Immortal Storm

by Heather Bserani

  Due to her early start, she was one of the first to arrive at rehearsal. As she approached the dressing room the smell of Addison’s immense bouquet was spilling out into the hall. She had forgotten just how fragrant those flowers were. She stepped into the room and turned on the light.

  She didn’t think her strung-out nerves could handle much more of this. Addison’s bouquet was indeed there, filling up the counter, but flanking it was an additional bouquet of tiger lilies. There was a third bouquet of tiger lilies waiting for Dori as well. Frozen in place, she realized that was the same type of flower that Addison had pulled out of the original bunch. That meant that someone had been watching. Someone knew which flower she and Addison had taken home. She had a sick feeling that she knew exactly who that someone was.

  Dori stood there for a while, just staring at the wall of flowers opposite her. The card in her bouquet seemed to grow as if it were beckoning her. She finally took the dozen steps across the dressing room and reached out for the card.

  “I’m watching.”

  Her trembling hands dropped the card and it flitted to the floor. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, trying to make sure that this was real. The face looking back at her was tired and filled with worry. Was no place safe for her?

  Dori heard footsteps approaching in the hall. She swallowed and tried to pull herself together. She couldn’t let anyone know what was going on. She set her bag down and slyly kicked the card far underneath her dressing area just as Addison came in. Her smile lit up the room as she took in the additions to her garden.

  “Well, what have we here?” She immediately reached for the card and read it aloud.

  “A small token for a shining star.

  -- Percy”

  Dori forced a smile for her friend’s sake.

  “How on earth are we going to get ready with all of these flowers in our way? Oh come on, Dori, don’t tell me that you have a case of stage fright! Come on, let’s go stretch.”

  Dori allowed herself to be led away to the rehearsal studio. Addison had launched into some story about another show she did before, which meant that Dori didn’t have to participate all that much. Dori kept to stretches that allowed her to keep her face averted from Addison. She still didn’t have her expression under control and she didn’t want her friend to know something was amiss.

  It was clear to Dori that the monster who attacked her was also sending the flowers. Was Percy his real name, or a name he had chosen to throw her off? Did it matter what his name was? Why was he in contact with Addison? Wasn’t tormenting Dori enough? Was contacting Addison just another way of torturing her? She needed to talk to Michael, but it would be hours before the house opened.

  “Dori? Did you hear anything that I said? What’s going on with you today?” Her voice filled the empty space.

  “I...I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m just waiting for the coffee to kick in. What where you saying?” Dori had to get her mind back on the ballet if she was going to survive opening night. She had hours of rehearsal and she would have no alone time all day. There was nothing that could be done now about this ancient vampire, Percy, who was stalking and tormenting her. As difficult as it was to do, Dori had to put that aside and put all of her attention on her dancing.

  “Let’s go over the theme and variation in the second movement. I keep missing a count.”

  Dori spent the rest of the morning rehearsing first with Addison and then with the whole company. Once she began to focus on her dancing, she found it easier to push away her terror. She again welcomed the physical demands of the program. It felt good to push her muscles a little. It burned off some of the anxiety that had been building up. She was actually smiling as the choreographer dismissed the dancers to go get into costume and make-up.

  Watching everything come together made the weeks of hard work worthwhile. Standing once again in her stiff tutu, she leaned toward the mirror to check her mascara. The flowers had since been removed because it wasn’t feasible for everyone to get ready with them there. Without distraction, she found it easier to focus on the anticipation of her first show as a member of the company. She glanced at the clock and realized that the house was open and the audience members would already be filing in.

  She set her fingertips on the edge of the counter and did a couple of quick relèvés, rolling through her point shoes to test the ribbons. Watching herself in the mirror, she saw her tutu flounce with the movement and she felt giddy. It was like she was four, playing dress-up, except this was real. How many people actually get to live out their dreams? Amidst all the terror tainting her life, she was jubilant in that moment. She turned to Addison, who was also working through her point shoes, testing them out.

  “Alright, let’s do this!” Dori’s excitement now resembled Addison’s perpetual buoyancy. The two scurried up to the stage and took their places just as the stage manager was giving five-minute call. Behind the lush, red velvet curtain, Dori could hear the crowd milling around. From the sounds of it, the house was full. She could hear voices above coming from the balconies too.

  She had a hard time resisting the urge to peak out of the curtain at the audience. She did however keep her composure. She instead focused on the bright light peaking at her from the bottom of the curtain. The lights were already heating up the stage. It was as if the sun was on the other side waiting to illuminate her and the other corps dancers. There was a series of three gentle knocks and the house lights began to fade. The overhead lights, filtered with blue and purple films, came up. The ballerinas exchanged nervous glances and took their opening poses. Out of the corner of her eye, Dori saw someone on the tech crew reach above their head and ready the rope that would swing the massive curtain open. As he began to pull downward, the sound of the orchestra filled the auditorium and Dori began to dance on autopilot. She moved through the steps with beauty and grace.

  As she had done in dress rehearsal, she focused over the spectator’s heads so she wasn’t blinded by the spotlights. All she could see was the silhouettes of hundreds of people. It made it easier to keep opening night jitters at bay when you couldn’t see the faces of the audience members. As she looked around, she was comforted by the anonymity of the audience, and then it happened.

  A set of eyes reflected back at her, like an animal whose eyes were shining in the night. Her breath caught, but she didn’t stop dancing. One thing that had been drilled into her was to keep dancing no matter what. She simply turned to look at a different part of the audience. An onlooker wouldn’t have even noticed that moment of fear. As she looked at the right side of the audience, a second set of eyes was glowing. She turned her head again and saw a third set. The more she looked around, the more glowing eyes greeted her. This wasn’t just Percy that was here; it was as if he had brought his whole entourage from the forest with him. Dori’s breath was racing, almost to the point of hyperventilation.

  It was too much for her to handle and keep up the perfect ballerina charade. She tripped into her next glissade and missed a lift entirely. She ran into her partner less than daintily and he let out an audible grunt as he absorbed her shock. In another instant she had recovered, but the damage was done. Percy had seen her falter and the critics would destroy her.

  The corps was exiting, and as she made her way into the wings, she had to dodge several members of the stage crew. They were busy rolling a large machine over to the upstage part of the wing. It was at that moment that she remembered what happened in the next scene, the scene she had practiced with Addison a few short hours ago. Suddenly the glowing eyes in the audience seemed that much more ominous. The large piece of machinery was a fog machine.

  Chapter Eighteen

  May 31, 1598

  I find myself to be weary of the chase. It has become the nightly ritual, Barkwicke the predator and I the prey. He seems contente with the pursuit, having learned that there is more to torture than simply pain. Indeed the chase and its anticipation torment me nearly
as much as the hunt itself. Every nighte for nearly a month I have fled Him. The hunt goes on for hours before He relents to go find his next meal. His shrieks echo through the pines until the morning rays awaken the forest. Sounds of his hungry feeding turn my stomach even now.

  My owne strength fades while his grows ever more powerful. I attribute his increasing force to his continuous feeding on human life. His minions harvest them like summer corn and line them up for his consumption. The olde, the young, men and women alike, several a night when e’er possible. The toll of his presence reinforces my purpose. I must finde a way to end him. The New Worlde will never be safe as long as he walks this virgin terrain.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The violins in the pit were leading the melody with dizzying speed. The basses joined in with their low humming, followed by rhythmic thumping of the drums. The music was building, but Dori was distracted by a menacing hiss. The fog machine was spewing a thick covering onto the stage which made her stomach roll with nausea. The knee-high lights in the wings that everyone called shin-kickers were slowly blinking, illuminating the low mist that was hovering on the stage; blue then lavender, then blue again.

  The first group of ballerinas surged into the fog cued by the flutes. They were jetéing toward center stage when the second wave of dancers entered, performing the same steps as the previous group. Dori was part of the third group of dancers in the canon. Her mind was counting the rhythm, but her body was frozen in place. She had to make her entrance, but terror and nausea had her riveted to the floor where she stood. She was torn by her drive to perform and her fear of the mist.

  “Dori? Ready?” Addison was next to her in the wings. The concern for her friend was evident in her voice. Addison was waiting for an answer, but behind her friend’s face Dori saw another set of eyes shining in the wings. These were the eyes of her enemy. How was it possible that Percy or one of his followers could have gotten backstage?

  In a split second she experienced a multitude of things. Her breath caught in terror and her muscles tensed with anticipation. Terror for not only herself but for Addison froze her in place, yet at the same time she wanted to escape. It was fight or flight. Something shifted deep inside. The drive to fight impending danger was welling up. Vampires were predators and when faced with an auditorium full of attackers, she couldn’t turn away from her nature. She had been pretending to be human for too long. In that moment the weak, cowering persona shrunk away and Dori seemed to grow with confidence and resolve.

  She felt an overwhelming need to make sure Addison wasn’t harmed. The thought of Percy hurting her cherished friend made her livid. Something happened in that second that ignited a fire in Dori. She was suddenly furious that Percy was here. He had no right to stalk Addison or to continually torment her. He was trying to create fear, but that was a power she chose to grant him no longer. He was strong, but so was she. He may have advantages, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. Not here, not on her turf. She was done being the victim.

  She took a deep breath and realized it was time to make her entrance. Focusing a cold stare on the eyes that were still in the wings, she turned and leapt into the fog. The bitter scent of the man-made smoke burned her nose, but it didn’t dim the intense smile that illuminated her face.

  The thick cloud swirled around her calves, eddying as she performed the choreography. As she plied and spun, tendrils of smoke clung to her thighs. She knew she wasn’t alone; it wasn’t just the other dancers keeping her company on stage. She was acutely aware of Percy’s presence in that mist, but her new determination kept the fear at bay. As she moved from one side of the stage to the other she felt his hands tickling her, circling her ankles, running up toward her knee. At one point while being lifted, she swore she could smell his rancid breath.

  She was aware of the danger present, but she continued to move confidently across the stage. She was not the only person in the auditorium that Percy was stalking. Addison was here too, and Dori was determined to protect her. She couldn’t reveal herself in front of an audience, but she would do everything she could to make sure her friend was safe. Addison had no idea the danger that lurked around all of them, but she could see that something had changed in Dori’s expression.

  Addison’s stare caught Dori’s attention as they piquéd toward stage right. Dori saw the concern in her friend’s eyes. It was as if Addison was asking several questions in that one glance. She knew something was amiss. It had been a long time since Dori had formed a bond this deeply with a human, and she wasn’t ready to have it taken away. Addison reminded Dori of all of the good things in humanity that she missed. She was warm, caring and innocent. No, Dori couldn’t let anything happen to this precious soul who was a point of light in the darkness that plagued the world.

  Dori again felt anger flare up inside. Who was this Percy, to come here to scare her? This was her life, her friend and her dream. She wasn’t about to let some feral, reeking vampire take that away. When she had pushed her fear aside, something woke up inside of her. The fog machine had since been turned off and the smoke that had dominated the floor was quickly dispersing. She attacked the dance now, releasing her rage on the choreography. She used this raw emotion as motivation to turn faster and leap higher. She found it necessary to actively contain herself for fear of revealing her superhuman abilities right there on center stage.

  The glowing eyes remained in the audience but now Dori was making her stand. She was telling Percy and his army of minions that she would no longer be intimidated by his mind games. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight and she was sick of cowering in Percy’s shadow like some fragile human. Her confidence grew as the music played on; it was almost tangible in the air. One by one, the eyes disappeared as her enemies retreated into the darkness. There would be no attack tonight.

  Faster than seemed possible, the ballet concluded and Dori and Addison were taking bows and collecting flowers. They were going to have to find more vases for the dressing room. As the curtain closed Addison immediately turned to Dori. The interrogation was about to begin.

  “Dori, what happened out there? You have been flawless in rehearsal!”

  “I don’t know. I guess it was opening night jitters. My feet just got away from me.” As Dori said the last word, she dropped her gaze.

  “And then it took you so long in the wings! I thought we were going to miss our entrance.”

  Dori didn’t have an opportunity to respond to that because the curtain was being drawn open again. It was time for a second bow. Instantly, the two stopped talking and put on their show smiles. They stepped forward and curtsied simultaneously. Everyone motioned to the principal dancers once more and the applause soared. The curtain closed again and the show was over.

  Dancers scurried off the stage. It surprised Dori how, at the end of rehearsal, the dancers were completely drained, but tonight the corps was bubbling with energy. True to form, Addison jumped in where she had left off as if the two of them hadn’t been interrupted.

  “I thought I was going to have to push you onstage myself. You are going to hear it when the director gets a hold of you!”

  Addison was right. The director called Dori into his office the very next day. He wasted no time reprimanding her for her flaws, and then gave her an ultimatum.

  “This is a company of professionals which you are lucky to be part of. There are hundreds of girls who would take your spot without a second glance at who they were stepping on to do it. Another mistake like that and you will be replaced. The only reason you are getting a second chance is because of the potential you showed in rehearsal. The audience doesn’t pay for ballerinas who rehearse well; they pay to see a flawless performance. There will be no more mistakes or you will be dismissed.” He lifted his chin while he set his jaw, projecting a calm demeanor, but his cheeks were red with anger. The conversation was over. His posture was stiff but commanding as he watched Dori turn and leave the office.

  She supposed th
at, to an average human, the idea of being replaced would be nerve-wracking, maybe even scary. She however, had a new scale to measure by. Ironically, she didn’t feel any fear at all. She was calm and determined. She didn’t know how to defeat the monster that was stalking her or why he was also after her best friend, but she was not going to shrink away from him either.

  That night she performed impeccably. There were no new flowers or messages that appeared. There were no glowing eyes to torment her. She finished the show, hugged her friend and headed out. Michael met her at the door and the two proceeded to the outskirts of town for a quiet meal.

  Michael turned back toward the car as soon as they finished. He knew how the dark frightened Dori lately, and of her newfound aversion to lingering after feeding. He was caught off-guard when she put her hand on his elbow as she turned to go.

  “I forgot how peaceful the stars are at this time of night.” She gave him a convincing smile. He hesitated and then stepped closer to her, relaxing. “Let’s stay a little bit longer.”

  “What brought about this sudden change of heart?” His voice dropped to a near whisper, but his eyes were gleaming.

  Dori launched into the story of the flowers and the opening night stunts that Percy had pulled. She told him about the threatening card and how the group of vampires had made their appearance both on and off stage. She explained how when she saw the eyes in the wings something shifted inside of her. It was hard for her to find the words to explain what had actually transpired.

  “In the end I finally decided that Percy could only torment me if I let him. It was like I woke up to who I am deep inside. I am not about to let a monster control my life. I control what I fear, and I will not let anything happen to my best friend because I was busy cowering in the corner.”