𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚.

✰ 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲 ✰

♫ ❝𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐄❞ ♫

𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲 - 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘀

☆☆☆

     Celeste lingered in the around-the-corner-bodega. Attempting to appear innocent, she fiddled with several items on the shelf. The chips made a crackling sound that was good enough to cover up the sound of her taking her mask out of her jacket. Out of the blue, a family of five came like a hurricane through the hall with the chips. Three children argued about which type of snacks to buy, hollering and screaming at their parents.

     'So loud, and for what?' Celeste thought to herself, rolling her eyes as she quickly placed her mask back in her jacket. Suddenly, a light bulb beamed in her head and she walked around the family, so she was behind them. She managed to snag a bag of Doritos and followed the family with an annoyed expression.

     As the family paid for their items, the children proceeded to complain. The mother then shushed the children and handed the cashier the money. Celeste stuffed her food into her bag and followed the family as they left, coming off as some sort of teenage daughter.

     Celeste took a swift left turn as the alarms went off, which caused the family and the cashier to go into a frenzy.

     She smirked, walking away from the area and the shouts of the people far away from her entertained her. An amused smile appeared as she heard the satisfying sound of an open bag of her favorite Cool-ranch Doritos. She was unmasked, meaning in this world she wasn't a mass murderer, she wasn't Venus, she wasn't The Reaper, she was just Celeste.

     The rattling of Celeste's keys while she unlocked her apartment door had always been obnoxious. She felt as if she had a bell and was announcing to everyone in New York about her arrival to her own home. It was loud, she hates noise.

     As if there was a timer, the moment she stepped foot in her apartment and locked the door behind her, her phone began to ring. Celeste groaned and tossed everything in her hand onto the island of the kitchen.

     "What's up, boss?" Celeste asked, squeezing her phone in between her cheek and her shoulder as she removed her jacket.

     "I wanted to congratulate you on getting your name on the news again, we're getting close, I can feel it!" Her boss, Kiego laughed. Although his laugh would come off as friendly and comfortable to those who didn't know him, Celeste did know him. His laugh was haunting. It always sent chills down her spine. His laugh and smirk were as close as she'd ever get to being impalled by shards of ice.

     Because that is exactly what it was, his laugh was ice. His laugh was cold. His laugh was dangerous. Celeste did nothing but chuckle in response. "I have another assignment for you, I want it done by Thursday night. I already sent you the updated list through email, I need more names crossed, Celeste. You're doing good but I need you to be doing amazing. Don't chicken out, you know the consequence," Kiego spoke, his voice stern and as firm as ever.

     She uttered a small 'ok' before walking over to her living room and finding a red dress and a mask laid across her sofa. Celeste tilted her head, confused about why it was there. She can't possibly afford those.

     "Tonight there will be a masquerade ball taking place. The door is unlocked so don't worry about a guest list, and if they do have one, you've killed before. You're against the clock, I don't expect failure from you. I want at least one casualty and three severely injured. Make sure one of them is a hero. Don't disappoint me."

     Before Celeste could get another word in, he hung up, leaving her isolated in a room filled with deafening silence.

☆☆☆

     "Why are we doing this again?" Leonardo complained, his voice being muffled mid-sentence due to his mask being yanked down his head by Ivy. Leonardo grumbled and cursed silently, as he always did. 

     "Because Mr. Popular over here is friends with Mr and Mrs. Diamond and wants to impress their daughter," Lucas sighed, causing Nicolas to retaliate quickly. The group laughed as the brown-haired boy hollered on how he showed no interest towards her, though his crimson-colored ears said otherwise. 

     Lucas stood in front of the full-body mirror, clicking his tongue in annoyance as he straightened out his suit. He continued to fix the smallest details on his suit, his friends continued to joke around in the back before getting called out by his best friend. "Back away from the mirror, pretty boy, it's my turn," Miles announced, shoving Lucas away from the mirror and checking himself out. 

     The two were much closer than the others were, they met when Lucas had first moved from his home country, Brazil, to New York City. They were thirteen back then, and nobody wanted to hang out with the new kid who didn't speak English and the poor blond boy. 

     Because of Miles, Lucas was able to learn the English language. Yet, his accent remains, which causes others to laugh at his poor pronunciation. Nonetheless, Miles was always there to stick up for him throughout the eight years they had been friends. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, man," Miles would say every time the curly-haired boy would get teased, and vice versa. 

     Turns out "always" isn't as long as Lucas thought.