted through the air. The music was slow and romantic, exactly what you would expect to hear at that special part of the evening when the DJ would call out for a slow dance. Cater peeked his head back out of the barn in utter confusion. No lights were shining through the cracks in the wood, and the music could not be heard outside of the barn. 

"What is it?" Trey whispered, trying to peer around Cater to see inside. 

"...See for yourself" Cater pushed himself up from his crouch position to stand back up. Walking in and holding open the door for Trey and Mrs. Roseheart. They both gasped as they took a step inside. The barn was full of people, all of them swaying back and forth together as they danced. 

"I didn't think there was anything happening tonight...maybe I was just out of the loop. Like a more cute-sy rave" Cater theorized as he drank in his surroundings. 

"No... no I think you were right Cater. Something isn't right here I just can't put my finger on it" 

He was right though, the atmosphere just wasn't there. Normally these kind of dances were stuffy and the air was heavy with colognes and perfumes. But the air right now was just too light. It was missing any movement, sitting over the room with an unsettling stillness with a soft chill residing in the humidity. 

"Trey, since when were you wearing a suit?" 

Trey cocked an eyebrow at Cater in confusion, looking down at himself to find he indeed was suddenly in an unfamiliar suit. It was green, a white rose with red paint dripping from its pedals and a white tie screwed to his neck. But he didn't feel like he was wearing a suit. He had walked in here with a T-shirt on and if he paused to focus on it, he could still feel its cotton brushing against his skin. But he couldn't feel the sleeves of this mystery suit. He looked back up to Cater.

"You're wearing one too"

"What the-"Cater looked equally surprised as he glanced down at himself. He was in a pristine white suit, a matching rose adorned on his lapel. "Yeah no, something about this scene is very wrong"

Besides the air, there was the people, you couldn't hear any talking, or footsteps. And if you were to look at the ground you would see that as they pranced around before the stunned group, no imprints were left in the powdery dirt. The music itself was loud, but if you were to take that away, you would hear nothing. 

Cater reached out, his hand gliding right through the arm of a woman draped in a red dress. Her smile not even shifting as she spun around in her dance. He turned his head back to Trey to make sure he was seeing this too. They were nothing but apparitions. 

"It must be a signature spell" He whispered to Cater. They both looked back around. The planned and animated habits of the people around them beginning to shine through. Everyone had a perfectly plastered on smile, a robot like movement to their steps. 

"Riddle has to be in there somewhere" Cater muttered as he scanned over the hundreds of heads that bobbed around. "There!" Caters hand flew up to point to the center of the barn. Trey tilted and dipped his head as he tried to see through the moving crowd to where Cater was pointing. Finally he found him. 

In the middle of this circle, like the eye of a hurricane, there was a girl. She had long black hair pinned up delicately with pearls and roses. She wore an elegant, white sparkling dress that draped down to the floor. And in her arms, she held Riddle.