Her Danse Macbre

Chapter 2

After the school bell rang Heather stood at the top of the stairs waiting for Maryanne to show up. The other students were walking past her going home or to clubs that started on the first day after sign ups that happened at school orientation months ago. This year the Art Club that Heather would join would start Wednesday instead of Friday like the year before.

“Heather!” Maryanne called, her brown curls bouncing a bit as she walked to her. “Want to go to the mall? I have heard they opened a new ice cream shop that mixes your choice of treats right there as you watch.” She said, wanting to get away from school as soon as possible. Heather smiled at her, but then saw Lexi and her group coming out the double doors right for her. Heather stood there bracing herself like a ship bracing for a large wave, or Godzilla attacking Tokyo. A pin could of dropped as the headmistress’s daughter walk toward her in a quick stride.

“Michelle saw you talking to my Sean. If you know what is good for your health I would never do that again. Walk the other way when he comes near, don’t speak a word to him. If you do I will make this year and every other year the worst suffering imaginable.” Lexi said in a calm voice, with a threatening edge. Heather didn’t know what to do, not a fan of confrontation. Before she could muster a response to this obvious bullying Lexi walked past her and away. Maryanne was standing there in the same stunned silence as her friend is. The moment seemed like forever until Heather felt like she could breathe again.

“Let’s get out of here before she comes back.” Maryanne said and grabbed her arm. Heather shook her head to dispel the shivers from her body. The threat she knew was very real. The last person to cross Lexi and her group had to transfer schools. The girl who had the misfortune of crossing the Claw was Rebecca Easty, the head of the Newspaper Club . The girl had written something that was interpreted as scathing toward Lexi and her group. It was about the smoking in the girl’s bathroom and of course Lexi interpreted it as a threat to her since she is the one usually found smoking in the bathroom. Taking this as an act of war malicious rumors was spread about her until she had to leave school in absolute disgrace. Not wanting that to happen to her she reminded her again that she should stay away from Lexi as much as possible. She liked Sean though which filled her with mixed feelings.

The two walked down the sidewalk heading for the downtown mall. It was a nice sunny day where the birds sang and people were out walking dogs. Heather held her bag over her shoulder and let out a soft yawn. Heather wanted to go home and get out of her school uniform, but it was faster to go to the mall without taking a detour. She walked along with her friend when something caught her attention. The sound was distinctly a violin.

Standing on the street corner between Bently St. and Hammon Drive, stood the most beautiful man she has ever seen. He was dressed in a crisp white suit with a forest green tie that made him look unusual. A long dark ponytail cascaded down his back, peeking from his side. Leaning against his collarbone was a heavily sculpted violin. It looked like it was crafted in ivory, but the indented lines and fluidness of the grain revealed clearly that it was wood. The man was sliding the bow easily across the tight strings, playing a song that opened up the listener to a world of peace and gave them goose bumps at the same time. It brought tears to Heather’s eyes as she stood there staring at this man who looked more ethereal then natural. His eyes were closed as if feeling the music with his whole being. Strangely it sounded so familiar to her. The whole sensation rose from the tip of her toes and warmed her whole body. The rest of the world seemed to stop around her as she looked at this strange man. The stranger was surrounded by people who were throwing coins and dollars down on the sidewalk at his feet. There wasn’t any hat or case lying about for money which was unusual for a street performer.

The musician opened his eyes revealing deep green-blue orbs. Heather’s eyes widened when she realized he was staring right at her. Their eyes locked for that monumental moment and it encased them even more. The man was looking at her as if he knew her. Slowly the man stopped playing and smiled his head bowing for a moment then he raised his eyes to meet hers once again, the hand that held the bow crossed his chest. Heather was so caught off guard she nearly stepped on Maryanne’s foot as she backed up. Weirded out her gaze broke with him and looked at her companion.

“I think I should go home.” She said feeling shaky and weak and turned and walked away abruptly before Maryanne could object. She almost sprinted home wanting to put distance between herself and that strange man. Reaching her house she pulled out her key and opened the door.

“How was your day, dear?” her mother called from the kitchen. Heather wasn’t really sure how to that as she walked into her room and closed the door. Throwing her bag aside she threw herself on her bed and let out a deep breath. Her mind went over each thing that happened today. She went to school, had an exam on the first day in Math which was a bummer, talked to Sean which was like an absolute dream, then she got threatened by Lexi which wasn’t cool at all, and finally she saw that strange man. It all whirled in her head as she laid her head against the pillow. The man’s eyes were so familiar, and that song was stuck in her head.

In the middle of the night Heather was awoken from the sound of a bump. Opening her eyes she turned her head on the pillow. Jamie was supposed to be out on a sleepover with his friend Mike, but got sick, and her mother was not working at the diner tonight. Thinking that it might be an intruder she felt panic galvanizing her body. Mustering up all of her courage she pushed the blanket aside and got to her feet. The floor felt cold against her feet as she crossed the floor to her door.

“Don’t go out there!” A calm, smooth male voice spoke in her room. Turning her head toward the sound she found herself face to face with her full length mirror. In the reflection wasn’t her own, but that of a tall man. He was a ruggedly handsome man with green eyes and short cropped hair. He was standing in the same stance she was, mimicking her movements. Reflectively she opened her mouth to scream, but it was gone in a blink of an eye. Swearing that she saw it she blinked a few more times and leaned closer to inspect the mirror. Was it a trick of light? No! she saw the man in the mirror as vividly as she saw her own reflection now. Again she heard the rustling noise from downstairs that originally got her out of bed. With great care to not make any noise she slid her door open and slipped through the space and into the hall. It sounded like a bear was ripping up the living room. Swallowing down her fear she walked to the top of the stairs and leaned over a bit to get a look. Sighing loudly unable to see anything she traversed a few steps down. It could be a burglar she reasoned, but from the growls and things breaking she highly doubted it. Taking another look over the banister she finally caught a glance at the one making a huge mess. It wasn’t human at all, but to her shock a giant wolfish being. It was on all fours tearing the stuffing out of her couch. Instead of fur its back was covered in sharp spikes like a porcupine. Gasping she placed her hand over her mouth, but was unable to stop the sound that came forth. The great hulking beast turned his head and looked at her with golden eyes. It roared when their eyes met and charged to the stairs, smashing itself into the railing. The crunch of wood splintering and the shaking of the staircase caused Heather to almost fall over. Through the broken window suddenly in the glistening of the moonlight a dagger flew through the air hitting the wolf in the side of the jowls. A man jumped through the window holding another dagger in hand. To Heather’s shock it was the strange man that had been playing the violin on the street corner. His movements were fluid as he threw two more daggers at the creature that turned on him. The beast growled, but instead of attacking the man it rushed out the already broken window and into the night.

“WHAT WAS THAT THING?!” Heather cried staring at the man standing in the destroyed living room. His hair had fallen lose from its ponytail and stroked his chiseled cheek. The man turned from the broken window then up at her.

“It was an EaglaWolf” he replied in a calmed tone, not giving her a beat on him. Heather stared at him the words not registering in her head.

“HEATHER!” her mother called rushing down the stairs with a baseball bat in hand, Jamie at her side. Heather blinked and looked at her mom in her nightgown. “There was a-“she started to say and turned to look to the man to help her explain, but he was gone.