Music of the Night

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Arthur might as well be alone with his own fears and thoughts.

This unknown stranger who somehow snuck their way into the club might leak out about him and was the culprit behind all those musics played every evening. Now Arthur loved to play music, he just had some problems when he performed alone in front of a lot of animals. If he were in his old school band, he wouldn't have any trouble because he knew he could count on his bandmates for support if either of them were out of synch or had a different tempo.

But in Cherryton, he felt like a firefly among buzzing hornets.

And that firefly will soon have his light extinguished if he doesn't locate the unknown stranger!

He stopped playing his violin, despite hearing the disappointment of the others backstage. He too felt like this is his fault for being a bit jumpy over the smallest things. Besides performing alone, Arthur's other fears that made him feel uncomfortable were the crash from the lightning or the irritable drip of water from the tap that has not been closed properly.

"What's wrong with him?" one of the female students whispered backstage. "He looked like someone just told him that his grandma just died!"

"Arthur, what's wrong?" he heard the sound of Aoba's voice that held concern.

But Arthur couldn't say anything as if his body was paralysed. His ears were the only thing swivelling about, listening to find the source of the new sound. He moved his mouth a little bit to use his clicks to listen to where the stranger was and Arthur was surprised.

It was small, like a rodent or something.

"Someone's in the club uninvited," Legosi's report made some of the animal's jump from his growled voice. 

Poor Arthur was petrified until a tender hand was placed on his wing. "It's okay Arthur. The boys are looking into it," the was the gentle voice of the sheep, Els. "I wonder why someone would sneak in when Louis and Sanu had already put up a sign that says we are rehearsing."

Arthur focused on his breathing to calm his beating heart. His backpack was backstage with the thermos that contained his honey lemon tea and a bit of snacks. He decided to walk, despite his body feeling a bit heavy from the panic that has risen from hearing the unknown stranger.

The other animals saw his cloudy blue eyes were wide with panic. Bill the tiger knew that feeling too well. He himself knew that in situations like this, he had to put on a brave face before leaving to the bathroom to spray himself with...blood he had smuggled.

Needless to say, he was guilty of possessing such a thing but sometimes, a price will always be paid in order to pursue a stability in himself.

He stalked Arthur from behind before placing his large claw on his shoulder. The Honduran white bat was still having a panic attack. Until that sneak has been found, the priority now is to calm him down because seeing the bat having this sort of behaviour was disturbing.

"Listen to me," the Bengal tiger chuffed into Arthur's ear gently. "Stop what you're doing, breathe in and out. Think of it as you making tea."

Arthur slowly calmed down and fluffed his fur, hopefully it's thick enough to cover his embarrassed face from his meltdown if both of his wings were occupied. Arthur feel like he should leave the club before things get out of hand.

"Thank you," Arthur breathed, grateful for Bill's instructions and Els' compassion. "I-I hope I didn't ruin the club and everything..."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Art," Bill comforted him. "Looks like you could be right with a sneak coming into the club uninvited. Come on, let's see who's here."

...

"Come on! Can't you guys co-operate on this?" a voice squeaked. "That bat's gonna make a mark for our school. Even represent us!"

Legosi was holding the small black rat in his claws before handing him over to Louis. The red deer knew this rat was the president of the newspaper club, who are notorious for getting the scoop over students without getting caught.

But this time, he failed because they have a bat in the theatre.

"You violated the rules we put up outside of our rehearsal,"  Louis told the rat off sternly. "What's worse is that you might as well caused harm to our guest over there!"

He jerked his thumb to a very nervous Arthur. He understood the bat's feeling of being exposed and sometimes, some secrets are best to be kept and buried. So far, he knew Arthur wouldn't give out the red deer's secret of being head of the Shishigumi. 

Considered this as paying the Honduran white bat's debt.

"Harm? Harm?!" the black rat exasperated, flailing in Louis' grasp. "The school needs to know that the bat's got talent! Washed up nobody now becomes a virtuoso star who will represent the school. Come on, this could be good for us and your club-"

"I suggest you don't publish it," Aoba stepped forward, his eyes locked onto the trembling rodent. His predatory beak clicked irritably at this rat who thought he could waltz in here just because he's the president of the newspaper club. "As much as what you say it's true, you should respect someone's privacy."

The whole drama club was starting to get chaotic until a slow stomp was heard to silenced all of them. It was from none other than the Honduran white bat himself. He looked stressed with his fur almost dishevelled and his cloudy blue eyes were close to become pupiless.

"Please," Arthur's voice  held a plead. "Stop this chaos this instant! Aren't you all supposed to be united as the drama club? And you..."

Arthur's gangly walk never looked so scary for the small black rat now that he was face-to-face with the only Chiroptera in the school. "Please respect our privacy and I understand your club needs the latest scoop but invading the drama club's rehearsal would surely ruin Cherryton's reputation as it's famous for the theatres. Or am I wrong?"

There were murmurs of agreement and Arthur swore he could hear the black rat's heart hammering like a drummer in a rock band.

"Also," Arthur continued. "I have a feeling that some of the students are well-connected. You don't want those who are close to the principal to find out and disband your club, would you?'

Arthur never sounded angry but here, he sounded frustrated and stressed. All of them knew if his secret of being the musician was exposed, there will be trouble for the drama club as well.

Once the black rat reluctantly agreed to not leak out the secret, there was still tension in the air. Legosi was ordered by Louis to follow the newspaper club just to make sure that they kept their word for it.

Arthur continued to play his music until the rehearsals were over. Needless to say, he still felt nervous about the black rat going behind their backs. So, he plugged his headphones to listen to his music as he walked back into his dorm.

He was humming to himself, thinking about what to have for tea before finishing his biology and marine language homework. Just as he unlocked the door of his dorm, he heard a familiar voice through his headphones.

"Hey, Arthur," the warm, comforting voice almost made him dropped his phone as he stood at the doorway. The voice that made him want to wrapped his wings around the figure that was all so familiar to him. His ears was now wiggling a bit and his tail as well from the presence in the dorm.

"Hi, dad!"