Abe Sapien and the Witch

Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

She was snuggled up in the bed, comfortable in the cocoon Abe had created around her with the duvet, and sleep found her. A knocking at the door some time later startled her, and as she raised her head, her hair standing at odd angles, Liz pushed open the door and entered the unlocked room in a hurry.

"There you are!" she said, pulling the duvet off the still groggy woman, and reaching for her dressing gown. "C'mon sleepyhead," she said, pitching the gown towards her, "we have so much to do! The boys are out on a mission, but we have a mission too, - mission 'get ourselves looking amazing for the dance!'"

She was pulling her arm into the sleeve of the dressing gown when Liz shrieked and leaped towards her, "What is that?" She was unsure what the panic was, until Liz's hand was at her neck while she inspected it. "You let him give you a love bite the night before the dance? Oh man, well we better hope that make-up can cover it!" she said, turning to leave the room. "I'm gonna go look at my cosmetics and see if I have something for full coverage!"

The door was left wide open and a surprised intern looked in as she passed by, quick to hurry along as she caught a glimpse of the dishevelled woman on the bed inside. _What's a love bite? _ she asked herself, unable to see anything as Abe didn't have a mirror in his room. _It doesn't hurt..._

By the time she got back to her own room and got undressed to shower, she discovered the purple mark on her neck in her own mirror, which was dark and stood out on her pale skin like a dusky island of colour. She showered, thinking back to the previous evening and how excited Abe made her feel, until she could hear Liz barging into her bedroom, calling out for her.

*****

Even as a witch, she thought she had never seen so many lotions and potions for one task. She was already quite hairless as she shaved certain areas regularly, but after Liz's attack with sticky wax strips, her skin was sore and not a particle remained anywhere. Her nails were painted a pearly white colour, Liz gluing tiny silver jewels to them, so they sparkled under the light. Moisturisers, cleansers and all manner of creams were applied, removed and re-applied until her room smelled like a tropical bathhouse, coconut prevailing.

"Let's get something to eat before we do our faces!" Liz said, and so the two ended up in the cafeteria, sitting next to Krauss with their hair high in curlers as they ate their respective dinners. "You are smelling very fragrant zis afternoon," he commented, leaning closer, "I hope you vil both honour me vis a dance zis evening, yes?" "Sure thing, Johan!" Liz said, and She nodded to him, patting his arm in affirmance. "Oh vonderful, zen I look forvard to it very much!"

*****

The boys had captured a rogue group of creatures that were living in someone's attic, having eaten many of the neighbourhood pets before the unfortunate discovery by the owner, who also became creature-food. It was an easy enough job to wrangle them, and the two were back in good time, heading their respective ways to wash and get ready for the evening.

Abe found a hanger on the inside of his door, which contained his new suit and he thought it best to get dressed and head down to the hall. He disliked tardiness, especially from a gentleman and besides, he wanted to see her enter the ball.

Pops had always said; a lady should make a grand entrance on such a night, and so tradition dictated that the ladies in their finery enter the hall via the upper stairway. He couldn't have her arrive with nobody to meet her at the bottom, that would be quite improper!

*****

The hall was filled with people milling about, chatting and drinking from champagne flutes, and Abe found Red lurking at the back wall by the buffet. "Ah, there you are!" he said, "You look splendid!" Red seemed uncomfortable, his tuxedo was a classic black and white affair with long tails on the coat, where his tail peeked through. His shoes shone, and the cufflinks Liz had given him were just the right amount of customisation.

"You clean up pretty well yourself, buddy!" he said, happy to have a companion in this situation. "That's a great colour on you," he continued, as Abe helped himself to some fruit slices from a colourful platter. His suit was a fitted three-piece affair, the pants and longer outer jacket a crisp white, while the embossed inner jacket was a warm golden colour. The shoes he wore were also white, and well-polished while one blue flower was pinned to his lapel. "Liz told me to choose a blue flower," he said, straightening it.

"Are you nervous? I feel nervous, how strange, it's just a dance..." he said, trailing off as Red stepped forward. The pianist played a fanciful tune each time a new lady entered the stairway to descend, and they both stepped forward as Liz appeared at the top of the stairs.

Her hair sat in high curls, some of which fell around her face as she walked down, bouncing with each step. The frills of her dress danced with her movements like a flickering flame, and Abe could hear Red mumble his appreciation as they gazed up at her. "Ta daaa." she said, as she reached the floor and Red stepped forward, his arm reaching out for hers. "You look stunning, babe. Real beautiful." "You look great too." she swooned, the two locked eyes.

"Yes, Liz, you look quite splendid!" Abe said, and he thought Liz might be blushing a little bit as she thanked him. "Once everybody's here the main band starts and we gotta separate, so I'm keeping' you to myself until then!" Red said, swirling Liz towards the far end of the room.

Abe thought he might head back towards the buffet where the stragglers and lone partygoers seemed to be congregating, but as he turned the pianist was plonking another fanciful tune on the keys and he turned back, to see who was coming down next.

His hand went to his chest as he saw her approach the top of the stairs, and the room seemed to go quiet as she reached the top steps, looking down. He could hear the people around him start to whisper, their thoughts were appreciative. Her eyes found his in the crowd and she stepped forward, every eye in the room following her descent.

Notes- The next two chapters will be special uploads for New Years eve and New Years day which I hope you will like very much, thank you for reading along! Until then, I hope you are enjoying the story :D