Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
|| X ||
We find ourselves in a dining room. For a second, the red blinds me. The deep ruby cover shadows the walls, lines the tablecloth, shimmers on the tips of the dangling lights. Then, a familiar figure steps up from the other side of the dining table.
I turn to her. "Blair?"
"Vivre!"
I push past both Raphael and Nikita to catch Blair as she rushes to hug me. In her arms, with the scent of floral perfume and the feel of black velvet, everything feels okay. Then, we separate.
"I was worried that you wouldn't find us," She says.
"It took some time. But we're here."
"Do you know what's going on?"
"No," She says, popping the little balloon of hope inside of me. "I woke up in this bedroom with this fancy outfit on. I found Avery, Paris and Rigel inside this room. Once we enter, we can't leave because the door locks. So I tried calling you instead."
"Did you try the police?"
"Yeah, but -"
A blur of yellow and pink interrupts us. She shoves between the two of us and vanishes to a spot behind me. Dazed, I turn around to see a petite girl in a short, wide, rose-tinted dress embrace Nikita around the waist. With dark eyes and pink lips, she appears to be Asian, but has shiny blonde hair.
"Nikki!" The girl says, squeezing Nikita close. "I was worried about you."
"Don't call me that," Nikita says, but her voice is the softest I've heard of it. But, it hardens again when says. "What are you doing here?"
"The same with all of us. We came into this room, but couldn't leave. The chef told us if we called a few friends, you might help us get out of here."
So this must be Avery.
I scan the room. There are two other boys in the room with us, both clad in dark suits like Raphael's. I recognize the one of them with the green mohawk - Rigel - but the other is completely unfamiliar. He's skinny, has a light mustache, and slouches in his chair, taking in the scene sulkily.
"What are you wearing?" Blair demands, bringing my attention back to her.
"What?"
"You're dressed differently from the rest of us."
With an unpleasant jolt, I realize that she's right.
Whereas I'm clad in a flimsy bathrobe (that I found), everybody else is clad in formal wear. They have sturdy shoes, intricate hairstyles, fancy jewelry and luxurious clothing. Even Blair has an evening gown the color of dark scarlet and a ruby ring around her finger.
