Present Drifter

Chapter 26

My eyes bounce frantically around the large open space. A large group surrounds me, watching the dancers before us. The shiny floor is made up of dark squares with lighter borders. The ceiling rounds from wall to wall with a large golden lit up chandelier hanging from the center. Three windows line each wall and are framed by velvet curtains.

At the far end of the room there's an elevated section with two steps leading up to it. The wall behind it reflects the style of the ceiling with large windows surrounding the stage like area. A large grand piano rests in the section with a pianist playing vibrant music throughout the room.

Everyone around me is extremely dressed up. The women are all in large ball gowns. The ones you'd see in a Cinderella film. Each dress alone takes up at least three feet of space in either direction, myself included. I'm in a red silk dress that falls in perfect ruffles to the floor. Burgundy designs cover my bodice and the puffy sleeves that fall just off my shoulders.

The men sport those hideous puffy short things. Their sleeves sadly match that style. Their shirts reach the bottom of their chins and squeeze around the waste. This is definitely not my era.

My forehead aches at my hairline. It feels like my hair is most likely pulled tightly back into a low updo. A few rebellious curls fall around my face. I reach my hand up to dust one out of my eye but get distracted by long burgundy gloves.

I take in a deep breath as I let my hand fall back to my side but struggle to take in much air. I'm in a corset. My torso feels like it's being compressed into a can of soup. I hate it here.

Victoria probably didn't send me here just for the purpose of learning information about the book. She sent me here to torture me with painful clothing and awful social interaction. I really want to get out of here but the sooner I get out of here, the sooner I'm back to hiding in that park's forest being hunted by an immortal.

My eyes drift back to the pianist as the calming music fills my ears. I watch in curiosity as his hands fly across the keys. At least the music doesn't suck.

The pianist stands out when compared to everyone else in the room. He's dressed in something I'd consider a little more modern. His pants don't poof out but instead are a little tighter. He wears a leather vest over his black blouse and neither reach up to his chin but instead sit normally. His hair isn't long like the other men, it's short and messy. He isn't trying to reach perfection like everyone else in the room.

His eyes dart back to mine for a second as his fingers dance on the instrument in front of him. A light bulb goes off in my head as his grey eyes briefly meet mine. Daxon. Of course Dax would be the one person in the room not striving for perfection.

Alright I need to focus. If Daxon is here then Victoria can't be close behind. Unless I've gotten myself trapped in the past for a week again. This is not a time I want to be stuck in for long. I can barely breathe in this stupid outfit.

I traveled here after running in a forest. How did a forest trigger me back into time to a ball?

My head darts around the room with my eyes as I search for the nearest window. I stop moving as it lands on one directly behind me, directly behind the large group of people I'm gathered with. With everyone's heads in the way, I can't see anything but the sky through the window. Carefully, I begin weaving my way through the crowd.

The people chatter and ignore me as I move through them. Nobody looks at me, most just step aside without acknowledging me. I attempt to sigh as I reach the window but it's cut extremely short as my corset stabs my rib.

The room I'm in seems to be on the first floor because the ground is quite close to the window. I could easily jump down without getting hurt. A large perfectly green field lays below the building. My eyes trace the ground until I find what I'm looking for.