The Invitation

Prolouge

A young girl was sat on the floor in front of a frail old woman, who was sat upon a chair in front of her. The older woman had a story book in her hand, one that she had made herself. The girl was sat listening, intently, to every word her grandmother had to say.

"A few centuries ago, there were a group of 8 commoners. They lived in large village that was structure right outside of a extravagant castle. In the castle, there lived a beautiful queen who was quite mysterious to her followers. No one was sure what she looked like, nor her name. She was a complete mystery to everyone who lived under her rule."

"The group of the 8 commoners envied the life that the queen got to live. They were also extremely curious as to who the queen was too, as were most people in the village."

"One day, a carnival came to their town. It was called the carnival of the dazing night."

"For some peculiar reason, the carnival was set so the castle seemed like it was it's main attraction. This excited many of the inhabitants of the town; they believed they may get a glimpse of their queen. Although, to their dismay, it became apparent only those with the invitation were allowed to attend this strange carnival."

"The group of eight were all fated to get these invitations. These invitations were quite strange, they had specific arrival times and even a dress code. However, the eight didn't care. All they cared for was money and power, and they thought by attending this, perhaps they'd be a step closer to it."

"It was now the night of the carnival. The group of eight were all dressed in the garments required for the carnival. They were adorned in pearls and gold jewels that shone in the flickering lights. Each of them were required to wear a masquerade mask, and so, they did."

"When arriving at the carnival, they had noticed its addicting aura. Excitement filled the air, as they all began to excited talk about what carnival attraction they would go to first and their plan of action for the night."

"Before entering the carnival, they noticed a sound, a song, was being played from some speakers. It was similar to a stereotypical carnival rhythm, however all it sang was a chorus of 'lala lalala's."

"There was a gate at the entrance of the carnival that restricted the public from getting in. As mentioned, only those with invitations were allowed to attend. So, they showed their invitations and were allowed in after a fair inspection."

"They immediately parted into groups of twos and a group of four. They were excited for the carnival and it felt like a paradise."

"After trying most of what the carnival had to offer, they joined into a group of eight once again and decided it was their chance to explore the castle. The knocked on the door and surprisingly it opened up quickly. A voice whispered into each of their ears 'Here, come inside the castle. Take everything.' It sent shivers down each of their spines but they had longed for a glance into the castle for a long time."

"They made their way into the now eerie building, feeling dazed and euphoric. When they first entered they saw there was a light that began to flicker in one of the rooms at the end of a corridor. Glancing around, they saw that every other door was closed off. They made their way to the flickering, orange light."

"When each step foot into the room, they were met with a beautiful woman. Similar to the eight, she wore a beautiful masquerade mask that was black and extremely detailed. Her dress was large and showed off great details of embroidery and jewels. She wore pearls that hung around her neck. Her hair was let down, it was long and silky black. Everything about this woman screamed rich."

"The light had stopped flickering when they had entered and now set an orange haze upon the large room."

"'Yang Jungwon. Lee Heeseung. Park Jong-Seong. Sim Jaeyun. Park Sunghoon. Kim Sunoo. Nishimura Riki. Seong Yuwon.-"

The little girl interrupted her grandmother. She was shocked when her name was used in the book her grandma had written. "Wait, why is my name in the book grandma?" She asked innocently, curious to know.

"I'm not sure Yuwon, this story has been told in our family for quite a while you see. Each version contains these names so I decided to keep it that way. I remember my mother telling me the exact same names too. Maybe your mother took a liking to the name?" Her grandmother suggested, not thinking too hard on it.

"Oh. How strange!" She exclaimed before asking her grandmother to finish the rest of the story.

"She told each of them to sit and so they did. She looked each one in the eye and was quickly able to tell each of their desires. She knew they all wanted one thing in this life time: royalty. From this she smirked slyly and decided to manipulate the eight."

"She claimed that each of them could have what they desired for a price. That price was that they all had to become bound to each other and in one life time, they will suffer the consequences of their current, selfish actions. They were all unsure at to what this consequence could be. Although, they didn't think too much on it as it wouldn't effect them in the present or at any point in their lives."

"A pact with the devil was made."

"Each of them were required to drink a strange red liquid that the queen had placed in front of each of them. They glanced at each other and silently agreed that this was the best thing to do, and so they drank it in one gulp. It burnt at their throats like it was a shot but nevertheless the deal was done and there was no turning back now."

"The queen that was once in front of them had vanished, and the once orange light had suddenly switched back to a normal yellowish shade. Each stood up and they were dressed in new attire, rich colours and no longer wore masquerade masks. They looked around at each other confused."

"The room had also changed. They were no longer in the large, empty-feeling room that they had met the queen in. They were in fact in a large, grand ballroom and were at the top of the grand staircase that led down to a great ballroom."

"A maid rushed into the room greeting them all at once. She bowed for each of them and apologised for her lateness. As the maid began to talk about 'preparations' and 'the ball' they quickly gathered that the life they had wanted was now granted to them and they were living it out."

"They continued to live their lives in royalty and became even more selfish and spoilt. Eventually, they died just like everyone else."

"It is said that in a lifetime, the group of eight will be reborn and punished for their past actions. But for now, we will live our peaceful lives and pray upon the unfortunate souls that will have to live in a cursed world due to their past selves."