Alyss Miles sipped her fizzy drink slowly surveying the room around her. The room was well lit and people made way along the ball room dressed in fine clothing and jewelry. Tinkling of glass and the smooth sound of the band echoed around the room. Absolutely boring. Alyss wanted nothing more than to get out of here. But she shouldn't be thinking that way. As the daughter of the host, she must stay and entertain her guests. Plus, her father's guards would make sure she would not leave the room till the night was over.
Too bad she was absolutely useless in here. She was terrible around these rich, old boggarts and her social ability was just about as good as a rock. She licked the wet foam off her upper lips when she noticed a group of girls crowding around someone. Interest piqued, she walked across the marble floor to see what was entertaining them so. Of course. It would be him. Gabriel Bishop was standing in the middle looking sleek in a silky white suit. In his hand was a top hat, and he was pulling out all sorts of objects including a coin, a rose, a scarf, and now even a fat, white rabbit.
Alyss smirked. The girls were fawning over his tricks and she could see how massively his ego was being stroked. Gabriel Bishop. The illegitimate son of Mr. Van Hurst, he was the rage of last year's ball. Stunning looks and absolute charm, even with his social standing, he was able to easily enter New York's high society. Alyss detested him. He looked up and caught her eye. He gave her a wink and had a flirtatious smile. The girls turned to see who he was looking at and immediately turned stony face. He brushed pass the girls and made way to Alyss.
Reaching for her hand, he gave an elegant bow and suavely kissed her hand. "Well, if it isn't the belle of the ball herself. My pleasure to greet you tonight, Miss Alyss." Alyss shivered at his touch and coldly looked upon him.
"Instead of doing childish tricks, shouldn't you be with your father?"
"My father you say? He left this ball a long time ago with two vivacious ladies in his arm. I wanted to stay in company with these lovely ladies for a bit more before I left just yet."
Alyss inwardly rolled her eyes. Of course. Mr. Van Hurst's love for women was notorious after all. I can see where Gabriel got it from, she thought dryly. "Well, enjoy the party sir. I'll be on my way then. Cheers." She tipped her glass and took a swig before moving back to the corner where she stood for the past 2 hours. However, a large hand gripped her wrist and she was pulled back to a stop. Tottering on her heels, she felt herself fall back into a sturdy chest. Looking up, she saw mischievous green eyes staring down at her.
"My, my, too many drinks eh?" Alyss mentally cursed him before pushing herself away from his hold.
"Just enough, thank you. And what might you need that you abruptly stopped me?"
"What you might need, you mean." His eyes twinkled.
Alyss narrowed her eyes irritably. "What do you mean by that?" She snapped.
He leaned close to her as if to dance and whispered wryly into her ear, "What I mean is, you need to get out of here. You don't belong here, Alyss. I sensed that the moment I saw you."
Alyss's dark purple eyes widened. "You're joking. I'm perfectly fine here, thank you." She attempted to move out of his hold but he continued to have her in his grasp and they waltzed around the room.
"No, you're not. Tell me Alyss. Tell me what you really want."
She unwillingly let out a moan at his closeness before hissing back, "I want you to leave. Me. Alone."
"Never."
He brought her closer to his arms and she felt herself give in.
"Fine." She heard herself say. "I want to leave. Take me out of here."
She could see the knowing smirk grow on his disgustingly handsome face. "Your wish is my command." And suddenly, alyss felt herself fly. No, she wasn't actually flying. But the sensation, her feet felt so light. She could hear the guards looking shocked and heard her father yell, "Get her." But it didn't matter. She was getting out of here. Gabriel was running swiftly, his hands tightly gripping hers. He knocked down the door with a flying kick and swerved quickly down the hallway. The guards couldn't keep up to his street wise speed.
"Gotcha!"
Alyss turned and her eyes widened in fear as a large lumbering guard reached towards her, nearly grabbing her dress. Alyss gave out a small shriek and Gabriel turned to knock the guard out with one punch. He then reached down to tear the half a million dollar dress before turning to run again.
"It gets in the way."
"It's fine," Alyss raggedly said. Then suddenly, they were out. Alyss felt the cool air rush against her skin and she heard the honks of cars from the nearby freeway.
"This way." Gabriel lead her towards a unmarked street and she wondered where exactly he was going to take her. "We need to get you out of those clothes. They stand out too much here."
Elena stared down at her attire. Yes, she stood out. The once billowing silk dress was now ragged at the hem and the pearls that were sewn on were falling apart. Her neatly swept black hair was now a absolute mess and the makeup her maids had spent hours on was nearly running. However, she felt beautiful and by the way that Gabriel was staring at her, she felt that he thought the same thing too.
He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. "We just have to go a few more blocks and we can buy some clothes for us to change into."
She nodded but she muted him out as she stared at the city life awestruck. It was her first time in down town New York. And it was wild. Taxis were honking, bill boards were lighted up, and she felt tiny. Multitudes of people were walking back and forth and she felt herself getting swept away only to be held steadfast by Gabriel's hands. She watched him awestruck. He used to live here. He caught her stare and grinned.
"What? Am I that handsome?"
She laughed and lightly punched him. "Just a bit."
"Well, we're here." She looked up to see a nearly dying neon sign that said in pink letters "Flo's."
He went in first and helped her up the narrow steel stairs. Inside the shop was racks and racks of clothes. Enough to be her closet. Alyss stood next to a mannequin as Gabriel called out loudly, "Flo. You here Flo?"
Suddenly, from between a rack of clothing, a bright purple Mohawk jutted out then came a petite body.
"Gabby, is that you?"
Gabriel turned and gave a big smile. "Flo!" He opened his arms wide to envelop the tiny girl in a hug.
"Flo, this is Alyss. My—"girlfriend," finished Alyss. "Nice to meet you." Alyss extended out her hand gracefully but Flo ignored it completely.
"Oh, fancy one you got Gabby. Well, what can I do for ya? I can tell you need some new clothes first. That suit is horrid."
Alyss blinked back in shock. What an awful cow she thought. And that suit isn't horrid, anyone with eyes can see that cost more than everything combined in this bloody store. Alyss fumed as she turned around to wait outside.
Gabriel grabbed her and thrust her articles of clothing.
"Here, put those on inside that room and come out."
Alyss looked at them disdainfully. Could these even be considered clothes? She held a tight looking sequined skirt and a loose sweater in one hand and a pair of combat boots and ripped tights in another.
"Go change, it'll look good."
Alyss did as he told her and she stared at the mirror for a good 5 minutes. She looked completely different from a moment ago. Gone was her neatly swept updo, now it was a sexy mess. Her eyes were smoky due to her smudged eye shadow. Her nude colored lace gown from Vera Wang was replaced with thrift store gray sweater and a falling apart sequin skirt. Her garter was replaced by a hold filled lacy stockings, and her heels were now chunky black boots. She loved it.
She came out and Flo let out a whistle. "You look darling, girl. Absolutely stunning."
Gabriel stood there silent watching her every movement before giving her a small smile. Alyss felt fireworks. He had changed into a pair of jeans and a loose white shirt which hugged just the right amount of muscles and she had to admit that he looked good.
"Alright, last stop."
They walked together hand in hand across the side walk until they reached a worn down brick building which had a wooden sign pointing down the stairs with faded letters stating, "Wonderland."
Alyss smiled. "Wonderland huh?"
"Yes Wonderland. Where you can let go of your sanity and forget yourself in music."
"So it's a club."
"You could call it that."
"What do you call it?"
"I call it my haven."
"Well then lead on, Mr. rabbit."
"Welcome to Wonderland, Alyss."
And Alyss dove into a world full of streaming lights and booming music. She felt scared. This was her first time in such a place. However, she felt Gabriel's reassuring grip and she stepped in further and further feeling herself getting more and more lost.
Dance. Her hips started moving. Her arms slowly lifted up to the ceiling and her body started moving down, swaying to the music. She felt Gabriel near her. She didn't care. As the light shined upon her, she let loose and she finally felt free.