Chapter 48: 57. The Show

A Guest at the Opera

 

The show is amazing.

The leading lady enters, stage right, glowing, walking with a red spotlight beneath her feet. Whoever they hired for the special effects is doing an incredible job. Her dramatic solo erupts from her chest as she squares off against her counterpart. Their words don’t matter. The emotion is palpable in the music, alone, and the strength in her voice grips my heart. A woman with such power would never survive the Plateau. She would be outcast in minutes. Still, we love to watch her onstage, where she is untouchable, unreal, where we have no reason to fear her.

And then…

Her voice cuts out.

She falls to the ground. Her head hits the stage with a sharp CRACK. The arrow in her neck wobbles. She clutches her throat, choking. She goes limp, eyes shining and wide.

 

Silence…

 

Another arrow flies, hits someone in the front row. The person beside them shrieks. The sound unsheathes our panic, curdles our blood. Chaos erupts. It happens so quickly…

Move! my neighbor shouts, pushes me out of his way. I stumble and nearly fall, but someone grabs my wrist and pulls me up.

We have to go! Now!

My sister tugs me into the hall, and I teeter behind. I hate these shoes…

We join the throngs of scattered people seeking exit, but the emergency doors are barred. Women and men alike are crying, screaming, babbling, begging. Some discover God. I pick up pieces of their bargaining as I stagger past. The things people confess… One man promises to only lay with his wife. Another will stop drinking forever.

What’s happening?!

I turn towards the sound, and watch as a stranger falls, struck down by an arrow. The woman with him screams and collapses to her knees. My sister jerks me forward again. Keep running! she shouts. Tears begin to strain my face and wet my eyes. I can’t see. I can’t breathe. This dress is so tight…

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Keep running!

We make it into the foyer. The heat is unbearable. There’s smoke, an orange glow. My sister stops. She’s surveying the area, formulating a plan. She must be. She’s so smart. She’s the smartest of all of us…

Hanny!

The fire licks the door to the east wing, where the children are watching the puppet show. A man grabs a hysterical woman by her waist, pulls her away. She screams the name of her child. Hanny! Hanny! Somebody save my Hanny!

I’m sorry… I whimper. I don’t know why I’m apologizing.

My sister looks at me, as if to say, We don’t have time for your nonsense! She’s always been so cheeky, so direct, so strong. She tugs me from the scene, towards the banquet hall. I’m so tired. I want to go home.

Duén! someone screams. It’s the Duén!

I can’t see anything…

Come on! my sister shouts. I’m moving too slow, but I don’t know how to go faster. My feet hurt. I can’t breathe in this dress. It’s so hot…

I stop and pull my wrist away.

What are you doing?! she cries.

I can’t… I say. Go without me. Please.

A strange sense of calm descends from the nape of my neck. My sister watches me, horrified. I fall to my knees. The arrow wobbles in my back, but my body grants me one kindness: there is no pain. I feel its pressure, but there is no pain. Darkness closes in, and from its center, a bright light calls me, before my vision fades.

I wish she didn’t have to watch this. She needs to go… I open my mouth to choke out my last words, but I’m too late. I fade away before I can tell her I love her.

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