Chapter 40
***
By the time I reach the Cadence Building, I’m ready to drown myself in music and forget everything.
No one even notices my lateness. I drop my stuff off behind the velvet curtains and slip into place at the piano.
I settle into my seat, remembering the dirty things I’ve done on this stool.
I inhale and let the vivid images stamp into my brain.
“One week!” Mr. Sterling’s deep voice pulls me back to reality. “One week to put on a perfect performance. Let’s begin.”
We start with Hans Zimmer and finish with “Carol of the Bells.” Rehearsal lasts a few hours. By the time we finish our final notes, my fingers are cramped.
After all the other students filter out, I close my eyes and lose myself in the music, getting in a few extra minutes of practice. My fingers throb and my voice is raw–a minor inconvenience I’m forced to ignore. My entire livelihood depends on this one performance.
I’m a freshman and if I fail, I’ll be overlooked for the next protégé candidacy, a detriment I cannot afford.
This is my calling. My joints ache, but I press on.
It’s the only way I can escape reality, and right now, I want nothing more than to disappear into the rhythm until I dissolve and the outside world becomes a blurred memory.
The echoing thud of the auditorium door rips me from my faraway trance, and I’m thrust into paralysis. Everything has me on the edge of my seat nowadays. The keys silence, and the final note echoes in the cavernous sanctum.
A shadow looms along the far back wall, against the textured wallpaper.
It slowly makes its way up to the front and down the colonnade.
The candelabras flicker over their body as they approach.
The mysterious figure comes into view just under the flickering candlelight, and that’s when their glassy eyes meet mine. ‘Zain,” I say impassively.
His voice is detached, eyes vacant. “Don’t stop.”
My hands shake in my lap. Despite my hollow words, my insides are swimming with emotions. Being alone with an unpredictable wild animal has memories assaulting my mind. I’m still on high alert with everything that’s transpired.
“What do you want me to play?” I face the piano again, deliberately being anesthetized.
“Anything,” he says pensively, his voice louder as he approaches from behind me.
The thud of his boots on the stage fill my ears.
He’s like a lion closing in, caging his prey.
Fear fills my insides, but I dodge it, focusing on my desire for music instead.
The last time he had me alone here he ruined me in the best way.
My heartbeat slows to a dull thrum, and I start playing Bach.
The footsteps stop, and his scent surrounds me. His hands send a spark of flame over my skin as they rest on my shoulders, making me jolt, missing a note. His scorching breath fans over my neck.
“Quiet my demons, songbird.”