Thread: The Masquerade WHO: OPEN to all WHERE: The Academy Ballroom WHEN: Friday the 19th
Jack smiled. As always, students and staff had pulled together to organize the yearly dance. For once, the ballroom had not needed to undergo that big a transformation: it already was a large, spacious room with crystal chandeliers, a black marble floor and walls with ornate wood paneling. Still, plenty of touches had been added: golden garlands, leaves and branches had sprouted on the walls, reminding the banshee of Versailles in its glory days. Gorgeous, ornate lanterns that gave off soft amber light and colorful torches that added flickering shadows. And, of course, mirrors. Clear mirrors that made it seems as if the ballroom went on forever. You could almost picture it, being in 17th century Venice – minus, Jack mused, some incongruities, but he didn’t mind.
In the middle of the room, there was a large, ornate clock with four faces. Rather than having been constructed, it seemed as if had grown from the floor, a golden and iron-wrought tree with curlicues and curves. Hidden among the boughs and branches, there were dazzling flowers, made of a thin, durable metal: elegant ruby roses, striking sapphire lilies, enchanting emerald orchids. They could be picked and serve as make-shift corsages.
A DJ – one of their old students – played a mix of pop music and more classically stuff music, the occasional song of violin and piano adding to the rich atmosphere of the room. The dress-code had suggested formal, and it was obligated to wear a mask: even the teachers had joined in, some of them showing off how well they could waltz. Jack had chosen to wear a thin, black mask that covered his eyes, tied up at the back of his head with a flourished bow. When the clock struck twelve, it would be time to take off the masks, though Jack hardly thought most people would be surprised.
On the far wall, there was a large, wooden table Rafe and Micah had found in one of the older rooms, covered with a cherry-red tablecloth. On top, there were several étagères laden with fancy food – horse d’oeuvres, ranging from fried shrimp to small cups of delectable gazpacho, from stuffed vine leaves to thin slices of honey-ginger steak – and, for some unfathomable reason, plenty of mini-pizzas. There were also four large, ornate fountains, that sprinkled different kinds of drinks: one was water and the second was coke, but the third was a sweet fruit drink – orange, passionfruit and strawberry – and the fourth was a spicy ginger ale. Jack might have put four of them there to give Micah something to do.
Jack glaned towards the black marble floor that people were dancing on, which shone like a mirror. That might be his favorite part. Reflected in the surface of the floor were thousands of stars and, if you looked up, you could see those same stars on the enchanted ceiling, giving you a glimpse of a beautiful night sky which you would normally only see in the most desolate of places.