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The Masquerade ballroom was situated a little further from the rest of them, built closer to the cliff than the rest. The entire room sparkled, several layered crystal chandeliers suspended from thin, magically enhanced glass archways that spanned the room. The room teemed with masked people and music floated down from the full orchestra playing upstairs. The center of the ballroom was a whirl of dancing while the edges were much more calm. The various paintings of alumni and previous professors framed artfully between the marble pillars boasted various tables of food and non-alcoholic beverages with the exception of wine. Noila dressed mages handed out glasses of the Noilan vintages, a dry red, a sweet white, and a rosé settling somewhere decidedly in the middle. The mages only allowed each guest two glasses and marked the back of their hands with a special rune that would only wear off once the sun rose. 

Little tables peppered the balcony across from the orchestra, giving Revel goers a chance to sit down and relax for a few minutes. The noise was magically muted, still present but significantly calmer than downstairs. Waiters with frosted pitchers offered water regularly to mortals taking advantage of the respite. A few vampires also relaxed upstairs, chatting quietly amongst themselves as they watched their mages enjoy themselves down below with a mixture of fondness and apprehension. 

[hr]

The third body of the night hit the ground, tucked away behind a dark building. Given it’s location and the short line of masked mortals lining the opposite side of the building, it was likely a ballroom. It had been a risky meal. One false move, even a muffled shout, could have ruined her game but that was the thrill of it. Killing sheep right under the flock’s nose. She wiped away the last fleck of blood at the corner of her mouth and sauntered her way around the building. She adjusted her mask and sauntered past the line, whispering softly in one of the guards admitting people, who only nodded and let her pass. Silly, silly princess. Such exploitable security procedures. 

The room was a pleasant one. Clearly no expense was spared for its construction and the vampiress decided to up thrill a little. She’d take something sweet from here. A young little thing, just recently awoken. The last one left an odd taste in her mouth and she could use a refreshing drink. She took to the dance floor easily, catching a mage clearly holding themselves back as the eargerly hovered on the edge of the dance floor. The vampiress lead the pair in a fast paced waltz that had them spinning circles around most of the other dancers. The girl the vampiress managed to catch was a third year, not quite what she wanted, but she had fun with it, purposely baiting the vampire drilling holes in her from upstairs. Ah, young [i]obsession[/i]. 

But she let the girl go after the first dance and left to pick up a glass of red while it was available. The dryness was a welcome reprieve from the lingering aftertaste of her last meal and she sipped at the drink slowly, enjoying the menagerie.