Pain Without You.

Chapter One

Parker:

     The drama room was almost always empty when I arrived, the other members too caught up in their own gibberish to show up on time. I have my nose in the script, rereading it for the nth time. I smile faintly to myself, from the first time I read it, I fell in love. Everybody had really wanted to do a musical, but I thwarted the idea over and over. We did not have the time, resources or any such things to pull one off. 

     I pull myself onto the table, spreading my notes around me. It is only then I look up and notice there's another person sitting across the room. His black hair hangs over his eyes slightly, his entire attention being focused on the book in his hand. Cain McIntyre. He was playing John Proctor, and from what I could tell so far, he was perfect for the part. I'd talked to him a couple of times, but he mostly kept to himself. On the few occasions we have talked it's been nothing more than idle small talk. Small talk makes my head spin, and I often drown in it's black hole of stupidity.

     "Hey." I smile at him, conforming to the small talk and frown internally, "How did you manage to get here so early?" I ask, honestly wondering. My last class was not the far away and I came straight here. Cain closed the book, and stood up moving towards the neglected piano in the corner of the room.

     "I had a free period." He replied simply, now flipping through the tattered sheet music, "So, are we going to practice any specific scenes today?" He asked casually, looking back at me.

     I shake my head, "No, I think today we're just going to try really hard to get through reading it." I say, curiously watching him, as he flipped aimlessly through the neglected piano music.

     "Okay, I get that." Cain said, sliding into the piano bench, "You don't mind if I play a bit, do you?" He asked his fingers already hovering over the keys. I  smile softly, I had no clue that he even played. "Yeah...go ahead." I say, trying really hard not to sound too excited. I loved the sound of the piano..despite-

     The sweet sound that echoed from the piano was so rich it sent chills down my spine. I move back to my table and try to shake off the emotion the beautiful music seemed to send through me. Just as I sat up on the table, the melody ceased making me look up. "Why'd you-" I started, but then realized the steady flow of students coming into the room. I take a deep breath, and enjoying my last moment of peace.

     "Throw your stuff on the stage, and sit in the center of the room!" I shout over the social chaos, "No more being lazy, today we're actually going to read the play." I finish, grabbing my own script. I put on a smile and sit criss-cross at the front of the group. "Where's Portia?" I ask, slowly becoming ticked off at my sister.

     "Saw her making out with her girlfriend or something." A rusty brown haired boy says, nonchalant, Cameron..I think is his name. I groan outwardly, running my hand through my hair. She's a year older than me, you would never believe.

     "Calm down, dear brother, I have arrived." She walks in the door, throwing her violate hair into a bun, and sitting down next to me.

     "You are going to be the death of this production.." I grumble, receiving a couple chuckles from around the room. I steal a glance at Cain, noticing him not reacting at all to what was going on. He honestly just looked exhausted. I have to tear my eyes away from him and turn back to the chattering group.

     "O-okay everybody.." I stuttered, trying to regather my composer as well as the groups'. "Stop being so distracted, and for a moment put your social priorities away!!" I shout, people's heads snapping towards me, it wasn't often that I yelled. "Thank you." I breath, pulling my script out. "I'll just read the narrator's parts for right now, seeing that our dear friend Ron, isn't here to do so." A couple people nod, but stay quiet, like I said before it wasn't often that I yelled like that, for some reason I was just on edge.

     "At the time of these event Parris was in his middle thirties..." I start, the introduction was near painfully long, but I wasn't going to skip things over, and I did love the end of it, "Old scores could be settled on a plane of heavenly combat between Lucifer and the Lord; suspicions and the envy of the miserable toward the happy could and did burst out in the general revenge." I smile almost fondly at the foretelling demise of this story.

     Everything continues smoothly, to my relief, but the seriousness was lost every time Reagan spoke, her voice interpretation for Tituba wasn't accurate per say, but it was certainly hilarious to listen to. She, however, wasn't near as amazing to listen to than Cain was. He somehow embraced the character with every word...as if he was actually back there. 

     We begin to reach the point where I'm going to need to speak again, and I feel a wave of familiar uneasiness pass over, "Some one else take over for me, I'm going to step out." I say quickly, before leaving the room promptly.

     I feel my heart in my throat, it pounding loudly in my ears. Panic courses down my spine, as the artificial darkness fades in and out of my vision. I slide heavily against the stone bathroom wall. I gasp for breath, and grab onto the edge of the sink as it could stop the inevitable. 'No!' I scream internally, 'I don't want this!' I pull at the roots of my hair harshly wanting the pain to deliver me to the safety of reality. My attempts are fetal, "No...no..please" I crumple to the floor, immersed in sobs and my ever boding past.

     I'm looking around the living room, trying to make sense of the strange men pointing their guns at me. I am cold with fear,  my feet refusing to move, my voice refusing to scream. The click of the trigger being pulled back rings in my ears, it echoing in the stillness of the air. The gun fires. My life flashes before me, but facing what was before me now was so many times worse than death. The next thing I know, I feel blood seeping into my clothes. My lifeless mother is collapsed on top of me, the life in her eyes too soon faded away. Her blood stains my clothes, and spilling into the carpet. My voice returns m y scream piercing all other sound. She was dead, I cry into into her bloodstained body, not even caring how red I am becoming.

~E.C.