And She Died Again ¦✔

~18~ Mystery Girl

Haunted by her side it's the darkness in her eyes

That so enslaves me
But if my love is blind then I don't want to see
She's a mystery to me

Night falls I'm cast beneath her spell
Daylight comes our heaven turns to hell
Am I left to burn
and burn eternally

She's a mystery to me
She's a Mystery Girl

~Roy Orbison "Mystery Girl"

The interiors of the ballroom were no less spectacular. Ornate banisters of the winding stairs and reclining marble cupids shone brightly with little flashes of light which sparkled like diamonds under the silvery moonlight. The large arched windows didn't seem to emit any air because it felt like someone had sucked out every amount of oxygen left in the glittering ballroom. With glazing eyes, Alicia held her breath.

There was no mistaking who those shadowed cheekbones and thick eyebrows, masked or unmasked belonged to. Alicia stilled, what was Zachary Dunst doing here? She was so not ready for this. A cold shiver run down her spine. For a moment she felt like they were the only two in the ballroom as she got lost in his alluring eyes.

She glanced and looked again, breaking the spell. It turned out he wasn't alone, on his right arm, was Celeste Walker; the girl who had made her high school life blithely unbearable, that was a story for another time. She only came here to have fun so there was no way she was revisiting her old wounds.

Celeste was in a shimmering white dress and a black mask, in Alicia's opinion she looked like panda had thrown up on her. Gritting her teeth, she resisted the urge to rip her slutty hands off Zach's shoulder. Why did she care anyway? And why was Zach with Celeste and not Mitchie? He was more of scumbag than she'd thought, if that was even possible.

"Are you alright?" She tore her eyes from the couple and turned to the fine gentleman.

"No. Something just came up," She handed the flute of champagne to him, "Let's dance some other time." With that, she gracefully left the man who was more than determined to get closer to her. He smoothed his cravat as he watched her go, lust fastidiously filling his dull eyes.

Alicia walked through the ballroom, which was bursting at the seams with people, a sultry sway to her hips. She wanted to get as far as she could from Zachary Dunst. She felt her face moisten with ringlets of pearly sweat. Was why this Ana Perla kept the centennial celebration from her? Was it because there would be a lot familiar faces she wasn't yet ready to see? She should have just gone back to sleep per Magdalene's demand.

She rounded a corner and nearly collided with someone. "Hey watch it," she snapped at the girl. The girl raised her head... Mitchie? Oh great more familiar faces, this evening was far from gratifying and she hadn't even been there for more than thirty minutes.

"I'm so sorry," hiccup,"I wasn't watching." Another hiccup. Wait, was she drunk?

"I think I'm gonna throw up." Mitchie said, covering her lips. Alicia groaned, her evening just got much worse. She told her ex best friend to wait as she asked around for a bathroom. Thirty minutes later she was standing near Mitchie as she tried to unload her guts out into the unfortunate porcelain vessel sink.

Alicia covered her nose and was just about to leave when Mitchie hugged her. Did she know who she was? "You smell good," Mitchie said, circling her arms around her neck, she sucked in some breath and sniffed.

Alicia panicked. "Are you okay?" she asked, her heartbeat quickened with worry.

"No, I'm not." Mitchie sobbed, "I know we don't know each other but can you just let me hold you without asking questions," Mitchie said, her drunkenness wearing off a bit. She knew she wasn't the world's best person due to the crazy things she'd don,e but she really needed a hug right now.