Club Scaretale (Part 5)

“My fall will be for you
My love will be in you
You were the one to cut me
So I'll bleed forever”

The stage exploded as the last chorus of tonight’s final song reached the audience. Tarja, dressed in a dark, blue dress, held on tightly to a microphone in one hand while the other reached out for the Ghost. The transparent woman held out her hand as well, but was pulled back by crashing waves. Both she and Tarja were in tears.

Anette felt the goose bumps on her skin intensifying. This song had been a rollercoaster from the beginning; absolute calm was quickly changed to a storm of terror and loss. Sirens and angels had entered the stage, before the ocean had washed them away. The Ghost had been crying oven an innocence and love long lost.

Anette cleared her throat and read he last of the lines.

“And so the Ghost was lost in the sea. Forever damned to a life of memories of the loved one she once held close. Never to touch her again”

Her words appeared over Tarja’s head, beautifully written but holding so much sadness.

When the music stopped, Anette looked up at the audience. The adults had tears in their eyes, some of them had dropped their heads against their palms and sobbed quietly against them. The children sat in an awe, with their eyes wide open and their breaths caught in their throats.

 It took a while, but finally applauds rained over the band. Tarja wiped her tears and smiled brightly. This was the first time they had ever performed this song and they were worried about the reception from the audience, but the bright smiles and tearstained cheeks erased their worries.

The band bowed before they exited the stage.

Anette breathed in heavily and closed the Storybook, feeling how the magic left her body. She got up from the chair and walked out the door to greet the band and the audience who chose to remain until the club closed.

She stepped out from the backstage area and smiling faces greeted her immediately. Children talking a mile a minute about how amazing the show was, their parents shaking her hand and thanking her for the amazing night. And during this time, Anette felt how her heart fluttered in her chest out of pure joy.

As the families slowly exited the club, the regulars took their seats at the bar. Anette caught their glances while she made her towards the band. Tarja immediately engulfed her in a hug while the guys offered her a drink. This was a part of the job that she truly cherished, being able to relax with the people she worked with.

“It does not happen a lot, bringing the audience to tears, and we figured that you would be the one to do it.” Tuomas spoke and raised his beer glass. The others mimicked his gesture and turned their heads to look at the blush that crept up on Anette’s cheeks.

They began to talk about tonight’s performance, when Frederick Peterson, one of the regulars, stepped up to the group with a small box in his hand.

“Good evening gentlemen!” he said and then turned to Tarja and Anette.

“And ladies!” Frederick spoke and kissed the women’s right hands before he turned to Anette.

“I realized I have not properly shown my gratitude towards the new Storyteller, since you are the only reason I visit this place. So, without prolonging this further, please accept my gift as a token of my appreciation.”

Frederick opened the box and revealed a silver bracelet with a big red stone, shaped in a triangular form with symbols and markings covering the rest of the jewelry. As small gasp fell from Anette’s lips when her eyes landed on the jewelry.

“May I borrow your hand?”

Anette blushed once again as Frederick lifted the bracelet form the box and gently placed it around Anette’s thin wrist.

“A beautiful thing for a beautiful lady.” Frederick said and showed of his pearl white teeth in a radiant smile.

“Th…thank you.” Anette managed to say and returned the man’s smile.

“You are welcome. Excuse me while I retire, the night has been rather draining. I will see you another day.”

“Yes, of course, have a good night.”

“And to you too.”

Anette watched him leave and then turned to her friends. They were all wearing broad grins, which made Anette fidget in her seat slightly. She felt an uneasiness in her stomach when Frederick was walking up to her, but it quickly disappeared when she saw the bracelet. It was quite beautiful and fit her perfectly.

“To the beautiful lady!” Marco said and raised his glass. The rest of the band laughed loudly and mimicked his movements and words while Anette rolled her eyes.

Something drew her here, and she was not sure what it was. But here she stood, in the middle of Emma’s dressing room, and cleaned. She picked up her old dresses, heels, and notebooks. She did it with great sorrow in her heart, but she needed this. She could not let Emma’s death hold her down forever, and one thing that bothered Anette was the stage of her deceased friend’s room. She placed the dresses and shoes in one pile, meaning to return them to Jeremy the first thing tomorrow. Jeremy was a neat freak and probably itched to get his hands on the dresses. They were his creations after all, but he left them in Emma’s room out of respect, saying that he needed to process the blonde-haired woman’s death first. That had been two months ago.

As Anette picked up the final dress, a dark purple one, she heard something clatter against the floor. Looking down, she spotted an arrow with a yellow tip. Anette recognized it immediately; she had seen it when she received a piece of paper from John, the stage manager. She picked it up and felt a slight electrical shock coming from the arrow, which made her drop it.

When she bent down to pick it up, Anette could hear footsteps coming through the door. The man standing there had a hood over his head, which made it impossible to see his face, as the black material concealed it. Anette’s eyes widened when she saw the crossbow and gun in his hand. The man stepped over the threshold and pointed the crossbow at the black haired woman. Anette stood completely frozen on the spot.

“Goodbye, Storyteller” the man said as his finger closed down on the trigger. 

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A/N

Ahhh, a cliffhanger! I really hate those, so I gave you one. I'm evil!

So this update was a little late, but I've been kind of busy so I will blame it on that. There will probably be an update on Monday, since all the action parts of this story are coming up. But I can't make any promises.