Dearest readers, I present you: the final chapter.
I couldn't wait any longer to post it. I'm too exited. I'm happy and sad at the same time that this story is over. It took a long time to write this, though I already knew how it would end when I started this. I could have gone on and on with this, but I'm afraid it will get boring,… and to be honest, I prefer stories with a good ending and then leave the rest for your own imagination.
I don't have much experience with writing and struggled a lot with my English. I hope – and think – it improved over the chapters. I'm so glad Lalizi offered her help and edited everything I send her. It is so much fun to talk to another A/B shipper!
I hope you all noticed the chapters getting longer along the way, because I felt more secure about the characters and how to explain their surroundings, feelings, etc.
This chapter wraps everything up. If it leaves you with feelings or questions that remain unanswered, please let me know!
'Today' it's finally time for the premiere of the play. I used some lines from the real script 'The Faery's Kiss', by Bill Breuer, although in my version the play is quite different. He gave me permission to use it and I'm so thankful for it! The lines I took from the original script are written in Italics. As you may notice, most of the lines have a double meaning. So when Fay talks to Thomas, Anna can feel the same/say the same to John. I hope it's not confusing!
Last thing I want to say is: Enjoy, and thanks for sticking to this story!
Chapter 12 – A faery and a muse
Anna wasn't involved in the first few scenes. She was standing back stage, listening to his voice. John spoke clearly and emotionally. She imagined his facial expression. She knew exactly what he was doing, where he was standing, with whom he was talking.
She could hear his passion and the effect it had on the audience. They were completely silent: following his moves, hanging on his lips- like she once did.
Their first scene together was their meeting. Anna entered the stage. She imagined herself back in the cottage with John, where she had felt so happy and complete. This thought made her a happy faery.
She saw he was scared at first. Was he trying to play his part well? ….or was he actually afraid for how they would do together on stage? She couldn't tell. It was some time ago they had rehearsed together and she had forgotten which effect he had on her. Their eyes met. It was like she was someone else; someone in a different time. Her anger slowly evaporated into a warm and fuzzy feeling. He made her knees feel weak, but she tried to fight it. He made her blush by just saying his lines. He made her feel like a sexy woman; she saw he was stunned by her beauty and appearance. His eyes followed her like the character of Thomas was supposed to. It made her more daring and cheekier and wittier in her lines. This was exactly how she imagined Fay would be.
"Well, you're not a -a Faery – you're an intruder! I'm going to ring for Mrs. Corrigan – I'll have her properly escort you out," John said in an angry tone to Fay.
Anna was taken aback by it, although she knew he was supposed to say it.
"Mind you, this is my home as well! I'll let you stay here…for now! Only because it was your grandfather's house!" Anna yelled back, feeling scared she might have played it too convincingly.
"Oh that's so kind of you… now just how do you know about him?" John asked sarcastically. His tone scared her.
"I knew him! We lived here together," Anna tried to explain.
"Oh, so that's how it was?" John replied with a dirty grin, "Well, imagine…. That sly old codger!"
The audience laughed. John – err… Thomas' jokes made Anna furious. She was starting to get confused between what he said himself and what was part of his role.
"No, that is not how it was! We dwelt here together… for as many years as he owned this place! There is so much you mortals do not know… I'm amazed you managed to survive all these centuries." Anna told him, outraged. She wanted to punish him with her words.
"Oh, is that so?" John said, trying to laugh. But Anna could see in his eyes he had trouble staying in character. In his eyes, she could see he was hurt.
"Yes!" Anna said, and had to swallow hard, before she could continue and made a gesture to a clock. She couldn't say her line how she wished. "You even need…. these things…. to tell you when to eat and sleep– when all the while you have the Sun, Moon and the natural tides instead!"
She paused, and added "Just why do you think the rooster crows at dawn?"
"To wake us fools in the morning from silly dreams like you," he said, trying to sound angry. But in his eyes she could see a mixture of feelings she couldn't make out at first. Only a few seconds later, she realized it was the look of admiration and defeat, at the same time.
"Ooh!" Anna stomped her feet. "They alert the wee folk every time the dawn comes near!"
The sound of a rooster crow was heard in the distance.
"And so it is! Best beware. There are forces around you that are not good. Stay on your guard. I - warn - you!" Anna added as Fay.
After that, Anna could take a breath. Back stage she leaned against a wall. There was a scene now with Mary; the one with the flirting and first touches. She shivered. Soon she heard Elsie make an end to it as she took the stage to warn the sleazy girl off. John left the stage for a minute for a scene between Elsie and Matthew. Again there was darkness in the theater and Anna stepped back into the story.
John was leaning in a chair, yawning and rubbing his eyes, when Anna suddenly appeared from behind him.
"You! You're back! Who are you? What are you doing here?" he said, startled.
"I have already told you that… and right now I'm watching you," Anna giggled. "And I've been watching you sleep!" she said with a grin. The line reminded her of the night in the cottage. Oh, how beautiful he had looked then. With that thought, a soft pink blush spread across her cheeks.
John looked perplexed, and told her "I've searched the house for hiding places and seen to it that the windows and doors are locked – how do you get in here at night? "
"I come and I go…" Playfully she started to walk away. "Shall I leave?"
With that she saw John take a deep breath and stand up. "No! No, don't… I mean, please stay. I'm sorry I chased you away."
"I left last time only because I wished it.I'll stay till dawn. So, you wanted to see me again. Why?" Anna asked, a bit suspicious. She wished she could ask him this in real life too. And she felt like she did ask it with her eyes.
"I'd like you to tell me about you,…" John gazed at her with sparkling eyes, love hidden somewhere deep within them. Because it was in the script, he had to add "…and this place."
"So, now you believe me? Even though you cannot touch me?" she said, looking straight at him…..but actually needed confirmation about him wanting her; him being able to love himself enough to allow her love as well.
"I see you, you seem to be here – and I don't believe I could even imagine anything so beautiful as this," he smiled slightly, never leaving her eyes.
"Well that's honest. Actually, while you slept, I felt your heart. I saw what's in it."
It was like she confessed what she had done that night. She had seen it in him when they had spoken that evening and when he was lying next to her in bed.
Anna blushed.
"My heart? What did you see?" he questioned her.
Anna smiled. "You, your mind and your essence. Actually, I do perceive that you have some faery blood. So many of you moderns still do, but you ignore it. I suspect you got some from your mother's side."
She knew he had it in him: the ability to love. She had seen it in the picture with his mother. But did he know?
A bit later, Anna went off stage. Her mouth was dry and she wanted to grab a bottle of water, when Mary tapped her shoulder. Anna snapped out of her own imaginary world she had just been in. Real life hit her.
"I talked to John just know..." Mary whispered into Anna's ear.
"I don't want to hear it, I'm nervous enough already," Anna told her. "This thing with John is exhausting me!"
"It is really important. We totally misjudged him," Mary continued anyway.
"What is there to 'misjudge' about his actions?" Anna sneered.
"Enough apparently!" Mary sneered back, and whispered; "sometimes things are not what they seem."
Anna gave her an angry look. Mary sighed loudly and explained. "He asked me why you are so exaggerating mad about last week. I said I totally understood after his dealings with Vera. He said he didn't know why you bothered about his ex, except for him trying to help her. Then I confronted him with you seeing him kiss her…."
Anna gave Mary an annoyed look, but wanted to know more anyway. "Yes…so?" she tried to help Mary on.
Mary continued: "Well, he looked really confused for some time and started to pace up and down the hallway. I thought he was losing it. Then, suddenly, he started smiling and said he understood why you had left the cottage… and something about your comments about women. Then he told me he was able to explain it to you."
"Yes?!" Anna wanted to know more.
"Well, then he had to go back on stage… so, he didn't tell me," Mary sadly told her, and added "And you have to get back up too, if you don't want to get in trouble!"
This confused her. How could it not have been what it seemed? Anna didn't have the time to ask.
She set foot on stage a bit later than she should have. She saw worry in John's eyes, when he said, "It's been days! Where have you been?"
"Missed me, did you?" Anna asked with a grin.
She saw he was trying now to suppress his enthusiasm."Yes."
"How much?" She asked, while feeling hot in her corset.
"I've got to talk to you about that…." He said while his eyes grew big. He was telling it to her as well as to Fay.
"How much?" Anna asked again, teasing him, tilting her chin up and her head backwards, and showing him thus more skin of her neck.
Anna saw him wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue. His hungry eyes traced her skin up to her mouth. She liked to tease him, even though it was through Fay. They acted a long conversation and it was funny when other actors came on stage without seeming to see Fay. There were signs Thomas started to doubt about her being real again.
Then again, the lights went out. The audience would find out more after the break.
All cast members ran to their back-stage room. They had to change their clothes and make-up in fifteen minutes time.
Anna just got out of her trousers, to get into her maxi-skirt, when she heard a knock on her door.
"I'm not decently clothed!" she called through the door, to stop anyone from coming in.
"I'm sorry. I'd like to talk to you before we go up again…," she heard John's voice.
Anna admitted to herself she was curious after what Mary had told her.
"Can't you just tell me through the door? I must get on with my clothes…" she told him in a hurried voice.
"Well… it's kind of private and I'm here in a busy hallway," he answered slightly nervous.
"Then you have to wait till after the show," Anna said a bit harsh.
John sighed. "I can't wait that long. I want to speak to you now!" he tried to persuade her.
"Start talking then!" Anna told him, a bit annoyed.
There was a pause before he started. Anna stopped what she was doing to listen to his response.
"Alright, but I'll keep my voice down. I didn't keep it a secret for so long to read it in a newspaper tomorrow," he began.
This made Anna more curious than she already was. She walked up closer to the door, to hear everything he had to say.
"I met Vera when I was in my twenties. She was crazy about me and I loved the attention she gave me. I was very insecure at that time. I was just starting to be known for my acting. For me it was a bit of fun and I kept stringing her along. I couldn't handle the female attention in the beginning. That's when Vera started to get jealous. I was the only person she had. She had run away from home when she was young and didn't have any contact with her family…. "John whispered, just loud enough for Anna to hear. She was completely silent.
"Then I had enough of her and I wasn't so nice in the way I told her. Next thing I knew, she told everyone she was pregnant, with my child! So, I panicked. It was not something I wanted or expected at that time… and certainly not with her."
Anna could hear him take a pause to recollect himself. She had to take in a deep breath as well.
"I wanted to be responsible…. and It was only months later when I discovered she was faking the whole thing! In the mean time, she had done something with my food to make me feel sick, only to keep me to herself. She even tried to set my mother up against me. Thank god that didn't work… my mother saw right through her. I tried to get her admitted to a hospital and she stayed there for a long time. Once in a while, I call them to be informed about her health…. That's all…..but a few weeks ago, they suddenly called me to tell me she was missing. That evening, she went to my mothers' house and attacked her. Thank god my mother was able to call the police as soon as she had left. That is why I went up North the first time." Again John took a pause.
Anna felt dizzy and wanted to hold him… and she wanted to be held by him. She leaned her head against the door and closed her eyes.
John continued, "So last week at the party, she suddenly stood before me. She scared the hell out of me! She acted like we were still a couple and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want anyone to see her and decided to drive her back to the hospital myself. I was afraid of what she would do if I didn't act along. So, I persuaded her to the car. Then she pushed herself upon me… I tried to set myself free… I promise! The following days I spend with my mother and in the hospital. I had to make sure this could never happen again. They increased her surveillance. My mother was thoroughly shaken and…." he couldn't finish his last sentence. Robert announced the end of the break and John still had to change his clothes.
"Please forgive me Anna!" he could only say before he ran to his own dressing room.
If Anna had followed her basic instincts, she would have run after him and thrown herself into his arms - yet, she stood rooted to the spot. Her heart and soul cried out his name, but it was no more than a whisper that passed through her lips: "John…"
The next scenes involved a lot of angry lines and harsh words. Fay and Thomas were having a fight. Thomas just didn't want to believe in Faeries. He couldn't believe her existence. This pained Fay very much, because she thought she had found love after a decennia of loneliness. Anna screamed and yelled until all her energy had drained from her body. Fay begged him to stay with her, instead of going to Miss Charlene. It was like she let go of all her fury and aggression from last week. Still, she hoped he could still see the sparks of love in her eyes.
Thomas made his choice. He chose the lively Charlene instead of the lovely Fay. With a heart-breaking scene, Anna leaves the stage. The next scene showed Elsie, John and Mary. With help from Mrs. Corrigan, Thomas sees through the sleazy Miss Charlene. She only wants him for his money. Thomas hurries to find Fay, but he can't find her. John runs off stage. Tom and Carson have their last scene, before the theater is filled with darkness again.
Anna had to appear again on the other side and made her way through the dark back stage. Almost reaching her destination, her wrist was grabbed. John pulled at her arm with quite some force. She almost bumped against his chest. She swallowed hard when she realized how close he was holding her.
"Can you? Can you forgive me Anna?" he begged her again.
Anna smiled and didn't have to think. She pressed her lips together and nodded. "Apparently, there is nothing to forgive.… John Bates", she whispered sensually with twinkling eyes.
He just gazed at her before letting go. She could just see him smile before she continued her way up to the stage.
Fay ran away deep into the forest. All energy had left her and she was ready to die from a broken heart. Desperately, Fay sat on the floor.
She asked to the air, "Am I a fool, to love him still?"
Then Anna sighed loudly with her last breath….
"It was my heart he quietly stole,
Please Death, it's time you take my soul."
With that, Anna collapsed on to the floor. The lights slowly dimmed.
The audience gasped for breath.
Suddenly Thomas ran onto the stage. His footsteps were heard loudly on the wooden floor. Only the soft moonlight was still shining on him and Anna.
"No! I am too late!" his voice sounded husky. He slowly dropped down on one knee next to her. Softly, he brushed her arm.
Anna shivered and her temperature started rising. To the audience she was dead, but after weeks of loneliness, she felt alive again. His warm hand started wandering through her hair. It was hard not to smile and to stay still.
"You're real; your flawless skin is still feeling warm. Oh how I have been deceived by my own fears!" John spoke.
"Oh Fay, If you would but remember me, how far would I go?
I would tear a hole in the sky
so I could pull out the heart of the moon for thee."
With that, John lowered himself nearer Anna's face. She felt his breath against her cheek. Seconds slowly went by while she waited for the touch of his lips. His nose softly brushed hers, when he whispered so the audience couldn't hear: "You made me believe in fairytales again…. and this is ours Anna."
Anna melted in his hands and tried to take a breath, but his lips were already upon hers. John wrapped her into his strong arms. It was nothing like they had rehearsed. No soft peck on her lips, but a passionate kiss. A tear fell from her eyes when she slowly started moving. They could hear the audience take a sigh of relieve.
When Anna opened her eyes, she could see his smile and she couldn't help but do the same. Unable to resist temptation, she lifted her head again and kissed him again. He cupped her cheek with one hand and caressed her hip with the other. Slowly his hand followed the lines of her body, pausing at the swell of her breast. Then, he lifted her up. In all of her emotion, Anna had almost forgotten they were still on stage and the play still had to be finished. John took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.
"Like the Kiss of a Muse... there's Magic in a Faery's Kiss!" he whispered loud enough to be heard by everyone. Anna smiled her biggest smile ever.
Elsie came on stage to wish Thomas and Fay the best as Mrs. Corrigan, but she winked at them to wish them all happiness too.
The applause roared and all the actors appeared on stage. Everyone took a bow and the applause was overwhelming. Anna and John kept smiling and holding each other's hand until they could finally leave the stage.
Anna dragged John with her to her dressing room. They could only laugh and smile at each other on their way there. John grabbed her by her waist before she opened her door. Anna gasped for breath when she looked into her little back stage place. It was filled with roses - beautiful, red roses. Big bouquets were spread in vases all over her room.
"I hope you like them," John whispered from behind, in her ear. Anna leaned back against him and sighed.
"There are no words John..… it's…. amazing!"
"Just like you, Anna", he told her in the sweetest way.
Anna turned around in his arms and they closed the door behind them. John brushed a strand of hair from her face and pulled her closer to him. Anna felt such relief when their lips met again that she groaned softly. She could feel his strong muscles relax when she parted her lips to allow him to explore further.
Her hands found his waist and slid upward along his spine in a sensuous caress until they reached his neck. There, her fingers curled around his bare skin while she went on tiptoe to deepen their kiss. John lifted up Anna's skirt to caress her upper thigh.
They forgot time while they discovered each other's skin and taste, and were brought back on earth with a knock on the door. Anna panted heavily from excitement.
"Anna, when you see John, can you please tell him that Robert is looking for him?" they heard Mary's voice through the door. Anna giggled loudly.
"Just take some time, but I want to see you two at the after party in half an hour, everybody will be waiting for you both," Mary joked. She was on to them.
When Mary had left, John and Anna laughed together.
"I'm so glad there's no door between us anymore," John said, caressing her cheek. Anna nodded, smiling.
"Do you mind that Mary knows about us?" Anna asked him after a while.
"No, not at all, but I won't like it if everybody knows. I don't want it to be complicated by press and all kinds of people meddling with it," he told her honestly.
"Me neither," she smiled. "We can just keep it to ourselves and a few of our friends."
John kissed her nose in agreement.
"Let's get dressed for the party now. I can't wait to see you in that stunning black dress," he told her with a grin.
"And I can't wait to see you in that lovely black suit of yours," she said to him with hungry eyes.
He was about to leave her room when she quickly added: "Prepare yourself Mr. Bates; I might need an escort to bring me back to my ghetto-apartment tonight." Her cheeks glowed.
This left him with a big smile. "I can't wait for the party to be over. It will be all I have in my mind this evening, my dearest Anna", he said rather seriously. "In fact, I think you are everything that will be on my mind from now on, for the rest of my life."
Anna's knees weakened and the butterflies in her stomach started to get wild by the thought …then he left her room with a soft, faery's kiss on her cheek.
"Can't wait," he repeated.
fin
I have a little epilogue waiting on my computer ;-)