Dance Till You're Dead (ON HOLD FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE)

Chapter 1

A few thousand blisters were worth her Mother's pride.

It was evening twilight, and Ella Nobel was just warming down from her intense training session. Her feet were screaming at her to free them from her tight pointe shoes, but she didn't care. No pain mattered to her right now. She had just been given the lead role in her favourite ballet, Giselle and she was determined to train as hard as she could. Despite her agony, she smiled to herself as she dropped on to the floor and began to untie her ballet shoes. She sat, heaving with breathlessness but as happy as she ever could be.

"I am Giselle." She thought. "Me." She whispered aloud. And began to take the pins out of her hair, which had been drawn into a tight bun at the back of her head. Her long black hair swept down and covered the whole of her back. Next to her ballet shoes, her hair was her favourite thing. When she was younger, she would use it as a cloak, a blanket, a place to hide - her protection. She gave one last glance into the mirror, wiping the tiny beads of sweat from her rose coloured cheeks and the makeup stains from around her brown eyes. Then she gathered her things, and swept from the room, turning off the light and putting on her coat before she stepped out into the cool night air.

She was the last one to leave Ebony Hill Studio and locked the door before twirling and skipping through the deserted car park towards her silver beetle, the only car left. She didn't care how foolish she looked, she was too happy, and besides there was no one around to see her.

A black gloved hand gripped the corner of the building firmly and a masked face peeked around the corner. A pair of blue eyes connected with the skipping shadow of Ella Nobel, and the other black hand grasped a steel bat firmly.

Ella pulled out her car keys and moved them towards the lock, but they slipped out of her clammy hands before they'd even touched the car door. She gave a quick sigh and bent down to pick them up. As she looked down she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A glint of silver and a pair of ballet shoes. She stood up and turned around. There was a pair of blue eyes staring back at her, wide open in panic. She opened her mouth to speak.

Whack. The steel bat connected with the back of Ella's head and she fell limply to the ground. That was all it took from the figure, one twitch of the hand and she was down. She'd seen the ballet shoes, they were sure of it, but there hadn't been time to change them. It didn't matter, she was sure to be dead. Another whack on the head and a kick in the spine to make sure. The figure stood stock still, almost breathless with strange exhilaration. They paced around the body, and saw blood trickling from Ella's white lips and down onto her long dark hair. The figure bent down and stroked Ella's cheek, before kicking her in the chest. Then, time to run.

---

Victoria Silverstead should be pretty. Blonde hair, blue eyes, slim figure. But there was something about her that just wasn't all that. She was quiet, and very sweet, and never spoke out of turn,if it all, but she wasn't pretty, and she knew this. She was disappointed but not surprised to have been allocated a minor part in her dance school's production of Giselle, but nevertheless it still bugged her. But she wouldn't say anything about it, she decided, she'd just have to train and perform the best she could, and hope that her looks would mature next year, something she'd been hoping for since she turned thirteen four years ago. She declined her mothers offer of a lift that morning, and walked to the dance studio. Ebony Hill Road was only three roads away after all, she'd told her. Victoria left extra early, meaning that she was the first one to arrive at the studio that morning. Meaning that she was the first person to find Ella's body. She took in a deep breath and screamed, then pulled out her phone and called the ambulance. It seemed like it was useless. She looked dead and stark. But as she turned her over onto her back, she heard a groan.

'Ella? Are you...alive?' she said, her voice shaking. Then she heard another scream, this time from someone else.

"Ella! What the hell have you done to her you bitch?!" Victoria was pulled away from her classmate and shoved to the ground. She recognised that Welsh accent.

"Carys, I just found her like this a minute ago, I swear..."

"Well call the police or something you dumb cow!" Carys Jenkins sobbed, cradling her best friend in her arms.

"I have! They're on their way." Victoria went to touch Carys' shoulder, but she shrank away, holding onto Ella's body tightly her deep brown eyes filled with tears. The two girls heard sirens in the distance, and waited in near silence but for Carys' sobs and Victorias footsteps as she paced the car park wringing her hands, nervously.

---

Ella woke up to see a bright light. She groaned at the pain in her head, and the light was suddenly blocked by a dark circle of figures, faces perhaps, but her eyes wouldn't open enough for her to see. She began to hear chatter, growing louder, and her eyes slowly regained full sight. There was her Mother, her best friend Carys and her Father gazing intently at her.

Ella looked at her Mother, a fresh batch of tears flooding her already stained face. She looked at Carys, who had tears in her eyes too, and then at her Father, who looked serious but still deeply upset. He smiled painfully when their eyes connected and stroked Ella's nose.

"At least your beautiful face has been saved, my Daughter." He said.