3.

Arthur Billingsworth, as demonic a human can be without being anything more than human, has maneuvered himself into a position with which he may always have been unintentionally meant to be in. Darkness himself has taken a liking to this fellow though has not extended shadow of any kind upon the young man, nor has he provided the boy with direction. Arthur has no unnatural gift, he has no unusual ability, he just has possession of a heart as dark as any heart can be, if there is anything just about such a thing.

Odd indeed it may be that he appears to have his own agenda, one Darkness has been willing to leave him to, even if it something that may involve one of his daughters, Majella, again a kind of added destiny may have come into play. Perhaps Arthur's plans are something Darkness can use without the need or involvement of his own actions.

To the world at large, Arthur is not evil, in fact he appears to be the opposite, always willing to aid others with his actions moving something or other forwards with which he can take advantage of. There are time he may appear a little creepy or cagey though for some reason or other, people are willing to look past that. His evil actions always go unnoticed unless he has someone in particular with whom he would like these actions observed and again this is always to serve an agenda.

Majella Smith had known of whom this boy actually is, and to a point, it may be through his actions as to why she herself had been taken as a thirteen-year-old to be keeps away from the world as a prisoner in what is essentially an asylum for girls. In the time since her abduction, Arthur had been worming his way in with the remaining members of the Smith family to the point that he has actually gotten engaged to Lisa.

If Majella were or could be aware of this then who knows what she would make of it? She has not seen Arthur since some time prior to her abduction as a thirteen-year-old and since her escape, she had been quite busy, busy enough to not be aware of the relationship her sister has with Arthur. Majella is unaware of an engagement party, if she had been told or messaged about such a thing then she clearly did not pay much attention about it, and this is why she has not come to an engagement party.

To top this off, there are those who purposely provide distraction, for one thing Nancy Ellis has arrived at this night organized around such an engagement. And Nancy provides possible excuse for why Majella may not be around. Nancy Ellis is not the only daughter of Darkness to attend this event. Charlotte Allen has come though her reason for doing such is to find Majella.

Neither Tom Smith nor Lisa Smith attended the ball that was, which was only a few short months prior to this evening, so neither knew of what any daughter of Darkness could look like, apart from Majella that is.

'Why are you here?' a petulant Nancy Ellis asks of Charlotte Allen upon Charlotte's arrival.

'Don't you already know? I take it you sensed I was close so do you not sense the reason why I came?'

'I do, but I ask all the same for I can't believe it. I thought you were or are on board with father's plans.'

'I am, or at least was ... and I could ask the same of you ...'

'You know why I am here so don't act like you are above it all ...' indeed Nancy acts more like a spoiled brat than anything else but at this point she realizes something. 'No ... tell me it's not what I think this is ... you are distracting me, aren't you? You know where Majella is, your other half is with her now. You can sense her as much as we can sense one another ...'

'I don't know what you are talking about ...'

'Don't you lie to me ...'

Nancy storms away knowing that Charlotte has divided herself into two with her other self either being with Majella right now or is in search of Majella. Arthur Billingsworth has taken notice of this coming together and is unsure as to whether it is a good or bad thing. Perhaps this coming together of two sisters of Darkness will lead Majella to where she needs to be.

Change is in the air just as much as a want or need for things to remain just as they are. At the Ball which was, a version of Lexi Hansen arrived from the future and avoided contact with her younger self and avoided contact with Darkness. He had often warned her of her power and if she were to use it in any way to mess with his plans ... well. He would have no problem dealing with her.

Future Lexi Hansen is no longer in 2018, she vanished without a trace to who knows when or where. She cam to initiate change for in the future, Darkness has won and his power upon the future is excruciating, even to Lexi herself, a compliant Lexi at that. The damage is so excruciating that she had to do something to alter it, so a return to the Ball from a distant future is what occurred.

This future version of Lexi did interact with Hazel Watts, Lexi's own grandmother's best friend, and also interacted with Majella Smith, before she vanished for good. So, did she impart change? For one thing, Charlotte Allen under direction for Darkness, had been set to kill a boy in a toy store just one month after the night of Lisa Smith's engagement and as it is to be, that death does not occur.

Therefore, is Charlotte now on a new path? Has a path been disrupted? Is Darkness still destined to find glory? Answers to these questions and others could depend on what actually happened to the future version of Lexi Hansen.