Strange Music

Chapter One

Hello and welcome to Strange Music! This is my fanfiction about the very lovely movie Strange Magic that I watched a few days ago. I've been in a string quartet myself for many years, and I thought that the characters would thrive in this kind of setting. So,  I hope you enjoy the story!

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Marianne was determined to have a miserable time at her quartet practice. Her sister Dawn had scheduled another performance during the regularly scheduled practices, and had once again relied on Marianne to fill in for her. Marianne did, however, prefer to play in a group rather than as a solo, as Dawn practiced the violin more diligently than Marianne. For all of Marianne's skill, she had struggled to learn the first violin part for the piece that Dawn's quartet had been working on, the part that Dawn had given her three hours before the rehearsal. Marianne had not played with a quartet for months, since her harsh expulsion from the group that she had started herself. Dammit, Dawn, Marianne thought angrily, looking up at the house she hoped belonged to the cellist of Dawn's quartet, Strange Music. The address had been scribbled down hastily by Dawn's manager, Sunny, as he was nervously trying to hustle Dawn out the door and to the concert she was headlining, and Marianne had already been to two bad addresses. A short staircase led up to the front door, and in front of a small porch a cheery rock covered in flowers and paintings of birds proclaimed that the house belonged to the King's. Marianne sighed and flipped her violin case over her shoulder, climbing the stairs warily. The house was rather simple and even a bit worn-down, as some of the siding was turning green with moss and some vines climbed the sides of the house, no doubt due to the large oak trees that shaded the entire lot. Marianne cringed when she saw the doorbell, which was very nearly brown with filth. She opted to knock on the pure white door, the only thing that didn't look old and dirty. A rather raucous voice answered the knock, though the door didn't open.

"Is that my Dawn?" the voice squawked, sounding very female and rather low. Marianne winced a bit at it, and considered answering for a moment before heavy footsteps sounded, approaching the doorway.

"I told you, Mother," a deep voice answered, and Marianne could hear the locks being fiddled with. "Dawn is not coming. She has sent a substitute." It sounded annoyed and Marianne found herself being rather annoyed with this voice. The door was gently pulled open, and Marianne looked up. And up. And up. And there was the face of a young man who looked quite bored, though his icy blue eyes sharply darted over her face and to her violin. Marianne's first impression was that he was not very handsome; his hair was a deep brown, which should have complimented those piercing eyes, but just served to steep his face in shadow. His chin and nose were both very long, but his nose was straight and pointed, which should've looked regal but combined with his very thin cheeks and prominent cheekbones made him look thin and weary. "You are the violinist to substitute for Dawn?"

"Yeah, I'm her sister Marianne," Marianne replied to this deep-voiced, somewhat annoying man. She almost stuck her hand out to shake his, but a screen door prevented her from doing so.

"You're late," the man replied instead of offering a name, and opened the door for Marianne. "Stuff and Thang are already here."

"It'd be easier to find your house if I could actually see it from the road," Marianne replied by way of explanation, and swept by the man into a fairly small living room that she doubted that the quartet could play in comfortably. A taller, pleasantly plump young lady was tuning a violin and a very nervous-looking young man with incredibly thick glasses was sitting next to her with a viola, whispering to her.

"Well," the young man who had greeted Marianne at the door glared at her. "I'll do my best to be more accommodating next time." Every word dripped with unamused sarcasm. "Stuff, Thang, this is Marianne, Dawn's sister. She'll be playing with us. Marianne, this is Stephanie Crowley and Thomas Buckley."