She sat next to the girl, twirling her hair and blinking nervously. Emerald had always been nervous at dinner parties, this was no exception. Partly because the dress she wore was a long, itchy thing. It was a navy colour, with a sequin studded belt, and a low neck with a slight ruffle. There as a diamond collar fitted across her upper neck.
"It was so nice of you to join us for tea, miss! You look really good in that dress, it's totally awesome!" Sherbet cried, in awe of Emerald's ill-fitted outfit. They were the only ones at the table, but out of the both of them, she was the best. The mint green dress with layers under the skirt and a white cardigan with short sleeves and a short length seemed to fit like a glove on her.
For a mentally unstable child, she looked okay.
"So, why did you bring us here? I don't usually trust people now, especially when I'm unarmed, but I made an exception for you. But if you are part of the government..."
"You'd kill me? Rip my head out? Shoot me like a hunter would?" Sherbet laughed loudly, but not in the way a polite, high-class lady would. "Besides, your friend isn't here yet! He wants to eat and so do you. So it seems we have reached a tie."
As if by chance, Etan stepped down the grand staircase and into the dining hall. Emerald wondered how Sherbet had coaxed him out of his hoodie, but it wasn't as if he looked bad in a tailcoat. He walked towards the table, head held high and with a confident stride. He sat opposite the two girls, and gave her the I hate this and you know look. His bandage covered his left eye still, by no surprise whatsoever. He looked at the array of cutlery in front of his face.
"Well, I'll go and inform the chef we're all ready!" Sherbet left the table, and made her way down a narrow passage that led off the dining room. It was at that moment Emerald burst out into fits of laughter. Etan was not impressed.
"Jesus Christ. You...in a suit? Wow, whatever next?!" She cried through each giggle.
"I look like Willy Wonka without the flashy colours."
"You look like Soul!"
Etan was not impressed. His face contorted into a stern grimace.
"Oh, Ash is tooootally not my boyfriend. The loud noises you heard from the bedroom was obviously us playing Scrabble."
Emerald was now suffocating from laughter, her head resting on a China plate. She stopped and looked up at her friend, a serious face on her now.
"We need to leave. Now." She said. Her mind was already mapping out how to escape.
"Okay. What's the plan?" Etan asked.
'' I'll go upstairs and change into my normal clothes. You stay down here. When she comes back, tell her I went to the bathroom. I'll come back down with all of my stuff, while I explain to Sherbet why we are leaving. Meanwhile, you go back upstairs and change. If I can distract her for long enough, you will have enough time to shoot her and-"
"Emerald, she's fourteen, if that. Do we have to shoot her?"
Emerald was making her way back up the spiral staircase. She paused and turned to look at Etan.
"By all means, yes."
It was a good half an hour before Emerald came down. Her baseball shirt, camo skirt and the like were now back on her body. It felt better than a dress at least. She ran down the stairs to find Etan talking to Sherbet. They were both sitting over a bowl of creamy soup.
"Oh, hello Emerald. Nice of you to join us at last! We were just discussing how you fight demons. How noble." Sherbet was looking at her right in the eye. Did she know what they were doing?
"Oh were you now?" Emerald hissed through gritted teeth. This was going to be a massive problem in the plan. She hovered her hand over the silver shotgun and backed away slightly. Etan made a gesture with his hand and got up from the table.
"It was nice of you to invite us to your...manor, but we really have to get going. Lots of demon-hunting stuff, you know." He said, backing away also.
"But there's a demon right here you could hunt. Right in this room."
"H-huh? What demon?" He stammered, fearful of this phsycotic teenager. He seized his bow and held it up.
