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Standard Disclaimers Apply

Chapter 11

(Asa)

Muttering under my breath I shined the flashlight at the beams underneath the platform I had helped make for the play. Some moron had broken it, I had no idea who or how, but I was extremely unhappy with them. Wriggling a little further under the prop I pulled out the damaged beam and wedged the new one in. It took a few solid whacks and one or two hits with the hammer to get it into place. Glowering at the thing I drew a mark on it with my marker so when I came back with my screwdriver I would know which one it was.

"Asa!" I heard my younger cousin Hisano cry as the sound of footsteps approaching warned me of her position; there were two sets, one light and the other heavy. Someone was chasing her.

Quickly I squirmed to the edge and once I was sure she had passed and I heard the person coming. I moved my legs into the open and as soon as they were upon me I swung them out and tripped them.

"Why are you chasing my cousin?" I demanded emerging from my hiding spot to come face to face with another one of the backstage crew. He was the unofficial bouncer; he removed the people we didn't want to be there.

"I didn't know she was your cousin!" he yelled back and straightened up to glare at him.

"Well now you do! So quit it!" I brushed dust off my black overalls and he rolled his eyes, walking off to leave me alone with Hisano.

"Did you bring my screwdriver?" I asked and she nodded vigorously, sending her pale blond hair flying all over the place. "Thanks." I took it from her and went back down.

"I'll be in the lobby if you need anything else," she told me before I heard her footsteps recede. Sliding around I got into a good position to screw the thing back together. It was opening night for the play and I was doing last minute repairs for everything. It seemed that everyone else was incompetent and couldn't do it so I was stuck doing it.

Finished I got out and hooked the screw driver on my black utility belt. Since I was stage crew, I had to wear all black so no one would see me moving about back stage. Though right now I wasn't wearing my long sleeved black shirt, it was wrapped turban like about my head and bits of my autumnal orange hair stuck out. The pale skin of my arms and shoulders was exposed to the light. My black sports bra was easily seen, but I didn't care, I didn't like anyone here.

"Is that sucker ready yet?" Cassandra questioned coming up beside me.

"Oh yeah," I assured her. Her makeup was on extremely thick and she looked really ugly, her hair was pulled back, flat against her head and in her hand was the wig she was to wear. Even though she had dark hair, it was too short and it refused to be curled, no matter what.

"My entire family is coming to watch," she said conversationally, but I could tell it meant a lot to her.

"Really, even your grandfather?" I looked at her and she nodded slowly.

"You know how I told you that my lawyer wanted to see me because he had to give me something?" Cassandra asked and I nodded encouragingly. "Well, he gave me a box full of journals, they were my mother's. He said that she had put in the will that if we decided to live together, I was to receive the journals, because I was a girl and because even as a child she could see I had more character, more strength. I don't know if I want to read them."

"Why wouldn't you?" We walked off to where she holed herself up between acts.

"I-I'm just, happy hating them," she confessed and I cocked my head to one side. "My whole life, they've been the enemy, the one I strived to prove wrong. To show them that I was worth something, that they had made a mistake in abandoning me in America. What if I read these and find it wasn't like that; I'm not sure what to do."

"I think you should read them. It's important to know everything, my mother died before she could fully explain everything and everyday I wonder about what I don't know," I explained and she nodded distractedly.

"Everyone, the production starts in five minutes! To your places!" The teacher yelled and I gave my friend a smile before I hurried off to the computer that controlled all of the lights and curtains. Sitting down I watched the clock, when it hit seven o-clock I dimmed the lights and waited. The pit started to tune up as the crowd slowly quieted, and the play began. It was a humorous show that had two main characters, Fran and Scott who fall in love through the course of training for a big dance contest. Cassandra was playing the main girl Fran, an ugly duckling who can't dance, and Marik as the charismatic, champion dancer. Téa played a supporting role of the bratty Prima Donna who was obsessed with winning.

They danced beautifully across the stage and I was struck at how even though Cassandra was such a hard ass she was still a graceful dancer. She flowed naturally and it almost seemed as though she and Marik were meant to be. They danced as one…after her "learning" session.

Once I fell into a rhythm and knew I would be able to do the lights, curtains and everything else with distractions. So I booted up my own laptop, and connected to the internet, I had to update my website. I had started it a long time ago when I had wanted to share my sketches with other people. It was called Life, Death, Afterlife and Rebirth. I came up with it because I compared myself to the four seasons; my eyes were the green of spring (Rebirth), my hair the orange of turning leaves (Death), my attitude when drawing cold and calculating (Afterlife) and my smile like the sun (Life).

There were many parts to the site; there was the main part which just told about why I had the site and what was on it. Then there was the section I had named "Prey" which was where I had a sketch of each of the people I had stalked, the nickname I had given them and information on them. After that was the "Radio" where I had music that I liked, it included popular music or amateurs, whatever caught my fancy. Next was the gallery, it contained all of my sketches of my prey and my family, with comments on all of them. The "Cinema" part was a collection of all of the little videos I had made of various things. There was also my journal and I recently had added a chat room.

Last night I had uploaded more pictures of Elegance (that was what I called my latest subject); I was starting to get a little tired of him. When I drew him my mind started to wander, and I knew it was time for a new subject, a new person to stalk. Glancing back at the stage, my eyes were drawn to Marik as he and Cassandra began another dance. He normally had platinum blond hair and pale violet eyes, a stunning combination that his older brother also shared. He wasn't short per se, but he wasn't the tallest guy around. He had a dancer's build and moved like a cat.

Quicksliver. Smiling broadly I clicked into my blog and began to write.

And so ends the long reign of Elegance. The time has come for me to move onto my new person. His name is Quicksilver. At this point I have no real knowledge about him, except that he can dance very well and he has an older brother. More researching is in order, and I'm going to have to brush off my camera. All of you know that I have no life and are rolling your eyes at me, but I tell you as soon as you see this dude, you will understand where I am coming from.

On to other subjects, I was wondering if any of my prey have found this site, I always have wondered what I would do if one of them found it. I mean I have caught them in intimate moments that no one else has ever probably seen them in. It's truly thrilling to draw them. I feel like it's the only way for me to escape from this hell I'm living in. When I step into myself and pull out my pad and paper, I leave all of it behind. It's a world of magic that no one else can intrude in.

Good news! I managed to get my art teacher to let me postpone my self-portrait because I did the sets for the play. I really don't know what to do for it. How am I to draw what I am? I don't even know who I am. I can look in a mirror and see myself, but that is only a facade. No one knows what is inside me. I want to fling my soul onto the canvas for all to see, but at the same time I'm so afraid that someone might figure it out, understand what I am talking about. If they did...my life would end.

What do you think I should do my faithful readers? Should I make up a bunch of bullshit or should I show myself?

I signed up for a scuba diving course, I want to get my license so when I'm out of this school I can go and travel the world. I'll be able to swim down to great depths and then draw everything I saw. I might also take a sailing course. Anything to get me out of the house.

Well, I have to go now. Many things to do. People to draw and minds to warp, so please forgive my abruptness!

The play ended not too much later and I was dragged to a party to celebrate the success. It was a fun party. Loud music, lots of dancing and spiked drinks of course. I myself stayed away from the alcohol, I didn't want to poison myself with it. Cassandra was playing by the same rule, but I couldn't say the same for the others. A lot of them were sprawled across furniture, belching, laughing and making utter fools out of themselves.

"I'm going home," Cassandra told me and I nodded absently. If I played my cards right I would be able to stay here all night and not have to go home at all. "Do you want to stay over at my house for the night?"

"Sure," I responded and followed her outside. She and I walked to the end of the driveway and waited for Yami to pull up in his car. It was a quiet ride, mostly I believe because Cassandra was still pondering her dilemma, and she's the one who usually talks the most. In silence we rode the elevator up to the apartment and Yami warned Cassandra to be quiet getting ready for bed because the others were sleeping. Yami unlocked the door and we stepped into the dark apartment.

"SURPRISE!" The lights snapped on and both Cassandra and I jumped a couple feet in the air as Joey, Aggie, and Yugi were revealed to us.

"Great job Cassandra," Yami murmured to her as he picked up a beautiful bouquet of flowers and handed them to her.

"But...how...why?" She whispered, and I could hear tears in her voice. "Why did you do this?"

"Because you did an awesome job dummy," Joey told her as he gave her a rough one arm hug. "The lead in a play can't go unrecognized, especially when she did such a wonderful job!"

"Th-thank you," Cassandra choked out and then took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

"We even got you a chocolate ice cream cake!" Aggie rushed over to the freezer and pulled out the aforementioned item.

"Food!" Joey exclaimed, and we all laughed.

It was a party to remember.

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