• tab tab The moon shone brightly over the balcony of the large estate. A woman stood against the stone wall of the balcony, looking out over the fields. Music could faintly be heard as the party inside continued. A light wind made its presence long enough to blow the feather of the woman's mask into her face and irritate her. She removed her hands from the wall and removed the mask before returning her delicate hands to their previous placement. Another breeze arrived, gently blowing her strapless white and gold gown to the side. Her sheer sleeve provided little shelter for her arms from the cool winds that blew occasionally. She let her head hang to the floor, yet not quite looking at anything. Her slightly wavy brunette hair fell forward, taking the duty of the mask. The music grew louder as the door to the balcony was opened, then muffled again as it was closed. She closed her eyes and a small tear escaped from her left eye. Footsteps sounded slowly behind her, and a man in a black tuxedo soon made his presence at her side. He placed his hands on the rail in a similar fashion to hers and looked for her face, of which he found not. She tightly closed her eyes and looked to her right away from him, doing her best to ignore him. He let out a sigh whilst reaching for her hand. As he placed his on the top of hers she gave him a very angry look and slapped his face. She stood for a moment, angrily facing the shocked man. The man couldn't believe what she had just done. "What is wrong with you!?" he nearly shouted. She stood staring at him, her shoulders raised and her head lowered in anger. "You know what my problem is,” she snapped in a growl-like tone. Her hair hung in her face as she glared viciously at the man. He cracked his neck and straightened his body, his way of recuperating from the slap, and let out a small chuckle. "Annabelle, dear, she means nothing." he whispered cordially and tried to move closer to the defensive woman. She stood straight and took a step back. "Don't talk to me like that." she snarled. Another woman quietly watched from the door, her flowing black dress hardly making her any less visible. "Come now, don't be like that...please?" he was beginning to regret that act of adultery he had bestowed upon the woman in the black dress. His eyes began over flowing with fright as Annabelle neared the wall of the balcony's edge. 'How has it come to this?' he began wondering as he silently begged for her not to fall...or jump for that matter.

    tab tab The mansion was bustling with the sounds of numerous voices as guests began arriving to the Grand Baxton Ball, hosted by none other than the charming Vince Edward Baxton and his mistress in waiting, Annabelle Louise Edwardson. Though do not get the wrong idea, the two were unmarried and though they maintained split ownership of the mansion they did not live within it together and would not do so until they were married. However, coaches were lined one after another down the drive of the three floor stone mansion as people awaited to be permitted to attend the regal affair. The annual Grand Baxton Ball was for the elite members of society, and were you to be invited and not attend simply because you did not want to, you were frowned upon in the upper social class. The master and mistress waited patiently at the door to greet each guest as they arrived. A blonde haired woman carefully stepped down from a black coach pulled by black Friesian horses. She, too, was of the elite few invited to the annual masquerade ball in Manchester, England. Her black dress gracefully swept the ground as she walked. Her blue eyes shone brightly against the black mask adorned with emerald trim and a few peacock feathers. A very faint emerald flowery sort of pattern could be seen within the face of the mask. Miss Aleena Noel Price was the woman's calling. Her eyes sparkled as she watched the couple just inside the door, her blonde hair bouncing slightly as she strutted towards the mansion and the hooves of the horses clicking on the stone drive as the coach pulled away. Vince smiled as he watched Aleena approach the large double doors to the estate. Vince politely tipped his hat to the woman and his hazel eyes stared envily at her body from beneath his red mask. His slightly muscular body was hidden beneath a black and white tuxedo and a black hat rested lightly above his moderately short dark brown hair. He gave her a nearly invisible wink, of which the mistress had not noticed as she was occupied with speaking with another guest. Aleena returned the wink and handed the man her fur shawl to place in the coat room. She then turned to Annabelle, "Hello dear, how are you tonite?" she smiled sweetly. Annabelle turned to face Aleena as the other female guest returned to her husband. "I've been faring quite fine and you?" she asked politely. Aleena smiled, "Fine." she responded bluntly and hollowly. Vince's return broke the conversation, "Shall we begin?" he inquired. His voice was smooth and harmonious and fit perfectly with his physical appearance. Annabelle's brown eyes sparkled as she looked into his and gave a slight nod. Vince smiled and closed the large oak doors; the three turned and faced the grand stairwell towards the upstairs of the mansion. Aleena left and made her own way into the ballroom and awaited Vince and Annabelle's approval to begin feasting and dancing and talking. Vince and Annabelle soon appeared atop the balcony on the far side of the ballroom. The two elegantly paced to the rail of the balcony and looked down about twenty or so feet at the loud group of people below in the ballroom. Vince raised a full wine glass and a spoon and tapped the glass to bring silence to the crowd. All of the guests stopped and turned their faces towards the balcony, all eyes wide and intent. "Thank you all for coming," Vince began, his voice loud yet it wasn't quite a yell, "Please eat your fill, drink to your satisfaction and simply enjoy!" He finished his miniscule 'speech' by taking a drink then turned and walked down the stairs of the grand stairwell. Aleena watched the happy couple as they walked down the staircase, she clapped in a semi-sarcastic manner as they neared the bottom. "Wonderful speech Master Baxton." she said with a mock enthusiasm. He gave her a slight smirk and continued his way into the ballroom.

    tab tab The nite moved on as the small orchestra played in the ballroom. Guests ate, drank and danced as they pleased and the room was noisily populated with the sounds of dozens of conversations all taking place at once. A small "orchestra" played at the base of the balcony on the far side of the room. Vince and Annabelle finished their dance and left the "floor" so she may go acquire herself a drink. Vince eyed her as she walked away and when out of sight set out to find Aleena. The woman clad in black was found speaking with a woman by the name of Margaret Elizabeth Arden. The new woman was clad in a red gown with gold trim and a golden mask with feathers and a sequined type of material around the edges. Vince smiled and happily worked himself into the conversation. "Might I borrow her for a moment?" he requested politely. Margaret backed up a tad and nodded, signaling that he may. Vince spared no time in placing himself between Margaret and Aleena. Margaret thought nothing of it and turned her attention to the refreshment table. Vince watched her steadily and when from earshot he leaned forward and whispered something to Aleena. She nodded and the two began their walk to the foyer. The wood flooring was polished and clean, a chandelier hung steadily in the middle of the quite large room, a slightly curved staircase stood grandly in the middle of the room. At the base of the railing on each side of the staircase was a pillar proudly sporting a vase that each contained a dozen vibrant crimson roses. The home, which didn't quite have the humble serenity of what one would think of as a home, held little carpet and possessed mostly wooden flooring. The clicking of Aleena's heels echoed relentlessly throughout the foyer and hallways. Atop the main staircase Vince paused and took her hand within his own, then led her down a series of hallways to a room. He halted her and took a key from his pocket, he carefully slid the key into the keyhole and turned it. He looked at Aleena and smiled then opened the oak door. Directly across the large room sat a king sized four-poster canopy maple bed. A thin white sheath hung gracefully over the canopy of the large bed. Lit wall candles illuminated the room giving it quite a romantic sense. Aleena walked past him and seated herself on the bedside as Vince closed the door; yet, thinking that no one would be leaving the ballroom, did not close it completely.

    tab tab Annabelle finished her drink of wine and handed the glass to mister William Fitzgerald, the butler at the Baxton Mansion. He had moved to England after loosing everything in a fire in Ireland. His mother, father and three of his four siblings were killed when an oil lamp was knocked over in their small farmhouse and caught fire. He and his sister Katherine moved to England in hopes of starting anew. They had met Master Baxton and he offered them a home in return for their services till they could find another place to work in England and move out into their own homes. Vince and Annabelle soon befriended the Fitzgeralds and thus William and Katherine had decided to stay with Vince and Annabelle and serve them. Annabelle thanked William then set out to find conversation. She walked the floor a few times before noticing her brother Samuel James Edwardson and one of his life friends Isabella Maria Rocio. She waited a moment until she saw that neither of them was speaking before approaching, to her it was only polite. Annabelle nodded to her older brother then turned to Isabella. “Why how nice to see you!” she exclaimed happily and lightly hugged the woman. Isabella’s smile grew as she returned the hug. The woman sported a low cut crimson, black and golden dress. The torso, upper sleeves (shoulder to elbow) and bottom trim of the dress was crimson, the bell and lower sleeves were black and the trim and elegant swirls throughout the torso and upper sleeves were gold. Her skin was fair and her face was hidden beneath a gold trimmed black mask. A rose and black feathers adorned the upper left corner of the mask, her dark brown eyes nearly blended with the mask. Around her neck, she wore a black velvet choker with a golden, ruby imbedded cross hanging from it. She was nonetheless a beautiful woman. “And how nice to see you again.” She responded politely. She had an odd accent when she spoke. It sounded a bit Spanish, but having spent much time in England it had that English tinge to it. The frequent trips back to her home country of Spain definitely did not aid her vocals in choosing one accent. Annabelle turned and greeted her brother next then began their conversation by asking if he was enjoying himself.

    tab tab A thin light brown haired woman creeped slowly down the hall towards the room she had just witnessed the master enter with another woman. Her flat black shoes made little noise as she walked down the corridor. She quietly peered through the crack in the door. Her eyes grew wide and she threw her hand to her mouth in an effort to keep herself from letting out a gasp. She turned and backed up against the wall, clutching the bath towels closely. She contemplated a moment on whether or not to tell Annabelle. She grew a determined look upon her face and began quietly running down the hall to the grand staircase. She abandoned the towels atop the stairs and ran quickly down them, through the foyer and nearly slid like a fool into the ballroom. It wasn’t her place to be in there during the ball but she needed to tell Annabelle. She noticed her brother near the long table that held the food and drink and approached him. “Where’s the Misses?” she asked urgently. William acquired a puzzled expression, “She’s there,” he pointed towards Annabelle on the far side of the ballroom, “Speaking with Madame Rocio and Master Edwardson.” He finished. She gave a slight curtsey of thanks and pushed her way through the crowd of people towards Annabelle. “Madame Annabelle!” she cried out, her right hand held in the air waving wildly to catch her attention. Annabelle looked towards Katherine, her face blatantly stating that she was annoyed. Katherine approached the threesome, “Master Baxton,” she took in a breath, her chest heaving and falling heavily, “Is upstairs with Madame Price.” Attempting to catch her breath, she said no more. Annabelle’s expression grew even angrier yet there was that tad bit of disbelief within it. She instantly lifted her dress and started off towards the staircase. Samuel noted her anger and rushed off after her to be sure she didn’t do anything she would regret. Annabelle stormed furiously down the corridor towards the bedroom with the slightly open door. She slowed her pace as she neared the door, slowing to almost a tiptoe type motion. She heard nothing. She stopped and listened a moment, nothing. She waited till she heard the faint rustling of the sheets on the bed. She rounded the corner and thrust the door open. Vince nearly fell out of the bed in surprise and Aleena let out a shocked scream. “Vince!” Annabelle shrieked with tears in her eyes.

    tab tab Here they stood now…outside on the third floor balcony quarelling like two four year olds, quite pathetic really. He stepped closer, “You know I love you.” He whispered comfortingly. She returned to the wall of the balcony and turned her head from him, doing all she could to ignore him. He tried yet again to take her hand but she pulled away, like a child or animal afraid of being stricken. She took a few steps backwards, slowly nearing the right wall of the balcony. He feared that she was going to fall back off of the edge onto the cold hard ground three stories below them. His eyes screamed now that they genuinely cared, but she would never again believe it. He, himself, wasn’t sure whether it was she he cared about or the fact that if she fell and died, her death would be over his head. He took another step closer to her, trying to coax her closer from the deadly edge. “Come now darling, don’t be like this.” He whispered gently, but it didn’t work. She took another step backwards for every step he took forwards. Now she was only a few steps away; he had to make a decision. He lunged after her trying to keep her from going over. She jumped back in surprise and tumbled over the wall of the balcony. She released a short ear splitting scream as she fell to the ground. A loud thud and the sound of crunching bones echoed up to the balcony. His eyes grew wide as he peered over the wall down at the limp and lifeless body. He looked to the glass door; no one was there anymore. ‘Good.’ He thought to himself. ‘Now to just get rid of her body…no one will ever know, they’ll just think that she ran off somewhere.’ He continued to repeat this to himself as he paced back and forth against the walls of the stone balcony. He paced for a few more moments, removing his hat and randomly running his hands through his hair. He finally placed his hat back on his head and took a deep breath. He pulled his hat down towards his face to shadow his facial features. He swiftly ran down the two flights of stairs to the ground floor, carefully avoiding the guests on the way. Quietly he slipped out the front door and creeped around the back of the mansion. It was unbenounced to him that he was being pursued. Samuel took special care to be sure that he went undetected as he followed Vince around the side of the house. He made every move the master made, just to assure himself that he would not be seen he had stolen a black coat from the coat room upon leaving the foyer. Vince rounded the corner and his eyes widened at the ghastly sight of the splattered remains of Annabelle. He swallowed, grabbed her ankles and began to drag her across the grass towards the thick trees that surrounded the fields behind the property. As he began to drag her he almost vomited as her left leg gave way and felt as if it would come off. Samuel watched angrily from the corner of the house, cloaked in shadow and nearly invisible. Vince dragged the body to the trees then pulled her legs up farther, retching as the leg further separated, and swung the body into the forest. He straightened his coat then began his walk back to the mansion. He held his head arrogantly high as if nothing had happened. Samuel let out a small growl like noise and scampered off down the road. Twas to be a nite that no one would forget…