"Tell me again why you chose to throw a masquerade?" I ask as I place the mask over my face. It's simple in comparing o the feathered headpiece in my hair.
"No better way to celebrate our sister's birthday than under the guise of anonymity." Fletcher says as he puts on his own mask. He pokes the headpiece that I'm wearing and then chuckles.
"For someone so against it, you've appeared to not hold back." He says and I shrug.
"We rarely get to dress as we used to. It's nice." I respond I head for the stairs.
"The guests will be here soon." August reminds us.
"You mean the entire town." I respond with a smirk.
"You do like to show off August." I remark and he chuckles.
The doors to our ballroom are pulled open as the first guests enter. They look around in awe as my brothers and I stand on the stairs. I can't help but to smile in pride as people flood into the room. The guests also seemed to have embraced the theme of the evening.
At about half past six, August calls the room to attention.
"We'd like to thank you all for joining us to celebrate Emerald's birthday. As is traditional of the Victorian era, we'd like to begin the night with a waltz." August says in a booming voice and we move from the stairs.
"I haven't waltzed in nearly a hundred years." I hiss to August as I pass him. He laughs in response. I step to the level floor and stand looking out over the crowd for a moment. I feel a hand grab my arm and turn to a Mikaelson at my side. Thankfully it's not Niklaus.
"It's been a while, Kol." I say as we begin the waltz. "I do hope this isn't some elaborate scheme to get me into your brother's arms." I say jokingly.
"I can't just want to wish you a happy birthday?" Kol remarks and I roll my eyes.
"I suppose you could. That and I seem to forget that you've never cared about your brother's affairs anyways." I say as I'm spun out and into someone else's arm. I nearly groan audibly when I realize I've ended up with the very person I've been trying to avoid. I clamp my jaw shut and focus on dancing. Refusing to speak even a word to him.
"Happy birthday Emerald." He says and I just shoot him a glare as we dance. The tension is palpable between us as the music crescendos. After a few minutes of silence I am once again spun out and into a set of arms I truly do not recognize.
As the song draws to an end, the stranger bows over my hand and places a kiss on it before departing.
"How entirely bizarre." I say to myself as footsteps approach me.
"I tried to save you from Kol." Damon says from right behind me as I stare at the receding figure.
"Something isn't right." I whisper as the figure finally disappears.
"Emerald, your necklace is gone." Damon says, brushing a finger along my now bare skin. I flinch slightly and grab at my neck, panic rising in my throat.
"This truly isn't not good." I say as I rush across the room towards my brothers.
"We've been invaded." I almost shout, handing still clutching where my necklace was.
"What do you mean?" August asks staring at me as if I'm crazy.
"There was a man I danced with. He took the necklace that keeps me from dying. Something is off about him. I don't like how he made me feel." I whisper to them.
"How'd he make you feel?" Fletcher asks as he grab a glass from a passing tray.
"Cold like a corpse." I respond as I pull off the satin gloves I was wearing. On the back of my left hand is a pulsating bruise like mark. My brothers and I watch as the veins in my hand turn black before it goes up my arm. I look to them with panic in my eyes and shove the glove back on.
"You've made yourself quite the target." August says with worry evident in his voice.
"I haven't done anything to anyone August." I respond and rub my arm.
"You don't know who you've pissed off in passing." He reminds me and I roll my eyes.
"For now, we need to focus on our guest. And for the record a masquerade party was a horrendous idea." I say before I melt into the crowd. After a few minutes Damon finds me again and looks at me quizzically.
"Everything okay?" He asks and I shake my head no.
"Something bad is happening to me. Something that I can't explain. I need to get downstairs but everyone would notice if the guest of honor went missing." I say calmly.
"And it wouldn't be a quick process, would it?" He asks.
"No and I'd need someone with me to pull me back. Astral projection is a dangerous art. Especially when you don't know who it is you're looking for." I say softly and grab his hand.
"For now I have to play the happy birthday girl." I say and pull him into the middle of the dance floor. He grins down at me and I can sense two sets of eyes on us as we dance.
Suddenly flashes of visions overwhelm me. Flashes of a darkened wood and flashes of a decrepit house. An overwhelming feeling of anxiety clenching my throat closed. My body grinds to halt as I stand in the middle of the floor breathing heavily.
After a moment I turn on my heel and sprint from the house. I crash through the back door and into the woods, clambering over downed trees. My dress getting snagged on thorns and twigs. I trip and crash to the ground in a muffled thud, the wet earth squelching around me. The panic hasn't ceased yet and I watch as the blackened bruise from early crawls along my veins.
I let out a frightened scream and claw at the dress until my fingernails are broken and bloody.
I can feel myself being dragged eventually. But my body has shut down.