NOIRELLA: The Case of the Glass Slipper- Part 1

NARRATOR:   Rags to riches, told by folklore. The story you know will be no more. They told you of mistreatment, endless chores, unsavory stepfamily and all. So, we'll skip to the part where they're all at the Ball.

"Hey boss, you having a good time?" Donnie shouted over the live bands' music.

I shook my head, staring right at him as he said it to someone else's face. It was a masquerade party, all the guests wearing colorful Venetian masks made it hard to distinguish who was who in the dim lighting. Still, I'd told him at least a dozen times that I'd be in a green mask. The man he spoke to wore one in Gold.

"I'm over here you fat-head," I lifted my mask showing my face.

He marched over to me happily, "Hey boss, you having a-"

"No, Donnie, and neither should you, you're supposed to be watching the door."

"Yeah boss I was, but I had to hit the john, then figured I might as well grab some punch and a snack before I go."

"I hate to bust your chops buddy but we're here to do a job, not to enjoy the soiree."

"What job? I'll tell ya, anyone who tries to break into a Reyes party would be clinically insane. We might as well enjoy it while we're here. I doubt we'll be invited again!"

I gave him a glare, to show him I wasn't joking around. Which made him freeze up like a scared goat before turning to head back to the door.

"He's right you know," I heard a voice near my ear, "My father is just paranoid. You should enjoy yourself, besides, your looming presence is making my guests uncomfortable." He said to me while smiling at giggling girls eyeing him.

Casper Reyes, the guest of honor at this party. All of high society, came out in their best to celebrate his 21st birthday. The Reyes family were royalty around these parts. On top of being rich, Casper was the tall, dark and handsome type. Everyone had their daughters dolled up, hoping they'd catch his eye and become in-laws of the family in the near future.

His father invited me and a few of my boys to run a security -as if we had nothing better to do. As I said, the Reyes family were like royalty and Elil Reyes was the king. What he says goes and the police force was no exception- especially since Sergeant Duke was his childhood friend.

"Good, maybe it'll keep them in line," I told him, scanning the room.

"This is a party, not a sting detective, try to blend in. A highly decorated officer like you could catch a criminal in your sleep." He patted my shoulder before sliding his red and gold mask back over his eyes and going to greet more guests.

The compliment cut me like a double-edged knife. I had a career to be proud of, the youngest person on the force to make detective, then captain. I connected clues like puzzle pieces, and I didn't need all of them to see the full picture. Never had a perp I couldn't catch, nor one I couldn't get to confess. That was my legacy - until a year ago when the jewel thief showed up.

A thief in the night, bold enough to climb over gates, into mansions, and take thousands of dollars’ worth of jewels with them. Smart enough to take one valuable piece at a time instead of everything. Whoever this guy was, he was no robin hood. It seemed no one was benefiting from it, the jewels didn't show up in pawnshops, or on the street and the poor kept on getting poorer. There wasn't a single trace of the thief or the jewels left behind.

We didn't have a time frame of when the robberies started. It wasn't until some rich, old, broad discovered that she was missing a necklace that anyone knew there was a problem. A dozen people came out of the woodwork after it hit the papers, saying they were missing this or that.

They hadn't realized there was a stranger in their homes. They hadn't even realized when their prized possessions were taken. Yet, they expected me to solve the case at the drop of a hat.

I looked around at all of them, dancing, laughing, dripping in jewels. Silently judging each other over meaningless things, while my career was slowly going down the drain. My necktie suddenly felt tight, I needed some fresh air or maybe some smoke in my lungs. I thought I'd relieve Donnie of his door duties, after all, let him enjoy the party instead.

I narrowly made to the doorway when I saw a bundle of blue fabric rush passed it. I jogged over, looking down the hall in the direction it went. A Blonde dame in a blue dress was running as fast as she could in her high heeled shoes.

"Hey," I called after her, "Hey!" She kept running.

My natural curiosity kicked into gear. I began to follow her, trying to keep up with the twists and turns but, eventually, I lost her. I searched room after room until I spotted her in the garden, sitting on the ground by a fountain.

"You're gonna ruin your dress, sitting like that."

She turned to me; a white mask covered her face but her tropical sea-blue eyes were unmissable. Tears dropped out of them, making the whites turn red.

"Hey now, what's a beautiful girl like you have to cry about?"

I reached out to her, offering my hand.

"What's it to you," she sniffled, letting me assist her.

"Wondering if I could help, that's all."

"Can you bring someone back from the dead?" she scoffed.

"Sugar, I can't even keep a goldfish alive."

She tried not to, but she smiled brightly. Though I could see another tear rolling down her face as she did. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful smile, pearly whites that weren't too big or too small for her mouth, plush pink lips that surrounded them and one adorable dimple on her left cheek. Mortality must be offensive to whoever is lucky enough to be in her life. I was sure the ghost of whoever she was trying to bring back was lurking somewhere nearby, kicking himself for making her cry and being powerless to stop it. Hell, if I were him, I'd let Dr. Frankenstein himself reanimate my corpse just to be with her.

"That's a bad joke, mister, something my, my-" her smile faded, and tears filled up between her eyelids again.

"Hey, hey doll, it's alright. People die, it's a natural part of life. I'm sure whoever is looking down you right now wouldn't want you to be sad."

"I know, I'm not a fool I just... I'm not usually like this- I'm the strong one, you know."

"We can't be strong forever, we're only human after all." She nodded, agreeing with me but didn't say another word.

"So, who was it, that you lost?"

"My father... he was my best friend."

"That's a tough one, I lost my old man too, right after I turned 12."

"Really?" her eyes widened, "What did you do? How'd you move on I mean."

"The only thing I could do, keep living. Even when it was hard and bleak I just kept on going."

She nodded again, sniffling away the last of her tears. It was quiet for a while, so quiet that the music from inside the Reyes estate was clearly audible. It gave me an Idea; I outstretched my hand to her once more.

"Darling, would you like to dance?"

"Who do you think you are, some kind of prince?" She cackled.

"As a matter of fact, I am."

She exhaled with contempt, a matching look in her eyes. "It's time for me to take a powder, your highness." She bowed facetiously then began to walk around me, leaving the garden.

"One dance," I called to her, "then you'll never have to talk to me again." She stopped in her tracks. "It'd be a shame for that pretty dress to go to waste. I doubt you came here just to cry in it."

She stood with her back to me for a moment before turning around, "One dance... and no funny business, I mean it."

We kept quiet as we swayed back and forth, trying to keep to the rhythm of the faint music. I could feel her muscles relax in my arms and her head rest on my shoulder. If I had to guess, I would say the last person she had ever danced with was her father. I was comforted by the fact that I could soothe her for this moment. It's been some time since I felt this feeling.

It was part of the reason I had gotten into law enforcement. Solving cases, giving people back their piece of mind. I lost myself somewhere along the way, caring more about my conviction rate than that one simple feeling. But the more this small dame with the tough exterior, melted into me, undoubtedly thinking of her dead father, the more it came back.

I smiled to myself before taking her hand and twirling her around making the skirt of her long dress swirl around her. I ended the spin with a dip. Her eyes went round -surprise on her face and a small smirk on her lips.

"Maybe you are a prince after all."

I chuckled and pulled her back up, looking directly into her sparkling eyes.

"What's your n-"

I was cut off by the sound of a long car horn, coming from somewhere within the gates. I was going to ask again when I saw her squeeze her eyes shut in despair.

"That's my ride." She announced, smiling at me a second more before the horn sounded again, making her lift her dress to run off.

"Wait but what's your-"

"Goodnight your highness!" she continued to run.

"Oh what the hell," I said aloud, giving myself permission to go after her.

I followed her to the front door hoping that she'd stop, turn around and at least tell me her name before leaving. Donnie hopped up after seeing me frantically burst through the doors. He was calling my name, but I paid no attention. The back of her dress dragged on the ground as she went down the stairs.

     

I watched her run towards the red convertible roadster parked at the bottom, a girl with orangey-red hair at the wheel. She hopped in and the car began to pull off. I waited for her to look back, going down the stairs slowly. Finally, I saw her blonde mane billow in the wind as she turned her head.

I smiled to myself, looking down to hide it, feeling a light hit my eyes as I did. I looked for the glimmer again, finding the culprit. There, on the 12th step, was a crystal high heeled shoe. I picked it up, looking in the distance towards the direction of the red roadster.

"Bill! Bill!" Donnie shook my shoulder. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah Donnie, everything's alright."

"Thank god, you scared me half to death. Who was the good-looking dame? Is that... a shoe?"

"It's a shoe indeed Don," I sighed, “maybe the most important one I'll ever have."

Narrator: And so, that orange-haired girl drove off into the night. Leaving Detective Bill knowing he would have a sleepless night. He stood on the steps holding the tiny crystal shoe, wondering who was that girl with eyes so blue.