Limelight

Limelight (a Phanfiction)

Prologue

October 29th, 1910

My heart beat twenty miles a minute as I backhanded sweat off of my forehead; my hands were ice cold as I touched the warm, red, velvet curtain that hid me away from the world. My legs became weak as I saw that the amphitheater was filled to the brim with people; I quickly shut the curtain and turned away, it was my first performance. Sure I practiced and practiced with Megan but being in front of all those people made it a whole different scenario entirely! My hands began to tremble as I heard M. Richard Andre tell the crowd that the performance would continue as usual, despite the gruesome circumstances. Your probably confused, dear reader, as to what I am describing; it's not a commonplace story at all.

Ha, far from commonplace, my life was normal once, or so I thought; all will come in due time, reader, due time. 

Chapter One: A Remembrance

I felt a bit sick, so I slowly walked away from the curtain and collapsed into a small, blue, wingback chair that was used as a prop in Act IV. My head swam and my cheeks became hot, I couldn't believe this, how could I? A girl of such a young age acting as Margarita in a major opera? How could this be? An organ began to play a slow and melancholy tone, signaling to the ballet dancers to ready themselves to run, hop, or skip onto the stage.

My head fell into my hands which were still as cold as ice and as white as snow; all of a sudden warm fingertips touched my cold ones and I slowly picked my head up to find Megan standing before me with a worried expression plastered all over her face "Megan I...I don't know if I can..." I whispered.

"Easy, Elizabeth, hush now, we've been over this before, darling, you can do this! Why do you think M. Richard and M. Barnabus chose you over all of those other girls who auditioned? Because you're good, Izzy, your more than good, you're great! The first time I heard you sing I swore to Mamma Giry that it was the Harold angels calling to us; Izzy, your voice is so beautiful that no other being of this earth could top it, not even Christy." Megan said, Christy was the Margarita before I came into the picture; in this moment I felt all of my worries and woes melt away, Megan hugged me.

"Now, go show the audience how beautiful Elizabeth De Chagny can sing, I will be here, backstage with your sister" Megan added, I smiled and quickly nodded, I stood from my seat, refreshed and no longer ill feeling. The organ died away and the ballet dancers came giggling and laughing backstage; I smiled and waved to a little girl of only twelve years of age. Her hair was the color of molasses and her eyes matched; her skin was a bit tanned and her cheeks had the faintest touch of a blush. The little girl broke from her friends and ran into my arms, Victoria, my sister, Victoria.

"I wish you all the luck in the world, sissy, don't be nervous, sissy, momma's watching us!" Said the little naïve girl, I smiled and nodded; hugging her tightly. "Sissy, please don't be nervous, you're going to do fine! Besides it says on the pamphlets that you are the new Margarita, they won't expect too much of you, and then, when you sing they'll be blown out of their seats for sure!" Victoria cried, her hazel eyes sparkled and twinkled in the dim lighting of backstage.

Vikki (for, that is Victoria's nickname) reminded me everything of my father, she was practically a spitting image of him. Whilst I, on the other hand, looked like my mother in every way; my hair, blonde with the slightest touch of brunette from my father, my eyes a blue that matched the color of a spring lake and my skin, if you poured milk on my arm, you wouldn't even notice a change in color. My body was slender and I could easily fit into tight places; I am not very strong, in fact I am weaker than Victoria, and she is seven years my junior! All of a sudden the lively melody of several violins in harmony floated about the amphitheater, this signaled that my part was neigh a few moments; Victoria smiled and kissed the top of my hand quickly "You've got this, sissy, don't you worry, if you mess up; I'll run up on stage and create a diversion so you may slip away" To this proposal I laughed, but my laughter quickly died at seeing my sister's serious expression. Now, a drum was struck which told me to get ready, I slowly left my sister and Megan to walk to the middle of the stage; the large, red, velvet curtains rose to reveal thousands of eager people, they clapped and waited for me to begin.

I sang with all of my heart and poured my soul into each word that left my lips; my eyes would close but for a few seconds, only to reopen to the crowd and dazzling lights. On the final note I fell to my knees and raised my arms to the sky, going to my highest pitch and emptying myself into those final words.

I give my soul to thee,

I plead, let my soul rest with thee,

I plead, let my soul rest!

The crowd couldn't contain itself, everyone got to their feet and clapped wildly, flowers where thrown to me and screams of "Bravo! Brava!" came to my ears. I slowly got to my feet and bowed, even more flowers were thrown at me and I caught one; it was a daisy. I bowed a few more times and walked briskly to where Victoria and Megan were waiting for me; Victoria jumped into my arms and buried her head into my shoulder.

"What did I tell you! What did I tell you, sissy? You were absolutely amazing! I've never seen nor heard anyone sing that song more beautifully!" Victoria cried squeezing me and kissing my cheeks.

The next thing I knew I was upon the stage again and again, singing my heart out and astonishing the crowd; during Act V I saw a newspaper reporter with a camera in the back of the amphitheater taking photos of me upon the stage whilst the ballet dancers weaved perfect lines and circles around me. Suddenly, I felt a draft of cold air overtake the stage and I heard a creaking noise come from above me; I only glanced up, but I found nothing wrong and continued to sing. Now, I started to twirl and I felt someone grasp my dress and pull me backwards; I heard screams erupt from the audience as I fell upon my back and faced a man wielding a rapier, holding it high above me, as if to throw it down and stab my bosom. A shock of instant terror ran through my body and up my spine, causing the hair on my arms to stand on end; I couldn't speak or move, the man laughed. "Sing little birdy, sing" he growled in a rough, Irish, accent; the man had black hair and a black mustache along with beady, brown eyes.  

I was paralyzed in one spot, my arms refused to move and my legs were frozen to the stage; all of this happened in a moment or two, but it felt like an eternity. The man lowered his rapier to my neck, tears of horror filled my eyes and spilled over, my jaw shook and my body trembled uncontrollably. "What? You're not even going to call for help?" Asked the man with a sneer.

"H-h-h-he-help" I whispered attempting to choke down sobs, in this moment there was a great clatter from above; it sounded like someone running, then there was a great 'snap!' and the sound of rope being pulled through a hanger very quickly; my eyes squeezed shut, all of a sudden I heard the man cry out and then a loud 'whump!' came to my ears. My eyes shot open to see the man on the ground, unconscious, instantly I felt a burst of energy and crab walked a few paces away from the man; I heard Victoria calling my name, and then I felt her skinny arms wrap around my shoulders. Now I felt a sensation I had never felt, I was weary, dizzy, hot, confused, and nauseous; I began to pant and fell backwards, my eyes looked up to the catwalk to see a darkened figure holding something shiny, I sighed and closed my eyes, only to awaken in my dressing room, a room I had only acquired that morning.