You rise to a sit up position, rubbing your eyes tiredly. Glancing over, you realize your alarm has woken you up.

Smacking the annoying ringing object, you groan in annoyance yet throw your sheets off of you and groggily get up. Although you do stumble a bit, you make it to your bedroom door.

Opening it, a smell invades your senses, unwillingly making your stomach grumble. You didn't realize how hungry you currently were.

You make your way down the hallway, still half asleep. A yawn makes its way from your lips as you look into the kitchen. Karl is there at the stove, pancake mix being poured into a pan. A small stack of pancakes on the counter, growing as a pancake is finished. A substitute breakfast is on the counter as well, in case you're hungry for something else.

You softly smile, backtracking down the hall to your room. You decided to get your stuff to the door before Karl finished cooking. Just to make it easier.

You drag your suitcase to the front door, sitting it next to Karl's which you at first didn't realize was already there.

You bump into Karl as you enter the kitchen again, his blank face growing into a smile when he sees you.

"Hey! Breakfast is on the table." He greets you, his eyes looking towards the front door. "I could've gotten your suitcase for you, you know?" He rolls his eyes playfully. You smirk and give him a light punch on the shoulder, snickering when he gave an exaggerated noise of pain at your action.

Without wasting anymore time, he holds his arm out towards the kitchen, an action expressed to let you go first. You give him a mock curtsy and stride through the door.

The two of you ate in comfortable silence, not wanting to get distracted in a conversation and make you both late for the event in just a few hours.

He stands up, taking both of your empty dishes to the sink. You wanted to argue, but knew it would be futile and decide to get ready instead. A way to give you something to do as well.

You get into your room and lock the door, stepping to your closet and opening the two doors in a fast motion. The doors hit the wall making a rattle noise, causing you to wince a bit at the loud sound.

Pulling out your new masquerade dress/suit, and lay it on your forearm and shut the closet doors. Then, you pull out your masquerade mask left on your vanity in your nightstand drawer.

Walking into the bathroom with plans to shower, you put your items down, grabbing other clothing articles like socks and undergarments as well and putting them with your decided outfit. You also picked out a towel.

Your phone was still on the charger so you didn't worry about that. And with that settled, you throw your previously worn pajamas to the bathroom floor and turn on the shower. After a minute passes and the water feels the right temperature, you step inside. The content sigh from you is quieted by the raining water. You relish in the feeling of the warm water rolling down your back, chest, and going through your hair.

Straightening up after a minute or two once you notice your skin starting to turn red from the waters heat, you finally wash your hair and body with the soap. The water washes it off and you look down, watching the suds roll off your body and into the drain.

After finally deciding you were clean enough, you turn the shower off. You squeeze your hair and make some excess water go down the drain. Stepping out shortly after and grabbing your towel to dry yourself.

You blow dry your hair, styling its messy form and nodding in satisfaction when finished.

And soon, after a bit of struggling with putting every clothing article on, you look at yourself in the mirror. You were satisfied with how your look turned out and smiled, spinning around to look at yourself from all angles.

For the final touch, you grab your mask and slip it over your face, the action concealing the bridge of your nose and up from view.

You exit the bathroom, strolling over to your charging phone and glancing at the time. Sienna should be arriving soon.

You grab a matching bag to your outfit, putting anything you think you would need and walk out of your room to your closet again. This time you just grabbed a pair of shoes that you think would match your fit.

Karl looks up from the table when you finally get to the dining room. He was wearing his usual attire, a purple, teal, and yellow hoodie with a swirl on the front. You weren't sure what impression he was trying to make for these people but honestly, you shook your head in affection for the guy and rolled with his choice. The mask he wore though, providing coverage for the top half of his face, looked really nice though.

You notice he seemed to have been rereading the letter before you had walked in. He must've still had doubts of it to not being a hoax.

"You ready?" He grins, You nod at him a give a smile in return. Both of your heads swivel to the front door in hearing the sound of knocking against it. You quickly go forward, passing Karl's still form. Your shoes clacking loudly against the floor as you made your way over.

Karl stays where he was. Waiting for the right time to greet your visitors. You open it with a friendly smile and get instantly pulled into a tight hug.

"Sienna! My dear friend, How are you?" Her head tilts up from its position between your shoulder and neck. She only pulls away once she feels you doing so.

"I'm doing good!" She giggles, a hand covering her mouth. She suddenly turned around, brows furrowing in mock anger. "Mason get your butt over here!" You see the tall man approach. Once he makes it to where you and Sienna stood, he bowed respectfully to you. You respond with a curtsy.

Then turning to your left and seeing Karl carrying both of your suitcases.

You held your small bag, shaking your head when he offered to carry it as well. He was already carrying the heavy stuff, why make him carry everything?

"Well Sienna.." You look back at her, as she does to you. "Here are the keys." You say grabbing the jingling bundle of keys from the hook they were hanging off of from the side.

She takes them, a gracious look in her eyes and puts them in her own bag. Her widen as something clicks in her mind. She snaps her fingers, a toothy smile appearing as she looks happily at you.

"Oh! I forgot to mention!" Her tone of voice raising, "Me and Mason drove separate cars so you and Karl could ride in one." You were about to open your mouth before she tuts you and continues, "I know you already have a car. But.. I think it's better if you use a different one just in case." You nod, giving in since it was already done and you couldn't do anything about it.

She smiles and hugs you one more time, way tighter than the first hug. Seeing Karl waiting patiently out of the corner of your eye, you step outside and out of the doorway. Gently nudging Sienna out of his way, standing next to her yourself. Karl gives you a thankful glance as he passes by and walks to the parked cars, a slightly confused look appearing on his face as he approaches the vehicles.

"You're going to be taking my car by the way sweetie!" Sienna yells out to him, giving an enthusiastic thumbs up when Karl calls out a thanks to her, his confusion disappearing.

He loads the suitcases in the trunk, shutting it with a slam and motioning you over. The three of you remaining near the house walk over to the car, gravel crunching under your shoes.

Sienna hugs Mason as a few tears suddenly run down her face. You give her a sad look, it quickly morphing into a sad smile seconds later as a thought enters your mind. "You really that happy to see me leave?" You shout to her, an attempt to lighten the mood.

She raises her head that rested on her fiancés chest. "Oh Please! How could you accuse me of such a thing!" She puts her hand on her head, the other on her chest and gasping dramatically. The pose definitely from a film the two of you watched like three days ago.

You roll your eyes and chuckle making your way over to the passenger seat of the car. You give the couple standing in your view one last look, almost regretful to leave. They both wave to you and Karl. Both of you doing the same, and entering your sides of the car to get it over with. You would miss them, but you can't stand there forever.

"Ready to go?" Karl asks quietly as he puts on the seatbelt, his face flickering with many emotions. Those of sadness, disappointment, and slight regret all at once. "Yeah." You sigh sadly and put your seatbelt on, the tight leather digging into your chest and thighs. You lay your head back, still relatively tired.

The car starts up and you can feel the car start moving. You decide to stare at the side mirror, watching your two friends stand there, raising their hands to wave again. Their figures slowly get smaller and smaller as you and Karl drive further and further away from them.

Hopefully this month would pass by fast.

Once your friends disappear from view completely, you tear your gaze away from the mirror and rest your head against the seat once more. You can feel your eyes getting heavy and look over at Karl again.

He turns the knob on the radio. Sifting through music channels before finally settling on something light. He keeps the volume at level five.

You hear him exhale as he gives you a side glance. Nodding reassuringly, you repeat the action and close your exhausted eyes. Succumbing to sleep once again.

And when you awaken, you'll be at the manor in no time.
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[Updated - 9/06/24]