Steal the Stars [REWRITING]

Nicole - Drowning

I had finally relaxed when everything blew up in my face.

Annabelle had been right–sort of. If I was her, I would have loved this. Even though I wasn't her, it was still okay. Annabelle was certainly enjoying herself, anyway. She had probably danced with every guy here, spinning around like she owned the place. Part of me wanted to tell her not to draw attention to herself, but the other part told me to just let her have fun. The mask was good enough; or would have to be.

Annabelle had even gotten James to dance with her, which was no small feat. I watched as they suddenly began laughing, and raised my eyebrows. Beside me, Leo murmured, "Do you think they've been poisoned and it's making them giddy?"

I smiled. "Maybe. I wouldn't count it out, at any rate."

"Maybe they won't kill each other before the evening is over, after all. If it is poison, I, for one, am game for letting them be poisoned more often."

"Leo!" I snorted. "That's horrible. But fair."

I glanced back towards Annabelle and James, and my breath caught. No, no, no, no. Why now? Why here? And how?

I grabbed Leo's arm, probably pinching him in the process. To his credit, he didn't flinch. "Leo..."

"What's wrong?" He glanced at me, concerned.

"I saw..." I looked back. He was gone. But he had been here–I knew he had. "I thought I saw...I'm not crazy, okay?"

"I know you're not."

"Don't laugh."

"I won't."

"And I promise I'm not hallucinating or anything." I bit on my pinkie nail again, this time tearing skin and drawing blood.

Leo pulled my hand away. "Don't do that. I know you're not crazy or hallucinating, and I'm not going to laugh. If something's wrong, you need to tell me, and then we can work this out. But first, you need to tell me. I promise, Nicole, whatever it is, it'll be fine."

But it wouldn't be. Because after two years of running, it seemed everything had finally caught up with me. I'd tried to avoid it for so long, yet here it was–here he was–staring me in the face. He had told me I couldn't leave. And he had been right.

"It's him." I swallowed and squeezed my eyes shut tight. "My dad. He's here. He's found me, somehow, I don't know...he's not supposed to be here." The last part came out barely more than a whisper, like I was trying to convince myself or Leo of something.

"He's the reason you left home?" Leo sounded calm, as always. Like this was a challenging math problem we were working through. And, somehow, it helped clear my head.

"After my mom died, yeah. Before things were bad too, but it was okay. Because my mom was there. But then she wasn't, and I was alone. Except for him. And then...I left. And I shouldn't have–because now he's here again and now he'll be mad. And it's my fault, and I'm so, so stupid." I took a breath, but it didn't feel like I was actually taking in any air. I pulled my hand back up to chew on my nail again.

Leo took my hand. "You're not stupid. I'm sorry, because someone should be, and it's not your fault. I'm glad you're here. Did he see you?"

The temptation to chew on my nail again was overwhelming, but Leo still had my hand in his. "I don't know." I could feel tears brimming. "I don't know, I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Breathe. It's okay." He glanced up, searching the ballroom. "What's he look like? You?"

"No. Um, brown hair. And eyes. Sort of tan, I guess. From the farm–but maybe he's not working there anymore. Still. Tan. Medium height. I don't know...sort of nondescript. He was never easy to pick out in a crowd."

Except for me. When I first came to the inn, I'd seen him everywhere, places where he really wasn't. It'd gotten to the point where I was scared to leave my room, terrified he would be around every street corner, watching from every window. It'd taken me months to realise that wasn't true. And now here he was, proving how naive I was.

"Not anything like you, then." I don't know if it was meant to be a reassurance or not, but it almost felt like one. Leo's eyes kept scanning the crowd. "I don't see anyone like that, but it'd be easy to miss him. Even so, nothing is going to happen to you. We know he's here, and now we're prepared. You said he was a farmer. Do you know why he would be here?"

I tried to breathe again, and failed. I was drowning. "No. Yes–but no. He can't know I'm here. Would he? How?" But the same panic I'd had for the first few months, that was always lingering, waiting to rise out of the deep again, was back. "Unless it's to find me. But..."

"I don't know how he would," Leo said. "Let's consider that a possibility, though. Is there any other reason he might be here?"

I squeezed my eyes shut again; partially to try not to cry, partially to remember anything useful. "Um. Business? Right before my mom died, and after, he did a lot of sketchy business deals. Things...things everywhere sort of failed. In Aelone, I mean. For everyone. I guess...there are a lot of important people here, right? So, maybe that. I guess."

"Okay. You're wearing a mask, and you've grown a lot since he last saw you. You look different." He glanced at the clock. "Annabelle's supposed to cut those alarms off soon. We can leave then, too. If we stay out of the way for twenty minutes, do you think he'll notice you?"

"I don't know. Maybe not. But if he does..." I clung to Leo's hand like it was a life preserver, and I was lost in the middle of the ocean. "He's going to kill me."

Leo froze. "Nicole. Do you mean literally?"

"I don't know." I met his eyes. He couldn't help me. No one could. If my father found out, I'd be back in Aelone or dead. I bit my lip, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. "I don't know," I whispered again, my voice choked. "Leo. I'm scared."

He put an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "It's okay," he whispered, "it's going to be okay."

...

Leo signaled for Annabelle and James to come over. Annabelle rolled her eyes across the room, but grudgingly came over, led by James, who didn't look very upset to leave. Both of them stood before us, confused (and Annabelle upset for having to leave).

"Something wrong?" she asked. She glanced back up at the clock. "Because, according to that, we still have fifteen minutes. That's another couple of dances, at least."

"Change of plans," Leo said. He held his voice remarkably steady for someone who always let everything slip. "We're going now. Annabelle, you know what to do?"

"Mhm." Somehow, she'd ended up with one of the sweets from the tables, and now had it in her mouth. She swallowed. "I've got it."

Leo attempted to suppress a sigh. "Good. James?"

He gave Leo a thumbs-up.

"Good enough. Annabelle, head out now. Signal when you've gotten the alarms disabled as best you can. James, that's your cue–and yours, Nicole. And hurry back, Annabelle, as fast as you possibly can. We've got to get things moving as soon as possible."

"I need to change," I said softly. Worry still ate at me like a parasite.

"I've got your clothes in my bag. I'll walk you up," Leo said.

"Will you now? Don't get too distracted," Annabelle said.

"Not like that! My God, Annabelle!"

She laughed and shrugged. "Sorry."

"We're all ready, then?"

"Ready as we'll ever be."

"Good enough, I suppose," Leo said. He took my hand again. "Let's go, then."

We dispersed, vanishing through different exits. No one in the ballroom was the wiser, completely oblivious to the chaos their lives were about to be thrown into. I glanced back as we left, my eyes scanning the crowd for my father. Of course, I didn't see him.

But I still felt nauseous.

Word Count: 1,388

This chapter felt a lot longer to write to me, and it appears longer on a google doc, but I think the word count's lower because of all the dialogue I put in at the end. I've realized I like commas way too much.