The next morning I awoke with a memory so vague that at first I thought it had been a dream. Then I sat up in bed and saw who laid beside me. Lily.
...
I drove her to the studio in silence, though she chattered the whole time about how funny it was that I forgot everything so easily, and how great I had been in bed.
"-I was so surprised, Mr Leroy!" She rambled on. "Usually guys your age are, you know, uptight pricks and what not. But you were surprisingly loose for a guy your age. No offence, I've done older, it's just-"
I gritted my teeth and tried to remain calm. I tried to convince myself it really had been a dream, and Lily being naked in my bed that morning was simply a prank.
I tried, but failed.
Everytime I closed my eyes, a vision would appear before my eyes; her sweaty, lusting body, my hands digging into her glossy hair, moaning, laughing.
Flashes of the sins of the night.
My hands sweated on the steering wheel.
When we made it to the studio, I told her to walk a few seconds behind me. I didn't want to arouse suspicion. I also didn't want to hear her speak anymore.
...
What other day could it have been except that one, for Nina to show her face at last?
...
I walked into the studio, my feet drawn to the flowing song of the Swan Queen. I was a bit confused to hear the song playing, since I knew Lily was still behind me somewhere. So in I went, and what I saw stopped my heart.
Nina.
My innocent White Swan.
My beautiful little princess.
She danced with the grace and flawlessness of an angel, completly absorbed by the music.
She twirled and hopped, her arms reaching up and slowly gliding down, hands framing her face. It was then that I noticed her eyes were closed. She was letting the music move her. Her feet pattered across the floor, desperate, exact. She threw out her arms and twirled with an invisable partner.
"Good morning," David said suddenly, nodding to me as he walked past. My stomach flipped at the sound of his voice. I looked at Nina, my heart hammering.
She slowed her twirling to a stop and opened her eyes.
Our eyes locked, and for a breathless moment it was only me and her in the room. The piano man stopped playing when Nina stopped dancing, but the music's soul lingered in the air, frozen in time as our hearts connected together in love.
I opened my mouth to speak, taking a shaky step towards her.
"Nina!" A shrill voice shattered the world to pieces, and I winced and whirled around.
Lily ran in the room, her long hair whipping against my face as she went by. Shame dropped coldly into my stomach.
"You're back! Hey!" Lily grabbed Nina and squeezed her into a tight hug. "So, where've ya been? How are you?"
My eyes suddenly felt dry, and I rubbed them, surprised to see how wet they were. I shook my head as I felt a headache pulsing behind my eyes. Dizziness spotted my vision with blackness, and I turned away and went down the long, empty hallways, back to my office.
...
I sat in my desk chair and crushed my face in my hands.
...
Nina glided into my office on a cloud of feathers, dressed as the White Swan.
"Thomas," she whispered, reaching her arms out to me.
I stood and went to her, reaching out my arms as well. Though she didn't move, she kept getting further away.
"Thomas," she repeated desperately.
I started running, my arms reaching as far as they could. It was as though I was running on a treadmill. Moving so quickly, yet getting nowhere.
"Thomas," she moaned. Horror clawed across my back as her eyes and nose began to bleed. The blood poured out more and more, staining the glistening white costume in crimson.
"Nina!" I cried, my legs beginning to ache. I forced myself to keep running.
She slumped to the ground, her costume instantly turning into the Black Swan.
Blood continued to pool out around her feet.
"Nina!" I jumped to her, but before I could touch her, she threw back her head.
Lily stared at me with blood-red eyes, her laughter filling the room with shadows.
"Mr Leroy!" She cried wickedly, her fingers reaching toward my neck like claws.
Something in her eyes terrified me, and I woke up, sweating and shaking all over.
...
"Mr Leroy?"
I wiped my face with my hands, standing up.
"Yes?"
The door opened, and David stood in it.
"Hey, can you tell me who's gonna be the Swan Queen?" He asked.
"Nina," I answered instantly.
"Yeah, well, Lily's much better at it." David began. "Sure, Nina's okay at the White one, but Lily is just so great at both. Plus she's had a lot more pratice, since Nina's been gone for, what, a week? I just think-"
"Enough, David!" I shouted suddenly, slamming my fist onto the desk.
He flinched and stared at me with a mixture of anger and surprise.
"Nina is the Swan Queen. Lily is her alternate. That's it." I told him firmly.
"Yeah, but Lily has-"
"I said that's it!" I snapped.
David frowned. "Fine, geeze..." He turned away. "Prick." He shut the door behind him.
I glared at the door for a full thirty seconds, breathing heavily through my nostrils, my body trembling with heat and rage. I looked down at my shaking hands, and all I could see as me holding onto Lily, pulling her towards me, kissing her neck.
"Fuck!" I shouted, punching the lamp on my desk. "Fuck!" I whirled around and kicked my chair over, then punched a picture on the wall, shattering the glass.
Still shaking, I sank to the floor, my back against the desk. My knuckles were bleeding but I didn't feel it. I hung my head between my knees in remorse, fighting back tears.
"I'm sorry, Nina," I whispered to the silence.