Chapter 13 - The Duel
Ava’s right leg snapped into passé.
Her arms opened.
Nora backed away.
“Ava.”
“I’m not doing this.”
But her body turned.
Violent in its precision.
Nora’s injured ankle trembled.
The Patron’s voice filled the studio.
“One role. One room. One girl.”
Ava launched into fouettés.
She could not stop.
Nora realized before she did.
“The bargain is controlling you.”
“Run.”
The doors would not open.
Nora tried the emergency bar.
Ava turned faster.
The thing inside her swelled with every rotation.
Her skin stretched over a shape that looked almost like a curled shoulder.
Then stepped into the light.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking the room.”
Nora began dancing.
Not at Ava’s level.
But with everything she had.
The music shifted.
Ava felt control return for half a second.
Nora shouted:
“Look at me!”
The Patron hated that.
Nora kept dancing.
Ava matched her.
Their movements became conversation.
Old rehearsals.
Years of knowing exactly when the other person would breathe.
The black mirror cracked.
The Patron screamed.
“STOP.”
Nora’s ankle buckled.
Ava caught her.
The music died.
Both fell to the floor laughing and crying.
The studio doors opened.
Madame Voss rushed in.
The mirror had a single crack from top to bottom.
Behind it was darkness.
Something moved inside.
Curled in black feathers.
Ava’s stomach flattened instantly.
Nora stared into the crack.
“You separated it.”
Voss whispered:
“Not completely.”
The small shape opened its eyes.
They were Ava’s eyes.
May you like
Then it smiled.
And Ava smiled back without meaning to.
