New world
The soft sound of the music began, enticing the large crowd. Flashing cameras were directed my way, reminding me that this performance was to be broadcast live on television. Still, not a single butterfly awoke inside of me. My voice rolled over the crowd in sorrowful waves, calming the cheering mass.
The spotlight focused on me, lighting up my glittering, dark blue dress. The soft blue gown swished softly as I moved, making a dream-like vision grace the eyes of the crowd. My midnight blue hair tumbled down over my shoulders in smooth waves, like a fresh winter morning when sparkling snow has just fallen on the ground. No footsteps have tarnished the pristine beauty of the surface. Not a hair was out of place.
Swells of power rose in my throat, sweeping through the now silent theater. The haunting feeling of loneliness and desolation leaked into the somber song, the words touching the hearts of every person in the audience. Not a dry eye could be seen in the crowd.
My hand unconsciously went to my heart, and my head rose as I crooned out the final notes. A brief moment of silence lingered after I finished, my chest heaving with exertion. The crowd erupted, their cheers and cheers cutting through the theater. This is my goodbye, I thought somberly, a single tear leaking down my face.
Bowing quickly, I swept off the stage, hiding my tear-stained face.
“Evangeline! That song will be the hit of your career! When did you write it?” A short man with fair skin greeted me backstage, his hands rubbing together greedily. He has dull brown eyes, and his short, curly, black hair is slicked back. “Evangeline, Evangeline! We must prepare for your next concert soon! Imagine the amount of money that would come pouring in next! I must go prepare.” The short man waddled off, ignoring my tear-stained face. I recovered my posture just as the host announced the end of the performance to the still cheering crowd.
I dashed past the security guards at the hallway door, making them yelp in surprise.
“HEY!” One of them yelled, their heavy footsteps pounding down the hall after me. Just as I expected, they were there not to protect me, but too guard me. Breaking into a run, I slipped out the back door and ran to my parked motorcycle, riding into the night.
~~
The cold wind threaded playfully through my hair as I sat on the edge of the building, my legs dangling thousands of feet away from the ground. My amber eyes tiredly drooped as I stared off into the distance. This place, it’s so beautiful, I thought. I smiled bittersweetly back at my motorcycle as I remembered the feeling of adrenaline the first time I rode it.
“I never realized it, but you are the only thing that ever meant something to me in this world,” I admitted, patting my motorcycle. “Ha, look at me now. I’m even talking to a motorcycle. I guess there’s really nothing left for me here.” Switching on my phone, I opened the top live stream on the news.
“Hello folks, I’m here with tonight’s big news.” A female news anchor spoke into the microphone, her excited expression captured by the camera. “I’m here at the Grand Theater, with the devoted fans of the hottest singer of the decade. It’s been a while since the show has ended, but no one seems to want to leave. Singer Evangeline Night just hit the peak of her career tonight at only twenty years old with a song that was said to be written by herself. I’m sure everyone listening was touched in some way by every note. It was said she had been a prodigy from a young age. which is to be expected from the daughter of our city mayor.”
“Rumor has it, she was said to have cut ties with her family and even blackmailed her own sist-” The news anchor’s voice cut as I turned my phone off, letting out a sigh I didn’t realize I had been holding in.
A sense of loneliness swept through me as I gazed at the bustling city below. A majestic view of the skyline appeared in the distance with startling beauty. There wasn’t a cloud in the star-speckled sky. Rows of towering skyscrapers stretched above me. Their windows alight from within. The ground below me was alive with lights like someone had taken a handful of glitter and thrown it as far as the eye could see. A half-moon hovered at the fringes of the luminous cityscape, where the red blinking lights of distance radio towers twinkling in the night. Tiny vehicles rushed along tangled lines of streets, creating a mess of twisting threads of light.
Suddenly, the door to the roof burst open, and several armed men poured out, their black boots pounding against the rooftop. Instead of tensing, I only smiled wearily.
“Dear sister, what might you want this time around?” I called, waiting for the last two men to part. As expected, a tall, tan woman sauntered across the roof in her teetering heels. A particularly notable feature is her long nails and her over-applied lipstick. She has a narrow face with a rounded jaw, a hooked nose, and thin lips. Her green eyes are triangular, and she has angular eyebrows. Her elbow-length, straight, black hair is complicatedly styled, and her makeup is caked on.
“Oh, nothing, sister, just here to tie up some loose ends.” She replied, examining her immaculate nails. “Don’t take it personally. If only you hadn’t gone on tonight, then maybe I would’ve spared your pitiful existence.”
“Even if I didn’t go on, you would’ve done this anyway. Am I right?”
“Right, for first and last time of your life.” Snapping her fingers, the armed men pointed their guns at me and forced me to back to the edge. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Jump off the roof, or we’ll throw you off.”
“That’s an easy decision,” I said sarcastically. “I mean like, either way, I die.”
Turning toward the edge of the building, with the city spread below me, for the first time in my life, I felt...free. This is it. I smiled peacefully. The moment I finally fly free. The moment I will be released from the chains of my so-called family. They can no longer use me. Hurt me. With me gone, HE won’t get hurt anymore. He will be able to leave the city and escape from my family.
“EVIE!” Turning my head, my foot hovered slightly in the air. A young man around twenty-five with windblown white hair stood at the doorway that led into the building, his normally handsome features twisted into a horrified expression. His sky blue eyes widened as my foot shook, almost bringing me over the edge.
Swearing under her breath, my sister spun on her heel and pointed toward the young man. “Get him.” Half of the guards rushed toward the man, and despite his efforts to fight them off, he was pinned to the ground.
“I knew you would find me here eventually, Cole, but you came a little too early...I didn’t want you to see this.” My voice was laced with sadness, but I smiled with hope. “After this is all over, we can finally be free. This is for the best for both you and me.” I took a shuddering breath.
“I left everything to you. My sister may be...harsh, but I know she won’t go back on her word. Take it and live the life you’ve always wanted, far far, far away from here.”
“This is taking too long,” My sister complained. To everyone’s shock, she shoved me as hard as she could, and I tumbled off the side.
All at once, the scenery starts to blur like a poorly shot photograph. The colors swirled and blent as my head tilted toward the ground. The shining windows flashed past me, and the bustling sounds of the city grew. The darkness reached out for me, its hands wrapping and curling around my body, pulling me down, down, down. Closing my eyes, I waited for my end. But it never came.
