• I walked into the shop and nearly crashed into Louie, who was leaving just as I came into Barton Boutique. I had heard about him, seen him in pictures and invitations to the Masquerade ball, but I'd never met him. He looked the same; dressed extravagantly as always, his gleaming black hair shimmering enough to make anyone suspect that he had just come from Salon Durem, his eyes intense as usual causing every girl in Gaia to swoon over him. I wasn't one of them. One might as well have considered me a guy.
    Ian was another one girls seemed to love. I stared at him as he stared at me from the counter. Strange...there was a smile on his face...
    "Louie, mind not getting my customers seriously hurt? It's bad for business!" he called.
    I stared up at Louie, who was half a foot taller than me at least and rather intimidating close up. He smiled.
    "Please excuse my rudeness, madam..."
    I did a double-take when he bowed. I was nigh confused. He passed me quickly and pushed the door open.
    "Later, Ian!" he called, leaving, his tailcoat whacking my legs. I grunted and went up to the counter, where Ian had suddenly disappeared.
    "Er, excuse me-" I did another double-take when he shot out from behind the counter, wearing a different hat and outfit.
    "Thanks for stopping by!" He rummaged through the bowl of candy he was holding. "I've got Kit Kats and Snickers...I know I had a bag of Reeses somewhere..." He dived behind the counter again and came up a few seconds later. "Ah, here we go..." He poured the candy into the bowl and pushed it towards me. "Your pick; take as many as you want; I bought way too much, and not many people have come in today. I suspect it's because of the Masquerade. Plenty free candy there too, and you don't have to go door-to-door to hunt for it. You're my sixth customer." He pulled the wrapper of a Reese's cup off and popped the cup out of its brown paper, biting into it. "Go on, I can't eat it all myself," he urged, prodding the bowl closer to me.
    I grabbed a Kit Kat and savored its deliciousness. "I've seen the mansion from afar, but I've never actually gone near it," I stated, staring at the invitation Ian had pinned on the bulletin board littered with orders and receipts behind him. He played with the second Resses cup.
    "I had to go in there when Louie asked me to help him decorate it, and I swear it's haunted. A lot of strange things happened..." he replied, smiling as he reminisced. "Are you going?"
    I froze, my hand in the bowl of candy. "Uh, I didn't get an invitation, but it doesn't bother me," I replied hastily, shoving a Snickers in my mouth and probably looking like a person who hadn't tasted chocolate in years. Ian stared at me. I knew what was coming before he even opened his mouth.
    "But you must come! It's the biggest Halloween event in Gaia!" he exclaimed, tossing all wrappers aside and walking to the door as I simply stared at him blankly. When I didn't budge he turned to me. "Well, come on then!" He glanced at the counter. "Rufus, will you mind the shop? I'm gonna step out for a bit...!" he hollered. A gray cat leapt onto the counter and took off his hat, bowing. "Thanks for the candy!" he anwered. He stuck his small paws in the bowl and began his feast as Ian stepped into the street. Ian immediately caught the eyes of every Gaian in the street.
    "Well let's go, shall we?" he suggested, leading the way. I could feel eyes of various shoppers on me and decided to pretend like I was lost instead of following him. We crossed the street and walked a short ways until we stopped before a fancy building. Great. Now I knew who we were going to get the invite from.
    I had never stepped a foot in H&R Wesley, mainly because I was far too poor and usually broke until I did quests and such. And now here I was. Great once again. I wondered if I would be kicked out for not being an actual paying customer.
    As Ian walked in I made a great effort in hiding behind him. A man that looked like he was in his upper forties walked up to us.
    "Ah, Ian... How are you?" he asked. He grabbed Ian's hand and shook it but became surprised when he hugged him.
    "Great; thanks for asking." Ian replied, smiling. "Where's Louie?"
    I flinched when I felt Edmund's gaze on me and immediately tore my gaze away from a fancy tailcoat that had caught my eye.
    "He's...in the dressing rooms; and who is this young lady behind you?" he asked, his hands behind his back. I swallowed and stared at the ceiling. Ian smiled again.
    "Oh, just company. Do you mind?" he replied, nodding to the dressing rooms. Edmund shook his head.
    "Not at all..."
    I couldn't help but note the suspicion in his voice as I followed Ian to a separate room filled with many curtains. And the feeling that his gaze was following me. As we passed at least five curtains Ian stopped, smiling as he stood before the sixth.
    "Louie!" he called, facing the curtain. "I have something I need you to-"
    The loud sound of a curtain being ripped across its pole drowned out the rest of Ian's words, and we stood facing Louie. As he noticed me his face turned slightly red, Ian's more so due to the fact that Louie was shirtless. He yanked the curtains shut with such force that they came crashing down and I quickly evacuated myself out of there, feeling...guilt, revulsion, trauma, confusion, and regret." I could hear them talking loudly and was unaware that Edmund was eyeing me and trying to evaluate me from behind:
    "Louie, what the hell's the matter with you?! You tore the curtains down!!"
    "I thought it was just you; what're you doing bringing a customer in here?!"
    "I was just chatting with her about the Masquerade...which she's not attending!"
    There was a moment's silence, then:
    "I mailed one to every person in Gaia... Is she registered under an address?"
    There was more silence, in which I assumed Ian was thinking.
    "Actually, I never asked her..."
    "I'll ask her."
    I heard footsteps and turned around to leave, catching Edmund's eyes before someone tapped my shoulder. I whipped around. "I'm sorry," I apologized quickly, staring at Louie's face. I freaked out and slipped; I was never good at apologizing. Someone helped me up before Louie could and it was seconds before I realized it was Edmund.
    "Careful young lady; we don't want any accidents," he implied. I blinked.
    "Definitely not," Louie added, looking at me as I brushed my legs and nodded to them both, Ian walking in.
    "Ah...thanks. I'll be going now. Don't want to bother you-" I began.
    With amazing speed Louie cut my beeline to the exit.
    "Here," he said, handing me a fancy envelope. "But before you go come to the mansion ahead of time. Let's make it the 28th. A gold reward is involved as well as a good quest."
    I gripped the envelope, nodded then left; the last thing I heard was Edmund saying, "I hope you're planning on using your own gold for this 'reward' of yours. And for that curtain you destroyed." "Right," Louie moaned. Ian added, "Well I believe my quest for an invite is completed. Am I a good person or what?"
    "Totally," Louie scoffed.
    ~
    I was staring at the invitation in ButterCup Cafe; the envelope itself looked fancy, not to mention expensive. A small strip of frilly lace bordered its body and a seal with a crest held it closed. There was an 'L' there, so I assumed it was Louie's crest. It seemed as if Louie had been right about his inviting everyone in Gaia. Everyone around me was talking enthusiastically about the Masquerade. A few girls nearby were mourning over the thought that the handwriting on their invitations wasn't Louie's, but Ian's. Even at that they didn't seem very disappointed. He must've helped Louie with them.
    I stared at my own invitation. Then I did a face palm when I realized the handwriting on it was different from everyone else's.
    It wasn't Ian's handwriting; based on what I had seen on his bulletin boards, the 'y's on the notes he had taken on the receipts had extravagant loops. The 'y' in my invitation from the word 'you're' had a sharp drop. No loop or anything. It was either Louie's or Edmund's. For my sake I decided to guess that it was Edmund's.
    I went up to Rina, who was dressed in a bee costume and noticed she was reading an invitation of her own. I cleared my throat softly and she immediately looked up.
    "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you there...!" she apologized, tucking her invitation in her apron. "Can I help you?"
    I bent down to the counter display and pointed to a row of soft fluffy chocolate cupcakes.
    "I'd like four of these, please," I stated, watching as she pulled four of them out and dropped them softly with a plump! in a small cardboard container with cute decorations all over it.
    "Here, that comes up to 1,200 gold..."
    I slid the amount over the counter and took the box, thanking her and accepting the bag of pumpkin-shaped Oreos she handed me for the same reason Ian had. Trick-or-Treating. It seemed she was low on customers as well.
    I hugged the box of cupcakes close to me and headed out the shop into the crowded streets. One could easily lose themselves in the waves of crowds that passed down them. I usually weaved my way through the sides, avoiding as many encounters as possible. This time I especially avoided H&R Wesley.
    As I was about to leave the town a small carriage caught my eye; it was one of those old worn-out looking ones, driven none other by a random dude. A random dude with white hair. And dark skin. Wearing fancy clothing and a sneer. I recognized Nicolae in the back of the carriage sitting carefree and then could easily tell who the man driving the carriage must be.
    "Hey, get out of the way, girl," Cresento snapped, not bothering to stop the horses. He did slow them down though. Nicolae spotted me and grinned.
    "You'd better listen to the old man or he'll run you over there, Jaq," he stated, chewing a blade of grass lazily. Cresento stopped the horses and whipped around, glaring at Nicolae.
    "Old man?! What do you mean, 'Old Man'?!" he retorted. Nicolae stretched.
    "Well yeah, I mean...your hair's white n' all; you look like an old man is all I'm sayin'..."
    Cresento suddenly got a murderous look in his eyes. I stepped into view and looked at him, and idea forming in my head. "Cresento, if I'm not bothering you-" I began.
    "You are," he cut in gruffly.
    "No you're not; go on," Nicolae assured me, his hands in his pockets as Cresento once again glared daggers at him. I pulled out my invitation and held it close enough for him to see.
    "Are you going to the Masquerade?" I asked.
    He stared at me for a few seconds, suspicion in his eyes.
    "Yeah, everyone's going..." he answered slowly, his eyes narrowed. I looked over at Nicolae, who I knew well enough since we'd talked often in his shop.
    "How about you?" I asked. He closed his eyes and was lying sideways on a particularly large crate, chewing his blade of grass with content. Without opening his eyes he stated, "Nope; too boring." Cresento snorted.
    "Everything's boring to you, kid...!" Anyway, why the stupid question, girl?" he responded, turning to me. I clutched my box.
    "Just a common question; everyone's asking, aren't they?" I answered. He looked at me for a while.
    "Yes, but they're never stupid enough to ask us, the shopkeepers. They already know we're going," he replied with an air of superiority.
    "I'm not," Nicolae added.
    "Shut up!" Cresento yelled in annoyance.
    "But I'm not like everybody else," I began, holding out the invitation again. "I never got invited; not until today did that happen and that was only by sheer luck." Cresento glared at me.
    "Whatever, just get out of my way...!" he snapped, but before I did so I handed him a cupcake.
    "Here; for answering my question," I explained, giving another to Nicolae. Cresento bit into it and got the carriage moving as I got out of the way.
    "Weirdo..." he muttered. Nicolae smiled and waved carelessly to me, throwing the peace sign. I lifted my hand in the air in response.
    To be inevitably continued on Halloween! 3nodding ( emotion_donotwant Determination)