👑CHAPTER FIVE👑
•The Final Masquerade•

Prince Charming's Masquerade Party🗽

8:35 p.m.

-Friday; night-

-Jack-

Aside from the fact that I was being hunted and my dance moves were a complete embarrassment, in a weird way, I started to believe I was making something like progress. I had to be...right?

"Are you okay?" Lisa asked, as she continued to dance.

"I-I'm fine. Just feel a little sick."

"Eww, your not going to throw up are you?"

"No, no, I'm okay."

"Not much of a party person, are you?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

I could see her examining my every move.

"You're looking pretty stiff, Mr. Willow. Try to loosen up a little; bust out of your shell and have some fun."

She had a point, and just like Simon said, tonight is my night and I'm going to have a good time. I grabbed her hand and placed it on my shoulder; I positioned my right hand upon her lower back and pulled her in closer.

"Woah, Prince Willow. Where's all this coming from all of a sudden?"

"Oh, was this not okay--I can stop."

"No, please...you're doing just fine."

I tried to keep eye contact but occasionally I would unintentionally look down to avoid stepping on her feet. One, two, three. I tried to keep the rhythm in my head. One, two...I lost focus and accidentally stepped on her toes.

"Ouch."

"I am so sorry!"

"It's fine, it's fine. I just need you to focus."

"Focus...right."

I tried to clear my mind of everything--my anxiety, Doctor Evans' evaluation; everything. The music ceased, and I could no longer hear the loud chatter of the other party members; I felt like I was in my own world.

Once I caught the rhythm my feet just wouldn't stop. I have to admit; I might not be all that bad at dancing after all. When I was younger my mom used to teach me how to ballroom dance, well try to at least. I never quite got out of the beginner's stage of the process, but I think I did just fine.

I took two steps forward, two steps to the left, and then two steps back; Lisa mirrored my actions. We repeated the movements, creating an imaginary box with our feet. I led her into a quick underarm spin and finished it with a nice dip. Lisa began to stare at me with her green eyes, showing off her perfectly, whitened smile.

"See, I knew you were good at this."

She stared at me for a moment then began to pucker her lips. I paused and just watched her; my heart began to race. The only thought on my mind was: Please don't mess this up.

I slowly started to move in. Before our lips could touch I heard a woman yell out; the voice sounded very familiar. I pulled away from Lisa and lifted her back up.

"Is something wrong? Did I do something?" She asked.

"No, no, you were great."

I continued to look around until I finally found the source. It was Cinderella; it looked like she was being harassed by some guy.

"Hey, I'll be right back." I told Lisa.

"Wait!"

I rushed over to the scene and stepped up to the guy.

"Hey! Leave her alone."

I instantly regretted jumping in. He didn't look it from a distance, but he was clearly three times bigger than me. He was tall and muscular; even his muscles had muscles. He turned and faced me; his face was covered but I had a feeling he wasn't too happy to see me.

"You...get outta here. T-This is between...the both of us. This doesn't concern you, small fry." He was clearly drunk; the evidence was on his breath and he was still carrying around the filled brown paper bag that he got from a liquor store.

He ignored me and turned back towards Cindy.

"Now, back to what I was saying. Let's get out of here and go back to my place; you can ditch your prince for one night." He said, as he let out a perverted chuckled.

Cindy tried her best to break away from the man's grasp, but he just wouldn't let up. I puffed up my chest and tried my best to show that I wasn't afraid nor intimidated; when in reality I was on the verge of peeing my pants.

"She doesn't want to go anywhere with you, so just leave her alone!"

"And what are you going to do if I don't?"

I quickly shut my mouth.

"I thought so." He pushed me hard and I fell backwards onto the floor. It was at this moment that everyone grew aware of the commotion and began to quickly surround us.

"Stay down, punk."

I've never been much of a fighter; it's not something that I was ever good at...not one bit, but this was as good a time as any to get some practice in.

I quickly got back up and I tried to tackle the guy, but it didn't go quite as planned. He endured the impact and then grabbed me by my collar. He threw me into a wall and started to beat me down.

"Had enough?" He yelled, as he continued to beat on me.

My entire body started to grow sore from the beating, especially my face. I desperately swung one last time; to my surprise I managed to hit him, the downside was that it was maybe the weakest punch I had ever thrown.

"Are you kidding me right now? You're pathetic."

He took a bottle from out of the bag and busted it against the wall; he held on to the shattered remains and held it close to my face. Just before he was able to do any more harm, two men rushed over and tackled the guy to the ground, rescuing me, nonetheless.

"Stand down!" They yelled.

"Get off me!"

The guy wrestled the two men. While he was down I tried to slip away with Cindy, but he quickly broke away from them and came after us.

"Run!" I yelled to Cindy. "He only wants me now; go get Charming."

She did as I said and quickly ran off. I suddenly felt a heavy force strike my back and I lost my balance. There was a disturbing crack as I fell face first onto the floor. I was slow to rise; my ears were ringing and my vision was disoriented. It was blurry, but I could see blood dripping down onto the floor below me.

"I got you now, punk!"

The guy reached out towards me; I thought he was going to punch me, however, that wasn't the case...but it would have been a lot better than what actually happened.

He got a grip onto my mask and began to pull. I randomly threw as many punches as I could, hoping to land a K.O. The guy lowered my arms and kept them pinned against the floor with his legs. He let out a frightening chuckle, then he tore my mask right off my face.

The music stopped and everyone started to stare at my exposed face; there was complete silence. I could feel my body beginning to shake and I just couldn't stand still; my anxiety had returned and it was fiercer than it had ever been...I was no longer in my happy place.

People began to whisper and engage in near-silent conversations.

"Is that him?"

"I think so."

The shaking only got worse from there and I suddenly began to sweat, uncontrollably.

The guy above me smirked, then released me.

"Well, I'll be damned. Is that you, Prince William?"
Hey everyone, I found Prince William! That prize is as good as mine."

Everyone began to crowd around me. I couldn't contain the pressure any longer.

"Get away! Get away from me!" I lifted myself up and made a run for it.

"Simon!" I yelled aloud.

"Over here, sir!"

I spotted Simon near the food and drinks, flirting with one of the lady servants. I rushed over to him and grabbed him away.

"Woah, wait--Jack, what are you doing?"

"Get to the limo. We have to go, now!"

"Yes, sir."

Simon rushed off ahead to pull up the limo. As I was running I stumbled over my own feet and fell, yet again, onto the hard, tiled floor, adding to my previous injury. It felt like I had broken my nose; blood covered my fingers as I wiped underneath my nostrils.

I could see Violet and Lisa rushing over to come and check on me.

"Jack, is that you? Violet asked.
"Are you okay?" Lisa added.

I didn't know what to say. I was too traumatized to even respond. I just got up and continued to run towards the exit.

"Jack, wait!" They yelled.

I busted through the front doors and I quickly got in the passenger seat of the limo.

"What's the matter, sir? What's with all the commotion?"

"I can't do it, Simon; it was horrible. I knew I wasn't ready for this."

My chest tightened and I was having a hard time breathing; It felt like I was on the verge of having a panic attack.

"Simon, I have to do something about this illness, quick. I don't know how much more of this I can handle. I'm even willing to resort to magic at this point."

"Are you seriously considering it, sir?"

"I'm dead serious."

He locked eyes with me through the rear view mirror.

"Understood...I know a place."

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