Spirit of the Dance

Chapter 2: A Dressing Room Introduction

“Marielle, wake up!" The voice that Marielle heard sounded as if it was coming from a long distance away. Somewhere down a long passage.

“Wake up Marielle!" this time the voice sounded uncomfortably close. The next moment Marielle felt a cold chill on her face and she was shocked wide awake. Clifford's face was looming over her. There was water in her nose, so she spluttered irritably.

“Why am I wet?" she asked, frowning in confusion.

“We had to throw water in your face to wake you up!" Clifford exclaimed. There was the face of an unrecognizable man behind him.

“Why did you have to wake me up?" Marielle asked, frowning at the two men furiously. “Where am I?" she asked as she sat up. “Why am I on the floor, for goodness sake!" she added as she scrambled up onto her knees.

“You were lying here unconscious on a dressing room floor; what else could we do?" Clifford asked as he placed his arms under her elbows as he helped her to her feet.

“The dressing room," Marielle repeated. “That sounds familiar."

“How did you get here because I didn't show this part of the theatre to you?" Clifford asked with a concerned frown on his dark brow. “Did someone lure you down here?"

Marielle then looked around herself.

There it was. The rail with the glamorous dresses. She turned around to look in the opposite direction.

“Yes, that's the stand with the crowns and tiaras," she mumbled in confusion.

“We found a tiara lying next to you on the floor," Clifford commented with one eyebrow raised.

“Oh, yes, now I remember," Marielle responded. “I put it on in front of…" she mumbled further and then stared at the dressing table.

“The dressing table!" she exclaimed.

“Yes, that's where you were laying down," Clifford remarked with a frown. “Are you having problems with remembering what happened?" he asked with a concerned look in his eyes.

“The dressing table," Marielle repeated as she looked across at it with a frown.

“Oh, no!" she exclaimed as she staggered backward, almost knocking the gowns off the rail.

“What's wrong?" Clifford asked as he held out his hand to grab her elbow to steady her.

“There was someone in the mirror," Marielle replied with her hand in front of her mouth. Her eyes were wide in horror.

“What do you mean?" Clifford asked, frowning at her with even more concern. “Was someone here in the room with you? Did they surprise you?" he asked with an urgent look in his eyes.

“They shocked me," Marielle responded. “But where is she? She can't be alive with all that bleeding?"

“What bleeding are you talking about?" Clifford asked, staring at Marielle as if she was really out of her mind. “There's no trace of blood anywhere here."

“Oh, but of course!" Marielle exclaimed with her eyes wide. “She vanished, so that means that she wasn't really bleeding. But then again, how could she be alive if she was haunting me?" Marielle asked. She then wrapped her arms around herself as she began to shiver.

“What are you talking about?" Clifford asked with a glance at the man who was now staring at Marielle with a look of fear in his eyes.

“Is he afraid because I sound crazy or is he afraid because he knows what I'm talking about?" Marielle asked herself inwardly as she gave him a good look.

“There are no ghosts here, so you must have experienced something which made you get carried away," Clifford responded as he looked around the dressing room. “Anyway, let's get out of here," he suggested as he began to steer Marielle out of the room.

“I saw a woman who was bleeding from her neck and when I turned around, she was gone," Marielle insisted.

“What do you mean, when you say that you turned around?" the other man asked. “How did you see her at first? In the mirror?"

“Oh, yes," Marielle agreed, nodding her head convincingly. “She was in the mirror."

“But then she could also have been in your mind since you were here on your own, apparently," Clifford remarked as he continued to steer Marielle towards the door.

“I saw her very clearly," Marielle murmured with a fearful expression in her eyes.

“Perhaps you were intimidated by the atmosphere down here," Clifford said in a calm tone of voice. “Did you actually come here on your own?"

“Well, yes," Marielle admitted, blushing in embarrassment. “I just wanted to explore," she added with a defensive tilt of her chin.

“That alone will lead your imagination astray," Clifford commented with a smug look on his face.

His companion giggled uncomfortably in response.

“By the way, this is Graham, he loves dance and wants to make dance movies one day," Clifford announced with a nod in his companion's direction.

“Pleased to meet you," Marielle responded shyly. She suddenly felt embarrassed at the thought that she had been in such a vulnerable position in front of a total stranger.

“Same here," Graham replied with a nod and a polite smile.

“I was alarmed when I didn't find you where I left you and nobody knew where you had gone," Clifford commented as the three of them walked along the passage on their way to the staircase.

“So, nobody saw me walk towards the stairs?" Marielle asked curiously. She hoped that none of the dance members had seen her giving herself a tour of the theatre.

“They were too busy dancing," Clifford replied. “But at least they were sure about the fact that you did not leave the dance hall."

“Is that why you came to the basement?" Marielle asked with a frown.

“I was just so hoping that you would be there," Clifford remarked. “There are side exits as well, you know," he concluded.

“But I wouldn't just wander off," Marielle responded.

“Well, thanks a million for telling me that," Clifford responded with a teasing smile on his lips. "Now I know for next time."

“Oh, come on," Marielle teased. “It's not as if I was about looking for ways of escape from something like dance."

“Okay, I think we can go straight home now," Clifford announced softly.

“What are we going to tell my grandmother about the dressing room?" Marielle asked in sudden alarm.

“What do you mean?" Clifford asked with a shocked look in his eyes. “Your grandmother doesn't have to know about the changing rooms here?"

“But, she will see it on my face," Marielle responded.

“Can she see that you saw something unusual?" Graham asked with a curious raising of his eyebrows.