Cassandra Chapter 2

"I'm not what you think, nor would ever conceive to appear before you on this All Hollow's Eve.

A name from the past will return once again Tho you'd never connect thoughts of me now and then.

A choice has been made and the die has been cast, now I'll never return to that life in the past.

A face you know well, with a form you know better, appears to you now bound within Passion's fetter.

Yet all things must pass and our lives must move on, remember me kindly when all's said and done.

The speculation over this poem began the moment the newsletter was distributed. Some thought it was me by process of elimination; they had already matched clue to name for just about everyone else. The rumors ran rampant all week what costume/character I was alluding to. The guesses ran from Jesus Christ ("She made references to the Second Coming and The Passion"), to the ghost of Jacob Marley ("He was pretty passionate about the chains that bound him; remember that wail?"), to the reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe ("That's a no-brainer." "Nah, it's too obvious." "So? What's subtle about HER?") Some hopeless romantics read way too much between the lines and announced with Absolute Certainty that I would be dressed as Jesus, but had gotten engaged and would be showing off my "rock". So much for Conventional Wisdom.

Melissa and I arrived fashionably late for the party. The drinks had already been flowing and everyone appeared to be in a festive mood. We love to "make an entrance", and really out-did ourselves this time. We wore matching floor-length black velvet capes and each wore a half-mask that covered only the features on the upper half of the face. Melissa's mask was black kidskin and resembled a cat's face, with pointy ears and wide openings that revealed her heavily made up green eyes. My black patent mask was that of a doe; delicate, graceful, and completely at the mercy of the "cat". The buzz in the room stilled as two men took our wraps. Hushed anticipation was followed by stunned silence.