Hello! As promised, I'm updating this weekend. Wow, this is the furthest
I've ever got in a story so far. I'm so glad people are supporting me as I
write this, thanks.
Disclaimer- I don't own any Square-Enix copyrighted characters.
Chapter 5 is it?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
16:42. We still hadn't found the town centre. After following Glenn around for a while, he had managed to end up in a shopping centre, a supermarket, the local park, a children's playground and a street I never want to mention again. I decided to take charge.
"Look Glenn," I said, exasperated, I was started to get annoyed now, "We're never gonna find this place by just running around like headless chickens. It might help to ask people where it is. People who live here perhaps."
"Good idea." That was it. No 'I'm sorry' or 'I'm an idiot'. I was pissed off with Glenn now. Leading me around town and dragging me to some auditions. He didn't seem to notice the evils I was giving him, so I gave up and walked away in search of a person who might know where the town centre was. I saw a woman with a small child in a pram and thought that may be a safe person to ask.
"Excuse me," I walked up to her and she turned her attention away from her bawling child, "Do you know where the town centre is?"
"Oh, you must be here for the auditions. Yes, take that alleyway over there and keep walking, you'll get there soon enough." I thanked her and dragged Glenn over to the alley. He gulped and walked down first. Geez I swear he's afraid of everything.
Hurrying along, I could hear muffled shouts and laughter from up ahead. Eventually, we emerged in the town centre. A huge fountain spewed water droplets in a mist over the crowds of people crowded there. A simple wooden structure had been set up as a stage on the other side of the fountain, with a wooden table and chairs in front of it. It must be where the auditions are being held.
There was a kind of excited buzz in the air. A bell rang to signal that it was 5 o' clock and everyone gathered around the stage. An announcer walked out with a microphone in his hand.
"Welcome to the auditions for our spectacular concert we're about to hold." He spoke in a real announcers tone. "You're all here to display your talents. If you think you can sing or dance, stay by the stage. Other tables around the square are for your alternative talents. Remember, we can only take on maximum 20 dancers, 5 back-up singers and 45 backstage hands, so show off and impress us."
I now noticed the other tables around the square. I saw Glenn making a beeline for the stage; maybe he was going to dance? I ignored him and walked over to the not very popular lighting table. Within a minute, I had been given a ticket and been told I had the job, without even uttering the words 'I know how to work stage lighting'. True, I didn't have a clue, but it can't really be that hard.
"Go over to that trailer by the stage, through the door you'll meet the receptionist. She'll then give you your back stage pass; you then walk through the door at the back of the trailer. That will get you to the dressing rooms. Wait there. You got that kid?"
"Just about." I slowly walked off to the trailer, not paying attention to the group of crying girls who were leaning on each other for support; obviously they hadn't got in. They could do the lighting if they really wanted to, but I doubt that was as glamorous as singing on stage. Pushing my way through the crowds, I reached the trailer and pushed the rusting door open.
The room was quite well furnished, I immediately realised that it wasn't actually a trailer, it was a building with the outside disguised as a trailer, obviously to deter nosy fans. I walked up to the desk. The receptionist took the ticket from me. She must have had a bit of trouble seeing as how her nails were so long they were like talons but she smiled at me and handed over a backstage pass.
I looked at the piece of laminated paper on a piece of cord. It said 'Backstage pass. Chief of the lighting crew. 500 mpn (Munny per night). Unlimited admittance.' I stared at it again, Chief of the lighting crew? What are they on? Geez, I know how to flip a light switch, but not control all the lights on the stage. Oh well, that's their problem. Munny was good, 500 a night. I hung the pass around my neck.
"Erm, you can go through now," the receptionist gestured to the door at the back of the room and went back to filing her talon-nails. I nodded and walked through. Being the first person anywhere was always uncomfortable, but it was especially embarrassing now. I sat alone in one of the padded chairs; there were no windows to stare out of, or magazines to flick through, so I was bored.
After what felt like an eternity of staring at my fingernails, I heard a door creak open. I looked up and saw the woman from the poster looking at me curiously. She was wearing a baby blue dressing gown and had her hair wrapped up in a towel, although her earrings still hung down, she was in the process of removing them when she spotted me.
"Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't realise. Maybe I came to the wrong place." I stood up to leave, but she smiled.
"It's alright." She walked across the room and sat down in the chair next to me, so I sat down as well. "I hear you're the head of the lighting crew?" I nodded and she noticed my guilty look. "It's ok, even though you look a it young. Most people don't know what to do either. Most of them don't actually get to work either."
"So, why do you hire them?" she contemplated an answer for a while, then just shrugged.
"Who knows? So, what's your name?" she turned to face me and smoothed the creases out of her dressing gown.
"I'm Sora. I'm a speaker, this is just a little detour."
"Oh, where's your fighter?"
"He's auditioning too."
"What for?"
"I don't know, but he went to the stage, so I guess it must be dancing." She giggled. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, I only hope he wasn't the boy who couldn't dance at all. They sent him away so quickly." She saw the look on my face and amended her answer, "I mean, that's probably not him, there were lots of people dancing anyway." I felt the sinking feeling in my heart. I almost knew that was Glenn, but then again it could not be. If it was, I was going to seriously kill him. I mean if I got into any trouble, he wouldn't be able to pull me out of it, and I wasn't allowed to fight.
After a short pause, I asked Lenne, "Why am I in the dressing room anyway, where's everyone else?"
"Well..." she was thinking about how to word this, I could tell, "you know it said on the poster, 'jobs will be given on a first come first served basis'? Well, the first to get a job gets to meet me 'personally', and the rest get a speech. That's what it means by 'meet Lenne'" I didn't like the way she said personally, so I decided to ask.
"What do you mean by 'personally'?" again with the thinking over answers.
"Well, to put it one way, being a singer doesn't rake in enough cash. I need to 'do' other stuff to get a little extra money. You do understand?" I completely understood. No wonder I saw those girls crying earlier, they only let boys get the first job. What kind of a mess am I in now?
"Erm..." I wasn't sure what to say.
"It's all right, just think about it. I'll be back in a minute, I'm just gonna go have a shower." And with one suggestive look, she left. I sat in my seat, stunned. What had I just been asked? Even if...no. That's ridiculous. I sat still for a while, then I realised, if I just opened the door and walked out, then I wouldn't have to come up with any weird explanations, or anything.
The door I had entered by was locked; I wasn't about to try the door which Lenne had just walked through, just in case she thought I had changed my mind. I rattled the door handle of the only other door in the room. And of course, it didn't open. They weren't gonna be so stupid as to let me get out. I gulped and realised that if I was gonna get out, the door to the shower might be my only way. I walked slowly towards it, feeling as if it was a death sentence.
I am, or rather I was only 14 when I was alive, it's not right. My hand wavered over the door handle, praying there might be another way. I could have just misunderstood. How could I possibly misunderstand? I stood debating, but then I heard the handle being turned from the other side and I leapt backwards.
Through the door strode a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He looked about 20 and was much taller than me. I hoped he didn't notice me, but standing in the middle of the room, I was hardly inconspicuous.
"So..." he waltzed over to me, glaring every second, "You know Lenne?"
"Not personally," I then realised after I had said 'personally' that it wasn't the best idea to use that word.
"Of course you don't cos she's mine." His voice rose in volume slightly, but he still looked calm.
"Yours?" I thought he might be another person who had chosen a job first and not known what they were in for.
"Yes. Mine." He looked mad now, and his voice was getting gradually louder, "My girlfriend." He had moved from the door to almost a metre away from me, and my eardrums felt ready to burst.
"Ok, I had no intention of..." he cut me off
"Yeah right. That's what they all say. All those lowlifes who come in here and throw their money at her, do you know how hard it is to put up with that? Do you?" I had to step back; his face was barely an inch from mine. "I'm so fed up now, you know. The last time I found someone in here, I swore to kill the next one. And guess what...that's you." I felt his fist connect with my face and I was sent flying across the room and crashed into one of the chairs, breaking it and what felt like all the bones in my body.
I gulped. I hadn't even wanted to come here at first, it wasn't even my idea, and now the prospect of a second death loomed over me. This guy didn't seem very sane, so I had no choice but to believe him. I looked around the room, for something to fight with. I then remembered that I couldn't. I now had to talk things through. One more look at that guys face made my mind up. I didn't care what the consequences were; I was going to fight him. I'm not gonna stand here and wait for myself to be torn apart by this jealous psycho. I grabbed a chair leg that I had conveniently smashed.
Through my panicked thought, I hadn't noticed the bottle smashing, or the scarily short distance at which it was being held away from my neck. I came back to reality, when the door swung open with a bang and a scream echoed in the room. The man turned around.
"Shuyin!" it was Lenne.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There, enjoy. Next weekend, I'll put the next chapter up. I hope you like it.
Feedback is always appreciated.
xxx The One-winged Pegasus xxx
Disclaimer- I don't own any Square-Enix copyrighted characters.
Chapter 5 is it?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
16:42. We still hadn't found the town centre. After following Glenn around for a while, he had managed to end up in a shopping centre, a supermarket, the local park, a children's playground and a street I never want to mention again. I decided to take charge.
"Look Glenn," I said, exasperated, I was started to get annoyed now, "We're never gonna find this place by just running around like headless chickens. It might help to ask people where it is. People who live here perhaps."
"Good idea." That was it. No 'I'm sorry' or 'I'm an idiot'. I was pissed off with Glenn now. Leading me around town and dragging me to some auditions. He didn't seem to notice the evils I was giving him, so I gave up and walked away in search of a person who might know where the town centre was. I saw a woman with a small child in a pram and thought that may be a safe person to ask.
"Excuse me," I walked up to her and she turned her attention away from her bawling child, "Do you know where the town centre is?"
"Oh, you must be here for the auditions. Yes, take that alleyway over there and keep walking, you'll get there soon enough." I thanked her and dragged Glenn over to the alley. He gulped and walked down first. Geez I swear he's afraid of everything.
Hurrying along, I could hear muffled shouts and laughter from up ahead. Eventually, we emerged in the town centre. A huge fountain spewed water droplets in a mist over the crowds of people crowded there. A simple wooden structure had been set up as a stage on the other side of the fountain, with a wooden table and chairs in front of it. It must be where the auditions are being held.
There was a kind of excited buzz in the air. A bell rang to signal that it was 5 o' clock and everyone gathered around the stage. An announcer walked out with a microphone in his hand.
"Welcome to the auditions for our spectacular concert we're about to hold." He spoke in a real announcers tone. "You're all here to display your talents. If you think you can sing or dance, stay by the stage. Other tables around the square are for your alternative talents. Remember, we can only take on maximum 20 dancers, 5 back-up singers and 45 backstage hands, so show off and impress us."
I now noticed the other tables around the square. I saw Glenn making a beeline for the stage; maybe he was going to dance? I ignored him and walked over to the not very popular lighting table. Within a minute, I had been given a ticket and been told I had the job, without even uttering the words 'I know how to work stage lighting'. True, I didn't have a clue, but it can't really be that hard.
"Go over to that trailer by the stage, through the door you'll meet the receptionist. She'll then give you your back stage pass; you then walk through the door at the back of the trailer. That will get you to the dressing rooms. Wait there. You got that kid?"
"Just about." I slowly walked off to the trailer, not paying attention to the group of crying girls who were leaning on each other for support; obviously they hadn't got in. They could do the lighting if they really wanted to, but I doubt that was as glamorous as singing on stage. Pushing my way through the crowds, I reached the trailer and pushed the rusting door open.
The room was quite well furnished, I immediately realised that it wasn't actually a trailer, it was a building with the outside disguised as a trailer, obviously to deter nosy fans. I walked up to the desk. The receptionist took the ticket from me. She must have had a bit of trouble seeing as how her nails were so long they were like talons but she smiled at me and handed over a backstage pass.
I looked at the piece of laminated paper on a piece of cord. It said 'Backstage pass. Chief of the lighting crew. 500 mpn (Munny per night). Unlimited admittance.' I stared at it again, Chief of the lighting crew? What are they on? Geez, I know how to flip a light switch, but not control all the lights on the stage. Oh well, that's their problem. Munny was good, 500 a night. I hung the pass around my neck.
"Erm, you can go through now," the receptionist gestured to the door at the back of the room and went back to filing her talon-nails. I nodded and walked through. Being the first person anywhere was always uncomfortable, but it was especially embarrassing now. I sat alone in one of the padded chairs; there were no windows to stare out of, or magazines to flick through, so I was bored.
After what felt like an eternity of staring at my fingernails, I heard a door creak open. I looked up and saw the woman from the poster looking at me curiously. She was wearing a baby blue dressing gown and had her hair wrapped up in a towel, although her earrings still hung down, she was in the process of removing them when she spotted me.
"Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't realise. Maybe I came to the wrong place." I stood up to leave, but she smiled.
"It's alright." She walked across the room and sat down in the chair next to me, so I sat down as well. "I hear you're the head of the lighting crew?" I nodded and she noticed my guilty look. "It's ok, even though you look a it young. Most people don't know what to do either. Most of them don't actually get to work either."
"So, why do you hire them?" she contemplated an answer for a while, then just shrugged.
"Who knows? So, what's your name?" she turned to face me and smoothed the creases out of her dressing gown.
"I'm Sora. I'm a speaker, this is just a little detour."
"Oh, where's your fighter?"
"He's auditioning too."
"What for?"
"I don't know, but he went to the stage, so I guess it must be dancing." She giggled. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, I only hope he wasn't the boy who couldn't dance at all. They sent him away so quickly." She saw the look on my face and amended her answer, "I mean, that's probably not him, there were lots of people dancing anyway." I felt the sinking feeling in my heart. I almost knew that was Glenn, but then again it could not be. If it was, I was going to seriously kill him. I mean if I got into any trouble, he wouldn't be able to pull me out of it, and I wasn't allowed to fight.
After a short pause, I asked Lenne, "Why am I in the dressing room anyway, where's everyone else?"
"Well..." she was thinking about how to word this, I could tell, "you know it said on the poster, 'jobs will be given on a first come first served basis'? Well, the first to get a job gets to meet me 'personally', and the rest get a speech. That's what it means by 'meet Lenne'" I didn't like the way she said personally, so I decided to ask.
"What do you mean by 'personally'?" again with the thinking over answers.
"Well, to put it one way, being a singer doesn't rake in enough cash. I need to 'do' other stuff to get a little extra money. You do understand?" I completely understood. No wonder I saw those girls crying earlier, they only let boys get the first job. What kind of a mess am I in now?
"Erm..." I wasn't sure what to say.
"It's all right, just think about it. I'll be back in a minute, I'm just gonna go have a shower." And with one suggestive look, she left. I sat in my seat, stunned. What had I just been asked? Even if...no. That's ridiculous. I sat still for a while, then I realised, if I just opened the door and walked out, then I wouldn't have to come up with any weird explanations, or anything.
The door I had entered by was locked; I wasn't about to try the door which Lenne had just walked through, just in case she thought I had changed my mind. I rattled the door handle of the only other door in the room. And of course, it didn't open. They weren't gonna be so stupid as to let me get out. I gulped and realised that if I was gonna get out, the door to the shower might be my only way. I walked slowly towards it, feeling as if it was a death sentence.
I am, or rather I was only 14 when I was alive, it's not right. My hand wavered over the door handle, praying there might be another way. I could have just misunderstood. How could I possibly misunderstand? I stood debating, but then I heard the handle being turned from the other side and I leapt backwards.
Through the door strode a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He looked about 20 and was much taller than me. I hoped he didn't notice me, but standing in the middle of the room, I was hardly inconspicuous.
"So..." he waltzed over to me, glaring every second, "You know Lenne?"
"Not personally," I then realised after I had said 'personally' that it wasn't the best idea to use that word.
"Of course you don't cos she's mine." His voice rose in volume slightly, but he still looked calm.
"Yours?" I thought he might be another person who had chosen a job first and not known what they were in for.
"Yes. Mine." He looked mad now, and his voice was getting gradually louder, "My girlfriend." He had moved from the door to almost a metre away from me, and my eardrums felt ready to burst.
"Ok, I had no intention of..." he cut me off
"Yeah right. That's what they all say. All those lowlifes who come in here and throw their money at her, do you know how hard it is to put up with that? Do you?" I had to step back; his face was barely an inch from mine. "I'm so fed up now, you know. The last time I found someone in here, I swore to kill the next one. And guess what...that's you." I felt his fist connect with my face and I was sent flying across the room and crashed into one of the chairs, breaking it and what felt like all the bones in my body.
I gulped. I hadn't even wanted to come here at first, it wasn't even my idea, and now the prospect of a second death loomed over me. This guy didn't seem very sane, so I had no choice but to believe him. I looked around the room, for something to fight with. I then remembered that I couldn't. I now had to talk things through. One more look at that guys face made my mind up. I didn't care what the consequences were; I was going to fight him. I'm not gonna stand here and wait for myself to be torn apart by this jealous psycho. I grabbed a chair leg that I had conveniently smashed.
Through my panicked thought, I hadn't noticed the bottle smashing, or the scarily short distance at which it was being held away from my neck. I came back to reality, when the door swung open with a bang and a scream echoed in the room. The man turned around.
"Shuyin!" it was Lenne.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There, enjoy. Next weekend, I'll put the next chapter up. I hope you like it.
Feedback is always appreciated.
xxx The One-winged Pegasus xxx