Unmasked

Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

My eyes grew wide,"no"

"Why not?" She asked.

"It's wrong and I could get into serious trouble" I told her, turning to walk away from her.

"For going to a ball you're suppose to go to anyway?" She argues.

"Its not that simple," I say quietly, more to myself than to her.

"When is it again?" She asked.

"Tomorrow..." I sighed, "night"

"We'll be ready by then." She states simply.

I look at her, "how?"

Harriet smiles at me and I take it as she thinks I agreed to it after all.

"Let me handle that," She puts her hand on my shoulder.

"Meanwhile" She walks past me and into the hall, she's gone for a long while until she returns with a basket full of laundry.

"Do some laundry, will you?"

I smiled back at her and grab the basket.

~*~

"I have it," Harriet suddenly appears behind me while I was washing.

I jump, "what?"

"Come," She grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked as she leads me to the back, past where all our rooms are, and past a washroom. Once we're outside, we past the gardens walk straight into the woods, leaving the mansion.

"A friend of mine," She says, never looking at me as we begin to walk a trail, "you'll get to know her real well."

Soon I begin to see a cabin almost hidden within the trees.

"Anya?!" Harriet called as we approached," she's here!"

I don't know how, but Harriet wasnt tired by the time we got close to the cabin.

Then she came out, a pale, blond woman with blue eyes and a wide smile on her face.

"Mary?" She looks at me.

I nod slowly, unsure of myself, I don't know this woman, but she knows Harriet.

"Come" She motions for me to come forward, towards her, "there's nothing to be shy about."

Slowly, I follow her into the cabin, with Harriet behind me.

"So, going to a ball?" She asks.

I don't say anything, I just smile.

"Tomorrow night," Harriet tells her.

We walk in, and I quickly notice her cabin was full with dresses.

"Masquerade?"

I nod.

"Black and White?"

"No," I tell her.

Anya smiled, then looked around.

Even though her cabin was filled with a lot of dresses, But there was one in the center that stood out.

A red one.

"Here it it," Anya said as she walked over to it, "this one, definitely suits you."

"It's beautiful," I say out loud.

She smiles.

"But she still needs the mask," Harriet tells her while still behind me, "have one that matches?"

Anya turned around and walked away, to come back with something in her hand. The mask.

"Here," She showed me a red mask with a yellow line around it.

"It's beautiful, too." I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, it is" Harriet praises, she's at my side by now, looking at the mask.

"When is it?" Anya asked.

"Tomorrow night, I believe just when the sun sets," I inform her, never taking my eyes of the mask.

"Good, come back early" She told me, taking back the mask and putting it back where ever she brought it from.

She started to cover up the dress.

I nod at her.

"Did you like it?" Harriet asks me as we head back.

"It was a gorgeous dress," I tell her.

She smiled.

"But it must be expensive how did-?"

"Don't worry about such things," Harriet's leads me inside, "just continue the day normally and be ready by tomorrow."

As we walked walked back into the garden, I already began to picture myself in the dress. For the first time, enjoying myself in other persons care.

I look forward to it.

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Updated as of July 31, 2014.