You look around the hall and guests. You notice someone interesting.

However, something unusual catches your undivided attention.

You notice a slender young girl, whom for some reason you had not seen among the guests before. This is weird. Because she has quite a striking appearance and she is very elegantly dressed.

Beautiful dark silk dress. Elegant mask with rubies.

This girl stands some distance from the bulk of the guests. It's like she's waiting to be asked to dance.

You feel interest in this person and a strange attraction, the nature of which is difficult for you to understand.

You approach an elegant girl in an elegant dark silk dress. The girl's beautiful black hair is styled in an elegant updo. This girl stands out from the rest of the ladies with something elusive.

You decide that this is your goal. And you approach her.

You ceremoniously invite her to dance. She smiles sweetly at you and accepts your invitation. You take her fragile hand, which is wearing a black silk glove. Your second hand gently hugs a slender woman’s waist.

Your couple spins in a waltz to the music. The girl's eyes shine from under a black mask with a pair of inlaid rubies. Her sweet smile and her plump lips attract your attention. You feel increasing excitement.

You hear the languid and exciting voice of this girl: “You are a skilled dancer, sir. But I think that your skills are by no means limited to this ... "

You politely respond, “I dare not disappoint you, my lady. I would be happy to demonstrate my other skills in a less crowded room..."

A couple more minutes of dancing.

You then lead the girl to one of the remote rooms of the mansion on the second floor. You clearly don't need extra witnesses.

You go into a secluded room with a girl. The room has a luxurious large bed, carpets on the walls, and a wardrobe. For lighting, a pair of burning lamps is attached to the wall.

You hug the body of a beautiful stranger, squeezing her slender waist. You feel contact with soft female breasts. Your face approaches the girl's face. You throw off your mask. Then you remove the mask from her face.

Charming large black eyes. Eyes that look like a vast ocean. Eyes that sparkle with joy. Her gaze enjoys watching you. With a quick movement of her hand, she pulls out the long hairpin that held her complex hairstyle. Silky hair flows over her fragile shoulders like a waterfall.

The girl laughs. Her laugh sounds like an invitation to you. You squeeze her body with renewed vigor. You lean towards her trembling neck. Your fangs are getting bigger. You anticipate the pleasure of absorbing delicious blood from this young female body.

However, when you get as close as possible, you feel something strange. Something is wrong. Her body becomes cold and solid like marble. You hear her laugh.

She gracefully takes your hand. The dance resumes. The two of you dance around this room. For some reason you can't resist. The lamps on the wall go out for some unknown reason. The room becomes completely dark. But you understand that you are not the only one who can see perfectly in the dark. Your dance partner also sees the smallest details, despite the darkness.

You look into the girl’s eyes with surprise. A boundless black ocean. Only now it is obvious that these eyes have neither a cornea nor a pupil. Only blackness.

The dance speeds up.

A stream of black hair moves with every dance move.

You can't take your eyes off the girl's face. It would seem that this is also a beautiful young female face. But now you realize that behind the cute appearance there is something difficult to understand. You are confused because you cannot understand what is happening. You are tormented by the thought: who is this girl?

Your dance partner says in a flirtatious voice, as if reading your thoughts: “Are you so interested in knowing who I am? I love inquisitive persons! Ha! Ha! I'll give you some hints... What do you think about my appearance? Do you like it? Or do you prefer redheads? Or blondes? What masks do you like? Or do you still call these masks faces?”

While you are dancing and she says these words, you see how with each word her appearance undergoes changes. In just a couple of seconds, her hair color changes: long black hair first turns red; then this hair becomes a light shade of wheat; After this, the hair becomes black again, like a raven's wing.

Suddenly the girl presses herself tightly against you. She kisses you on the lips. You are breathtaking with excitement. In your peripheral vision, you notice that the girl is tearing off one of the gold cufflinks from your camisole. It's hard to believe, but you see how gold melts in fragile women's fingers. Some miniature symbol appears on the gold. The gold cufflink falls to the floor.

The passionate kiss continues.

You look into black eyes. The blackness seems to consume you.

After a moment, you realize that you are standing alone in the middle of a small, dark room.

The girl disappeared. It's as if she never existed.

You pick up a gold cufflink from the floor. There is a small symbol on the cufflink. Something like a circle with three lines at the top. You don't know what this means.

You take this item with you. You go to the main hall, where the masquerade ball continues.

You find Oran and ask him: “What can you say about the girl in the dark silk dress with whom I danced recently? A young girl with black hair. There were only a couple of rubies on her mask."

Oran looks at you in surprise: “What are you talking about, master? I saw you leave the hall somewhere about twenty minutes ago. You left alone... The girl you describe was definitely not among the guests. I remember each of the guests well. None of them fit the description you gave."

You are looking at the merchant. He's clearly not lying. He doesn't understand what you want from him. You feel increasing anxiety because you cannot rationally explain what recently happened to you. You feel in your hand a gold cufflink with a mysterious symbol. This is the only proof of the reality of the mysterious meeting you had.

You give the cufflink to Oran and say: “In the coming days, you will have to use your contacts among those who understand all sorts of exotic artifacts, ancient works of art and the like. I need you to find out what the symbol on this gold cufflink means. Try not to disappoint me, Oran."

Having said this, you leave the hall where the masquerade ball continues.

You walk through the rooms of the mansion and you reflect on what happened.

You try to think in a solitary state. You go up to the third floor and you go into one of the rooms.

In this room you see an exit to the balcony.