TWO

My eyes started fluttering open. I sat up quickly, realizing I was in a whole different room.

Everything in here was old designed, like it came straight from a fairy tale.

Around me were white bed curtains.

And the fabric of the pillow and quilt shiny and white, making it soft to sleep on. There was a big ornate mirror to my right with silver patterns around it.

There was a big tree, filling up a whole corner.

At the moment I was speechless.

So according to my mind, i'm in a different room, all caused by a little metallic ball. I tried pinching myself to see if this was a dream, but instead I got a slight pain.

Suddenly I heard a harsh yet slow knock on my door. Again? I thought we were done with the knocking.

The door knob started moving, and I started to get more anxious. Fear ran through my veins slowly, making me feel like vomiting.

When the door was fully open, I screamed to the ends of my lungs. I clutched my mouth, to prevent myself from screaming higher.

In front of me was a short green man, with pointy ears and claws.

It was looking at me dumbfounded. "Get up" It says, so fast I almost didn't understand.

I slowly stood up while watching it, making sure it wouldn't do anything. Goosebumps trailed from my neck, to my legs.

He took small, fast steps to a silver wardrobe, looking through it. I stood still, making sure to obey the green thing. Everything gave me uncomfortable chills.

He took out a big pink fabric. "Change into this" He says shortly after. Soon after I realized it was a gown. A beautiful flowery pink gown. It was touching the wooden floor from being so big.

I went forward, gliding my fingers through its pleasant fabric.

The pink was a light cherry blossom pink. It was an off-shoulder gown with a corset top. The flowers decorated on it had a light shade of gold pink. "Alright" I say.

The green thing went out, leaving me by myself again. I started changing into the gown. And I may say, it was suffocating me.

I walked up to the door, putting my hand on the door knob, slowly twisting it. When I fully opened it, I saw the green thing leaning against the wall, waiting for me.

"Remarkable" It stated, raising his bushy eyebrows.

"Follow me" He turned to the right, with his hand behind his back.

Confusion formed on my face, "What are you? And what am I doing here?" I looked around, it seemed like we were in a hallway, with different extraordinary paintings. "Pardon me, I can only answer the first question. I am a goblin from the island Vinara" Vinara? I have never seen an island named Vinara on a map.

"What do you me-" The goblin interrupted me.

"Stop asking questions" He breathed out.

All this doesn't make sense. First I get a box at my front door, that leads me to an island that isn't even on a map? And now I'm following a goblin to god knows where.

We were at the end of the hallway, and it led to a brown door.

"Wear this" The goblin took something out of his coat, handing it to me.

It was a gold masquerade mask.

I sucked in a sharp breath, putting it on slowly. The mask smelled like iron, making the smell dance in my nose. "Be ready to meet your team mates" The goblin says.

He opened the door, showing a beautiful forest.

Dark green trees, a big lake with a waterfall, colorful flowers and butterflies flying everywhere.

This looked like literal paradise. I felt the cold wind hit my hair, making me instantly relaxed. The smell of leaves was whirling in the air mixed with the scent of flowers. "Go through the waterfall" The goblin stated.

"Wouldn't I get wet?" I questioned.

"No" He replied, and walked away. I took in a deep breath and exhaled it. I'm being overly dramatic right now.

I held my dress up, preventing it from getting dirty. I was close to the waterfall now. Closing my eyes harshly, I started walking forward.

I felt something shield my body making me feel some power inside of me that I have never felt in my 19 years.

I opened my right eye, only to see I was in some room. It had two couches of the color of a new baked cinnamon roll. Between those two couches was a brown looking coffee table, with some scratches, showing it had been used. Besides that, the room was empty.

"Holy fuck" I heard someone say behind me.

I swiftly turned around, seeing a boy. He had a tailcoat, with the color of a dark green forest complimenting his dark skin.

"Who are you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I should be asking you that" I tilted my head slightly to the side. "Yeah whatever, do you know who's responsible for getting me here? not that I want to go back home" He laughed awkwardly.

I sighed, "Well thats what im trying to do, but some green goblin had me coming here all dressed up" I shrugged. "Those were goblins?!" His eyes widened. "No shit sherlock" I chuckled. Suddenly someone came from the entrance I came from.

It was a girl with a beautiful ice blue gown. It was decorated with all kinds of white pearls. "Whats this fucked up place?" She frowned.

"Lets stop asking that specific question" The guy crossed his arms.

"Let's perhaps start off with, what's your name?" I asked. "Well, I'm Lucas Miller, nice to meet you" He says with a smile, showing off his dimples.

"Thanks for asking, I'm Naaz Baran" She smiled weakly. By the time another person came through the entrance.

It was another boy, dressed in a midnight blue tailcoat. "Sorry to interrupt this conversation, but what the hell is this place?" He questioned, looking around. "Lets just hope you're the last person" Naaz says.

"What's your name?" Lucas asks. "Oh, I'm Ryu Yamada," He replies. As everyone introduced themselves again, I felt a rush of relief run through me. The relief that i'm not alone in this place. There was an awkward silence between us, each and every one of us waited for something to happen.

I felt some type of source inside of me, trying to break free. But it was waiting for me at some point.

Suddenly I heard a voice from nowhere, interrupting my thoughts. "Go to the door in front of you" Everyone turned to a door in front of us, that wasn't even there before. "How does this place's system work here, or am I just hallucinating?" Ryu wondered.

"Trust me, you are not hallucinating. I've slapped myself a gazillion times to make sure" Lucas says, with an assertive tone.

With that, I took small steady steps to the door. I put my hand on the cold, gold door knob.

I twisted it, opening it in a swift motion.

Behind the door were people dancing, with beautiful outfits. Or shall I say, nonhumans dancing with beautiful dresses.

There were all sorts of creatures in this place. It looked exactly like a masquerade ball. Their bodies were swaying with the music, dancing with their partners.

"Welcome in my dearests" The same unfamiliar voice says again.

My heart was pounding crazy, I was shocked as hell. Everything is just too much for me to even think about.

I was so confused. Why me? Was this just a coincidence, or did I just get chosen? A wave of unwelcoming bubbles filled my stomach.

Naaz was the first one to step in the ballroom out of all of us. I followed her, looking around. Some were staring at us, and some were shooting weird glances at us. As the two boys came in, the door slammed shut, making the floor vibrate slightly.

I felt two cold hands grab my forearm, spinning me to the dance floor.

I finally saw it was an old man, with a long white beard with mint green skin color. He had a long, lingonberry red tailcoat.

While I was trying to follow the dancing steps, he was grinning at me.

"You must be one of the opponents," He says.

"yes sir" I say, slightly confused by the split second right now. "Wha-" Before i could say my sentence, I flew into other hands.

I was dancing with a woman that had pale skin color, and a long black gown. "Aren't you a beautiful one?" She caressed my cheeks.

I chuckled awkwardly, managing to get out of her grip. Running away, I went to an empty corner, where I could finally be at peace.

I really need to go away from this unknown island. But the complication is that I don't know how.

The music stopped, filling the room with gasps and mumbling. Everyone had stopped dancing. Uncomfortable silence was the only thing you could feel.

I looked up seeing a person gripping someone's neck on the stage. He was holding a dagger to the person's neck. Not a person, but the goblin that was helping me. The poor guy was on choke hold, making my heart ache. No one was doing anything, until he started to speak. "Give me the opponents, and I swear I'll let this one go" I could feel him smirking, just by his deep evil voice.

the goblin tried getting free for his dear life.

I clenched my teeth, anger haunting me. No one deserves to die that awful way. Thats messed up.

His eyes suddenly turned full on black. At this point I didn't know if I was angry or scared.

His gaze landed on me. He let the goblin go, making it fall to the ground with a loud thud.

He tilted his head, smirking. "I'll see you soon princess" With that he walked away with slow footsteps.

Everyone was too stunned to say anything. No one was even shifting. They all looked like statues.

A loud growl was heard outside this place. It didn't sound near like a normal animal. Almost like some monster.

"I think it's time to end this beautiful masquerade," The unknown voice says. The voice was echoing the whole place.