Hello all! This is a plot that I've had for quite some time now, it's been mulling around in my head but I've finally decided to give it a go. It's a bit dark for a while, but it will get better. I was inspired by one of my own ballet costumes (which now lives in the back of my closet), and a need to write something for releasing emotions I've been keeping pent up. This is only my second story, and 'A Model Queen' still takes first seat for completion, I just needed to write this so I could take a break from the first one.
Anywhooo! I hope you enjoy this one, please review and tell me how it is! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Labyrinth or it's characters.
The barre was cold and unforgiving this morning, much like the sky outside. Sarah's fingers lightly touched the surface as she walked along the wall to the corner, waiting for her director to arrive. The sky was still dark, the streetlight outside the window of the second story studio was all that lit the room Sarah was in. She left the lights off purposely for now, taking in the last little bit of peace she would have until Dimitri arrived.
It was a strange relationship to say the least, and no one knew about it. Sarah was a famous ballerina now, her love of the stage not going in the direction she had planned when she was much younger. Dimitri had discovered her when she was the sugar plum fairy in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Ballet when she was performing with the Philadelphia Ballet. He was a recruiter of sorts for the American Ballet Theater Company, and promised he could take her places she'd never even imagined as a dancer. And that he did, but as with everything it came with a price that sometimes Sarah wasn't sure she bear any longer.
Sarah watched out the window as Dimitri's figure came around the corner of the block, she turned on the lights in the room and started stretching. She heard the door of the first level close shut and Sarah swallowed, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She had on skin-tone ballet tights under a high collared maroon leotard, over that she had on leg warmers, sweatpants, and a baggy mustard color, cable-knit sweater. She knew her defense was not enough though, it never was, but it would have to do for now.
The footsteps were heavy as they drew closer to the room at the end of the hall, the room Sarah always insisted on practicing in because the window. Of course she only told Dimitri that she felt like she was more confident and challenged with the world able to see her, but she had a bigger reason than that. If Dimitri tried anything he'd also be in full view of the street below, another secret line of defense she put up.
"What do you even call that? This isn't beginning ballet Sarah, STRETCH!" Dimitri demanded as he pulled the door shut behind him. Sarah's heart sank as she heard the click of the door, but she just pulled her stretching straps further up, her overextended center split leaving her in a compromising position. She held it for a minute, then went to the chair in the corner, placing a foot on it and sliding her other back, stretching her legs into a very deep right split. Dimitri walked up behind her and scoffed "You want me to do this don't you!" Dimitri hissed in her ear. He grabbed her wrists together and pulled her back, forcing her to stretch in a needle position. Sarah closed her eyes and forced herself to focus on her breathing. 'Oh how I wish I was anywhere but here right now' she thought to herself silently.
"Get up, we're going over you're combinations, I don't have time for your attitude this morning Sarah. I have an hour before I need to go, then you're going to fittings for your new costumes. You will be back in this room warmed up and ready to run your routines for me at 8:00 sharp." Dimitri raised an intimidating eyebrow at Sarah, daring her to object, to which she didn't. "Take your sweats off, I want you in your leo and tights only, you have two minutes to get your shoes on."
Sarah paled a little bit at this, two minutes wasn't nearly enough time to wrap her pointe shoes correctly. They were wearing down and she knew her feet would never forgive her. Just as Dimitri started the music Sarah popped up dressed as he requested, and stood in third position, waiting for his cue.
She ran through combination after combination, and in the last 15 minutes of the session she was relentlessly drilled with pirouette combinations. Dimitri pulled her against himself as the music ended with her feet back in third. He held her from behind and moved against her, hissing into her ear "Now, I'll see you tonight right? On time like I asked, because if you're late you'll regret it." Sarah held what little pride she had left up as she kept her head raised and unflinching. She only nodded before he walked out of the room.
Sarah walked back to her bag, wishing sometimes that the window could be removed so she could throw herself out of it. She knew she'd never bring herself to do such a thing, but anything was better than being subject to Dimitri.
She made sure he was gone before she slid her bag back onto her shoulder, refusing to look down at her feet, already knowing what terrible shape they were in. She walked outside, the cool fall air was refreshing as she breathed in what felt like her first breath all day. "What am I doing with my life." Sarah whispered to herself as she glanced at her reflection in the dark window of a shop she passed. Sarah made her way down to the tailors shop several long blocks down.
She had four upcoming solo competitions she'd be attending, and three different routines. She'd be performing a different one at each of the first three, deciding what ones get the higher scores, from there she will compete the best one at the fourth competition. Each routine had a different song and a different costume, but all her songs were dark and stormy. She liked dramatic choreography that expressed how she felt, which at-the-moment she felt like screaming.
Sarah walked into the small shop and shuffled her way through the tulle skirts that stuffed the place to the brim, it was small but the lady who ran the store was a magician with fabric. "Well, if it isn't the one and only Miss Williams, come in for a visit dear?" joked Anne, who's curly red hair bounced with the rest of her over to Sarah giving her a hug.
"Hello Anne" Sarah smiled as she spoke. Anne was one of the only people she knew in the city , one of the only people she knew at all it seemed. Sarah had grown apart from her already small group of friends once she shot to the top of the ballet world, and she rarely talked with her family anymore, as they'd moved on with their lives as well. Anne was a bit older, supposedly in her mid-sixties, but you wouldn't think she were a day over 40.
Anne O'Leary, never married, no family except for Sarah who she acted as a sister, aunt, and even sometimes as a mother to. Anne spent her days happily surrounded by walls upon walls of tulle and fabrics of all types. "Awe Sarah, ya look sad girlie, come now and let's work on those costumes ya commissioned, and talk about it." Anne's thick Scottish accent never got old to Sarah's ears.
"Oh Anne, they're starting to look even more beautiful than I could have imagined!" Sarah looked at each of the costumes which were pinned to mannequins. "Alright so, Mountain King is this one?" Sarah pointed to a base tutu, which was currently just a blood red velvet corset with a stiff tulle tutu, waiting for embellishments.
"Ah yes, the mountain king. It's not ready yet obviously, I wanted to try a few different things on it while ya had it on, same with the other two costumes, but we'll get to those later, mountain king first." Anne unpinned the back and slipped the costume from the mannequin. "Alrighty, go slip it on and we'll see where it should go from there."
Sarah took the costume behind the changing screen, slipping her leotard off, and replacing it with the deep red costume. "I love this color Anne, it's beautiful." She said, holding the top to her chest as she turned around for Anne to lace the back tight.
"I was thinking that maybe we could cut it into a narrow, but very deep 'v', of course I'd put mesh in, but if it went all the way down to the waist…" Anne traced imaginary lines across Sarah's torso as she thought. "…this needs dome crystals too, and black embellishments…" Anne took to her drawing pad, looking up at Sarah every so often to imagine a detail here or there. The finished sketch was magnificent. The costume had a deep cut, right to the waistline, with black embellishments climbing up and past the red, swirling around her shoulders and chest, which would be in more transparent mesh. Mesh sleeves ended at a point on the tops of her hands, where he middle fingers would be hooked through, they were black that faded to red then transparent to her elbows, crystals dotted the arms. The skirt would be changed from the stiff tulle it was now, to knee length deep red tulle that poufed out, but still flowed.
"It's gorgeous Anne, you're amazing!" Sarah was about to burst until she realized she'd spent the whole afternoon on the stand letting Anne work her magic. "Oh Anne, I'm so sorry! I'll be back tomorrow, b-but I have to leave. I'll be in trouble if I don't go right now…" Sarah shimmied out of the costume gently placing it back on the mannequin and rushing out of the building, racing back to the studio before Dimitri arrived. She gulped and choked back a tear, already fearful of what he would do to her tonight and not wanting to make it worse. She hadn't eaten since the night before since she was afraid she might get sick, yet her stomach growled. Sarah let a single tear fall. It was getting to be too much, but she felt stuck, unable to escape.
kinda short, but thanks for reading anyways! Please leave me a review so I am encouraged to get more added.