The Master's Ball

Chapter 1

    I looked at the grand mansion that stood in front of me. Never in my wildest dreams had I thought that I   would get invited to a fancy place like this. I had to scrape together all of my savings to buy the poofy, red dress I was wearing and practically beg my sister to make a fancy mask for me to wear. She was such an artistic genius and I need something cheap and fast. She still made me pay for it anyway, but it looked decent enough so I was satisfied

    Everything happened so fast... It started with me walking to my college, worrying about how I was going to pay my tuition. My parents and I were out of money. The rest of my money was for rent and food and the rest of my parent's money was for my five brothers and two sisters. Then, out of nowhere, some guy bumped into me and all my things dropped on the ground. Frustrated, I just kicked my books and threw a three year old temper tantrum. I'll admit it, I was being an i***t but, I was annoyed and what else could I do? This strange man watched me throwing my tantrum before picking up my books and handing me an envelope.

    And without a word he left, and I stupidly found myself three weeks later, in a mask and a fancy, expensive dress at a masquerade party with no one I knew, in the middle of nowhere all at the mercy of an invitation card in a pink envelope. Stupid right? I just turned 19 and I all I had to defend myself was my fist, which wouldn't protect me against anything.

I was probably set up for murder, then they would rob and kill me.

     The invitation was to some party held by the richest man in town. Richard Spanner. He was looking for people who were in need of money to help. It was basically whoever could win the most in poker would get $100,000.00 and if you could beat him you get an extra $50,000. His contest were pretty famous around town and I had heard of a few people who had won loads of cash from him. The rich truly had nothing better to do. Nevertheless, it made me feel reassured that I wasn't walking directly into a scam.

    Like I said I was desperate and decided to try my luck although I had never even played poker before. I researched how to play and found myself to be quite good in some online games so I figured why not? I was told that there would be two other people there and the house would be in the middle of town. But never the less I was on a mountain five miles from town at the front steps of a house that seemed more like a palace.

    I cowardly stepped inside and instantly began scanning the area to find any weapons in case I needed one to protect myself. I looked around and found a gun, perfectly concealed in a painting. I smiled, knowing that if worse came to worse, I could protect myself, and picked it up and put it in my small purse.

    That's when I noticed the other seven people around me in the room.

    Great... another lie, I thought to myself.

    I looked around and saw the four boys and three girls looking at me. "Welcome Emily," bellowed a loud voice from the stairs, " And that will be our final guest for today,"

    I instantly recognized him as the man I had met the night before. He was definitely not Richard Spanner. Great, yet another lie, I thought to myself. I was tempted to leave but I was frozen to the spot on and the host was quickly approaching me.

    He shook my hand before giving me a single rose. "My name's Jessica, I'm not Emily," I whispered to him. 

    "Yes but that's your name on the invitation, no one else knows that," he responded before turning and addressing the other seven people there.

    "Now we will introduce ourselves starting with you," he said pointing to a small, blonde boy with braces and blue eyes. His mask was that of a chicken. He was holding a sun flower and wearing a yellow suit. "Um, I'm Joh-- oh I mean Harold and I'm seventeen," he whispered through his braces. 

    "Do you have any personality traits Harold?" Asked our host.

    "I'm shy," he said quickly before sitting down in a chair.

    "Ha ha Harold, your going to be on the sunflower team," He laughed before he turned to a girl. She was wearing a white dress spotted with yellow flowers and yellow heels. She was a bit chubby and her curly brown hair sat comfortably on her shoulders. She was also holding a sunflower and her mask was that of a porcupine.

    "Oh me? I'm Daisy and I'm really nice! I'm 18!" she shouted excitedly.

    "Okay Daisy you're also on the sun flower team, go stand beside your partner," Our host instructed.

    Daisy cheerfully skipped and giggled over and stood beside Harold. 

    Great, now I'm gonna be paired up with some random guy, I thought as our host walked towards another boy.

    He had bright red hair and freckles and he was sporting a beautiful green suit. He was holding a daffodil. His mask was that of a lion. "I'm Thomas, 17, and I'm scared of spiders" Thomas squealed out unexpectedly. The host looked at him angrily, " What's your name son?" He asked him. "My name is Thom-- oh I mean Jeffrey no James!" He screamed.

    "Okay James, let's find your partner," He said as he walked up to me. "Now who may you be?" He asked in a reassuring tone. "Emily, 19, If you try and hurt me, I'll snap your neck," was the phrase that was going in my head but instead I said in a cheerful manner. "I'm Emily, I'm 19 years old and I'm not afraid to do what has to be done," 

    "Thank you Emily, but your not James' partner, you're on the rose team. Stay here,"

    I felt relieved as everyone took their eyes off me as the host went to a new girl to interrogate. She was wearing a navy blue dress and her black hair was done in a beautiful bun. She was holding a tulip and an average blue opera mask with a matching bright blue feather covered in glitter. "I'm Tina, 20, and I'll kill you if you mess with me," she said arrogantly.

    Me and a few others laughed awkwardly but when she turned around and gave everyone in the room a look that just quietly whispered, I'm not kidding, everyone was quiet once more. "Very nice Tina, you're on the Tulip team,". The host then turned to a tall, handsome young man with a rose in his front pocket. His hair was shaggy and brown and I could just barely see through his mask that his eyes were green. He was wearing a black tuxedo and mask.

    As I saw him I knew that he wasn't just my partner. His voice sounded familiar but I couldn't pin point it. He sounded like one of my classmates. I wondered what was he doing here. "Hey my name's Tony, I'm 19 and I'm just in it to win it." He announced proudly.

    A girl chuckled to herself. "What's up with all the one liners guys?" She asked.

    "Thanks Tony you'll be on Emily's team, the Rose team," our host said as he turned all his attention to the girl who just spoke. She was wearing a lime green dress and her hair was straight down to her back. She was holding a daffodil and had a green mask that only covered half of her face. "Please introduce yourself," he asked her kindly.

    She smiled. "I'm Amanda I'm 18 and I'm the best dancer you'll ever meet," she said sarcastically before walking to a nearby table and pouring herself a glass of wine. "Your on James's team the Daffodil team, " He said as he walked up to the final young man standing in a corner. He was wearing a blue tuxedo and was holding a tulip. He had dark black hair and a wolf mask. "Ron, 20, not here to make friends," was all he said.

    "Great Ron, you're on Tina's team now everyone stand with your partners." Everyone stood beside their partners and as Tony walked towards me he quietly whispered, "Hey Jessica," before standing behind me. I was shocked. No one here was supposed to know me. Not only did half the people here sound like creeps, but one of them knew me? 

    "Now let's dine, follow me to the dining room," he said as he moved into the room on my right. I gasped when I walked into the dining room. It was amazing. I had never seen such a big table in my life! It looked as if it could hold nearly 20 people! The kitchen was nearby and whatever was cooking smelled delicious!

    On each of the spots laid out for us was a wine glass, a place mat and a vase on every other place mat. The cutlery was silver with gold at the edges and the napkins and place mats were the colour of our flowers with the exception of one black place mat for the host. I sat down at the red place mat and placed my rose inside of the vase that was placed in front of me. My partner Tony sat beside me and placed his rose in my vase. I noticed everyone doing the same except for Daisy who got her flower out of the other room. 

    "How did you know my name?" I asked him. 

    "I heard you talking to the host and I recognized your voice," he replied. 

    "Who are you then," I asked. Tony looked back at our host, who was busy in the kitchen.

    He quickly pulled up his phantom of the opera themed mask to reveal his face. It was Michael, my class mate. I looked at him in shock while he quickly adjusted his mask. My mind was racing as to why he was there. I thought he was well off and surely didn't need to be competing in some dumb competition for money. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by the master dinging a knife against a wine glass.

    "Now my friends let us dine and mingle, today will be the best day of your lives," said our host. A young woman burst out of the kitchen pushing a steel cart with nine plates on it. She carefully placed them down before she returned to the kitchen. I was not very comfortable but I managed to silently eat the food in front of me, although I thought it might be poisoned. The food was delicious and I had to stop myself from eating too much of it at once or asking for seconds and looking like a pig. In college you never knew where your next meal was coming from.

    I'll admit I was pretty paranoid and I still wasn't sure if it was a good idea coming here. Why would anyone want to give away so much money to a bunch of strangers? It couldn't just  be for entertainment. There had to be some sort of trick. I looked around at the people around me. They all seemed normal enough but I still couldn't shake the feeling that they were creeps. Especially Tina and Ron. I'd definitely be avoiding the tulip team. I started to bite my nails, like I always did when I was nervous. I was being paranoid. I just needed to calm myself down. 

    Eventually everyone had finished eating and we were all practically staring into space.

    "When are we going to start playing?" I asked to break the awkward silence around me.

    "Playing what?" Asked Amanda.

    "Poker," I replied.

    "Poker?" Ron asked, "I thought we were playing Black Jack, or at least that's what it said on the invitation,"

    "I thought we were just going to do a talent competition. Isn't this a dance thing?" chuckled Amanda uncomfortably, "Is this some type of joke?"

    I felt worse than before. Why was this guy lying to us? Was he planning something sinister? 

    "Relax all of you, I had my daughter make the cards, you're all overreacting. Looks like she got a sick sense of humour. Any how you will all be playing.... none of these games. You going to play something much more intriguing."

    He snapped his fingers and the same girl who had served us our food before came inside, holding a bottle of red wine. "Anyone care for a drink?" Our host asked as the girl poured us all a glass of wine. I looked at the glass in front of me. Surely I wasn't going to drink it, I had just given into my paranoia.

    I noticed Harold spit out all his wine on the floor the minute it touched his lips. I watched as many of the others did the same. "What is in this crap," shouted Tina as she poured her drink onto the floor. 

       "Not to worry, it's probably just sat for too long. Do not fear, after all, it would be better to dance without being drunk," the host told us.

       "Dance?" Harold asked.

    "Of course! Don't you know of the ball we are going to have among us, well excluding me of course," He replied.

    Harold shook his head.

    "How am I supposed to dance with someone who's face I haven't even seen before," Ron commented sarcastically.

    Our host, wasn't amused. "Never show your face, to anyone in here. If they know your identity, things may not go well. Two years ago, when I held my ball, the winner of the prize was killed three days after the party. It was because the other guests saw his face and were jealous of him. They tracked him down and ended his life. Ever since we wear mask to hide our identities, no one knows who we are so no one can find us after we leave."

    Michael and I looked at each other. Hopefully neither of us would win.

    "You keep records of everyone who you play this game with?" Ron asked out of the blue.

    Our host smirked, "Of course I do, what kind of host would I be, they're all in my office,"

    No one moved for a while. We were all obviously scared and uncomfortable, especially with that wine scare. Most of us were underage anyway why was there alcohol? Something fishy was going on... but I was going, but none of us made a move to leave. I guess we all needed the money that badly.

    "Well come on now to the ball room, let us dance!" The host cheered as we all got up from the table and followed him, reluctantly, into a new room.