The light was dimming when the sharp tone of a saxophone rose. A band—formed by a zombie with an exposed brain, a mummy with a bloody mouth, a clown with a drooping left eye, and an alien with a bulbous head—took the stage. Their music made the whole place go wild.
“Let’s finish the heart, then go dance,” Lady News said, her fork in hand, staring at the small, dark heart on the plate. It was the only remaining piece of the baby cake they had cannibalized.
“I think it’s just a chicken heart, totally fine. We even ate the baby’s intestines, whether they were chicken or duck,” Report Man concluded.
“You take it; I’m done with any chicken organs,” Trevor said, wiping his mouth.
“Okay, let the hunter do the dirty job.” Lady News forked the heart gently and chewed it. “Mmm… a little salty. I think it’s salt-baked chicken heart… not bad.”
“Let’s move our bodies… Swing!” Spion stood up, cheering.
“Trevor, shall we?” Lady News quickly put on a black leather eye mask. Then she told Spion and Report Man, “You two dance together first, then we’ll switch.”
“No, Sherlock never wears a mask,” Report Man rejected with a wry smile.
Trevor put his murder-bot mask on. He gestured toward the booth behind theirs, then headed to the dance floor with Lady News. Spion took the hint, covered his left eye with an eye patch, and walked to the booth. There, five girls in clown costumes, all wearing heavy Gothic makeup, were chatting. He invited them to dance; one with green hair agreed, taking his hand to follow Trevor and Lady News.
The floor was crowded with men, women, and monsters swinging left and right. The good thing was everyone wore a mask. Even if a real monster were hiding among them, you would never know.
Trevor realized it was a good time to discuss their secret. Leaning close, he whispered to Lady News: “Do you have any news about Madame and Snow?”
Lady News brought her mouth to his ear and replied in an equally low voice, “I only know Madame returned to Frank to deal with everything her dead husband left her, and she also changed back to her family name, Charmeur. Snow is probably hiding in a place Madame arranged.”
“That sounds good. I never dared to ask, afraid the FBI might intercept our messages.”
“But the case brought more trouble to Frankish society.”
“How is that possible?” Trevor raised a hand, leading Lady News into a turn.
“The Frankish Kingdom is facing fierce social conflicts nowadays. Queen Cinderella is the only person who can hold the country together. Conservatives think Madame dishonored the royal family and the nation, reformists sympathize with her, blaming stubborn noble customs, and extremists blame her for using Snow to achieve her own goals.”
“Wow, she must bear huge pressure. It surprised me that Gossip News didn’t mention they were lovers in its report.” Trevor led their steps to the left.
“That wouldn’t have helped, or it might have made things worse, especially for Madame’s son.”
“Right.”
The music ended, replaced by a new, intense melody. “Switch partners!” Lady News took the hand of a hairy snowman nearby. Trevor was picked by a green wicked witch.
“I’ll take the lead. Let’s do the Lindy,” the witch said, her hand on his waist. The voice was familiar.
“Bella?” Trevor was taken aback. “You came back?” He tried to remove his mask in case Bella didn’t recognize him.
“No need, I know it’s you, Trevor. That’s why I came close to you.” Bella led him in a swing. “I saw you offer the white mums. Do you know the waitress?”
“Yeah. I didn’t notice you; you really surprised me. Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”
“Am I not telling you now? Besides, I just arrived yesterday and wanted to check out this salon, which has gotten a lot of attention lately. I even downloaded the app—never thought about using an app to manage my wardrobe.” They executed a quick turn.
Trevor followed her lead, then asked, “How long do you plan to stay?”
“Months. I’m engaged.” They stepped back, then held together. Bella showed Trevor a fancy diamond ring on her finger.
“To whom? When is the wedding?” Trevor had many questions but struggled to follow her lead.
“I’ll send you an invitation. You’re all invited—you, your sister, and your dad.”
“Are you sure?” He turned again.
“Yeah, why not? I want everyone close to me at my wedding.” Bella seemed surprised by his question.
“But the Duke…”
Bella covered his mouth with one finger. They both turned this time. Then, Bella asked quickly, “Stop talking about me. How about you? Are you seeing someone? Who was the lady dancing with you before? You two seemed quite close.”
“She is Lady News; we’re just friends.”
“OMG, the Lady News, the fashion queen? Get close to her. I want to dance with her next time, introducing my jewelry business to her.”
“I can introduce you.”
“I don’t want to owe you a favor,” Bella grinned.
Trevor thought she still needed him to get close to Lady News, so technically she still needed his help, but he didn’t want to argue with Bella. No one could argue with Bella.
Step by step, they slowly swung toward Lady News. When the music changed, Bella swiftly stretched out her hand and took Lady News as her new partner.
Trevor didn’t want to dance with a hairy snowman. He awkwardly stepped back, looking far to the right, pretending not to see the snowman’s huge, hairy hand. He accidentally stepped on someone’s shoe. He turned back and froze. What stood in front of him was probably the most beautiful creature in the party, perhaps in his whole life, or even the whole world.
She was wearing a diamond-studded eye mask, a starlight hair cover over her brown hair, and a sheath dress made of purple and blue glitter flakes.
Trevor wanted to apologize, but he was speechless. The lady didn’t say anything; she just raised her hand, waiting for him to invite her to dance. It was a ferocious zombie who walked toward them that woke Trevor up, making him realize the opportunity. How could he let the horrible zombie take the fairy in front of him? He took her hand and lowered his body, officially inviting her to dance.
After a few steps, his heart was still racing. Her hand was so soft, and her scent reminded him of the sea and the beach, sunshine in summer. “Hi, I’m Trevor,” he finally managed to speak.
The lady still said nothing, just looking at him and following his lead. She didn’t seem good at swing dancing; she stepped on his shoes several times, which made her face blush, but he didn’t mind. Her blushed face made him blush too. Thank the Gods he wore a full-face mask.
“I have a booth with my friends. Do you want to sit? We have delicious desserts, not much left, and they’re probably getting cold now, but I can order new ones. Or a drink? Do you want a drink?” He spoke a lot, but she only kept looking at him. Her eyes were clear and bright, like the deep ocean.
After a turn, Trevor started to wonder what she was dressed up as. Most guests were monsters, comic characters, or dead historical celebrities. But she just looked like herself—a princess, a fairy, a goddess.
“Who are you dressed up as? Some historical figure? A queen? I’m not good at history.”
She still said nothing.
He observed her carefully. She had pointed ears, which he hadn’t noticed before. The ears looked so real; he couldn’t find any makeup traces in the dim light. He felt her back; her spine was quite protruding, but she wasn’t as thin as those over-dieting celebrities.
“Your ears… are you dressed up as an Elf Queen?”
She swiftly pulled her hands away from Trevor and touched her ears. She looked panicked, then turned around, squeezed past the crowd, and strode quickly out of the room.
Trevor snapped out of it and rushed to the door. The lady was already there, flanked by two bodyguards wearing sunglasses and heavy black bucket hats. One of the guards draped a dark gray suede overcoat over her shoulders. The other gently placed the matching black bucket hat on her head. She looked back at the hall. Seeing Trevor standing there, she briefly lifted her eye mask, offered him a pure, luminous smile, and then disappeared with her bodyguards.