Never Forget You

Chapter 1: Elliston Manor

Chapter 1: Elliston Manor

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2013-New Year's Eve

Elliston Manor- Monte Carlo, Monaco

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The elegance of Elliston Manor was legendary in the small towns surrounding the castle-like estate. Of the people who lived nearby, few had been on the grounds and even fewer had been inside the gold, marble structure that the Elliston's called a home. 

Mostly it was just servants or garden workers, but there were a few that got to see the inside of the manor and the inside of the Elliston's society.

Troublemakers, society-climbers, dreamers; that's what they were called. Kids from a local town who had too much time on their hands and dreams that were too big to just stay in their heads. 

Dressed in expensive party clothes that they'd managed to steal from some rich kids dumpster and their tell-tale faces covered with masks bought at a thrift shop and decorated in their basements so their parents wouldn't see; three kids entered the Elliston Estate on foot and hardly able to breathe from excitement. 

            "What if they catch us?" Kat whispered nervously, her gloved hands shaking as she waited for her invite to be read and approved.

She was the youngest of the three and the least sure of the plan. It had all been her idea to attend the Elliston's famous masquerade ball that they held yearly, but she'd never been truly serious. It was the boys who'd decided to make it happen, to take it this far. Now she was worried. People like her and the boys didn't get into the Elliston Manor unless they were servants. 

            "We look like everyone else here; they won't catch us." Martin, the oldest of the three, assured her with a slight touch to her back as he pushed her forward gently. 

                "Besides, those invites are legit. Martin knew what he was doing when he made them, you'll see." Alex, Kat's boyfriend, whispered confidently. 

The man in the formal suit, who Kat assumed was the butler that they'd heard about, handed her back the embossed invitation with a nod. His dark eyes seemed to look right through Kat as he looked her over, somewhat suspiciously.

Martin had told her that Gerald Daniels, the butler, had been at Elliston Estate for most of his life, and was very trusted in the Elliston family. It was said that he'd never mistaken a fake invite for a real one and had never let anyone inside the manor that shouldn't be. It was his opinion that people had their place and he was always happy to put them in it. 

                "Ms. Katrina Donatella," he said in uppity voice, "Pleased you could make it, enjoy the party." Gerald waved her forward and reached for the invites that Martin and Alex held out. 

                       "Alexander Ferguson and Pierre Allen?"

                        Alex and Martin both looked at the butler expectantly. 

                        "Ferguson..." Gerald looked at the two men, studying them.

The boys watched him, trying not to show anything suspicious. They knew that the masquerade ball was the most nerve-wracking time of year for the butler. With everyone's faces covered anyone could slip into the manor without him ever realizing.

But to get in with an invitation? It was considered nearly impossible. The Elliston's had their own special print on the invites and the embossed paper came from a factory that the Elliston's owned.