On the Prowl by Kate Rudolph
24
Em was off her game.She knew it.
Three songs into her performance and she could already imagine the bad reviews she was destined to receive. She was distracted, caught up remembering the feel of Andre’s fingers and lips, and also confused. Not by what she and Andre had done… or, really, what Andre had done to her. But by what had come before that.
Had Vi done something to her?
The production manager spoke forcefully into her earpiece, and Em realized she had missed a cue. Shit.
Jerry played the line again, covering up her mistake, and she shot him a thankful look, but he had a sour look on his face.
She was screwing things up for him, too.
Em began singing and shoved all of her thoughts into a narrow corner of her mind. She could worry about all that crap later. Much, much later.
She lasted two songs.
Luckily, the audience didn't seem to notice. Critics would. Fans would give her a lot of leeway. At least, she hoped.
She didn't miss a cue, but she did nearly bump into Jerry and heard him say something less than complimentary. Luckily it wasn't loud enough to be picked up by the mics.
She would owe her band an apology after this. Hopefully, they would forgive her.
She figured they would. Everyone had an off night.
Was Vi out there watching her? Was she the person who had summoned the shadow beast?
She didn't know how she had ended up napping in her dressing room. She didn't remember anything before Andre had shown up, and that was the scary part. She should remember. She had a great memory.
So why was there a blank?
The lights went down, and the band put their instruments aside and snuck off stage. This was one of Em's favorite parts of the show, where she really got to show her chops as a singer. No accompaniment, no band, nothing but a spotlight on her and shadows all around.
She lost herself in the song, and it didn't even occur to her to be afraid.
She was halfway through belting her heart out about lost love and finding the strength to carry on when she felt something moving behind her.
At first she thought it was just one of the production crew. They tried to stay off stage during the performance, but sometimes an appearance couldn't be avoided.
But the production crew never caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.
She didn't turn around and she didn't stop singing. If the beast was lurking in the shadows, she didn't want it to realize that she could sense it. And if it wasn't there, she didn't want to spin around and give in to a paranoid delusion.
She felt breath on the back of her neck. It was no delusion. But it wasn't attacking. It was right there. So close she could reach out and touch it, but it wasn't sinking its gigantic shadowy fangs into her.
What did that mean? Was it trying to protect her?
Or was it trying to terrify her?
Whatever its intent, she was definitely terrified.
What would happen when the song was over? The lights wouldn't come fully back on. It would be brighter, but the stage would still be covered in shadow while her band came back for the next set.
And the spotlight would go off. Not for long. But with the beast close enough to touch her, any time would be long enough.
Would it attack her then? Was it just waiting for its moment? She knew it wasn't bound to darkness. It had attacked well enough in broad daylight, even if it had been in the shadows of the buses. But she clung to the bright light of the spotlight, careful to keep her hands well within its beam, as if that offered some protection.
She would have to run. There was a microphone stand on the other side of the stage that she could probably use as a weapon if she needed to. Not that weapons did much against monsters made of shadow.
She wanted to run now. Her heart was beating so fast she feared she would collapse and be stuck as petrified prey for the beast. Then again, if that happened, the lights would come on and maybe the beast would disappear.
Em considered it for a second. But she threw the thought away. There was a chance that the production crew would turn off all the lights and try and get her off the stage under the cover of darkness. They would do it in an effort to save her reputation and to obfuscate what had happened. But if that was the choice they made, she was a goner.
Was Andre close? She couldn't see much of anything due to the way the lighting worked. All she had to do was hold the beast off long enough until he appeared. And she was sure he would show up eventually.
Please. Andre. Her thoughts wouldn't do much good, but at least she could hope.
The song was closing out now, her voice reaching higher and higher for that final note. So close. The tremble in her voice wasn't tremolo, it was fear. Wasn't bravado, it was terror.
The beast nudged its nose into the spotlight, testing the edge of her flimsy protection.
Em closed her eyes and took a final breath, ready to run.
The spotlight flicked off, casting the stage in darkness. Em ran for the microphone stand as a second wolf, this one made of fur and flesh rather than shadow, burst onto the stage.