Hallucination by Josie Wu (best manga ereader TXT) 📖

Masquerade

Chapter 1

Looking into the mirror, I see the same face I see every day. The same brown hair, the same blue eyes, and the same expression. In fact, I don’t have much feeling towards anything over the past few years, and sometimes, I even feel really empty. It’s not that I can’t feel, but there just isn’t many happiness, sadness, or madness in my life anymore after the death of my parents and after “That” happened. I can’t tell you what “That” is because I can’t even remember it myself, which really annoys me. Every time when I try to recall the memory, I always got nothing. It’s like someone has stolen some parts of my memories away from me. But sometimes I feel more like the memory has been blocked behind a door, and I just couldn’t find the key to it.

I pick up a dark-blue tie from my bed which my younger sister bought me a few days ago for tonight. I don’t really care about what to wear, but my sister insists that I should look nice and decent, so that‘s why she always picks up clothes for me, including the tuxedo I am wearing now. After a few minutes of trying, I still fail to wear the tie properly. I have never worn one before at least not wearing by myself, but I thought it wasn’t hard at first. I mean others always seem to wear them easily. Well, it’s a lot easier to see than do, right? .

“Alex, You are gonna be late for the masquerade!” My sister, Katy, shouts from the hallway.

Unlike me, Katy has a long, curly, and beautiful blond hair, which makes her look like an angel. She’s all I’ve got after my parents died, and we only have each other. She is four years younger than me, but I always feel that she’s the older one because she takes care of everything. She does all the social stuffs and most of the house chores. She also takes good care of me, which makes her more like an angel to me and I am really grateful for that.

She walks into my room out of nowhere and stands beside me, looking into the mirror. I can’t tell whether she’s looking at herself or she’s looking at me. Maybe she’s looking at both of us.

“Turn around, Alex.” Katy says.

I do what she said and she starts to help me wear the tie without having to ask. She always knows when I need her help and shows up at the exact time.

“Okay, you handsome young man. I am sure all the girls at the masquerade will fall for you when they see you!” Katy grins at me.

I don’t know what to say, so I give her a quick smile and then head for the door.

“Need me to drive you?”

“No, thanks. You’ve done enough for me.”

“Oh, you know that I’d love to.”

“Well, see you later.”

“Have fun!” She says when I open the door, walking into the dark night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter2

It is a lovely and quiet night. I drive my car slowly, trying to focus on the driving instead of thinking about what might happen at the masquerade. To be honest, I don’t really want to go. I just want to stay at home and maybe watch some old movies with Katy or just do some things that I usually do on Saturday night. I could see the stars shining brightly up in the sky through my car window and I exhale deeply.

I am not doing this for myself.

I don’t know how long I have been driving and I don’t know exactly where the masquerade is, but with the vague memory, I still manage to find the place. Towering in front of me is a big and grand castle and I am totally amazed by it. Although I have been living in this town for years, I have never seen this castle before, which confuses me a little at first, but I soon realize that I stay at home or go to school for the most of my time and seldom go out with my friends, not even with Katy, so it’s not strange at all for me to not having seen this majestic building.

I pull up my car and as soon as I get out of it, I see my best friend, Brian, waving at me. He’s one of the reasons why I attend this masquerade. He kept on persuading me by saying how fun it would be until I finally said yes. But I am doing this mostly for my sister. She always wants me to do what a teenager usually does like hanging out with friends, playing some music, or just not staying at home all the time. I know she worries about me that I can’t get over the past. “Let bygones be bygones.” She always tells me that. But I am just not used to doing any of those anymore. I feel more comfortable to be alone, not having to care about what others think or do. In fact, I am tired of interacting with people. I mean I can’t stand to see the sympathy in others’ eyes anymore. No matter what I say or do, they just regard me as a boy who loses his parents and always want to make me feel good. But I don’t want that. No, I don’t “need” that. That would make me feel that I am abnormal or something. I just want to be seen as a normal teenager. Anyway, I attend this masquerade only because it makes my sister happy. Happy for me. That’s all.

“Hey, buddy! I always tell you that you can look nice, too.”

Brian gives me a playful shove.

I nod at his direction and give him a smile. We have been friends since we were five and he always sees me as who I really am. That’s why we can be friends for so long. I like him, respect him, and I can depend on him no matter what happens.

“Come on, the masquerade is about to start!”

I follow him, walking into the baronial castle and into the first masquerade I have ever been to.

It has already been crowded with a lot of people all dressed in fancy clothes and they are all wearing special masks as I am.

“I am gonna go dancing. How about you?” Brian asks.

“You go ahead. I don’t really feel like to dance.”

“Ok. See you later.” Brian says and soon disappears in the crowd.

I look around, thinking about whether I should go get some drink.

Then I see her.

She’s just standing there, holding a drink in her hand and keeps looking around like she’s waiting for someone. Although the exquisite mask she is wearing covers some parts of her face, that can’t lessen her beauty. I know she’s the one I have been looking for since the first time I saw her. It’s like love at first sight and I just can’t move my eyes from her. After a while, she must have seen me watching her, so she smiles at me. I wither under her smile and as she walks towards me, my heart skips a beat.

“Hi.” She says quietly and looks at me with her beautiful eyes.

“Hey.” I hope I don’t sound so nervous as I am right now.

We just stand there and look at each other for a few minutes and before the nervousness takes over my body, I pluck up my courage and decide to take some action.

“Do you want to dance?”

“Sure.” I could see that her face redden a little.

I lead her through many crowds of people and into the dancing pool. I feel the warmth of her hand on my shoulder as I put my hand on her waist. In fact, I can barely look directly into her eyes since she really beguiles me and I can be easily lost in her stunning eyes. At first, we just dance in silence and then I take the initiative and break the ice.

“You look so fabulous tonight.” I say quietly into her ear.

“Oh, it’s so nice of you to say that!” She giggles.

“Could I have the honor to know what your name is? I am Alex by the way.” I ask as she deftly steps closer to me with her hands holding mine.

“Rosie.” She whispers in my arms.

“It’s a beautiful name,” I lean closer to her “really suits you.”

“Thank you.” She says softly and then blushes with shyness.

Suddenly a thought strikes me.

“Why does she look so familiar? And why am I so acquainted with her name?” I think to myself.

I am a little bewildered.

“Oh, come on, just forget it and relish the beautiful moments!” A voice shouts deep in my mind, and I decide to do what it said.

We dance for almost the whole night and before it’s time to say goodbye, I take her hand, leading her to the fountain beside the castle, which is a lot quieter. I saw it when I was on my way into the castle. It is also well-designed too.

“I really have fun tonight.” I say, looking her in the eyes.

“Me, too.” She gives me a sweet smile.

I walk closer to her, shortening the distance between us. All of a sudden, I see something flashing through her eyes.

Is it nervousness?

No.

Is it excitement?

No.

It is sadness.

But why?

“Is everything okay?”

She doesn’t answer me; instead, she takes my hand and places it on her cheek. Under her warm hands, I can feel her soft skin and I decide to let go of the question. Unknowingly, I bend my head down as she raises hers and we are so close that I can feel her breath brushing through my face and…

“Hey, Alex!” Brian calls me out loud in front of the castle.

I quickly step back and feel a little embarrassed.

“Uh, I am sorry.” I give her an apologetic smile.

“No, it’s okay.” She looks down to the ground, which is a good thing to me because I don’t want her to see the disappointment in my eyes.

“I guess it’s time for me to go.” I nod at Brian’s direction.

“Yeah, I’d better go, too.”

“Will I see you again?”

I wait for her response and she squeezes my hand.

“I hope so.”

~ ~ ~

When I am on my way back home, all I am thinking about is Rosie. I can’t help but think about her lovely face, her stunning eyes, and our almost touching lips. Even now, I can still feel the warmth of her hands when she was holding mine and the touch of her tender face.

Is she thinking about me too?

As I am deep in my thought, I see Rosie walking alone in the dark night.

Where is she going? Does she live around here? If she does, then how could I have never seen her before?

I soon pull up my car and decide to follow her. She walks through masses of trees and into the deep of the forest.

There is a house.

Does she really live here?

Since I was a kid, I have had a strong feeling towards this forest. A bad one. I don’t know why but this forest always makes me feel creepy and I am kind of scared of it, especially at night. But that is not what I can care about right now.

All I care about now is Rosie.

She stops in front of the house and then takes off her mask.

I hide behind a tree, hoping that she could turn around so I can see her one more time tonight. Then as if hearing my thought, she looks around like she is checking whether there is anyone stalking her.

Under the mild moonlight, I see her face and feel thrilled with horror for a split second.

I know why she looks so familiar.

I know who she is.

She was the first girl I fell in love