Escape the Night: The Masquerade Part 1
A/N: Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night! The party has started and there hasn't been any sign of Joey…not yet anyways. Can Dawn find him and get them all out of there before all hell breaks loose? Time to find out. Onward!
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Escape the Night. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.
CHAPTER THREE: A PARTY PART TWO
Fifteen minutes had passed and with no sign of Joey, the guests were starting to get antsy, plus the woman that had first greeted them was now standing by the base of the spiral staircase, and while it didn't seem like she was watching them, she was. This made Dawn uneasy, but she hid it from the others, who were still chatting among themselves about their personas, about where Joey was, and she herself was itchy to start searching the mansion for him.
Just then, there was the sound of footsteps coming from above and they all looked up to see a white-haired gentleman descend the stairs until he was halfway down. He had blue eyes and a short white beard, was carrying a glass goblet with red wine in it, and he was dressed in a pale pink shirt with pale red dots, a white ruffle, a golden coat linked with black velvet and silver buttons, a fancy gold chain with a red gem in the center, black pants, and black boots.
"Welcome to my home," he said with a smile, surveying the cheering crowd before him. "My name is Dorian. You all look so…delicious."
The way that he said the word 'delicious' left Dawn, Andrea, and a few others feeling uneasy, and the way he was looking at them all, was also unnerving.
"Excuse me!" Liza called out. "Where's Joey?"
"He wanted me to greet you on his behalf, as he should be making his entrance shortly," Dorian answered calmly and gestured to the young woman. "I see you've met my daughter, Alison." And Alison smiled nervously at the group as they all greeted her with hellos and smiles. "Why don't you get our guests some drinks?" he suggested.
Alison nodded and left, returning with a tray full of glasses of champagne, and each of the guests took one, even Dawn. The moment Gabbie had her drink, she immediately downed it when Dorian spoke again.
"A toast! To Joey Graceffa!"
"To Joey," said Liza with a wide smile, "wherever he may be." And they all clinked their glasses together, even Gabbie, and they all took a sip.
Well, Dawn made a show of taking a sip since she wasn't about to break the rules she'd been raised to follow and quickly exchanged glasses with Gabbie as Dorian spoke once again. "Now! Enjoy the decor, as I shall return for you when all is ready." And he went back up the stairs.
The moment that he was gone, the group spilt up to explore the mansion and Dawn put the empty glass down on the tray before hurried up the stairs, hoping to find something, anything that could help her find Joey and get them all out of there. She didn't trust Dorian, especially not after that comment about them all looking delicious, and the sooner they got out of there and back to 2017, the better.
Unfortunately, before she could start her search, she was joined by Liza, Andrea, and Alex. "Wait for us, Donny!"
'Dang it!' Dawn thought, but she plastered a smile on her face and engaged them in conversation instead. "So, what do you guys think of our host?" she inquired, going into her detective persona. "Personally, I think he has a secret." And soon they were having a debate about it with Liza in full Explorer mode, Andrea being all Mystic with advice to avoid dark doorways since she was getting a bad vibe about them, and Alex remarking that this could be a great story for him to write as the Novelist.
Downstairs, Tyler was gushing to Gabbie about the pure decadence of the mansion, and after Gabbie learned that he was the Thespian of the group, she mentioned that she was the Vaudevillian and inquired if he was single. When poor Tyler flushed to the point that he almost matched his coat and stammered something about how he was exploring that, she realized that he was actually gay, leading her to flush to the point that they both ended up laughing at their goofs.
In a different corner, DeStorm was chatting with Tana, Ernie, and Jesse about the railroads he owned since Tana was asking, and he was inquiring about what kind of blacksmithing Ernie did when Jesse inquired about "how tight is your security on these railroads?"
DeStorm, however, played along and gave the Outlaw a cool look. "How big is your gang?"
"I'm just trying to survive," Jesse said defensively.
"I mean…" said Tana, and her tone was dangerously innocent. "Aren't we all?"
Before DeStorm, Ernie, or Jesse could respond, she sauntered off, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder, smiling that sly little smirk of hers.
"Talk about getting into character," Ernie commented and both DeStorm and Jesse agreed.
Lauren went upstairs to see what Liza and Dawn were talking about with Tana, who'd wandered up there after first Andrea and then Alex had come back down to mingle with the other guests. He had paused long enough to gush over her dress and give her kiss.
She was still flushing from the kiss and loving her outfit since she felt like a Disney Princess in it, and she knew that the moment that Alex had seen her when she first arrived, he'd actually forgotten how to breath, which was the exact reaction she'd hoped to get from her boyfriend.
"Hey, guys," Lauren said, greeting the three girls and Tana immediately began asking her about how she created her dress. "Oh…" She took the opportunity to show off the intricacies of her outfit. "Just a little something. I'm an Engineer, so I create things of all sorts and styles."
Liza chimed in with an incredulous, "You made that booty?"
"I made this booty!"
"You did a wonderful job, Lauren," Dawn complimented.
"That's what Alex is writing about," Liza said mischievously.
Lauren giggled. "This is the muse," she agreed. "This is the muse." She noticed that Dawn was trying to sidle away. "Are you going somewhere, Dawn?"
Dawn flushed and laughed nervously. "Well, I'm a detective, and there's a real mystery about this place," she admitted, gesturing to the mansion. "And, I'm kinda itching to solve that mystery."
"Well, we could help you look for clues," Tana offered, eager to see more of the mansion.
"Yeah," Liza agreed. "You're a detective, I'm an explorer, perfect fit."
Dawn shrugged and nodded. "Ok."
A/N: When I first watched this episode and Dorian mentioned how 'delicious' the group looked, I immediately got bad vibes. Anyway, I have work the next two days at the movie theater, plus tomorrow is the 4th of July, so I probably won't get to update again until Monday. Bye for now! R&R everyone!