>:O >:O >:O 

See, just another clue that points to me!  

I do feel like it whoever's writing this put the S to turn us down the wrong path (that is DEFINITELY the wrong phrase [is it even a phrase? {I'm pretty sure it's not}])

You know you're getting too detailed when you have three different these thingies: {} [] () in one sentance XD. 

Part Eighteen

~

In the banquet hall, the planning committee for the ball sat around a bowl of chips at the long table. Papers were spread out between them, and they were happily chattering away about their ideas. Goldie led this informal meeting, directing their thoughts this way and that.

“What are we thinking for food?” she asked eagerly, pen poised to jot down any of their ideas.

“Cake!” Strawberri exclaimed. “Definitely cake.”

“Agreed,” Dusk said. “Maybe some ice cream?”

“And cooki-” Ever began, then stopped, wincing. “Sorry. Not… not cookies.”

Bluebell put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright. Desserts are all well and good, but we should pick out some actual food as well. I’m thinking burgers and hot dogs?”

“That sounds good!” Dusk agreed enthusiastically. “Maybe we can do a build-your-own-burger station. How about drinks?”

“Water, soda, tea, hot cocoa?” Evergreen suggested.

“That all sounds good to me!” Goldie said, scribbling furiously. “Alright, now decorations. Thoughts?”

“What about fairy lights?” Bluebell said. “We could string them up around the tables and on the walls.”

“Good idea!” Ever said. “We should have lots of flowers, too. Would it be alright if we took some from the garden, Goldie?”

“Fine by me!” Goldie said. “So fairy lights, flowers, anything else?”

“Can we have balloons?” Strawberri asked.

“Of course!” Goldie beamed. “Whatever you guys want!”

“So when should we have the ball?” Dusk asked. “Tomorrow seems too soon, since we need time to prepare and actually decorate the ballroom, so maybe in two days?”

“That’s a good idea,” Bluebell said. “I think that gives us plenty of time.”

“What should we wear?” Evergreen wondered. “I’m not sure if anyone thought to bring a ballgown, and this is sort of last minute.”

Goldie grinned, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “I was just waiting for you to ask!” she announced. “If you’ll all follow me, please.” She stood and walked out of the banquet hall. The four CBers followed her, intrigued.

They walked up the stairs and through a maze of identical hallways, turning so often it was almost dizzying. Eventually, she stopped in front of a very plain set of wooden double doors. She presented them to the confused CBers.

“So… what’s this?” Ever finally asked. Goldie responded by smiling mischievously and pulling open the doors, allowing the CBers to see inside.

Inside the doors was a closet of epic proportions, filled with dresses in every color imaginable. The room was easily as large as the banquet hall, and filled with beautiful gowns. The CBers’ eyes widened, and Goldie laughed.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“Wow,” Bluebell responded. “Where did they all come from? Why are they here? What do you do with them?”

“Well, I’m not sure where they came from- they were here when I got to the palace,” Goldie answered. “I guess they’re here to wear, and I don’t do anything with them. That’s why I’m so thrilled you all want to have a ball! You and the other CBers can have your pick of any dress here.”

“Thank you!” Strawberri exclaimed. “Oh, I’m so excited!”

“Let’s come back tomorrow with everyone else to pick,” Dusk said. “For now, I think we have a bit more planning to do.”

Later, the murderer entered the dark cold room that had been Emekittycon’s home for the past four days. Em looked up, not surprised to see them. The murderer’s visits were her only way of telling time down in the dungeon. They came twice a day with food- once in the morning, once in the evening. This was the evening visit, and the murderer quickly removed the gag and untied Em’s hands to allow her to eat. She did so ravenously, finishing the sandwich in less than a minute. Grudgingly, she allowed herself to be rebound. She knew by then not to attempt escaping. Early on in her captivity, she’d tried to overpower the murderer and get away, but she’d been punished by another painful blow to the head, knocking her unconscious and giving her a splitting headache when she woke again.

This time, after retying her hands, the murderer spoke, which surprised Em. There were usually little to no words exchanged during the daily visits. “How are you doing?” they asked.

The gag had not yet been replaced, so Em could spit out a biting reply. “Why do you care?”

The murderer shrugged easily. “I don’t want you to be too uncomfortable. Some discomfort is necessary, I’m afraid, but no sense in making you overly miserable.”

“I’d be a whole lot better if you’d let me go,” Em said pointedly.

“Oh, Em, you know I can’t do that,” the murderer said with a chuckle. “You know who I am, so alas, you must stay here.”

“Why keep me around, then?” she demanded.

“You’ll see,” the murderer responded cryptically. They went to replace the gag, but Em spoke again.

“Wait, will you at least tell me what’s happening? Give me an update on the other CBers? Has anyone else… you know...”

The murderer hesitated, but then nodded. “I suppose I can do that much. A few days ago, we all went swimming in a pond out in the woods. It was very nice, I think you’d have liked it- oh, don’t look at me like that. Anyway, when we got back, we made cookies, and, ah, Dolphin and I had a little heart-to-heart. Then she had a knife-to-heart.” The murderer laughed at their own joke, and Em looked horrified.

“Dolphin… oh no…”

“Everyone was pretty torn up about that,” they continued, “but we all ended up going for a walk and found, if you’ll believe it, a pegasus out in an abandoned barn. Now the latest news is we’re all throwing a ball, which should be quite fun. I’m almost sad you’ll be missing it.” Before Em could react to any of what the murderer had just told her, they replaced the gag in her mouth and turned to leave the room. “This was a fun little chat, Em. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” With that, the door closed, and Em was once again left alone with her thoughts.

~~~

What do you want to wear to the ball? Comment your outfit choice! If you don't respond, I'll make something up for you. Happy reading!

Well... I guess I'll wear periwinkle cuolotte suspenders with white vertical stripes, with a storm blue shirt underneath. My hair will be in a half-up, half down bun, with a yellow scarf acting as a headband. Shoes...okay, white flats. No, white sneakers. I'll also be wearing some gold/yellow bracelets. I also will be bringing a book, and I might bring my yellow rain jacket. Here's a picture (if it shows up): 

New part should be up on Friday!

Maybe like a white dress with gold accents? And gold jewelry please? Thanks!

Part Nineteen

~

Bluebell slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around groggily, trying to comprehend her surroundings. Where…? Then it hit her, and she snapped to consciousness. She was sitting on the floor outside of the Tourmaline Room, having been on watch for the night. She put her head in her hands as she realized she had fallen asleep, leaving the room, along with the murderer’s things, unguarded.

She stayed like that for a minute, but looked up when she heard noise in the hallway. The doors to the other rooms were opening, and the CBers were coming out of them. Gracia was the first to see Bluebell on the floor, and rushed over to her.

“Bluebell!” she said, crouching next to her. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” said Bluebell, nodding miserably. “I fell asleep.”

“When?” asked Agent Winter. She and the other CBers had reached them as well, and were exchanging looks among one another.

Bluebell shrugged. “I’m not sure. Any time after midnight, maybe?”

While Bluebell was speaking, Sirfire strode over to the door and opened it, peering in. “We should check on the murderer’s things,” she said, and the other CBers agreed. They all entered the Tourmaline Room, headed directly for the broken bed.

Ever knelt down to look underneath it. “Nothing,” she reported with a sigh. “It’s all gone.”

Bluebell shook her head. “I’m sorry, guys, this is all my fault.”

“No, it isn’t,” Dusk said comfortingly. “This was bound to happen eventually. I’m sure the murderer was waiting for any chance to get their stuff.” There was disappointed silence for a moment.

“Well,” Holly said. “We might as well head down to breakfast. We can’t do anything about this now.”

“Should we post another guard?” Strawberri asked.

Winter shook her head. “There’s no point now. Holly’s right, let’s go.” They all filed out of the room, unhappy that the murderer had outsmarted them yet again.

When they reached the banquet hall downstairs, Goldie was there waiting for them. She took in their gloomy expressions and looked confused. “What’s wrong with you guys? Did something happen?”

The CBers shifted uncertainly. They hadn’t told Goldie about the Tourmaline Room, and none of them knew what to say.

Gracia decided to step in. “No, nothing happened!” she said, forcing herself to look cheerful. She elbowed Winter, who did the same. “I think we’re all just a little tired, right?”

The other CBers chorused their agreement, and Goldie looked satisfied. “Okay then! Well, I hope you aren’t too tired, because today we’re decorating the ballroom!” This news cheered up the CBers for real. The excitement of the ball was back, and they couldn’t wait to get started. “Let’s eat first, then I’ve got a little surprise before we split into groups.” Dusk, Bluebell, Strawberri, and Evergreen smiled to themselves. They knew what the surprise was.

After a very quick breakfast, the CBers followed Goldie back upstairs and through the maze of hallways to the same room she’d shown the planning committee the day before. When she opened the doors, there were ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s from the CBers who hadn’t seen it.

“This is incredible!” Sirfire gushed.

“I know,” Goldie said proudly. “Pick whatever you’d like to wear for the ball!” The CBers didn’t move for a moment. “Well, go on!” Goldie prompted, and they all walked into the closet. They each perused the racks of clothing, pulling out anything that caught their eye.

Gracia picked up a poofy bright orange dress and held it up against herself. “What do you think?” she asked Sirfire, who cracked up.

“Sorry, but you look a little bit ridiculous,” she said.

Gracia nodded, grinning. “My thoughts exactly!”

Over on the other side of the closet, Agent Winter was trying on a pretty black satin dress. She looked in the mirror and twirled around. “I like this,” she said, smiling.

“That looks great on you!” Dusk commented. “Here, these go perfectly with it!” She handed Winter a pair of black gloves, which she slipped on. She placed her hands on her hips and nodded, examining the final result.

“Perfect!” she said, and Dusk gave her a high-five.

Evergreen, after choosing her own dress, was helping Sirfire look for something to wear. They’d chosen a storm blue shirt and were looking for something to go with it. While Sir flipped through skirts on one rack, Ever was searching some shelves. As she pushed aside a shoebox, she caught a glimpse of periwinkle in her peripheral vision. She turned to see what it was, and excitedly pulled out a pair of striped periwinkle suspenders. She hurried back over to show her friend.

“I love those!” Sirfire exclaimed, holding them up. “Thanks, Ever!”

Strawberri was looking through dresses nearby, trying to find something she liked for the ball. She pulled one off the rack and sighed. It was a white dress with pretty gold accents around the neckline and the bottom. “Dolphin would have loved this,” she remarked sadly to Hollyshock.

Once all the CBers had chosen their outfits, Goldie led them out of the closet and back to the rooms to drop the clothing off. Once that had been done, they congregated in the hallway so Goldie could assign their tasks for ball preparation.

“Well, I think that was fun!” Goldie remarked, and the CBers all agreed. “Now let’s get down to business. We’ll have three groups- one in charge of decorating the ballroom, one in charge of collecting flowers from the gardens, and one in charge of making the cake! Does that sound alright?” Everyone nodded. “So our ballroom decorating team will be Alice, Bluebell, and Hollyshock. Gracia, Sirfire, and Dusk will collect the flowers. And our bakers will be Strawberri, Agent Winter, and Evergreen.” The CBers split into their respective teams and waited for further instruction. Goldie spread her arms. “No time like the present! Let’s get cracking!”

~~~

The next part, at long last! I'm sorry this took so long, hopefully I'll be back on the regular schedule now. Thanks to those who responded- and Dolphin, no worries! I'll be honest, I completely forgot you were dead as well :)