Demon

by Laura DeLuca

  Justyn and Rebecca moved to the stage, and as promised, he pulled out the signature white mask of the phantom. Since they were able to choose their own musical selections for auditions, they had opted to perform No Return from Phantom. They had always had such amazing chemistry during the highly sensual duet, they figured it was their best chance of making callbacks. With Justyn by her side and the earthy scent of his patchouli and sandalwood cologne soothing her frazzled senses, it was easy to forget the audience and get lost in the enchantment of the music. Justyn’s hands explored her body, climbing higher even as the music rose in crescendo. Their voices merged in perfect harmony when they reached the final climatic verse.

  “All barriers have been crossed.

  All innocence has been lost.

  The seeds of passion have been sown.

  From this crossing there is no return.”

  When the last echoes of vibrato finally died away, the room fell into a hushed silence. Rebecca looked out into the crowd. She saw a few faces that seemed mildly impressed, but for the most part, they were just disinterested. She wasn’t even sure Professor Carter paid attention. When he finally looked up from his notebook, he studied them both critically. Rebecca suddenly felt as though she were trying out for American Idol and waiting for the typical verbal-bashing from the judges. She swallowed hard and stood there for what felt like hours before the director finally spoke.

  “I’ve heard tell of the two protégés that Mr. Pessagno picked up in New Jersey. I will admit that there is certainly something strangely magical between you,” Professor Carter acknowledged. “Mr. Patko, you are indeed both a stunning vocalist and performer, though your style of dress leaves much to be desired.” He shook his head and looked Justyn over from head to toe. “But you, Miss Hope … while your voice is outstanding considering your lack of training, your acting skills need some refining. You seem stiff and unnatural on the stage.”

  Rebecca nodded and told herself she wasn’t going to cry. His critiques of the other freshmen had been much worse, but it was still a blow to her fragile ego. Justyn squeezed her hand in reassurance, but for the first time, it did little to soothe her. What if she didn’t make callbacks? What if her career was over before it had begun?

  “I think it’s time for a short intermission.” Professor Carter stood from the front row and gathered the papers he had scattered around the accompanying seats. “Freshmen tryouts are always so tedious,” he continued, more to himself than anyone else. “And I need to refresh my coffee. Those of you who have already tried out are free to go if you wish. Callbacks will be posted in my office tomorrow afternoon.”

  Taking that as their dismissal, they climbed down from the stage. Rebecca tried to pull herself together. She wanted to introduce herself to Megan, but she wouldn’t make the best impression if she started balling over a little criticism. It cheered her up a bit to see Megan waiting for her by the door. However, they were accosted by Livinia and her entourage before they descended the final steps. The Gothic beauty actually stepped right into their path, though she tried to look apologetic when she “bumped” into Justyn.

  “So sorry about that,” she said with feigned surprise. “I’m such a klutz sometimes. I’m Livy, by the way.”

  The Gothic girl stuck out a hand encrusted with silver. There were rings on every finger, and her bracelets dangled like wind chimes when she moved. Justyn gave her his normal ravishing smile, and as was his style, kissed her hand instead of shaking it.

  “Lord Justyn,” he replied.

  “Well, Lord Justyn, it’s always nice to see some nobility sprinkled amongst the commoners.” She gave Rebecca a smug look before gesturing to the two guys who stood behind her. “This is Chad and Scott.”

  “Becca,” Rebecca announced with a small wave.

  The two guys nodded at her and exchanged handshakes with Justyn. Rebecca attempted to do the same with Livy, but the other girl pretended not to notice. Instead, the Goth gave her a half smile and a disinterested nod. Rebecca snorted under her breath and immediately decided to dislike her. She wanted to leave, but Justyn had already started chatting with the guys about what to expect at callbacks.

  As they talked, Rebecca couldn’t help but notice Chad was almost outrageously good looking. He was dressed to the nines in name-brand jeans and a polo shirt. He seriously could have been a runway model, or considering his extraordinary singing abilities, perhaps a member of a boy band. He had thick brown hair, sparkling emerald eyes, and an obvious six-pack. He also had an attitude problem. He took the time to look Rebecca up and down, but the look on his face wasn’t friendly. It wasn’t exactly hostile either. It was just arrogant and cocky, like he thought he was better than her.

  At first, Scott seemed to be a bit friendlier than Chad. However, it wasn’t long before Rebecca realized it was more of a sarcastic grin than a welcoming smile that he flashed her way. When he spoke to her, he never made eye contact. Probably because he was too busy trying to look down the plunging neckline of her shirt. The large boy seemed out of place in the artsy crowd. He was as bulky as a football player, with a ruddy face and an almost clean-shaven head. Yet Rebecca had heard him sing in a rich baritone, and she knew he could pull his own weight in the music department. Still, the massive frame and the beautiful voice were a strange combination. The three of them together made up an even more unlikely team, yet it appeared that Livy, Chad, and Scott were an inseparable trio.

  “May I congratulate you on an excellent performance?” Justyn suddenly complimented Livy, breaking Rebecca’s reverie. “Your voice is exquisite.”

  “Why, thank you, Lord Justyn.” Livy’s smile was genuine that time. “You were amazing too. Don’t let old Crater Face Carter get to you. He’s notoriously hard on the freshmen, especially when he thinks they have real talent. Something about getting our full potential to emerge by challenging us and blah, blah, blah.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “You know. The normal mentor bull crap. Personally, I wish the old geezer would just sit back, shut up, and let us do our thing.”

  “Yeah,” Chad agreed. He sniffed loudly and pulled a tissue from his pocket to blow his nose as he spoke, “P.C. can be a real schmuck. Don’t let him get to ya.”

  “We know all about this stuff because Chad, Scott, and I were the stars of all the plays last year,” Livy continued. “Not trying to brag or anything. I’m just letting you know how things work around here. Believe me when I tell you—you’ll both be on the callback list tomorrow.”

  Rebecca didn’t believe for a second that she wasn’t bragging, even though Livy smiled sweetly as she flung her handbag over her shoulder. Rebecca noticed the satchel was made from black velvet and lace. She had never seen anything like it before. Really, did even her bag have to be outlandish and beautiful? Rebecca had never felt more like a plain Jane than she did at that moment.

  “So, it’s odd to see two freshmen try out together when no one really knows each other yet,” Chad observed. “You must be the duo that Mr. Pessagno picked up in Jersey.”

  Justyn nodded. “That would be us.”

  “You’re from Joisey!” Scott chuckled and tried to pull off the stereotypical New Jersey accent. “Look here, we got ourselves a real live Joisey girl!”

  “We’re from South Jersey, actually,” Justyn told him, annoyance coating his words. “No one talks that way there.”

  “Even better, they’re straight from the Jersey Shore, just like that T.V. show!” Scott laughed and turned to Rebecca. “Maybe we should just call you Jerseylicious.”

  Chad and Scott guffawed and exchanged high fives, and Rebecca felt her cheeks start to burn. Now she decided she didn’t like Livy or her posse. She really wanted to catch up with Megan, but a quick glance over her shoulder told her the blonde was long gone. When she turned back, she realized that while Justyn had held his tongue so far, he was getting aggravated. She saw his lips press into a tight frown as Chad continued to refer to her as Jerseylicious and Scott made obscene hand
gestures in her direction. Rebecca put a restraining hand on Justyn’s shoulder when she saw his eyes start to bulge, but she probably wouldn’t have been able to stop him from retaliating with at least a few choice adjectives if Livy hadn’t intervened.

  “Would you two clowns knock it off?” she reprimanded. Like trained dogs, they both stopped laughing almost instantly at her command. “Don’t mind Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb over here. Sometimes when they sing too much, the oxygen doesn’t make it to their brains. Anyway, Mr. Pessagno talked about you two a lot in class last year. He was pretty excited when he came back from scouting.”

  “Almost as excited as Crater Face was when he discovered you, huh, Liv?” Chad chimed in.

  Livy shrugged. “Yeah, well, we aren’t talking about me.” She turned back to Rebecca and Justyn, though it was obvious where her attention was really directed. “So are you two, you know … together?”

  “For a year now.” Rebecca answered a little too quickly to avoid sounding pathetic. Livy gave her a cocky smile that made her want to melt into the floor, but Justyn wrapped his arm around her waist, which made her feel a little better.

  “It’s been the best year of my life,” Justyn told them. “Becca is my angel of music.”

  “High school sweethearts,” Livy murmured. “How … sweet.” Somehow her tone of voice made it sound more like an insult. “Well, I’ve got tons of homework, so I’m ditching this place. But I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around. I look forward to sharing the stage with you, Justyn.” She gave him a dazzling smile and then turned toward Rebecca as an afterthought. “You too, Becca.”

  They exchanged goodbyes and nice to meet yous. Though Rebecca didn’t think the conversation had been pleasant at all, she forced herself to stay cordial. She knew it wouldn’t do them any good to make enemies when they had barely put one foot through the door.

  Livy strutted toward the exit, and the two guys followed her out, running ahead to hold the door open as though they were her personal manservants. Just before she walked out of the theater, she turned back around, puckered her black lips, and threw a kiss in their direction—a kiss that was obviously meant for Justyn. Just like the sarcastic, demeaning smile was obviously meant for Rebecca.

  Chapter Four

  After two hours of typing, Rebecca finally finished her essay. With a sigh of satisfaction, she hit the print button and watched as the blank pages filled with words. Across the room, Justyn sat on the loveseat with his eyes glued to his own monitor. Rebecca saved her work and tucked her completed project securely into her bag before sliding down from the counter stool. She glided across the floor to his side and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He turned to give her a quick kiss before going right back to the computer. Rebecca snuck a peek over his shoulder and noticed he was browsing Internet auctions.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Working hard, I see.”

  “It’s research,” he told her with his standard cocky grin. “I just bid on a few different movie versions of Demon Barber. I got the recent Hollywood film, a few different live performances, and even an old black-and-white movie that was made around 1930. I also found a few books. And look at this…”

  He switched over to another browser he had minimized where a search engine revealed a wide array of disconcerting men with bloody razors and trapdoor barber chairs. There were fat men, bald men, crazy-eyed men, and even one who looked like he’d stuck his finger in the electric socket. The only thing they all had in common was their blood-soaked aprons and the shiny silver razor blades.

  “That’s just disturbing.” Rebecca gave a little shudder. She had never been a big fan of slasher films. “Why do you even want to look at that creepy stuff?”

  “It’s important to get to know your role inside and out if you want to give a good performance,” Justyn reminded her. “Did you know that the books and plays were based on a real serial killer who lived in London in the early eighteen hundreds?”

  “That’s even more disturbing. Are you trying to talk me out of going to the callbacks?”

  “Sweeney Todd really isn’t that much different than the phantom. It’s about a real-life monster created from the wrongs that were done to him. Sweeney was wrongfully imprisoned for years and came home to find his wife and daughter stolen away. Can you blame him for wanting to get his revenge? I love this play. It’s part legend and part musical genius. Just give it a chance. Look at the moral behind the story, and trust me, it will grow on you.”

  Justyn was so enthusiastic Rebecca didn’t have the heart to argue with him. Still, she had flipped through the script and didn’t find it nearly as enchanting as Phantom. Sweeney Todd escapes from prison and returns to London hoping to find his wife and daughter. Instead, he finds Mrs. Lovatt baking her pies. She lies and tells him his wife is dead, when she’s really the resident crazy bag lady, because she wants him for herself. He is so infuriated he decides to kill the judge who sent him away in order to extract his revenge. Until he can obtain access to his real target, he just kills random people, and Mrs. Lovatt covers it up by using the bodies as the meat in her pies. In the end, Sweeney gets his revenge, but accidentally kills his own wife in the crossfire. It was twisted, which was probably why Justyn loved it so much. It was just more evidence that he was more suited to the theater than Rebecca. She couldn’t see the genius behind songs about a deranged killer who butchered people and made them into meat pies.

  In any event, now that she had finished her homework, she had to concentrate on memorizing the song she would need to sing at callbacks. She had less than forty-eight hours to accomplish the task. She was still a little shocked she had been selected at all and had been studying the script every chance she got to make sure she didn’t mess things up. Even with Justyn helping her run through the lines, she had a hard time getting a grasp on the beat of the fast-paced tunes. Luckily, Justyn was able to find a video online of the exact song they had to sing. It was the movie version, which was slightly altered from the play, but it definitely helped her get a better grasp on the music.

  “I’ll tell you one thing,” she observed as they watched the actors spin across the computer monitor. “You won’t even need a costume if you get the lead. All you need is that white streak through your hair.”

  Justyn raised a pierced eyebrow. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

  Rebecca laughed. “I’m not really sure either,” she teased. “And you know, I hate to admit it, but Livy would make a great Mrs. Lovatt. Wasn’t she wearing that very same dress to the tryouts yesterday? She’s got the creepy personality down too.”

  “Don’t be mean, Becca,” Justyn scolded. “I know Livy was a little less than cordial, but—”

  “She all but called me a pathetic novice,” Rebecca interrupted, but then sighed in resignation. “But, she’s right, you know. She was the best female vocalist by far. I won’t stand a chance against her.”

  “We both have some serious competition this year. There’s no guarantee either of us will get a good role,” Justyn admitted. “But whether we’re in the chorus or get the leads, the important thing is having fun and doing our best. And remember that no matter what happens with the casting, you’ll always be my leading lady.”

  Rebecca rolled her eyes. “You’re so corny sometimes.”

  “Corny, am I?”

  Even as she said it, he stood from his seat to wrap his arms around her. He moved her hair to the side, kissed her neck, and nuzzled her flesh with his nose. Rebecca felt her breath catch as his hand tickled and teased, slowly moving beneath the confines of her sweater. His fingers were warm against her skin, yet still, her arms puckered with goose bumps. Just that simple touch left her hungry for more, but he was just punishing her for teasing him so much. As soon as he had her wanting him beyond all reason, he slipped away and went back to his computer. He turned up the volume as far as it would go and reached out his hand.

  “May I have this dance, my lady?”

  �
��You’re not serious?”

  “Of course I am,” Justyn told her. “We need to practice, don’t we?”

  Rebecca heaved a sigh of resignation. “I suppose we do.”

  The song they had to sing was the only full-length duet Mrs. Lovatt and Sweeney Todd shared. The scene revolved around them trying to decide what to do with the body of the barber’s first victim. Mrs. Lovatt comes up with the plan of profiting off the remains by using them as an ingredient in her meat pies. Despite the distasteful theme, when Rebecca sang the first verse of the song, working only from memory, her voice was clear and strong.

  “Waste not, want not, I always say.

  No reason to throw good meat away.

  Be it lawyer, priest, doctor, or squire.

  We’ll cook that meat on an open fire.”

  Justyn followed up with the second verse, and his eyes glinted with the same kind of mischief that she saw in the actor’s eyes on the video. He even picked up a butter knife that was left on the counter and brandished it like his own personal razor. It was a little disturbing how he could manage to look so evil with so little instigation.

  “What a plan, Mrs. Lovatt. Genius for sure.

  My barber’s chair will be the perfect lure.

  Then serve it up warm to all those who wait.

  They’ll never guess it’s their friend on their plate.”

  For the next hour, they skipped around the apartment, singing and dancing along to the music that boomed through the speakers. Rebecca had never been very light on her feet, but with a little instruction, she got the hang of the simple steps. Soon they were waltzing around the room as though it were second nature, their voices syncing in perfect harmony. Their neighbors had to think they were crazy with all the thumping and yelling, but Justyn was right. The music was growing on her. Justyn seemed to know how to make anything fun. No matter what parts they got, it was going to be a bigger challenge than Phantom, but Rebecca was starting to believe she could not only do it, but even enjoy it.