Page 28 of Ella's Masquerade
How is he doing this?I blinked in an attempt to clear the fog from my mind. My head lolled, sleep seeming to override my senses.
“What are you doing to me?” I whispered, fighting the cloud suffocating my thoughts.Did he drug me?No. I didn’t drink anything.
“Relax, Isabella.”
Ella,I thought at him.
“You’ll understand soon.” His fingers combed through my hair, the pins releasing from the top of my head as he helped dismantle my updo. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Some of the haze lifted, bringing the limo back into focus. A flurry of trees lined the roads outside, the palatial grounds long gone.
Wait…
I peered through the glass, frowning at the unfamiliar ivy twining along the ground.
We couldn’t be that far from the Homecoming dance. But I recognized nothing outside.
“Where are we?” I demanded, pleased to hear my voice sounding somewhat normal.
“On our way to my home,” he replied. “Myrealhome.”
“You’re taking me back to your place?” I nearly laughed. “Wow. No. I refuse.”
“It’s too late for that, Isabella.” He removed the final pin from my hair, allowing it to clink into a cup holder.
“Ella,” I snapped at him. “Only my parents are permitted to call me Isabella, and they’re dead.”
He flinched at my words, clearly not expecting the venom in my tone.
The nerve of this guy.
“Take me home,Trayton.”
“I am,” he replied. “Well, sort of.”
“You just said we’re going to your house.”
“No, I said we’re going to my home.” He relaxed into his seat, appearing far too regal in his suit. “You wanted to know who I am, and I’m about to show you.”
I opened my mouth to argue, when an odd flicker of light caught my attention, distracting me.A moon,I realized, staring out into the night.No. Not a moon.Twomoons.
“What the…?” I gaped outside at the myriad of stars twinkling in the sky between the gold globes. “That’s not possible.”
And neither was all this ivy.
It seemed to be moving, reminding me of slithering green snakes traveling up and around the branches.
Red pinpoints stared back at me, watching the limousine wind down the unending road.
No other cars.
No houses.
Just endless forest with the startling night sky overhead.
My earlier thoughts about this being a dream settled over me once more.
“It’s real, Ella.” Tray reached for my hand, giving it a squeeze before I ripped it from his grip.
