I always loved to travel but when my husband suggested New Orleans I admit to being reluctant. Not because I disliked the place, rather I didn't relish the idea of traveling with him. My husband was a handsome, eloquent man but he had steep downfalls. They took their undeniable toll on me.

When we arrived I was overcome by the thick humidity, I was a delicate women and it affected me harshly. My husband, Victor, took hardly any notice just rolling his eyes as I struggled to breathe calling me dramatic. We were staying at his family's lovely mansion near the most exciting part of town harboring the many clubs. This did not excite me much; I didn't expect to get permission to leave the grounds.

Upon arrival the sun was just setting bathing the town in romantic golden light, but I sensed that beneath the façade of pleasantness was a dark unsettling mood. Chills ran up and down my sweaty spine as we entered the drive way of our temporary home.

"Victor, do you feel that?" I murmured quietly.

"I feel nothing but heat" he said crossly jumping out of the black Rolls Royce, his real true love.

I opened my own door knowing he wouldn't bother to open it for me and grasped at my skirts as they brushed the dusty ground. I took my first good look at the mansion and was in awe. It was a gorgeous plantation style home but it did nothing to still the awful uneasy feeling in my stomach.

A few days later Victor told me we would be attending a masquerade party at a very rich man's mansion and I was to be ready at eight. Surprised I hurried to my bedroom brushing my waist length auburn hair and pinning it up carefully. I then slipped on my best dress, a red and black ball gown. Nothing pleased me more than to get out of the confines of my current home, to get away form the loneliness and silence.

At eight thirty Victor and I arrived at the man's house dressed and ready. I shivered with anticipation as we approached the mansion. Just as we were about to walk into the party Victor turned to me.

"If you embarrass me I swear to God if you think your miserable now you can't even begin to imagine what it will be like if you disobey me tonight" detestation shown on his harsh but handsome face.

"I promise" I whispered staring at the ground.

"Look at me you ungrateful bitch!" he slapped my hard across the cheek and I wailed miserably.

"I'm sorry" I cried looking into his ice blue eyes.

"You better be."

I then saw someone approaching us and Victor immediately put on a well used fake smile that sickened me greatly.

"Good Evening" Victor said politely to a dark, tall figure of a man with a full face mask. He tipped his hat to us, a very unusual hat, with a skull sewn into it; it seemed to glow against the black of the night. As the mysterious figure walked away his glance lingered on me, his eyes an unusual shade of violet, one I wasn't aware existed.

Finally we walked into the party and I was left to fend for myself until Victor needed me for a dance or introduction. Lonely and cheerless I sat at a lone table in the back of the large ball room which also doubled as a dinning room. It was lovely and seemed to be covered in gold, more gold than I had ever seen at one time. The ceiling was adorned with a large painting of angels against a blue sky. Elegant couples danced gracefully on the beautiful marble floor.

Tears filled my eyes as I saw how happy they looked. If only I could grasp that happiness and take it as my own. If only.

Suddenly someone sat across from me, I sat back startled, did they not know this table was occupied? After sitting back I realized it was the man Victor had greeted earlier outside the mansion.

"Why the long face Cheri?" he asked in a deep, smooth voice like chocolate liquor.

"Excuse me but I do not know you" I said standing up glaring at him for his rude introduction.

He grabbed my wrist with a strong dark skinned hand, "now Cheri I won't bite".

I froze remembering all the times Victor had done that, they had all ended badly. I sat quickly obeying the stranger, looking into his strange Violet eyes.