(I’m not really going by the prompt but instead I’m inserting a scene from my WIP book A Gala of Knives and Shadows, plz give me feedback on how I can improve, thanks and enjoy!)

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I get up off my bed and smooth out my gown. I looked at myself in my mirror one last time, I can’t believe mother made my gorgeous black off the shoulder dress, with small diamonds dotting the ruffled skirt. It’s quite comfortable for a ball gown. I fix up my hair by putting it in a braided bun and put diamond jewels throughout it. Then I put on a sparkling diamond necklace that my father gave me for my birthday that’s supposedly very expensive. I slip on my black heels, pick up my feather mask with diamonds in the feathers and go downstairs to the gala. Once I’ve made it to the ballroom doors I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and then I enter.

As soon as I enter the ballroom I glance around the room. The ballroom is a bit dim but it has enough light to see, my parents are always trying to save money even if it means having an almost dim ballroom. I don’t blame them though Roseshire Palace, our castle, is quite enormous. I walk over to my parents who are watching the other guests slow dance on the ballroom floor.

“Ah, there’s my daughter! Where were you dear?” My father asks with an inviting hug.

“I was just in my bedroom reading poems and short stories. I didn’t really want to socialize but mother made me come down anyway.” I said with a disappointed frown.

“Well at least try to enjoy this gala, it is the biggest one we’ve ever had after all!” My father says smiling.

After a while of watching people dance, talk, and laugh I grew weary and decided to go dance by myself in the middle of the ballroom where other people were dancing. As I’m dancing someone bumps into me.

“Oh, my apologies!” I say with a small smile. I got no response as the person I bumped into rushed towards the balcony doors on the other side of the room in a hurry. I didn’t even see what they looked like and mother and father never seemed to notice. I wonder where they were headed to. It was suspicious to me but everyone in the ballroom didn’t seem to notice. I then decided that I had enough dancing and socializing for one night and walked over to my parents to tell them that I’m going to our library to spend some time by myself.

“Alright, if that makes you happy.” My mother says with a sweet smile.

“Thank you for at least coming down to the gala for a little bit, you had fun didn’t you?” Father asks. My mind instantly thinks about the person that bumped into me in a hurry, I decide to tell my father about it.

“Father there was someone suspicious that bumped into me as I was dancing, I didn’t get a look at their face to know who it was though. They were headed towards the balcony doors in a hurry.” I said, glancing at the doors the stranger ran to.

“I’m sure they were just feeling lightheaded from the crowd and went to go get some fresh air Odette. Everything is just fine.” He reassures me. I don’t feel that reassured though. If anything I feel a bit nervous, like an unpleasant feeling in my stomach. I hope that feeling goes away when I bury myself in piles of books. I excuse myself and start heading towards the ballroom doors just as the lights go off and music starts for a waltz. I end up stopping midway to the doors to watch the waltz. I've always liked watching people dance even though I’m quite terrible at it.

Just then the lights went out completely, I was startled but my parents said it’s just for the waltz and to not be alarmed. I still kept my guard up though just in case anything were to happen. Everything is pitch black, I find it impossible that people are still able to dance in such darkness let alone see even with these masks. Then I hear a crash from one of the windows. The music stops and everyone looks around, blinded by darkness and confused, I hold onto father’s and mother’s arms for safety. Just then I hear something swish through the air and my father screams in agony, then my mother also screams and they both drop to the ballroom floor motionless. Everyone starts to panic and run out of the ballroom.

Just as the lights turn back on I see both of my parents surrounded by their own blood and someone leap from the balcony near the broken window. I don’t care about that now, that’s the last thing I’m worried about. Right now all I’m worried about are my parents and if they’re alive or not. My heart, beating rapidly in my chest, I check both of their pulses. Dead. Both of them. My mind and my thoughts spiral into confusion, heartache, sadness, but most of all anger. Anger for my parents death, anger that I couldn’t stop this from happening, anger for the person who did this, and anger for blaming myself for this. I should be laying on the ballroom floor with an arrow to the heart and a knife wound to the throat dead, not them, never them.

I sat on the floor next to my parents, sprayed with blood and cried for what seemed like hours until I finally came to my senses, stood up, and cleaned my face sprayed with blood with some napkins nearby. Then I decided to look around for anything that could tell me who my parents' murderer is. There must be something in this ballroom that tells me who the murderer is or who that stranger is, I thought to myself as I walked about the cleared out ballroom.