The Mirror Maze

Chapter 7 - It's Time to Partay!

I grabbed a handful of crisps and followed Aaron at a safe distance. He looked around nervously, back over his shoulder, but luckily I had the presence of mind to duck behind a chocolate fountain. A hiding place which certainly had its benefits. Wink, wink.

What can I say? I was hungry.

He slipped out of the ballroom doors and I followed him surreptitiously down several gloomy corridors. My high heels were making walking quietly impossible, so I ditched them and tiptoed after Aaron with bare feet.

Finally after several minutes of walking (yes the castle was that big) and several minutes of suffering (stitches are evil) Aaron arrived at his destination. It was a reasonably big room with several handy pillars to hide behind. I made myself scarce and hid behind a statue in an alcove. James Bond, eat your heart out

All I needed now was some snazzy sunglasses. I imagined myself saying - I am Cavelier, Iris Cavelier. Hmm, it had a nice ring to it.

"You wanted to see me father?" Aaron asked.

Whoops! I snapped to attention, not wanting to miss any of the action.

A man in an imposing tuxedo turned around along with his two bodyguards, who were clutching some even more imposing looking guns.

"Yes." Aaron's father had an deep voice which sent shivers down my spine. "You know the situation, the danger which awaits." He paused.

"Yes father?" Aaron said, impatiently.

"We must be safe. You are my youngest son. I do not think you should undertake the mission."

"But Father!"

"Listen to me my son. The deed shall be done on the darkest day, when the moon rises and the nightingale sings."

"But!"

"No. You listen to me. It is time for you to decide where your loyalties lie."

The father broke off abruptly and I stood frozen in my hiding place, trying to make sense of what I had just heard.

"Let us continue this conversation tomorrow," the father said, "Somewhere a little more private."

I gasped and then clapped a hand over my mouth. Had they seen me?

Apparently not. They walked right past me, out of the room and only once I was sure they were gone did I relax. I yawned like a cat and stretched as I stepped out of my alcove and gave the statue a pat on the head.

"Good job mate." I whispered, "You're a top bloke."

I decided to head back to the ballroom. After all, there was nothing to do here. I had just walked around the corner into the hallway, when I was pressed against the wall by a madman clutching a knife.

I tried to scream, but he thrust a dirty hand over my mouth.

"Mmmmmmm, mmmm! MMMMMMMMMMM!" I struggled.

The man was breathing hard and stunk of liquor. His forehead has a sheen of sweat, his clothes were dirty and unkempt.  His pupils were dilated and he looked like a wild animal that had found his prey. His wild brown eyes were that of someone completely insane. He was unshaven and sweaty.

"Don't scream," He hissed, bringing a silver carving knife to my throat. The blade glinted in the dull moonlight and when I felt the cold steel touch my throat, I shivered. My eyes were teary and I was shaking uncontrollably. It is a terrible thing to be so frightened. In an instant I caught a glimpse of my own mortality and my life seemed as fragile as a bubble. At any moment it could pop.

I nodded violently, complying to his request not to scream and he removed his foul hand from my mouth.

"Please, don't hurt me. I have nothing to give to you. N.. no jewellery."I broke down, trying to contain my sobs as he put more pressure on that goddamm awful blade.

"What do you know? Do you have anything to do with...them?"

I struggled to speak. "No.. I..I don't know what you're talking about. Please, you've got to believe me."

My eyes were focused on the blade and only the blade. My whole being was devoted to doing whatever I had to do to escape, to preserve my life. I was shaking and breathing heavily. My fists clenched and and unclenched, my sweaty palms unpleasant and sticky.

"What's the black sparrow?" He hissed.

"I don't know! Please, I .. I only got here today. I don't know anything."

His head swivelled and he gave a low growl, I tensed. This was it.

"Tell nobody I was here. You got that?"

I nodded as much as I could while stuttering yes, over and over.

"Good, because I'll be watching you."

With one swift movement the knife was removed and he sprinted away. Down the corridors and out into the garden, or so I presumed. I sunk to the ground, sobbing. I had been in dangerous situations before. I had certainly had my share of fights. But I had never ever before felt so utterly powerless.

Not knowing what else to do , I decided to head back to the ballroom. When I got there nothing had changed. The ball was still as boring as ever.

Feeling depressed I poured myself some more of the drink Aaron gave me and drank it to calm my nerves. It was really good, actually. I drank another glass and then another.

Huh. I suddenly felt a lot better.

Looking around at the violins and the stiff conventional dancers, I began to giggle. This wasn't very fun! A realisation struck my mind with the same impact as a lightning bolt.

It was time to PARTAY!!!

First, the music. Who likes dancing to violins? Boring! I grabbed my phone, which I had managed to slot into a secret compartment of my dress and flicked through my songs. Fallout Boy. Perfect. I made my way up onto the stage, stumbling a little on the steps and grabbed a microphone.

"Hello everyoooooone! Are you ready to PARTAYYYYY!"

The violinists were staring at me with weirded out expressions and the rest of the ballroom looked blank and shocked.

"I said," I repeated patiently, "ARE YOU READY TO PAAAAAAARTAAAAAAAYYYY!"

This time I was met with a halfhearted cheer. Brilliant!

I hopped to the stereos that had previously enhanced the violins awful sound and attached my phone. Fallout Boy rocked the room as I turned up the volume.

The oldies took a bit of warming up, but with some proper lighting and a few more drinks, soon everyone was grooving. I even saw an eighty year old rocking Gangnam style.

I am not exactly sure how, or why, but I ended up twerking on the (now cleared) banquet table. I was surrounded by the rest of the guests clapping and screaming. Encouraged by my success, I grabbed half of a baguette and used it as a microphone.

"My songs know what you did in the daaaaaaaaaaaaark!" I sung, attempting to roll my hips seductively. I will spare the rest of the details, but I did a lot, and I mean A LOT of embarrassing dance moves.

The party finally broke up at about one or two O'clock in the morning and I somehow stumbled back to my bedroom and sunk into a deep, deep sleep.

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Wow! This chapter was certainly a lot of fun to write!

The mystery deepens...

Thank you so much for reading and please remember to vote, comment and tell me what you think! I hope you all have a great weekend.

Appollinia 🍀