Who: Masks What: A reveal. Where: Passages Hotel to home When: Immediately following the masquerade. Warnings/Rating: None
She had stayed where she had been left, curled up in the alcove with the small bench, only her position had changed from sitting, leaning against the wall, to curled up on the bench, her arms folded beneath her head as she recovered from the loss of blood. The trails of red had dried into something rust coloured and flaky against the pale skin of her neck, the puncture wounds still visible, bruises already starting to blossom around them. Asleep as she was, she had no idea that the sun had risen, not stirring on her own until several hours past when green eyes opened slowly, squinting at the light that streamed through uncovered windows, cutting a slat of brightness right over her face. One arm was raised to block out the light, the bodice and tights she had been left with once the night had drawn to a close replaced with her normal fair. Dark jeans, skinny and fitted, with a pale green tank that was gathered at the chest, her red hair streaming over her shoulders where it hung loose.
Pushing herself up with one hand, she brushed her hair out of her face with the other, looking around as the night started to catch up with her. Immediately, her fingers went to the side of her neck, wondering if it had been real, and upon feeling tender skin and the depressions left from the fangs, her hand shook for a moment, fear and worry racing through her quick as lightning. "Oh, god," she whispered to herself, the evening coming back in bits and pieces, layers peeling away just like the masks she had worn to hide behind. Getting up to her feet, she nearly swooned, and she raced down the stairs in her flats, nearly skidding before she took the last flight, to the basement, slower, her hand on the bannister. Thoughts of the girl she had pulled from the lake filtered through her thoughts, and she had to make sure she was all right.
When she found nothing downstairs but scuffed dirt, she let out a sigh that was part relief and part something else that she couldn't name. Worry, yes, that something had gotten to her before she could, something that did not have charitable notions. She would investigate later, find the truth, but for now, she needed to go home.
The walk home in the mid-morning sun was long, but it gave her time to think on the evening, what she had become with masks upon masks, which she supposed was appropriate in as many words. She had come to Las Vegas to hide, and even though there were few here that knew her, she still hid her intentions, what she was running from. A husband, a child, these were the things she kept quiet, buried down deep under layers of crinoline and porcelain, where prying fingers could not reach. There was no telling how many masks she wore, nor how many more needed to be plucked away before anything of her true self could be displayed.
Digging her keys out of her pocket, she unlocked the door to her apartment, the cool air from the air conditioning greeting her like a friend. Dropping her keys on the table beside the door, she rocked back, pressing against the door as a sudden exhaustion came over her. It would have been easy to simply fall asleep right there with how drained she felt, but there were other things that had to be attended to. As she shed her clothes on the way to her bedroom, her thoughts went to the man she had encountered first, and she wondered if he was alright, if she should attempt to contact him. The girl, she would, but more importantly...
Standing in front of the mirror, she swept her hair away from her face and neck, turning her head to the side to touch the twin punctures that decorated the side of her throat. A wet cloth was used to wipe the dried blood away, her gaze distant as she thought of that man, because that's what he was. At first, a creature that had scared her, but in the end, a man, someone who had fears just like she did. After sleep, she'd find him, talk to him, pull away more of the masks and show to him that she was fine, that what had happened that evening had not harmed her permanently.
It was those thoughts that filled her mind as Meredith fell into bed in nothing but her own skin, free of decorations and masks, and fell asleep.