Bella is back as she finds herself interested in a very Vain person.

Mackenzie was not well-liked around the cosplay circuit. She was one of those women whom many disliked. Not because of her costume work, but because of her attitude. She was pretentious, rude, and looked down on others. She was often described as someone full of herself and ungracious. She would not take photos with others due to the fear of a bad angle. At one convention, she went on a tirade over a photo taken with bad lighting.

Several videos of her tirade went viral online. She swore like a drunken sailor at the photographer for lack of permission and lighting. The photographer, by the way, was a five-year-old girl. The girl was taking a photo of a woman to Mackenzie’s left. The girl burst into tears, and security was called to break up the situation.

Mackenzie was one of those women who made it clear what she thought of you. She made it clear how you should think of her. She was perfect. If she had it her way, humanity would ensure a gold carpet in front of her all the time. Why not red? She felt that it was for the “little” people.

Yes, she was one of those people. One had to ask why she was so popular in the cosplay culture. It was simple; she had a great figure that men loved, and ladies were jealous of. But she was a creative expert, and her costumes were outstanding. If she chose to take a character on, you’d be sure that she would nail every aspect of the costume. Her ability to impersonate the character’s voice added to her mystique.

It is no surprise that she was so popular on the convention circuit. Even if she were a very vain individual, people would overlook that when you are famous. All you have to do is look at some of the so-called “celebrity” families with reality shows. Am I right?

It was then that, to no surprise to Mackenzie, she would get invitations for all types of conventions. They would often offer to pay for her travel and hotel accommodations to have her attend. She was looking over invitations to three such conventions. One invitation arrived via postal mail. It was not a normal e-mail invitation. It was in a script she did not recognize, but read as follows:

Ms. Mackenzie,

Your presence is being requested at the upcoming inaugural Halloween Ball. The event is scheduled for October 31st of this year. We will forward the event location to you, dependent upon your reply.

All travel and hotel accommodations will be covered. In the event you wish to attend, an appearance award of Five Thousand Dollars will be paid to you. We’d then use your likeness in our press releases for the event.

We await your response. At this moment, you are the only cosplayer receiving an invitation. You are our featured cosplayer, and the only one, if you attend.

The focus will be on all things Halloween. The history of the holiday to its modern-day popularity.

Please use the enclosed pre-addressed, stamped envelope to respond. We require a response with your intentions by July 31st.

Will you be attending _____ Yes _____ No

It would be a lie to say she was not excited. An invitation like this would be a first. A convention where she would take the spotlight as the exclusive featured cosplayer. She wouldn’t have to share the floor with other popular women, but would be the only one. No concerns of another cosplayer dressed as the same character. No one is trying to steal her attention. It would be all about her. I did mention she is a very vain person.

She responded with a yes, she would be attending, and dropped the envelope in the mail that very same evening. It’s somewhat sad that she did not take the time to check out the address. The fact that it was going to a street address at 66 6th Street may have given her some alarm. It didn’t matter to her as she was finally getting her place as the featured cosplayer. She went right to social media to share the news with her fans.

She didn’t respond or even read any of the comments. She was too busy searching for inspiration for her next costume. She only had a few months to decide what to construct for this convention. It was too bad she did not read some of the comments. Most stated they had not heard of such a convention. Things a person will miss when their focus is on one thing. Mackenzie focused on what was most important in that moment: herself.

The internet has always been a great source of inspiration. After a few hours, she had not found anything she liked. The short turnaround time required her to find a costume that was both effortless and breathtaking. She only had a few months before Halloween. She had looked through thousands of Japanese Animation, TV, and movie characters. She had not found anything she liked. It was only after 2 am that she decided to call it a night.

It was during those few fitful hours of sleep that it came to her. She had tossed and turned all night. She dreamed of the twisted costume she would wear for Halloween. She envisioned a princess gown in deep, opulent black. Skillfully crafted with playful details. A wig would give her large ponytails, and dark red, no, a very bright red lipstick against a pale face. This meant no tanning for her. She’d do all she could to avoid the sun. Her copper-colored skin needed to go pale. She would do all she could to look perfect. The horns, oh yes, horns, would be built to fit on her head.

This was what she needed, and after a few hours of sleep, she awoke refreshed and ready for the day. It was like a fast-forwarded movie over the next few months for her. She would go to work, shop for costume items, and spend hours behind her sewing machine. She worked hard on the costume. She took photos along the way, showing her fans what she had purchased. An examination of dye tests. They were meant to show how effective the tests were in attaining the perfect black tint. All the progress in fabricating her costume. Her fans gave her compliments on the work she was doing.

Yet, many still asked for details about the convention. Where is it being held? She felt she did not have time to read the comments; she had work to finish. Their thoughts would not change her work as she knew what looked perfect. She’d be perfect as always. Even those critics who raised concerns about her changing skin tone. Her beautiful copper-toned skin changed to a pale white. Those comments went unnoticed as the convention got closer. Her routine had become so mechanical. She almost did not realize it was now late October. There had been no follow-up letter on where she was to go for the convention.

It was this way when, on October 30th, a letter finally arrived. Mackenzie finally realized the date when she received the letter. It was simple and written in the same odd script as the first and held a few sentences.

Ms. Mackenzie,

The Halloween Ball is being held in your local town. A stretch limousine will arrive at your home at 10 pm on the 31st. It will pick you up and bring you to the event.

She studied the basic note. The realization of the date had her on social media posting that the day was almost here. Thousands of instant likes, loves, and other reactions began to appear. Again, she ignored the comments. Fans continued to ask where and what time. How much?” Other questions went unanswered and unread. She was ready, and the small people who felt their lives were better for following her did not matter. Mackenzie was all that mattered. She was going to make five thousand dollars. She would get a ride in a stretch limo. She was in heaven.

The thirty-first arrived, and it was now 6 pm. She began the chore of putting her costume on and checking her hair. She applied the perfect red lipstick and placed horns on her head. She loved how real the horns looked. It was 9:55 p.m., and she was finally ready. At exactly 10 p.m., as promised, a stretch limo pulled up outside her home.

She wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman, but someone came to her door and knocked. She stood there and let the person knock a second time before she answered the door. She was not going to let whoever it was think that she was waiting for them. She opened the door. A person dressed in a black suit and a white shirt stood in her doorway. A black tie and a dark hood that covered their face and head finished the look. A light shone through the hood, revealing a chilling gaze.. This look caused a slight rise in the hair at the back of Mackenzie’s neck. She threw out the idea of slamming the door and saying, “hell no,” and instead asked. “Why are we waiting here? Let’s go.”

The driver did not speak but instead gave a slight bow. Arms crossed, right arm across their waist as in gesturing to say after you. She walked in her heels. They clip-clopped all the way to the back door of the limo. She waited for the silent driver to open the door. She looked inside and, seeing no one else, climbed into the back of the limo. She marveled at how spacious it was. All this room for her, yep, she had finally gotten the admiration she deserved.

She sat down, showing off some leg to the driver, hoping to see him do a second take. No luck as it nodded and closed the door. She shrugged that off, thinking to herself, what did it matter that it was ‘just’ the driver? She knew she looked gorgeous in this costume, and those at the convention would love the look. She had the perfect princess dress. As she stood, the dress fell below the knees with a nice frill running around the bottom.

The dress was dyed a dark black and had simple straps over the shoulder. An offset short sleeve that ran from the top of the shoulder to an inch above the elbow. The wig was perfect for the dark dual ponytails that showed above her ears. The horns were placed at the top of her forehead, even with the outer edge of her eyebrows. Yes, she knew people would want to copy this look for next year. The red high heels were the perfect match to her bright red lipstick. She was lost in her small compact mirror when the car came to a stop.

The door opened, and she thought they had arrived at their destination, but someone else was coming in. This got her a little upset until she saw the small red tennis shoe coming through the door. They clearly belonged to a small child. That did not make her too angry. It was when the little girl sat across from her in the limo that things changed.

“Mind telling me who you are?” she asked.

The only response was a small grin. She continued raising her voice.

“DID YOUR MOMMY THINK IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO HAVE HER LITTLE GIRL DRESS LIKE THE GORGEOUS MACKENZIE? WHY ARE YOU IN MY… (She drew that word out) LIMO?” Before you could go on further, the little girl gave a toothy grin.

The problem was that this grin showed interlocked, perfectly white fanged teeth between those red lips. A shiver ran down Mackenzie’s spine. She had never seen such teeth before. The only time she had seen teeth like that was in scary photos of wild animals on the internet. This left her speechless for a moment. Due to her outrage, she hadn’t noticed that the black limo had not moved. It was only a small humming that brought her back to the moment.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU HUMMING?” she screamed out the question, not caring about the language.

The smile deepened to a frown on the little girl. An angelic voice responded from the little girl. As she spoke, Mackenzie eyed the costume. Understanding dawned on Mackenzie. The costume was a perfect, a truly perfect copy of what she was wearing. The only difference was that it was on a small girl.

“One, Two, Three it is you who look like me,” the girl sang.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THIS IS MY COSTUME IDEA!!”

“Four, Five, Six, it was in your dreams, I fix.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU LITTLE BITCH.”

“Seven, Eight, Nine, soon I shall dine.”

As soon as she heard “dine,” Mackenzie quickly stopped herself from yelling again. Instead, she looked over at the little girl. The girl wore her sinister smile once more. Mackenzie did not like where this could be going. She took a deep breath and stopped yelling. Then she decided to try something she had never tried, some tact.

“Ok, I get it, so we have the same costume. You can call yourself the Mackenzie mini-me, and I’m sure the fans will love this. As for food, I wasn’t aware there’d be any. So why don’t we sit here quietly and let the driver get me, I mean us, to the event?”

She smiled at the little girl. She made sure not to show her own teeth. The last thing she wanted was to make this little girl think she got to her. It was only then that another of her little songs filled the limo.

“One, Two, Three, someone should be praying for thee”

“Four, Five,….”

“WILL YOU STOP THAT STUPID SINGING!”, Mackenzie interrupted.

The gleeful smile and look on the little girl’s face disappeared within an instant. Mackenzie felt every hair on her body stand up. A wave of anger filled the limo, and she knew she had crossed a line. She went to apologize, but the words never came from her mouth. The little girl just said a few words, “TEN, you are at your END”.

There was a slight shake of the limo at that point. The shaking kept getting worse, second by second, until it just suddenly stopped. The driver, after standing near the back door the entire time, finally moved. His face was still covered. He opened the door, and those little red shoes came out of the back seat and hit the pavement. She waved the driver off with a flick of her wrist. He climbed back into the front seat, and the little girl just skipped down the road away from the scene. If anyone had seen or heard her, they would have heard her humming.

The limo was found two days later at the side of a deserted road. There was no sign of a driver. The black paint had something reddish-brown rubbed across the paint. A police officer who found the car went to the back and knocked to see if anyone was inside. He heard no response, so he tried the back door. It opened. In a flash, he was at the bumper of the car. He was throwing up the two donuts and coffee he had for lunch.

Crime scene technicians drew straws to see who’d get to take the evidence photos. No one wanted to go inside that limo. It was later determined that the reddish-brown color was dried blood. It had been painted around the limo. The interior was a chilling nightmare. The type of thing you’d only see in a horror film. There was no body, but enough blood that no one could be alive. Every spot of the car was splattered with droplets or pools of the dried substance. The only sign that anyone had been in the vehicle was a single blank space. The space showed where someone had been sitting. A request went up online by some of Mackenzie’s fans asking about her. This came a few days after the limo was found. Her fans began to speculate that it must have been her in the limo. Their conclusion came from the location of the limo and Mackenzie’s social media silence.

There was one final comment on Mackenzie’s social media page that showed up a week later. This drew attention from her thousands of followers. It was simple, and the name used was DarkPrincess6x3. It stated….

“One, Two, Three, I warned you of me,

Four, Five, Six, your heart no longer ticks,

Seven, Eight, Nine, you are now mine,

Ten, your life came to an end!”