Charlatans of Revenge

8. This Would Be More Fun If It Was Optional

CW: murder mention, threats, 

Kat stepped out of the car, her hair was up and she wore her face mask. According to the letter, keeping your face hidden was a must. Which, fair. She turned back to Caleb, who wasn't invited.

"Thanks for the ride. Hopefully I'll be alive for one back, right?"

Caleb didn't laugh. "If you die, Ann will murder you."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Time to meet my boss for a day." Kat pulled up her boots and straightened her dress's folds that appeared when she was sitting down. All she wanted to do was survive this goddamn ball. Kat bought fucking gloves that went up past her elbows for this. She could only hope it was worth it. As she was walking up to the door, there was one other person who she decided was the other bodyguard. A person about her age with glasses and blonde hair. "Are you the bodyguard for... Cassandra?"

She nodded. "Yup. Precious?"

"Yup."

The two looked back towards the door awkwardly. Kat wanted to wish her luck, not that she knew what was happening at all, but, maybe the gesture would be nice. She decided not to when the double door opened. In front of her were two siblings who both seemed very tense. And... Intense.

"You're the bodyguards? Of course." This was Cassandra Vigor. She had spiky hair that seemed to up, and it looked intentional. She had a small scar on one side of her face and looked like she could kill you in two seconds flat. "I'll take the tall one."

"That's the one assigned to you anyways, Cass." Precious Vigor. Xe looked nervous, but not sweaty enough to ruin xir perfect makeup. Xe had cat's eye eyeliner and dyed red hair that swooped into itself. A more notable feature was two scars coming up from the jawline. Xe turned back to Kat, looking her up and down with little interest before clapping xir hands together in fake excitement. "Welcome to Charlotte's Town's annual Vigor Ball, Kat! You can call me Percy."

"Nice to meet you, Percy." Kat tried to keep herself from physically shaking. "What are we going to do?"

Cassandra snorted but walked back into the building. Percy gave a rude look to xir sibling and turned back to Kat with a sickly sweet smile. She could tell that he was about to snap. She just had to do what she was told and everything would be fine... At least, that was the expectation. Kat didn't know the Vigor Family all that well but she was trying to take in every mannerism and reactions she could, so she could start predicting what not to do.

"Oh, who knows, Kat? Cass is usually the one who works on all the professional stuff. I might be the heir but I don't know any of that." Xe waved her off as xe led Kat through the gardens. "What I do know is that ball is starting today. Isn't that exciting? How do I look?"

Xe gestured to their suit. Kat thought that xe did look pretty good. "The ascot was a nice touch. I think you look good."

"I'm not paying you to lie, Kat. Come with me to pick out a new one that fits the vibe better." Percy started walking away and Kat had to run a little to catch up. Xe seemed to have a lot of nervous energy. But hey, Kat didn't even know she was going to be paid.

-

Ella walked down the street breathing in the fresh fall air. She had a class to get to soon, her degree couldn't get itself, and today was a good day. Everyone else on campus seemed more stressed than her, but she was sure it was just because she was in a happy mood. She'd be freaking out soon enough. Ella had been avoiding using her telekinesis because the migraines that came with it were unbearable.

Then someone ran into her and dropped their coffee. Without thinking, Ella turned around and caught the coffee with her mind and the person in her arms. When the woman turned to her, wide eyed, Ella felt herself blush.