Page 18 of Semblance

“Don’t you worry about that,” Calisto said. “We’ll sort that all out. By the way, there’s a group of lovely people that are dying to know more about you and your music. Why don’t I introduce you to them?”

“Can I go home first and meet them over a cup of coffee later on in the week?”

“They’re here for one night only,” she replied. “It’d be a wonderful opportunity for you.”

They had no intention of letting me go.

I was screwed.

“I’m stuck here aren’t I?” I stated.

“It’s really for your benefit.”

Calisto strolled up to me, taking my arm in hers, and began leading me back towards the estate. Trailing behind her was a pair of large, muscular men in white owl masks, whom I assumed would snatch me up like a rag doll if I attempted to make a run for it.

The feeling of dread was poison in my veins and I wished that I hadn’t come here in the first place. How stupid could I possibly be? I was lured into a spider’s web with the promise of money and fame.

Ugh.

“I think we’re going to become very close friends,” Calisto said with a wide grin on her face.

That was funny, because I was thinking that by the end of the night, I was going to end up six feet under somewhere. I was scared shitless, but the only thing I could do at this point was play along until I could figure out a plan to get myself out of this mess.

#

Calisto led me into a large study, one of the typical manly ones you saw on television and in movies. Moonlight flooded the large bay windows, casting a cerulean afterglow against the tall oak bookcases, filled with leather tomes, stretching from floor to ceiling. Oil paintings of medieval knights and their insignias lined the walls, each piece exhibiting the European flavours of chivalry and romance.

At the centre of the study, seated around a circle in large leather armchairs, were six well-dressed men, still donning their Venetian masks. I felt some relief when I recognized Abraham’s wolf mask along with Mr. Fox, whom I had chatted with earlier in the evening.

“Abraham!” I practically leapt at him. “What’s going on here?”

“Don’t be alarmed Ms. Valencia,” he said in his same reassuring tone of voice. “We’ll have this sorted out before you know it.”

“You’re having quite the eventful night,” Mr. Fox said with merriment. “You went from being no one, to a music star, to a princess all in one night.”

“I seriously don’t know what’s happening here,” I announced to everyone in the room. “I just want to go home. Look, keep the money you owe me, just let me go.”

I was a sniveling mess. Between the walk from the gardens back to the estate, I had imagined hundreds of horrific scenarios.

I saw myself lying naked on top of an altar, ready to be sacrificed to some pagan cult god; or being auctioned off into some slavery ring and dragged over to Europe to be used as a sex puppet for the rest of my life. Or what if I was in some serial killer’s den and I was going to be chained up, tortured, and killed in some basement dungeon? All the possibilities paralyzed me and I broke out into a cold sweat.

Calisto led me to the centre of the circle and sat in the seventh empty seat. Everyone was watching me with penetrating stares, their expressions hidden behind those damned masks. At least I was wearing one as well.

Shadow stood by the large bay windows, staring out into the night as if he couldn’t care less of what was going on in the room.

One man, wearing a red mask with a black scorpion pattern on it, broke the silence with his acidic tone of voice. “Take off your mask.”

This mask was all I had to hide myself from these people. With the mask off, they could see the fear and desperation on my face, things that any demented predator probably got off on.

I shook my head. “No.”

“You’ve got nothing to hide from us honey,” Calisto said sweetly. “My friends just want to see what a pretty girl you are.”

I felt my last bit of strength in me erode away, like stone pillars crumbling into dust. I was at my wits end.

“Please don’t kill me or sell me into slavery,” I blurted out, resisting the urge to fall to my knees and beg, figuring that once I was off my feet, they weren’t going to allow me to return to them.

There was a moment of silence amongst the circle. I noticed that even Shadow had turned his attention away from the window, glancing in my direction.

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