Squigly's pigtails bobbed to-and-fro as she giddily skipped through the immense, populous grand ballroom of the Contiello Manor in a glimmering, satin goldenrod dress that perfectly accentuated her deep black hair and clear blue eyes. In her hands, she carried a small, white, gift-wrapped box. High above her, rows of resplendent, intricately designed chandeliers submerged the room under a soft, tranquil light. She passed through crowds of reveling party guests, maneuvering around several round dining tables draped in dainty lace tablecloth as the sound of flamboyant opera singing rang through the air, dulled by the clamoring of the attendees.
Squigly eventually approached a man and woman at the base of a stairwell. The woman, Selene, had blue eyes and blonde hair done up in a braided bun, and had on a black shawl and violet silk gown with pearl bracelets around her wrists. The man, Roberto, had short brown hair and eyes, and a thick horseshoe mustache, wearing a tan tuxedo with a small buttoned flap on the right shoulder.
"Mother! Please accept my gift!" Squigly called, handing the box over to Selene. "I saw this and I immediately thought of you!"
"Oh my! Why, thank you so much, Squigly!" Selene smiled as she accepted the box. "I greatly anticipate finding out what is inside!"
"No, Mother! Don't put it with the others... please open it now!" Squigly insisted.
"Now Squigly, you know our tradition," reminded Roberto. "We open gifts after the birthday speeches and toasts. The ceremony won't start for another hour or so."
"Relax, Darling. Opening one small present won't spoil the tradition," Selene told Roberto. "Look at the glowing countenance upon our dear Squigly. She seems to be yearning for the gift to be opened just as much as I am! Isn't that right, Dear?"
Squigly eagerly nodded and Roberto conceded as Selene began undoing the bow on the box. Squigly then faced Roberto and did a grateful curtsey. "By the way, how does my dress look, Father?" she asked as she showed off the dress with a twirl.
"You look ravishing, Sweetheart," Roberto replied. "The picture of grace and beauty, just like your mother."
Squigly blushed and giggled as she performed another brief twirl. "This has always been my favorite dress," she gushed. "I have been waiting for just the right occasion to wear it!"
"You chose to wear your favorite dress during my birthday celebration as opposed to your own? Oh, how thoughtful, Dear!"
"Mother, this isn't just any celebration – it's the very first celebration where every Contiello is under one roof!"
"Indeed; 'twas quite exhausting gathering everyone here, I should add," said Roberto. "Our family does have quite an international reach."
"That is just a consequence of our music having such widespread appeal, naturally," Squigly giggled. "Oh, Father! Where is Leviathan? I want him to see my dress as well!"
"Leviathan has decided to seclude himself as to not... alarm any guests. Though, there is no harm in letting you see him now, as the three of us are relatively isolated from the others. Leviathan? Come out please; my daughter wishes to greet you."
Roberto unfastened the shoulder flap on his tuxedo, and the draconic parasite Leviathan emerged from a hole underneath. "Certainly, Master Roberto. Good evening, Madame Selene," he cordially greeted, bowing his head. "Enjoying your celebration?"
"Yes, quite," responded Selene amiably. "Everything thus far has been quite exquisite! I was just about to open this gift Squigly gave me."
"Oh! Leviathan!" Squigly curtseyed for the serpent. "How do you like my dress? Is it not absolutely marvelous?"
"Greetings, Miss Squigly! Your dress is indeed quite lovely," complimented Leviathan. "Though not nearly as lovely as the one who currently wears it."
"Oh Leviathan, you're making me all red!" Squigly giggled, then turned to Selene. "Please hurry and open the gift, Mother! I'm dying to see your reaction!"
Selene removed the bow and wrapping paper and discarded them, then slowly lifted the lid and looked into the box, discovering a pair of platinum earrings in the shape of treble clefs. Upon seeing them, she immediately gasped and held her hand to her face in amazement.
"My goodness...! Squigly, they're... they're beautiful! Thank you!" she exclaimed, taking the earrings out of the box. "I shall put them on right this moment to show to everyone what a gracious, loving daughter I have!"
"Teehee! I knew you'd love them, Mother!" Squigly grinned as Selene leaned forward and gave her a tight, warm hug.
"They are quite fetching, Love. They reflect both your angelic voice and your illustrious beauty," Roberto remarked. "Squigly, you truly have an eye for elegance."
"Well I was raised by you and Mother, after all!" Squigly chirped. "Oh! Let me bring you both some refreshments! I'll return shortly!"
Squigly blissfully skipped off as Leviathan excused himself to Roberto and Selene and withdrew back into Roberto's shoulder.
"Quite the kind heart our dear young Squigly has, hasn't she, Love?" stated Roberto.
"Yes, indeed she has, Darling," Selene replied. "She really is our precious melody."
"She certainly was enthused to see you open your gift, and understandably so!"
"Oh yes! She couldn't even contain her zeal long enough to wait until after the grand ceremony!"
"While I would have preferred her to adhere to our proceedings, I certainly commend and admire her generosity."
"Indeed! Just like that other kind woman who presented me a gift."
"Pardon me? You were handed another gift prior to our daughter's? From whom, might I ask?"
"I was not quite sure who she was; all I remember about her appearance is a billowy white boa with a... peculiar pattern. I don't recall ever meeting her before, but she greeted me warmly as if she knew me personally."
"Well, that's all well and good, I suppose. Have you opened the gift? What was it that she gave you?"
"I'm not entirely sure, actually..." Selene warily replied. "It was just... an unwrapped brown box with some sort of... skull emblem..."
Squigly had trotted over to the Hors d'oeuvre table lined up against the far wall, placed next to the double doors that eventually led outside the manor. She was scooping some punch into the glass she was holding to when the doors were abruptly forced open.
"Oh! How rude," Squigly muttered to herself as the glass shifted in her hand. "Honestly, what sort of guest just throws a host's door ope–"
Looking over to see who the impolite guests were, Squigly was instantly overcome with sheer terror: into the room walked four imposing women in bunny suits and skull masks, all armed with various high-powered guns. Accompanying them was a sinister-looking woman in a long black dress and white shawl, with gray hair underneath a black fur hat with white feathers and a veil hanging down from it that obscured her face. From the elbow down, her right arm had been converted into what appeared to be a hefty gatling gun with a single, long barrel. Her heart racing and quaking in fear, Squigly set the glass back on the table and hastily dived underneath it, going unnoticed by the heavily-armed arrivals.
"Happy birthday, Selene. Time to blow out your candles," the veiled woman uttered coldly. Without warning or hesitation, she and her four associates started firing rapidly into the crowd. Chaos erupted as the first shots rang out; the once tranquil melody of opera music had been replaced by a cacophony of gunfire and screams. Tables were flipped over as the guests frantically sought cover. All the while, Squigly observed the brutal massacre in horrified silence from the safety of her hiding space. Watching as her beloved family fell to the floor one after another, it took all of her strength to contain her anguished shrieks. She desperately wanted to shut her eyes, but had been intent on determining the position of her parents, or even just confirming if they were still alive.
Mere seconds after the initial hail of bullets, the entire ballroom floor was littered with the bloodied bodies of the party guests. Some of them had died instantly, while others were moaning in pain, rapidly succumbing to their wounds. The veiled woman appeared to survey the room, and gave a dissatisfied grunt.
"Where is she?" she snarled. She began walking through the room, flanked by two of the masked gunwomen. The other two guarded the doors to prevent anyone from entering or exiting.
The three assailants deftly stepped around the corpses on the floor while picking off stragglers who managed to avoid gunfire by hiding behind tables. Eventually, they made it to a terrified Selene and Roberto, who were holed up behind a table at the back wall near a stage, visibly shaken and hugging tightly.
"Selene! There you are!" the veiled woman smiled maliciously, using her cannon of an arm to blast the table away. "We Medicis send our birthday greetings."
"B-Black... Dahlia..." Selene whispered as she and Roberto slowly stood up, both shaking uncontrollably. "W-w-what are you... w-why are you–"
"Save it, songbird, you know why we're here," Black Dahlia spat. "We know what you Contiello dogs have been up to."
Roberto gave a quizzical look. "What... whatever do you–"
One of Black Dahlia's henchwomen interrupted Roberto by striking him in the back with her gun, making him howl in pain.
"You really have the gall to play dumb with us. How desperate," Black Dahlia scoffed. "We KNOW you have our property, Selene... and we KNOW what you and your trifling little family intended to do with it."
"I'm sorry! I honestly have no idea what you mean! I really don't!" protested Selene, weeping. "Please, don't hurt me or my husband!"
"Give up the Skull Heart, then we'll talk about whether or not you get hurt," chuckled one of the masked assassins.
"Skull Heart?! I don't kno–"
The other assassin then shot Roberto in the gut, dropping him to the floor instantly. He curled up and clutched his wound, and Selene let out a panicked yelp as Black Dahlia grabbed her by the arm and led her through the blood-soaked ballroom.
"I... try to be a patient woman, so I'm only going to tell you one last time. Open those ears and listen well, songbird," she dictated as Selene miserably walked alongside her, averting her eyes from her fallen friends and family members coating the floor. "The Medicis have intercepted your pathetic plan to use the Skull Heart's power to wipe us out and become the dominant family. We have an eyewitness that can and will attest to you being personally given it by a woman in a white boa. It's pointless to deny it, we know this with absolute certainty. If you give it up, we may just spare your life."
A small shimmer of hope entered Selene as she recognized the item Black Dahlia had been referring to. "Oh! Ohhhh! I-I can give it to you! Sure, it's not a problem!" she assured. "I can show you where it is! Please, j-j-just no more violence!"
Black Dahlia released her grip on Selene and she led her and the assassins over to the table where guests put their presents.
"No... NO! Where is it?!"
Selene was frantically rummaging through the boxes piled up on the gift table, growing more and more anxious as she couldn't retrieve the box she had received from the mysterious woman.
"Time's up, Selene!" Black Dahlia barked, grabbing Selene by her wrists and pressing her gun arm to the back of her head. Selene hyperventilated as she was taken to the door of the ballroom, where the two bunny girls standing guard pointed their guns at her and prepared to fire.
"STOOOOP!"
Squigly, who had been watching the entire scene from under the table, suddenly sprinted toward her mother in desperation. Before she could get far, she had tripped on a broken table leg and both of her arms were grabbed by the assassins.
"Oh, what's this? Another one of you insects?" Black Dahlia smirked, letting go of Selene and walking over to Squigly. The bunny girls shoved her towards Black Dahlia, who seized her by her right pigtail.
"No! Please don't hurt her! Kill ME instead! Just please don't hurt my melody!" Selene cried out. She would've tried to run toward Squigly if not for the two hitwomen training their loaded weapons on her. Black Dahlia ignored her call, and Squigly whimpered softly and shivered with fear as she was roughly dragged toward the wall and forced onto her knees.
"Selene, when will you learn?" she sneered. "You pitiful Contiellos never had any value to us. We only kept you close so we could keep our eye on you. And if we ever deemed you a threat..."
Black Dahlia lifted up Squigly's pigtail, then loaded her arm gun and pressed it to her head. Squigly's eyes flooded with tears as she glanced at the cold weapon.
"N-n-no... Please, no...!" she feebly pleaded while sobbing and timidly leaning against the wall. "Please...! I... I don't want to die..."
"Squigly..." Selene hopelessly murmured, tears streaming down her face.
"Well Selene, I sincerely hope you enjoyed your birthday party. You definitely deserved everything you got. Just one thing left to do now...!"
"M... Mother... Mother... I love you, Mother..."
"I... I love you too, Sienna..."
"Mother... goodbye..."
"Don't forget to make a wish!"
The last thing Squigly felt was a sharp, stinging pain through her left eye.