Chapter 17 - Opening Night
The audience applauded.
The Second Ava lifted her chin.
Ava doubled over backstage.
The applause hit her like heat.
Nora grabbed her.
“It’s feeding through you.”
Madame Voss hissed:
“Curtain.”
The stage manager froze.
“We’re already up.”
“Close it!”
Before he could, the Second Ava began dancing.
More perfect than Ava had ever been.
The audience fell silent.
Then spellbound.
The Patron appeared in the royal box.
Only Ava, Nora, and Voss seemed able to see him.
“Your understudy is excellent.”
Ava tried to move.
Her legs weakened.
Nora said:
“You don’t have to go out.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone thinks that’s me.”
Ava stepped onto the stage.
The audience gasped.
Whispers spread.
The Second Ava stopped dancing.
Its smile vanished.
Ava walked to center.
“No.”
The orchestra faltered.
The copy tilted its head.
Ava said louder:
“No.”
The Patron stood.
The stage lights flickered.
Nora entered in black.
The audience thought it was theater.
Nora took Ava’s hand.
The copy reached for the other.
Ava pulled away.
The pianist began the simple scale Ava and Nora used when they were twelve.
The orchestra slowly followed.
Madame Voss had planned this contingency.
Ava and Nora danced their shared childhood.
The copy tried to imitate.
Because it had stolen talent.
The audience stopped applauding.
That starved it.
Its movements became jerky.
The Patron shouted:
“Give them what they came for!”
Ava looked into the house.
For years she had wanted strangers to decide she mattered.
Now she understood how dangerous that hunger could become.
She turned away from the audience.
And danced for one person.
The Second Ava screamed.
Its skin cracked like glass.
Black feathers burst across the stage.
Then the Patron stepped down from the royal box.
May you like
For the first time, everyone saw him.
The audience began screaming.
