The Dark Opus

Chapter One: Shifting

I should have known that something was different. That night, Laela had pulled her hair up into an unusual, tussled ponytail, making her prominent cheek bones stand out. Her dark makeup was unnaturally over-the-top and her rouged lips looked as though they'd been smothered and repainted several times until she got that chunky look she'd seemingly been aiming for.

When she appeared back stage to help me prepare the performers for the night, I'd noticed that her skirt was lower, brushing the top of her knees, and she wasn't wearing her usual fish nets or a handful of heavy bracelets that usually scaled the length of her arms. Instead, she just had a bleeding-cerise, long sleeved blouse that I'd never seen before. It hugged her figure, and for the first time, I realised that my sister had stopped holding on to a childishly straight figure a long time ago. The lead performer, Marcus, couldn't stop staring at her.

"Bastard!" I cried, pinching him hard on the arm. He winced and threw me a dirty look -I glowered at him until he turned away. Then I turned back to look at Laela again. She smiled at me, her big, brown eyes shining brightly in the dim candle-light that lit up the dressing room. It reflected back the forgotten costumes and the astonished faces that were eyeing her intently. It reflected my own shocked face back at me.

"Going for a new look, Lae?" I asked, frowning at her outfit. It looked so... clean.

She smiled down at me. Lae was five years older than me, a couple of inches taller than me. Though, even with the height and maturity difference, people still couldn't tell us apart. Maybe it was because we both had those popping, dirt-brown eyes, or those lashing tongues. I don't know.

"Just for the night", she replied eloquently, brushing me off hastily. I watched as she began to walk around the dressing room, carefully avoiding the gaping looks and the wolf-whistles. I glared at Marcus as he let out an especially long and loud one; swiftly, he turned away and returned to doing his own makeup. That night, Marcus was going to be a sin...

***

It was the first night of Cheri's dramatic reading. Performing the lyrical poetry were most of the Opus actors and actresses, including Marcus, who was the leading actor at the Cafe since he was the only one who'd actually graduated high school and decided to continue with the arts into University. Most of the other actors were what he enjoyed calling amateurs -some had only had high school qualifications, month-long classes, talent. He'd considered himself a professional actor; everyone at the Opus accepted this without argument, mostly because they weren't bothered.

It was actually quite a big deal that Marcus had agreed to perform Cheri's poetry. She didn't have a reputation at the Opus or anything -she was quite new, actually, and not until two weeks ago had anyone heard a peep from her. She was one of those invisible souls that hung around the fringes of the Opus in the evenings, when the Cafe began to reveal it's true nature. I'd watched her on that evening as she, like all the other societal rats that ventured into the Cafe in the daytime, as she'd began to reach for her bags and walk out as quickly as she could before the sun disappeared behind the heavy, tinted glass of the front windows.

She'd been wearing a dark blue dress and had her straw-coloured hair pulled back in a clean ponytail -she looked elegant, an outsider. But, unlike the rest of the world, she'd hesitated. From behind the counter, having just started working my evening shift, I watched her hold on to her bags but not move at all. I watched as the shadow of the evening moved across her face and the faint lighting of the dark Opus begin to vaguely illuminate her face. I saw the fear beginning to cross her face as the nocturnal inhabitants of the night-time began to pour through the closed doors -but she still didn't move.

I asked about her.

"Nope", said Fay, who was working the night shift with me that evening. "She's been coming here every day for a week, though. Maybe she's just curious."