I woke up to the sound of Ashley rocking out in the living room. I turned to face the clock on my night stand. It was just barely the crack of noon. I made a sound of frustration but got out of bed and went to my closet to pick out something to wear. I had forgotten the dream but as I looked at the mirror it all came flooding back. "Whoa, weird." I said and then shrugged my shoulders. After all it was just a dream.

I picked out of my closet a pair of Mudd brand jeans and a shiny blue shirt. Blue had to be one of my favorite colors. Well that and black. I caught a shower singing shower tunes through the whole thing. Today was going to be a good day I could feel it and I sang Masquerade to the soap bar. I think I must have gone through every song in the musical plus a few from Jekyll and Hyde before I finally got out and got dressed.

And who should I meet right outside the bathroom door but Ashley.
"Nice singing man." she said. I stuck my tongue out at her and went to the kitchen to get a healthy breakfast, Dr. pepper and a Hotpocket.

After breakfast we hoped into her car and headed to the mall. We still had a few hours before our main event tonight and so it was time to shop. We headed down to the music store to check out the CDs. Nothing good, well nothing good enough to be worth the thirty dollars they wanted to charge for it. We roamed the mall for a while. I got about five bags of clothes and Ash outdid me with seven. It was just about time for the main event so we headed back home to change.

Tonight was the masquerade. It was held about once every month give or take a day and it was something I looked forward to. It was one of the few times I could wear a cloak and not feel stupid.

When we arrived the party had already started. Every where people were in their sparkling costumes. The girls swirled in their dresses and the guys bowed in their suits. Everyone wore a mask. The whole room was a blur of blues and purples, reds and greens. I wore a dress and cloak with a hood. My mask was blue with purple glitter and I wore it so that it just covered my eyes. Ashley was dressed all in blue with a long blue cloak and a blue mask with silver stars. I wondered if we would see anybody we knew.

Of course we wouldn't know for sure until the end of the night when it was tradition for everyone to take off their masks and reveal their true identity. Me and Ash separated to look for dancing partners. Ash hooked up with a guy in a blue mask and black hair. I ended up with a guy in a black mask with long dark hair that fell to his shoulders. He took my hand and we smiled at each other. The hired band struck up a slow song and we danced under blue lights. Slowly we spun and I caught sight of Ashley enjoying herself with her own Romeo. My partner twirled me and I caught something swirling black out of the corner of my eye. When I looked again it was nothing.

I shrugged it off and kept dancing enjoying myself. I leaned in close and put my head on his shoulder dancing slowly to the music. I could see Ashley from here. It looked like they were hitting it off pretty well. Suddenly I saw what looked like a man dressed all in black with a white half mask run through the couples. I squinted my eyes trying to decide if I should believe what I saw. My partner twirled me in the opposite direction and I saw a guy dressed all in red with a plumed hat and a morbid skulls mask. I shuddered.

"Are you alright?" My partner looked down at me with genuine concern through the eyes of his mask.

"Ya, I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess." Like a true gentleman he escorted me off the dance floor and had me sit down at one of the tables that had been set up at the side. Each one was covered by a red table cloth and had a black heart candle for a center piece. I sipped a glass of water and closed my eyes trying to make sense of it. I must have been going crazy, but this is what I got for being so obsessed. I felt my dance partners hand on mine and I raised my head to look at him.

"Are you sure your ok?"

"I'll be fine" I said to reassure him as much as myself. I looked passed him and saw the figure all in red with the skull mask. Why so silent? The voice seemed to be in my left ear. Did you think I had left you for good? I shut my eyes tight and when I opened them he was gone. The rest of the evening went smoothly. After a while the music got wilder and my partner and I decided to go outside for some air. Other couples loitered around the doors to the entrance so we wandered around to the back of the building. The stars were out by know and the moon shone down us with clear white light.

" I can't wait till midnight so I can finally call you by your name." he said looking down at me. His eyes were crystal blue and the moonlight was kind to them making them shine even brighter. "Why wait? We can cheat a little." I did a fake curtsy an introduced my self. "My name is Ember." He laughed and decided to play along. "Michael." he reached down to press my hand to his lips.

"Pleased to meet you Michael."

"The pleasure is all mine." He smiled and leaned down a little to plant a kiss on my cheek. Slowly he moved to kiss me on the mouth. Such a little thing really, a kiss... most people don't give it a moment's consideration...The voice was in my head again, soft and musical. I gasped at the sound of it and backed away from Michael.

"Is something wrong?" He looked hurt.

"No nothing. ..I mean yes... I don't feel so good. I have to go. I'm sorry..." I turned to leave but he caught me by the arm. "At least tell me how I can get a hold of you." I gave him my phone number hurriedly hoping he could commit it to memory and ran off to find Ashley.

I found her sitting inside with her young gentlemen enjoying herself immensely. I hated to do this to her. "Come on Ash, we have to go."

"Go? Why? It's not even eleven yet."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm not feeling to good."

Ashley got up with a sigh, not before giving her number to the young gentleman along with her name. I was her ride after all, and then of course there was general friendly concern to think about.

I was already halfway to the car and Ashley ran to catch up. "What's the matter." I struggled to unlock the car door, his voice still echoing in my head. "I don't know. You'd just think I was crazy any way."

When I arrived home that night I went straight to my room without offering any kind of explanation to Ashley. I just couldn't handle it in there. I flopped down on my bed without bothering to change out of my costume. Alright I knew I was going crazy now. People just don't see fictional characters masquerading around at masquerades. There was no way that could have been real. Maybe somebody had dressed in a Phantom costume, but then where did that voice come from?

I buried my face in my pillow and let out a sound of frustration. It was all too complicated. Just then I heard a child laughing and the sound of hoof on stone. I raised my head just a little. It was probably just the TV.

"Ash! Turn that down!"

I laid my head on my crossed arm in front of me. A flash of light came from behind me like a flash on a camera and I turned around to see what it was. In the mirror was a scene of nineteenth century Paris come to life. The ladies with their bustles and parasols leaning over their shoulders arm in arm with their sweethearts. Men in evening dress probably on their way to the opera or the many other forms of entertainment that Paris had to offer. Horses clopped down the road pulling fancy carriages with very important passengers.

I got up from the bed to stare in fascination. They seemed oblivious to my presence and I stared at them freely. I raised my hand cautiously up to the mirror. As soon as I touched it the invisible barrier that separated the two worlds collapsed and I was suddenly being pulled into the Parisian street. I turned around and grabbed a hold of my bed post for dear life. I heard the sound of my door opening and I knew it could only be Ashley.

"What did you say Ember?"

Ashley entered my room with green goop all over her face. She had cucumbers over her eyes in the usual diva fashion. Her hands were bent at the wrist, fingers spread out in the "nail polish still wet do not touch or I'll kill you" way.

"Ashley no! Don't-"Before I could finish Ashley was being pulled into the mirror arms flailing in an effort to grab a hold of something, careful not to smudge the polish. She screamed as the cucumbers fell off of her eyes and she saw what was going on.

"EMBER!"

I sighed and let go of the bed post. I couldn't let Ashley go in there alone.