The Party

I twirled around in the mirror.

"How do you like it?" Katrina asked.

I examined my dress. It was a red strapless dress that fit my body perfectly. It was just a bit longer than my knees. I was wearing matching eye shadow and lipstick. Katrina sure loved red. My hair fell around my face in long waves. I wasn't too fond of wearing dresses and make-up, but I somewhat liked the fact that I got to get a full on makeover.

"I love it, Katrina. You're amazing at applying make-up. Thank you," I thanked the 20-year-old.

I was still trying to except that she had sucked the life out of a 20-year-old girl. It was horrifying to watch. A few hours earlier, the girl arrived at Katrina's front door. I watched her grab the poor girl and bite her in the neck. The girl screamed and cried for what seemed like hours. When Katrina was done, the girl had aged at least 20 years. Then, two men came and took her away and upstairs to someplace where she had kept her other victims.

"You're welcome. After all I get it from my mother, Torina," she replied.

I walked down the stairs with her where the others were waiting. I looked at Nafia who was wearing a deep blue dress. It was up to her knees in the front, but it almost brushed the ground in the back. It was a little too showy for my taste. Standing next to her were Navarog and the Sphinx who were wearing plain black tuxes.

"Oh! You all look so good! Especially you, Hazel," she squealed and pinched my cheeks.

The Sphinx stepped forward. "Alright, you all know what you have to do. Steal the Translocator. But it's not that simple. You will have to search the whole mansion. The man hosting this party is named Taylor Griffin. Katrina took care of the humans you'll be pretending to be. Nafia, your name will be Talia Redman, Navarog will be Ryan Johnson, and Hazel will be Grace Miller. If you are caught, you must escape the building in the quickest way possible. Good luck, you three."
We all walked outside to find a black limo parked in front of the house. The Sphinx got in the front while Navarog helped me and Nafia into the seats behind him. And with that, we drove away from Katrina's mansion and to the party. A few minutes later, we arrived at a giant mansion, much bigger than Katrina's. I got out of the limo and walked up to the door. The security guard at the door stopped us before we entered.

"Your names?" he asked.

"My name is Grace Miller. These are my friends Talia Redman and Ryan Johnson," I told the man.

He nodded for us to enter as we walked through the threshold. There were already so many people here! They were all either talking or drinking champagne.

"Look for Taylor Griffin," Navarog said.

I nodded and looked around for him. It looks like he's a fan of white and gold. Gold tapestries lined the walls. There were 6 white pillars on either side of a wide walkway to a balcony overlooking the whole room. On that balcony, stood a boy my age. He wore a white tux with a red rose in his shirt pocket. That had to be him. He gazed over the crowd like a hawk.

"I found him. I'll keep him busy while you get the Translocator," I ordered.

"Right, remember what we told you. If you fail to help us in this mission, the Sphinx will order Bahumat to destroy all of Fablehaven. If you succeed, we'll set your friends free. Don't screw up," Navarog whispered.

I punched him in the stomach. No one seemed to notice. He glared at me as he took Nafia and walked away. I watched him go before looking back up at the balcony. Wait, where did he go? The boy was standing there just a few seconds ago.

"Are you looking for someone, Miss?"

I whirled around. There he was, standing right in front of me.

"No, I'm not," I said in surprise.

"Well then, we might as well talk a bit," he said grabbing my arm, "Come with me."

He led me up the stairs, down a hallway full of paintings, and into a room. A private library. It was humongous! There were shelves full of books that loomed over us. He closed the door behind me as I walked in.

"You already know my name. But, what may your name be?" he asked me.

"Grace. Grace Miller."

"Grace Miller, what a beautiful name," he said kissing my hand.

I forced a smile, and he smiled back.

"So, do you have any hobbies?" I asked him.

"I like paintings of herons. But, sadly I only have one on the top floor. I also like to collect things," he answered.

I smiled. "Really? What do you like to collect?" I asked him.

"I like to collect ancient objects. You know, I recently found an item, but I can't figure out what its significance is," he said.

"Interesting, do you mind showing it to me?" I asked sweetly.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I keep them hidden so no one can steal them."

"It's fine, but I have to get going back to my friends," I said as I walked to the door.

As I turned the door knob, it stopped halfway through. I tried again, but I couldn't get it open.

"I think the door is locked," I said.

"Well we can't have a thief like you get away," he said and grabbed my arm, "You see, I knew the real Grace Miller before this party. And you aren't her."

He threw me against a wall and held up what looked like a key. "Looks like you're stuck in here."

"Not for long," I murmured to myself.

I jumped up and ran into the maze of bookcases. He gave chase at the sound of my heels clicking. He was gaining on me. Stupid shoes! They were slowing me down. When he was just 15 feet away, I stopped to take off my heels. He tried to knock me over, but I wacked him in the face with the point of my heel. He howled in pain and covered his face. I took the key out of his hand and ran. There had to be something in here to break the door down. After all, it was wooden.

I ran and ran. Out of the corner of my eye, something flashed. I looked up to see a sword in a glass case on top of one of the bookcases. Unlike the others, this bookcase was empty and had no ladder. I looked up at it. This may be my only way to escape. So I grabbed onto the shelf and began climbing. When I was almost to the top, the wood in the shelf began to groan and creak. I quickly climbed to the top and opened the glass case. I pulled out the steel sword. Now all I had to do was get down.

Snap! I looked down and saw that the bottom shelf had broken under my wait. Oh no. The bookcase started to lean forward. I tried to steady myself. What do I do? The bookcase began to pick up speed as it continued to lean. Suddenly, it stopped. I let out a breath of relief. Snap! I panicked as the bookcase plummeted to the ground. In my panic, I jumped forward and hoped I'd land on something. I saw the ladder to another staircase and caught it as I crashed into it. Boom! I looked down to see the bookcase had smashed right below me and caused the bookcase I was on to wobble. I dropped down onto the fallen staircase and slid down it onto the floor. I watched as the bookcases fell into each other like dominos. I quickly ran to the exit to find Taylor waiting for me.

"You will not escape!" he yelled in fury.

By that time most of the bookcases had fallen over. I looked behind him to see a leaning bookcase.

"Look out!" I cried.

He may be a trying to stop me, but I didn't want him to die. He just smirked. He didn't believe.

"I'm not going to fall for-"

I watched as the bookcase loomed over him. I tried to motion him over to me, but it was too late. The bookcase crashed to the floor, and he was gone. I screamed in horror. But I knew that I had to get out of here. I poked a hole in the door with my sword and stuck my hand through. I unlocked the door with the key I stole and ran away as fast as I could.

Where would I go? I found the stairs and ran up. I didn't stop on the next floor or the floor after that. I just kept running. I heard screams come from downstairs, and I knew the guests had found out what happened. Finally, I reached the top floor. I walked into a hallway and walked into the first room. Inside was a desk with a giant painting of a heron behind it. Was that the painting he was talking about? I walked up to it. In the painting, the heron had spread its wings and was facing right at me. I felt like it would fly off the wall and into the room. I touched the painting, and my hand ripped through.

What? I looked through to reveal a staircase. I ripped a giant hole and walked through. The staircase was dark and had a mysterious aura. I walked up and found myself in a room full of ancient objects. They were all spread out on the floor. I tried not to step on any of them. It was amazing! There where tablets with strange script and ornate vases with pictures on them. He had objects from all time periods. They all had labels next to the artifact. In the center of the room sat a strange object that had no label. It looked like a platinum disk with three sections. It was covered with jewels. That must be the Translocator. I picked it up. I felt a sucking feeling as it recharged. I quickly ran out of the room.

"Talia! Ryan!" I called out.

No answer. I ran down the stairs and until I got to the floor above the library. How would I get around that with the Translocator? I ran down the hallway. I bumped into a man a fell to the floor.

"Grace!"

I looked up to see Navarog.

"You found it!" Nafia cried.

"Yeah, now let's get out of here. I had the craziest experience ever," I said.

"I know, we heard," Navarog said.

He took the artifact from me and grabbed the middle, while Nafia grabbed the left section. She placed my hand on the right section.

"Alright, Hazel. We're going to align the jewels. I will think of the place we want to transport to," he instructed. I nodded. "Now!"

We turned the sections to align the jewels, and in a flash, we were standing in Katrina's mansion.

"You have the Translocator!" Katrina said with surprise at our entrance.

"Yeah, Hazel found it," Navarog said letting go of the Translocator and Nafia did the same.

The Sphinx walked over to me and snatched the Translocator from my hands.

"Finally, we're just one step away from fulfilling my revenge!" he cried in triumph, "Tomorrow we'll leave for Fablehaven!"

"No! What are you going to do to them?" I cried.

"You will soon know," the Sphinx said maliciously.

"No!" I cried, "You said you wouldn't hurt them if I helped you!"

"Well, I changed my mind. It's getting late. You should get to bed," he said with fake kindness.

"I knew I shouldn't have helped you!" I cried.

I charged at him and punched him square in the face. He stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.

"You brat! Get out of here!" he cried cupping his nose with his hands.

I ran upstairs to my room and slammed the door shut. I jumped onto my bed and lay there, thinking about Fablehaven.

"I'm so sorry. I let you all you down," I whispered in despair.

I jumped in surprise as the door opened.

"I don't want to talk to you!" I snapped.

I felt a hand on my head. "Don't get down about it. They wouldn't have been able to keep you safe like we could."

I looked up to see Navarog. I smacked his hand away.

"Are you seriously asking me to join you? What have you done to protect me? You just use me to do all your dirty work! I almost died today!" I yelled at him.

He took a step back as I stood up.

"You are so horrible!" I cried.

I tried to slap him, but he caught my hand. He pulled me in so that our lips almost touched.

"You shouldn't be so reckless when you fight. You could get into trouble," he whispered.

I pushed him away. "Get out!"

He smirked and strolled out the door. I sighed with exhaustion. I walked into the bathroom to change into some sweat pants and a random shirt. When I was done, I hopped into bed and turned out the lights. I didn't even bother to wash up. I was too busy thinking about tomorrow. I couldn't stand to watch my friends get slaughtered. To forget about tomorrow, I thought about Navarog. What was his deal? Maybe he was doing this to get me to like him and join his side. That must be it. I had to admit, he was clever. I looked outside. Somewhere out there, all of Fablehaven was hanging in the balance of life and death. Hopefully, things will work out okay tomorrow.