Cursed

by Smith, Ava

  “No, no, sweetheart. I’m a firm believer in consequence. And if you lost Daniel, you must accept a portion of the blame.”

  “Okay, we’re both to blame,” she agrees sighing. “But the fact remains we have to do something. And this time it must stick.”

  “What did you have in mind?” John enquires.

  “You have half the newspapers in your back pocket. Destroy him with scandal.”

  “This is my son you’re talking about, Claudia.”

  “I’m aware of that, John. But think of it this way,” Claudia sits up straight and argues, “No marriage for me. No life-saving deal for you.”

  Once again John is taken aback by Claudia’s comments and he begins to very slowly despise the woman.

  Three days go by and on Monday morning Sarah is in her room with her mobile phone clasped firmly against her ear. She can hear a ringtone on the other end. It’s Daniel’s phone in his London home and this is the 106th time she has phoned him. It continues to ring but as usual Daniel doesn’t answer. Sarah brings her hand down and lets the contraption slide down onto the table. After a brief pause she snatches it back up and presses the ‘“redial”’ button.

  Victor is not in the room with her at this time but he can still hear what’s going on from the kitchen. He senses every indignity his young niece faces and is powerless to stop it. He puts his hands on his face to try and dull the pain but it’s useless and the anguish remains. A moment later Victor stands up from the table and storms out of the house. He goes for a long walk by the lakeside which is something he doesn’t do often enough. As he watches the little creatures by the water he notes how carefree and unconcerned they are and longs to be one of them. He senses someone watching him and spins round to see Sarah standing nearby with her dance bag round her shoulder.

  “You could call in sick. You don’t have to go,” Victor suggests gently.

  “I’m not sick, Uncle. And I need to dance. It’s what keeps me alive,” Sarah replies.

  Sarah walks over and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek before making her way to the bus stop. If there is a small mercy it’s that she catches the bus to London without much delay and arrives early for rehearsals. When she reaches the theatre entrance she glances back to see if Daniel’s car is parked in his favourite spot and takes a breath when she sees that it is.

  A short time later, Sarah walks into the rehearsal room and to her profound disappointment Daniel isn’t there. Elizabeth nods to Sarah in her usual way and Sarah starts the dance. Instead of gliding through the room like she normally does, her arms toss about like dead weights and her foot slips back when she goes up en pointe. She also misses out a huge part of the routine. A couple of her friends glance at Elizabeth thinking she will definitely stop the sequence, but Elizabeth says nothing.

  “What’s wrong with Sarah?” Robert whispers to Isobel.

  Isobel shrugs. “Don’t know, but she looks suicidal.”

  Sarah finally completes the sequence and Elizabeth addresses the room.

  “Take 15 minutes and be back by 10.” The dancers leave the room and Sarah’s about to follow when Elizabeth shouts, “Can I have a word?”

  Sarah turns back and dreads what comes next. She is fully aware her dancing is terrible and half expects Miss Smith to replace her with Isobel.

  Instead Elizabeth asks her, “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes miss. Everything’s fine,” Sarah answers with a smile.

  “You are arguably the most talented dancer I have ever seen. But all the talent in the world means nothing if your heart’s not in it.”

  Sarah takes a moment. “I have some issues to work out and then I’ll be fine.”

  Elizabeth nods, saying, “The last I heard, Mr MacGregor was pouting in the coffee room.”

  Sarah watches Elizabeth leave and she starts to feel anxious because she knows where he is now. She walks out of the room and down a corridor that could take her either to the changing room or the canteen. She stops when she reaches the end unable to make up her mind. A group of dancers rushes past her giggling and Sarah watches them intently just like Victor did with the river creatures. She is well aware the clock is ticking for her to get back to rehearsal and if she wants to see Daniel she needs to go now.

  The theatre canteen has an eerie feel to it today. The silence alone is enough to make one think of a ghost story. Daniel sits at a table in the centre with his head drooped and his hands cupped around a coffee mug. The worst part is he knows that she’s here and if he just went up those steep steps he’d almost certainly bump into her, but that’s not what Daniel wants and he didn’t even go into the auditorium fearing she’d be there. Just then a shadow comes over him and he looks up to see; Sarah.

  “Hi!”

  Daniel draws back with his eyes flared.

  “Get away from me!”

  Sarah steps forward and pleads, “Daniel, please let me explain!”

  But he just moves back further and yells, “Get away from me, you hear? I don’t want to talk to you.”

  “Look, all I’m asking for is ten seconds! I think you owe me that.” Daniel relaxes and Sarah speaks again. “I should’ve told you. But I think you can guess why I didn’t. But in a way, I’m glad you found out because it means I don’t have to hide any more...All I ask is that you give me a chance.”

  Daniel stands up and states in a firm voice, “I don’t know what you are. And apart from rehearsals, I don’t want you anywhere near me.”

  He walks away as quickly as he can and doesn’t notice that a teardrop falls on the table.

  CHAPTER 21

  The last few days before opening night are colourfully referred to as ‘a journey into hell’. It’s when the hundreds of workers at the Odette Carmichael arrive two hours early and work three times as hard. The set designers put the final touches to the ‘forest’ set by drawing intricate designs on papier-mâché leaves. Each one is slightly different and they vary in shape, size and colour; individually they look unimpressive, but collectively they are a work of art. In another part of the theatre the costume makers pin dance costumes on mannequins. One of the women works on Sarah’s Swan Queen outfit. It is delicate and beautiful and has taken the poor soul hours to complete. Nothing in the ballet comes easy. After a while she stands back and admires her craftsmanship.

  “You better do it justice, sweetie!” she states.

  The dancers are perhaps the busiest of them all and in the auditorium the orchestra plays the music from Swan Lake while Sarah dances the finale on stage. She wears her normal dance clothes but looks every bit the consummate artist. Elizabeth isn’t there this morning and she has trusted them to critique each other’s work before she joins them. Several female dancers sit round the stage and watch Sarah with daggers in their eyes, showing little appreciation for the perfection displayed before them.

  “I’m afraid you plie’d when you should have arabesque’d,” Isobel calls out.

  The others chuckle and Sarah stops dancing but she composes herself once more and starts all over. She is much too preoccupied to realise that a giant billboard with her face on it is currently being secured against the theatre wall. Daniel approved it months ago, before he found out what she is.

  Outside the theatre, Ian and Leo look on impassively at the billboard while Emily jumps up and down with excitement. She doesn’t seem to care it’s not her face on the advert.

  “Oh, my God. It looks so alluring!” Emily exclaims.

  The dancers aren’t the only ones examining the board. A certain Claudia St. Clair – heiress, manipulator, self-seeker and vixen – is sitting in her car across the street and also staring up at it. The billboard going up can only mean one thing; the theatre is still up and running. Claudia drives home in disgust but on her way there she journeys to Daniel’s London home just to see if rumours of him selling his house are true. She smirks when she watches him hand over the house keys to the new owners, a husband and wife in their thirties. She doesn’t bother
to stop and merely drives off in a hurry. Daniel doesn’t notice her and after a series of superficial handshakes with the owners he gets in his car and also drives away. Daniel is technically homeless now since the manor belongs to his father. Being stubborn, he chooses not to go back to the manor and instead parks his car two streets away from the theatre. As darkness falls he walks the half mile to the Odette Carmichael Theatre and enters the building through the artists’ entrance. The place is dark and eerie and it’s quite possible to trip over something if one doesn’t know the layout. Daniel opens up Felicity’s office and turns on the light. Home comforts are few but the cream coloured sofa is all the comfort he needs. Daniel walks wearily to the sofa and collapses into it. Once he’s settled, he removes the white feather he found in the storeroom from his shirt pocket and examines it carefully, running his finger down the grooves and all around the edges.

  “Working late?” someone asks.

  Daniel sits up and sees Felicity standing by the door.

  “Felicity I was um... I mean I was...

  “I know why you’re here,” Felicity informs him.

  “You do?”

  “Because you sold your house to pay for the theatre. You may have my son’s room until we find out whether or not your sacrifice is worth it.”

  He nods a little. “That’s very generous of you, Mrs Powell. But Dad always keeps a room for me at his house... Do you think it’s worth it?”

  “If we don’t mess up on opening night it is,” Felicity answers honestly.

  She frowns at the white feather Daniel holds in his hand and he immediately puts it back in his pocket.

  “I think I should go now,” he says.

  He edges past her and leaves the room.

  Daniel decides not to spend the night in the car after all and instead drives back to the manor house. Ironically, he has to pass the same stretch of road where the swans are. The 150 swans on the lake don’t make a sound when they see his car drive past. They obediently train their eyes on the car and move their heads to get a better view. It freaks Daniel out a bit and makes him drive as steadily as possible. He relaxes once he reaches the manor house turning but nevertheless checks the mirror in case a couple of them have followed him home. There’s no sign of them so he drives into the courtyard and parks beside his father’s car. The drawing room lights are on which usually means his father is smoking cigars in there. Daniel tiptoes into the house and goes straight to his room.

  The next morning he looks a lot brighter but this is partly because there are no freeloaders by the pool today. He gets dressed, has breakfast and leaves early to avoid making contact with his father. He has given word for the dancers to turn up for a meeting at 9am sharp. As soon as it hits 8.30 the dancers turn up one by one and walk on stage. Daniel enters the auditorium and automatically scans the group for Sarah, but there’s no sign of her. The dancers finally see him and a couple of the male dancers lift him up on stage.

  “Thank you,” Daniel tells them. He looks at the dancers one by one and confesses,

  “I never thought this day would come.” The dancers laugh. “No, seriously, I thought we would have to cancel.” Emily gives him a warm smile and Daniel continues, “But you have all proved me wrong. And whether Sunday’s a success or not, I’d like you to know I’m very proud of all of you!”

  Emily steps forward. “This maybe a little late, but we all want to thank you for what you did for us. I mean giving us our theatre back.”

  A few of them nod and murmur in agreement.

  “You’re welcome, Emily.” Daniel turns to the others asking, “So what are you waiting for? We have a show to put on!”

  The dancers disband with happy faces leaving Sarah the only one on stage. She deliberately snuck in late to avoid being seen by him. They stare at each other a moment before Daniel walks past her and leaves the auditorium. Instead of following him Sarah engages in a series of elegant dance moves which take her to the limit. She pushes herself and the more she dances the better she feels until her body can’t take anymore punishment and she stops. Sarah catches her breath and walks right to the edge of the stage. As she looks out at the 1000 crimson coloured seats in the auditorium her heart skips a beat, because in a few days’ time her dream will come true.

  Daniel is in a far less buoyant mood as he has returned to the manor and sits in his room retracing his time with Sarah. Their first kiss, their first dance, their walk through London and the time she handed him the figurine. And then her words, ‘“The prince abandoned her because she was different.”’ There’s a knock at the door and he turns to it sharply.

  “Come in.”

  Hargreaves opens the door and tells him, “Your father wants to see you, sir.”

  “Thank you, Hargreaves.”

  The butler leaves and Daniel sighs knowing he can’t escape. He takes his time going downstairs and even stops for a snack in the kitchen. When he finally wanders into the manor house drawing room he finds his father sitting in the big armchair in a darkened room. It is a strange sight, to say the least, and it forces him to ask,

  “Are you all right, Dad?”

  John responds sharply, “Sit down, Daniel.”

  “I’d rather stand.

  John looks sternly at his son and declares, “I hear things aren't going as planned?”

  “Actually, they're going exactly as planned.”

  “I mean between you and Claudia.”

  Daniel looks at him curiously.

  “Did someone say something?”

  “It was Claudia. She came to see me. Poor thing was practically crying on my shoulder. Now, I thought I made it clear how I felt?”

  “Yes, Dad, you did! One thing you're good at is making things clear.”

  John continues. “Claudia believes this little test I've given you is distracting you from her. And I think she’s right. Which is why I think it’s time you took a step.”

  “What step?” Daniel asks sounding anxious.

  “Marry Claudia this Sunday.”

  “Are you insane? Sunday’s opening night,” Daniel reminds him.

  “And what a nice wedding present for Claudia to watch Swan Lake. If not sacrifices will need to be made.”

  “My inheritance.” He looks at his father and declares, “Trust you to stoop so low. Well, I don’t want your damn...

  “You don’t? You were born into privilege, Daniel. Without money, you’re nothing.”

  “Is that why you like Claudia?”

  John glares at his son. “Marry her, Daniel! Whoever this girl is she is not worth losing everything for.”

  Daniel doesn’t linger and after returning to his room he contemplates his father’s words. The way he sees it he has two choices, either, he does his father’s bidding and marries a woman he doesn’t love, or, he consigns himself to a life of poverty. By Friday morning he has made his decision and feels both relieved and sickened by it.

  Sarah walks down the theatre corridor like she does every Friday but notices the place is unusually empty. Normally she would see at least a few people wandering about the place, but today even Anne is missing. She still reels from Daniel’s rejection but decides to focus on work this morning. Her finale isn’t perfect and she needs to get it right before the matinee. She is distracted from her thoughts when she hears an unfamiliar voice emerge from one of the rehearsal rooms. When she peeks inside she finds Claudia and Daniel standing side by side as they address the dancers, Elizabeth and Felicity.

  “So I wanted everyone to know the good news,” Claudia utters smiling.

  The ensemble clap but when Sarah walks in they stop instantly.

  “What good news?” Sarah asks.

  Everyone looks down with embarrassment and no one says anything, not even Daniel. And it becomes clear to her something is very wrong. Sarah eventually turns to Anne who confirms the bad news.

  “Claudia and Daniel are getting married on Sunday.”

  Sarah’s face drops and she looks at Da
niel, but once again he offers no source of comfort. Elizabeth steps forward to console her but Sarah can’t stay another moment and she dashes out of the room. The faintest of smiles crosses Claudia’s lips as she deviously slips her hand into Daniel’s. While Claudia stakes her claim on him, a heartbroken Sarah rushes down the steep staircase and trips on the last step. She rights herself and dashes into the foyer where she nearly knocks over Robert as he wanders in.

  “Steady on, girl. You’ll give yourself an injury!” he yells, long after she’s left the premises.

  Sarah races down the theatre steps and can hear the cries of city birds all around her. Every species in London is present today and they appear to be scolding her for not listening to them. She reaches the pavement as quickly as she can and continues onwards down the street.

  When she arrives at the country road it seems everything is against her. The lakeside creatures snarl at her, the wind picks up and shifts dust into her eyes and, when she reaches her house her front door doesn’t open when she turns the key. In a fit of desperation she picks up a rock from the patio and smashes the glass on the door. Sarah slips her hand into the newly formed cavity and unlocks the door from outside. After wandering inside she carelessly makes her way to her room and shuts the door.

  The grandfather clock chimes on the hour seven times and the sound reverberates throughout the whole house. When Victor arrives home from work later he frowns at the sight of broken glass lying at his feet.

  “Sarah?”

  He rushes inside and looks everywhere for his niece but there’s no sign of her.

  “Sarah, where are you!” he yells.

  He quietens down when he hears the sound of sobbing emerge from Sarah’s bedroom. He rushes upstairs and opens the door to find her sitting up in bed, crying.

  “I’ve lost him, Uncle. He’s marrying someone else,” she explains tearfully.

  Victor looks crushed at the news, but he can’t think of anything to say that will comfort her.