Masquerade

The dance never ends.

The first thing that she heard was the sweet lull of the music. The waltz has a way of rising and falling like the waves of the sea, crashing at one moment and soft at the next. The sweet sound filled her ears, the tempo moving swiftly around her. She opened the door and the sound intensified, the booming of the drums and the excitement of the violins surrounding her. The music drew her into the room, increasing to match the thrum of her heartbeat as she looked out over the crowd of people.

She had entered upon the balcony that overlooked the ballroom, and what she saw was magnificent. Her eyes flicked up and drew along the buttresses of the ceiling that were studded with twists of gold and silver. Patches of the roof opened up into clear glass, revealing the stars of the night sky.  As her eyes cascaded down, she was first enthralled by the tapestries that dominated the walls. They were enormous and stitched with bright fabric, depicting scenes that were full of energy and life. One was a man riding a great white horse, chasing after an elusive stag while another was of a woman stooping to feed a dog a small morsel of food.

However, what caught her eye the most was the throng of people that moved below her. Each of them was clad in their best Victorian dress, stitched together with the most vivid of colours. The couples moved to the music, swaying this way and that as the waltz dictated what it was that they were to do. Everyone moved at once, displaying the beauty and grace of the dance with ease. Upon their faces each of them wore a mask painted with splashes of colour. Some of them were accented with feathers or sequins, but each of them was bright and original.

The woman slowly started to make her way down the stairs, her dress trailing behind her over the steps. The rich red fabric dripped behind her as she stepped down onto the floor, showing a glimpse of the bright white shoes that were underneath the lush colour. Upon her face was a mask of white, fitted to cover the dominant features of her face. Painted up the right side of her cheek was a rose, with only the most flawless of details. The mask was framed by her blonde hair, which travelled down well past her shoulders.

She stopped as the music drew to a close, and the people stopped their swaying to applaud the musicians. As the music started up again people began to move, this time to a slower waltz. The music that had once been loud and exciting had slowed to a more intimate tone. As the people spun around her she felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder.

Turning, her eyes caught sight of the man who had touched her and he bowed. The first thing that caught her eyes were the white gloves as they made a sweeping motion towards the floor. The man bowed low, showing her the back of his tailed waistcoat, which was fabricated with yellow and black fabric. When he straightened she was greeted by the face of a fox, and the man smiled.

“May I have this dance?” He asked. His gloved hand outstretched to meet with hers and she gingerly took it before he pulled her close. They were face to face, the flower and the fox, before they slowly started to move to the sway of the music. The two were suddenly entwined in the dance, as if they had been there their entire lives. The music spun them around and around, taking them across the dance floor and back again.

The woman looked around, seeing the faces of animals greeting her everywhere she looked. Bears and oxen and wolves stared back at her for the moments she looked at them before disappearing into the fray once more. Her eyes turned back to her fox, and a smile played across his teeth as they danced. His face was so close to hers it was scandalous, and he closed his eyes taking a deep breath.

“It is a shame that we cannot dance longer,” He said, his voice as smooth as silk.

“Why would that be?” The woman asked, not wanting to be let go ever again.

“The song is about to end,” he said, his smile unwavering. “And I am sure that all of the other animals in here would love to take your hand.”

“I care not for what the others want,” she smiled.

The man grinned, his eyes flashing. “Then let us dance.”

As he said this the music started to swell again, the drums and the violins beating louder with every note. The dance increased in tempo, and the two found themselves being swept into the middle of the dance floor. Other couples passed around them, getting so close to the pair that the dresses of the women brushed tails.

The music grew louder still and the dance became more insistent. The woman looked around and eyes glared back at her, staring through the masks in her direction. The violins screeched, insisting that they dance faster and the pace quickened. The fox and the flower spun round and round, as the colours started to meld with the speed. The people around them disappeared in a whirl of colour as the dance started to consume them.

The music boomed filling their ears with the fact that they could not stop. They were entwined in the dance, and they would not be released until it was over. Their feet moved with impossible speed, darting this way and that as they twirled around each other. The man spun her and his eyes never left hers, as a grin spread across his face. The sound of the orchestra never faltered, and the man started to laugh as it grew louder still.

They were moving too fast now, the world blending around them so that nothing was discernible. The music was nothing but screeching, the notes lost in the tempo and the volume. Yet still they danced, moving faster than was ever imaginable. The woman’s breaths were taken from her mouth as the man gripped her tighter, putting his ear close to hers.

“I am sorry, my love,” he said.

She was about to ask what he meant when the music suddenly slowed, and the world ground to a halt around them. The pair stood in the middle of the dance floor as the couples continued to dance, the music back to its original tempo. The shock of the transition hit her like a bolt of pure energy, and she stumbled a few steps backward. The man drew away from her, his fox eyes glinting in the light as he stepped into the fray and disappeared from sight.

She wanted to go after him, to find him once again to the beat of the music but her feet refused to move. The woman stood in the middle of the dance floor, confused and disoriented as the music came to a close. People around her applauded, but the noise was too loud. Every sound echoed in her head, and she started to feel ill as the world throbbed around her. She felt as if her energy was flowing from her feet, and her head spun in her skull. Nausea bubbled up inside her and one hand flew to her stomach before she froze.

The world halted around her, the sound becoming muted as ever so slowly she pulled her fingers away from the red fabric of her dress. It felt as if her dress had suddenly become water, and some of the red fabric dripped from her fingers as she pulled them away. A scream erupted in the back of her mind as she started to fall backwards, the world tilting around her. The floor rushed up to meet her and she found herself looking up at the golden ceiling and the stars.

Someone was over top of her, his hand pressed to her abdomen, trying to stop the flow of crimson fabric. His mouth opened in a silent yell, and she realized with a start that his mask was gone. People pooled around her as her dress started to spread on the floor, flooding out around her like a halo. She searched the faces around her and they were filled with horror and fear, yet she could not understand why.

Her eyes slowly closed and it was silent only for a moment. Then, the echo of the music started to play and the woman smiled, as her white dress pooled around her feet. Piano notes tinkled in the darkness and she curtsied low, to the empty ballroom.

It seemed that the dance wasn’t over after all. 

Author's Note

So this is not the first version or this story that I have done, but as everyone knows it is really hard to notice your own flaws when you are editing your work. In that sense, I am happy to hear any creative criticism that you have to offer! Or just tell me if you enjoyed it, that works as well.

Credit for the cover art goes to eWKn on deviantart. http://ewkn.deviantart.com/art/waltz-of-the-dead-109395589

Reviews

[CountNicholasAlti]

I enjoyed this read. Whenever I would begin to worry that there was to much expedition you would counter that at just the right time with mystery, and it balanced out well. Everything was easily visible to the reader and flowed brilliantly. The character choices worked excellently as well and I'm very glad you didn't name them, as it raises the ominous setting and event even further. Well done, sorry that I don't have much constructive criticism here, or rather any at all. But I can choose between good or bad, and I choose good.

[Darkimmortal]

Thank you so very much! I was actually aiming to be as mysterious as possible as to what happened in the story but not so much that people missed what i was doing and it seems that I have hit the nail right on the head. I really appreciate the feedback. :)

[Characters Blog 101]

This is really well written. I particularly enjoyed it in the middle and toward the end. The only reason I didn't enjoy the beginning quite as much was because I felt the starting couple of paragraphs were a bit bogged down with description without enough happening to balance it out. Still, great work and atmosphere!
I particularly loved the mystery you brought to the whole scene. I finished needing to know more about who these two mysterious characters are!!

[Darkimmortal]

When I first posted this story I was afraid that people were not going to like it, and it seems that I had nothing to worry about. Thank you so much for your review and your kind words. It is unfortunate that you didn't like the beginning of the story, I was trying to explain the grandeur of the situation and I guess I may have gotten a tad carried away. I will give it a read over and see if there is anything that I can do to spice it up a little. Thanks again!

[Characters Blog 101]

You're welcome! I think it is the second paragraph more than the first. Despite all that though, your story hooked me (and others as well it seems). Keep working hard! :D

[Raymond Federle]

I like it. You had me hooked with your opening line. That can often set the tone for an entire read. It really pops off the page, sucks you in and holds you till the end. Well done my friend!!!! :)

[Darkimmortal]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I really appreciate all of the feedback. :)

[ErithVert]

I really like this. I found it curious that the woman never receives a name. But the imagery was breathtaking.

I noticed there were a few points where it looks like you might need to indent:

"She stopped at the music drew to a close,"
"The music grew louder still.."
"They were moving fast now..." All of these points seemed like it was where a new paragraph was beginning or there was extra space between them and the previous sentence.

Towards the end I was quite intrigued by the ambiguity of the fox-man's gripping dance with the protagonist. I especially liked his debonair personality. What did he do to her? I was never quite sure. The fabric blood was very intriguing, I could never tell if it was real blood and in the end I concluded this must be some sort of dream.

[Darkimmortal]

Argh the one thing that peeves me off about this site is that it doesn't keep the indents that I put in. Thank you so much for pointing that out, apparently I missed quite a few of them.
As for the content of the story, I felt that for once I would leave the fate of my main character to interpretation. Usually I make a more than definitive statement as to what happens and I wanted to try my hand at being vague. However, I did have an exact idea as to what he did to her while I was writing it, but I am not sure if I want to reveal it or not. But I can assure you, it was real blood, because it would just feel wrong to write a story without it for me. :) Thank you so much for the comment!