Hours had passed by, and my costume was finally done. All my makeup looked correct, and everything was seemingly falling into place. I slowly took out my color contacts and ran out to the living room to show Aaron my costume. “Well? Does it look okay?” I asked. Aaron smiled and nodded softly. “You look great kid. Now get to your damn party and try not to get yourself killed or drunk okay?” I giggled as he kissed my forehead softly. I waved goodbye to my dad who was in the back room playing video games and made my way toward the right address.
Of course I made a quick stop at Regina's house and picked her up, she did end up dressing as Misty, and had her stuffed pikachu amateurishly taped to her shoulder. “So, you excited to see Ethan tonight?” I teased while lightly nudging her in the arm. She blushed and looked away. “Y-Yeah, actually really excited. I'm surprised how fast he confessed to me. I was about to run after you and he grabbed my wrist and just sort of blurted it out all shyly. I'm not going to lie, it was moderately adorable.” I chuckled a bit at the way she described it. “Sounds like it. I only wish I was there to see it.”
Regina chuckled and ran her fingers through her fiery orange wig. “I really hope this works out. I don't want to be heartbroken again you know?” she muttered. I nodded and placed my hand lightly on her shoulder. “You'll be fine babe. Don't even worry about it. Ethan's a good guy, he'll treat you right. I know it.” I smiled again as the house where the party was being held came into our view. I fiddled with my hair a bit, then grabbed Gina's hand and smiled. “Come on! Let's go meet your man!”
Regina blushed as I dragged her toward the shockingly large house, almost the moment we got there we saw Ethan standing by the doorway wearing an Ash costume. I smiled and pushed Regina towards him, watching quietly from behind them. “H-Hey Gina, you look really good in that costume.” he muttered shyly, his cheeks becoming a dark shade of red. “Heh... Thanks... U-Um, wanna go in?” Regina asked while tucking a strand of her dark brown hair into the wig she was wearing. “Yeah! Definitely!” I watched them make their way inside and smiled softly before making my way through the crowd and finding a place to sit inside.
I looked over to the punch bowl and nearly fainted at the sight. Lillian and Daniel were standing there, Lillian wearing the same green dress as Princess Anna, and Daniel wearing a Prince Hans costume. I would've never guessed that she would get Danny to do it, but sure enough, there he was. I swear if I was drinking any of that; most likely spiked; punch, I probably would've spit it all over the place at the sight. I chuckled as Lillian spotted me and waved in excitement. Slowly I made my way over to them, and Lillian placed a hand on both my shoulders and spun me around.
“You're costume looks awesome! I love it!” she squealed. I laughed shyly and brushed some of my, now slightly disheveled hair, back into place. “Thanks Lillian. Yours looks good too. Same with you Danny.” I snickered at him, only for him to give me a cold glare and turn away. “Shut up, I only did this stupid shit because Lillian wanted me to.” He growled. Lillian punched him in the arm suddenly an unexpectedly, causing him to jump and spill a bit of his punch. “Hey! What the-” “What did I tell you about swearing in my presence?” Danny stayed silent and slowly looked away. “Thank you. Now any- Ooo Charlotte, I think you might have a secret admirer.” Lillian winked.
I stared at her in confusion, and she quickly spun me around. My eyes met that same pair of crimson, but this time he was approaching me. I gasped and turned to Lillian and Danny, but they had already disappeared into the crowd. By the time I had turned back around him and I were face to face. He stared at me with the same glare as earlier that day. We didn't move, nor did we speak. A few moments passed by in dead silence, when his hand slowly reached up and cupped my face. “Years.” he muttered.
My confusion only grew when he gently took a hold on my hand, but when he squeezed it, it was anything but gentle, in fact, I felt as though he would break my fingers if I made one wrong move. “Years we've spent looking for you, and here you are.” he smirked and gently twirled my hair around in his pale, bony fingers. “Hidden in plain sight this whole time. What a naughty girl you are.” I felt a lump in my throat forming when he smirked at me. My brain was telling me to run, but I couldn't move a muscle, no matter how hard I tried.
“Who...Who are you? Get away from me you freak!” I shouted, while attempting to pry him off of me, with no luck whatsoever. He simply grasped my wrists and held them in front of my chest before firmly pressing our bodies together. He buried his face into my neck, and I felt his lips curl upward into a smirk. “Gage.” he murmured. My eyes widened as his teeth lightly grazed the sensitive skin on my neck. “Wh-Wha-” “It's my name. Yours is Charlotte.” Gage chuckled and pulled away from me before hoisting me up over his shoulder.
“Hey! Just what the hell do you think you're doing?” I shouted. He began to carry me outside while I slammed on his back with my fists and attempted to scream for help. No one listened, everyone assuming it was either the effects or that I was drunk. I heard Gage chuckle softly and he set me down on the damp grass outside before leaning down and whispering in my ear. “Why, I'm simply taking what belongs to me.”
I'd never been more terrified in my life. I was just waiting for whoever it was to sit up and pull out the red contacts and laugh at me for looking stupid. I wanted Lillian and Regina to pop out from behind a bush and laugh at me. But none of that happened, I just watched as the male straddled my waist and sat up on my legs. He reached behind him and fiddled with something behind his neck, before pulling a small necklace off of his neck. It was a long black chain basically, but the impressive part hung loosely from the center.
A bright red stone hung from the chain. It reflected the light from the inside of the house behind us, causing small beads of light to dance across Gage's face as he clasped the necklace tightly around my neck. “Now, let's go.” he smiled and held his hand out to me. I wanted to object and call for help, but I couldn't force any sound. I simply took his hand and stood up, he began leading me toward the woods behind the house. The fear was overwhelming, I wanted to scream for help, but whatever this strange charm was prevented me from saying or doing anything besides exactly what I was doing now, which was following him.
I looked back at the rapidly disappearing house that I was once in and felt tears in my eyes. The glow from the full moon cast eerie shadows around us, as we made our way closer and closer to the woods. We passed by the first tree, and that's when I knew, it was all over. Whether I wanted to or not, I was going with this kid. I'd probably never see my friends or family again, but that was far from the worst part.
The worst part, was not knowing what would happen next.
