The Land of Magic

The Christmas (Trap) Party

Alex didn't expect to receive any gifts on Christmas, yet here he was, staring at a wrapped box on his lap. He had found it in the morning, when he had opened the door, intending to go out. 

He was deciding on whether to open it or not, as it had no names on it. It didn't say who was it for, or who sent it. His first thought is that it was meant for another person in a different room. Then he realized that there was no one left in the dorm, except for him. 

He opened it, careful not to tear the wrapping paper just in case it wasn't for him and he needed to wrap it again. He opened the box, and found a necklace, identical to Hamlin's, inside. There was a note with it, so he picked it up and read it. 

"Merry Christmas, Alex! I thought you might need this more than me. It has a protection charm on it, and an invisibility spell as well, just in case you're in the range of the enemy's hearing and you can't afford to say any spells. When necessary, just put it on, and you'll be invisible, and spells will also flow through you. However, the spell only lasts for 1 hour, and after that it'll have to recharge for 4. In the future, I trust it'll come in handy. Use it wisely. Happy Holidays! -Hamlin"

He sighed with relief. So it was for him. He looked at the owl charm. There was an inscription on the back of the owl. It was made of strange symbols, so he didn't know what did it say. He pocketed the necklace, grabbed Felicia's invitation, then went outside. 

He checked his phone. It was now 12 p.m., and he felt hungry, so he went to a nearby cafe and had his breakfast there. By the time he was done, it was 12.37 p.m., and he needed to rush to Felicia's party. He was about to start race-walking (since he just ate and couldn't run), when he received a text. It was from Sylvie. It read, "Hey Alex, Merry Christmas! Are you going for Felicia's parties?" 

Alex responded with "Yeah, I am. What about you? Were you invited?"

"Everyone was invited. I was still deciding, but since you are, I guess I'll go too. If you weren't I might just be bored there."

"Okay then, see you in 23 minutes."

Just as Alex arrived to the party, Sylvie was dropped off by her mother. She was wearing a Celeste blue dress, midnight blue leggings, light pink winter gloves, a lilac winter coat, a lavender-blush white winter beret hat,  and cocoa brown winter boots.

"Hey. You look nice," said Alex. Sylvie rolled her eyes. "I tried to wear just a shirt, coat, jeans and a scarf but my mom made me wear this instead." Alex raised an eyebrow. "Okay then." 

Alex was about to knock on the door, but someone opened it before he could. "Oh, hey! I was wondering when you would come," Felicia said. Then she noticed Sylvie, and wrinkled her nose. "Oh. Did the both of you come together or something? Or were you on a date before this?" 

"No, we simply just arrived at the same time. Why?" Sylvie asked. Felicia eyed both of their outfits. "Oh, it's just that the both of you are wearing matching clothing." That's when Alex just realized he was wearing a dark brown winter coat, jeans and a navy shirt. "Huh. Guess that's just a coincidence," Alex muttered. 

"Anyway, let me get the others, and let's go," Felicia said. "Huh? Go where? Isn't the party at your house?" Alex asked. "Nah, we just meet here. We're going to the park to play in the snow!" Felicia replied with enthusiasm and a mischievous look on her face.

So, they went to the park and played with the snow like they were 7 all over again. They built snow forts, had snowball fights, and made snowmen. Alex made some new friends with the people Felicia invited. They all had a fun time.

A few hours later, all of them went back to Felicia's house and got cleaned up. A few of them went home. Shortly after, more people started arriving for the second party. Claire, being the pompous girl she was, stayed locked up in her room the entire time, refusing to join her cousin's party. 

To her own surprise, Sylvie actually had a great time. She and Felicia disliked each other less now, but they still do. Alex, too, was having a fun time. Alex spotted Denuis and went up to talk to him. "Hey, Denuis! I thought you said you'd be busy!" Denuis laughed. "Yes, I was. But this morning, my father came up and told me that our plans were free. So I decided to visit Felicia and attend her party. I'll be getting back to the party now." Denuis then walked away into the crowd.

A girl came up to Alex and started talking to him. "Are you enjoying this party?" she asked. "Yeah. I've never been to an actual party before, and this is quite fun." The girl laughed. "Well, you better enjoy this then." She whispered the next part, "as it will be your last." Alex raised an eyebrow. "What was that?" The girl laughed again, but in a menacing way. "Oh, you really don't recognize me?" 

Alex shook his head, dumbfounded. Mist suddenly came out of nowhere, and surrounded the girl. As the mist cleared, Alex saw who it was, and frowned. "You," he said. "What are you doing here?" 

"Oh, having a fun, just like everyone else," Rebecca said with a smirk on her face. "Everyone's invited, didn't you know?" "I knew, but I didn't expect you to come. Shouldn't you be somewhere in a dark room plotting to kill me?" Rebecca laughed. "Oh, Alex. So conceited, aren't you? I've already done that yesterday, and it's not just you." 

That's when Alex realized that it was now silent. The music had stopped and the chatter had died down. He looked around. He was standing on one side of the room, and Rebecca was standing on the other. Only Sylvie, Denuis, Tyler Green, and a few others who were part of the selected ones were behind Alex. Felicia was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. Everyone here, except the few of you, are part of 'us' too. As for our plot, we had decided that this place would be perfect for it. Good luck escaping!" Rebecca had a twisted smile on her face as she spoke.