Bass Case

Chapter 5: Auditions

I stare at Sarah's door for a long while. Seconds pass to minutes, and then I approach the door. I turn the golden handle, slowly. It's not locked. Then I stop. Would it be rude of me to just walk in without knocking? Then I decide that I don't care. I should have tried to figure out what was wrong earlier. I open the door with a creek. "Sarah?" I whisper as I open the door.

    She's on the floor with her cello. Its old intestines were curled up by her feet while she continued her careful procedure. She looks up at me with teary eyes for but a moment before looking away. "Do you need something?"

    "No...Are you ok?" I ask, my voice calm, patient. I want her to trust me.

    "Of course. Just stringing my cello." She says while slowly turning the peg to coil the string. "You should go make dinner. You must be hungry."

    "No. Not really."

    "Well then-"

    "Sarah, something is wrong. It's written all over your face." She halts her hand, her mouth straight as she stares at her orange cello. I walk over to her and kneel down next to her on the floor, placing a pale hand on her tan shoulder. "Sarah," I say slowly, "I'm your friend, and as your friend I am worried about you. A lot. Please, Sarah. What's bothering you? I want to help. Even if it's simply being someone you can relay your thoughts to."

    I watch her carefully react to my words. Her small chest puffs up and down slowly, and her curly hair falls in front of her eyes. Her mouth quivers for a second and then straightens once more. She strokes the top of her cello as if she were consoling an animal. "What a beautiful instrument. And luckily not big enough to put a body in to desecrate its beautiful name. It's beautiful purpose."

    I kind of knew it had to be something to do with the murders, everyone is on edge because of the events just as anyone should be when their friends have been killed, when multiple members of their class had been killed. What heartless soul wouldn't be bothered by such an event? "Yes. It's a shame that its counterpart had to be used in such a...sinful deed."

    "Indeed." Sarah sighs, "Which is why I don't understand why anyone would wish to attend a school full of murder and desecration."

    "The scholarship..." I reply. The scholarship they provide at this school is one of the best that anyone can receive. It's a full scholarship in exchange for hard work. No money needed to be provided for anything at all so long as you remained at the school. Only on school property of course though. It also guaranteed you a job in the profession you chose. So long as you remained at the school they personally guarantee you a position in whatever field you desire..., but is even that worth this?

    "Yes...of course. That's the only reason I stay as well after all. Otherwise...all this effort would have been put to waste..." She pauses for a long time. Her eyes stare blankly in front of her as if she is scanning a map of her mind, trying to decider what direction she wants to take this conversation. Then she decides. "You know...I have a sister..."

    My head perks up for a moment in shock. "You have a sister?"

    She laughs, "Yes. Her name is Angelica. She's the most wonderful younger sister that I could have." A smile curves onto her lips. "Which is why...I don't want her anywhere near here. I don't want her to be in danger, yet she feels so determined to go here, to be with me..." Tears begin to stream down her eyes like two rivers of salt water. "She doesn't care about what has been happening. She doesn't care how traumatizing it was for us. She only wants to be with me. I want to quit. I want to leave so she doesn't follow, but what a waste it would all be! To try so hard only to have all my goals destroyed because someone else had to be selfish!" She gasps and chokes on her tears as she buries her smooth face into her hands.