Out Tonight

You wanna prowl

Be my night owl?

Well take my hand we're gonna howl

Out tonight

-Rent

Grace washed the floors, humming to herself. She seemed happy all that day, even when doing the chores she hated the most. Everyone who passed her by looked with much confusion. What was she so happy about? Later that night, after her chores were all done, she took off her apron and stared at the night sky.

It was time to get out.

She crawled out of the window and climbed down the trellis. Holding the ivy leaves, she carefully descended down to edge of the street. She looked around gazing at the empty streets. The night was bitterly cold, but she didn't feel cold. She turned her head toward a window where she heard a piano play. It was soft song, but she felt that it did not suit the night.

She wished to hear something else. A type of music that was loud and fast-paced. Something that sounded tastefully dangerous. Music that was called…well, she was not exactly sure what it was called, but she knew that she liked. She had never told anyone about it before, not even to her mother. People would think it was strange for a woman to think like that.

The pianist switched to new song, one more cheerful. She smiled. Now this song fits the night she thought to herself. She danced to the music as she headed over towards the bridge. There was where she would meet Hector. When she got to bridge, she saw him standing there, smiling at her. However, his smile did not seem as energetic as she thought it would be. Grace thought nothing of it at first. She thought he might be tired. It was late after all. She strolled up to him and kissed him on lips, her arms around his neck. They kissed passionately for a minute until Hector slowly pushed her away. Grace gave him at confusing look.

"I can't do this," he told her, sadly. "I have terrible news." He turned around, his back facing her. Grace touched his shoulder with concern.

"I'm being forced to marry," he told her. Grace gasped and took her hand off of his shoulder.

"What? Married to whom?" she asked. Hector turned back to face her, his head held down.

"Her name is Meredith Vandertrampp," he explained. "We are to be married after the wedding." Grace breathed heavily.

"Is she rich?" she asked. "Is she beautiful?" A wisp of fury lingered on her words. Guilt weighted down on Hector's stomach.

"Well, yes, but…" Grace snapped her head away before he could finish. Her mind soon went into disbelief and quickly to anger. She placed her hand through hair. Tears began to form in her eyes.

"I knew this was too good to be true," she mumbled to herself. She ran into the forest, tears ready to burst out of her eyes. Hector was about to go after her, but knew that there was not much he could do. Instead he decided to wait until she came back out.

Grace ran until she reached a huge oak tree and sat on a stump beside it. Tears continued to stream down her eyes as symbols of sorrow.

"How could I have ever fallen in love with a man like that?" she whispered angrily to herself. "I knew he had a reputation for being a flirt. I was just another one of his mistresses. Well, fine. If he is going to marry for power and money, then so can I. I will marry the first rich and powerful who asks me."

All of a sudden, she felt a powerful rumble underneath her. She sat up and watched the ground open. She backed up, but accidentally fell into thorny bush. The ground still rumbled as she struggled to get of the bush. Scratches covered her arm, with holes on her sleeves. Her bun tore apart and her hair fell down.

She turned and her teeth chattered with fear as the creature came out of the ground. His skin was pale with stitches around his arm. He wore royal attire, but it was quite shabby with holes in them. One of his hands was skeletal just as both of his bare feet were. A crown glittered dimly upon his messy, red hair. Grace breathed heavily staring at the being in front of her.

"Hello, sweetheart," he said. "Ready to prepare for the wedding?" Grace choked on her breath, desperately trying to describe what happened. After a moment of shock, she finally fainted.