Duet: Death's Recital

by Lizzie Vega

  “You have butterflies, do you?” Mikayla broke into a huge grin, “Oh my God, they’re gonna be merciless to you.” She chuckled and then tried for damage control, “Or not, you wanted to see how we deal. I’m sorry to tease you.”

  He held up his hand, “Deserved. I thought being a jerk was a motivational device. Now I’ll be hoisted up the flagpole and hung out to dry. Seems fair, I guess.”

  “Not if you’re good,” she answered back, “I don’t see any reason to think otherwise. When’s the performance?”

  “End of the school year. Three months isn’t a lot of time to assemble…” he held up his fingers, “…the right players.” Then he smiled at her.

  “Doc, no one does air quotes anymore,” she said, studying his expression. Then it dawned on her, “You can’t be serious. That’s a huge time commitment.”

  “I realize that.” he answered back, “plus a heavy re-write on at least three pieces based on what I heard you play today. I wasn’t aware of how good you really are.” Again, he looked away, “All for now,” he said suddenly, brushing his hand at the doorway. “Give it some thought.” He turned away from her effectively ending the conversation.

  Mikayla stood there thinking of the time commitment in her head. More rehearsals on top of her already heavy study load, the risk of injuring herself again, let alone the ongoing commitment to Ethan and Sara.

  “I don’t think I can,” she said after a moment. Better to shut it down before she began to dwell on it.

  He let out a long sigh, “I understand how much work it would be for you and to be honest, I just thought about it during your performance.” Swiveling around in his chair, he looked up at her, “Once, years ago, I had a student…God, she was a gorgeous blond train wreck, but without question, a Carnegie level talent. She was so good, I wanted to create music to drive her talent. For a while, it was great.”

  “Ego’s clashed, did they?” Mikayla said, then regretted it. If he wasn’t angling for something with her, other parts of the conversation were setting off alarm bells.

  “Oh yes they did. I think part of my teaching style is a holdover from trying to get her to be flexible in her playing.” He took off his glasses, wiping his eyes, “I made some big mistakes…it was a different time back then.”

  “You pushed too hard?”

  He ignored her question. “That high concert C you hit at the end of your solo, you did it like you were riding a bike. So simple, you made it sound effortless, you blew the class away. They just don’t realize it yet. Well, no, there are a couple others in the class that are capable of understanding what it takes.”

  “Ethan for one,” she said, “You didn’t ask him to play today, did you?”

  “He gets it but he’s struggling to put himself back together. I won’t ask him. I think he knows where his abilities are. Thinking back, Sara seemed so much more volatile, but one day…it…ended.”

  Mikayla put her hand up to her mouth to physically restrain herself from saying anything. Her heart began to race. The timing was right, the talent was most certainly correct. She closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts, hoping he’d turned away.

  The notes she’d played, the power that she was searching for, had all come together in that morning’s performance. The colors she saw, matched the sheer joy she felt from the music she was playing. Ethan had looked up just as the final measures were coming. It would be her moment to get his attention. It was like he knew what I wanted.

  Her fingers hadn’t hurt a bit as they flew across the strings. Sliding her fingers up the neck to the farthest reaches, she was almost daring the steel-wrapped strings to stop her. Their eyes had met on the final note. It could work, she thought, I could be with him.

  Now, she took a deep breath, suddenly caught between asking him more information on Sara, but there was something that stopped her, something sad in the tone of his voice, “I’ll…” she started,

  She’s a train wreck, he’d said, Does that mean I’m the same way? He wrote music for her…how close were they?

  “I’ll, um…” Oh God, he was younger back then, was it more than just music?”

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. It’s just so much.” She turned and quickly left the classroom, unable to look at him or to gauge his reaction. In the hallway, she pulled out her phone then slipped it back into her pocket. Who could she talk to? It would take another miracle to work this out and she was already too deeply involved in the first.

  Chapter 33

  After the third call going to her voicemail, Mikayla lowered her voice to not echo in the bathroom stall, “Kelli?” Something in her tone gave her feelings away.

  “Where are you?” Kelli barked, “I’ll come get you?”

  “I’m still in the music building, I’m in the bathroom. Things just got a lot weirder.”

  “I can be there in five minutes. Stay put. Should I call the others?”

  “That would not be a good idea,” Mikayla answered quickly, “And we shouldn’t have this conversation in this building. Let’s get off campus, and quick. I can’t seem to process this.”

  Picking Mikayla up outside the music building, Kelli was extra concerned when her friend came out a side door and ran to her car, “What the hell’s going on?”

  “Just drive,” Mikayla said pointing down the street, “Somewhere way off campus. Way off. Someplace quiet.”

  Mikayla sat quietly as Kelli ordered a beer and a soda. She set both in front of Mikayla and shrugged, “I can’t tell what kind of mood you’re in. I brought both.” Mikayla pushed the beer back to her friend, “I’ll take the bubbles. I don’t know where to start.”

  “You’ve had a big day,” Kelli started, and Mikayla corrected her volume immediately, “Sorry, Kel, I need your super inside voice, right now. This has to be a secret.”

  “Oh shit,” she whispered hoarsely, “Mik, did he hit on you or something?” When Mikayla didn’t answer right away, her eyes teared up. Mikayla shook her head, “Stop it. Not me. But maybe years ago…Sara.”

  It was a rare moment of silence for Kelli.

  “He seemed so sad when I talked to him after class today. He thanked me for playing, he was all complementary and stuff. It was so innocent. I don’t know what to think.”

  “I just went someplace really bad, Mik.”

  “I know…I spent forty-five minutes in the bathroom trying to think of all the ways this could play out and I came right back to it.”

  Kelli looked up, wincing, “Ethan said she didn’t want to come today.”

  “Yep. Went there too. She doesn’t want to come into contact with him, in this life or any other. He called her Carnegie talented, Kel. He wrote music just for her to play.”

  Kelli let out a long whistle, “That’s quite a commitment. He said something happened and then she was gone?”

  “No, he said one day, it ended. That’s relationship-talk. He said he’d made mistakes with her, that it was a different time now. I don’t feel so good.”

  “Different time?” Kelli said softly, “That’s probably the most damning thing he could say. He’s normally such a pompous ass.”

  “That’s the thing, he’s been so nice to me. He knew about the color thing from day one. He’s kept it a secret.”

  “So, he’s good at secrets,” Kelli said with an eye-roll, “Doesn’t help much. But he could have easily picked on you about it. Shit, what do we do?”

  “He wants me to play in his band for a performance. What I played today, it reminded him of how she used to play.”

  Kelli opened her mouth, then shut it, clearly struggling. She took a deep gulp of her beer, “That’s sad. If today wasn’t such a positive experience for the class, I’d be really…we can’t tell Ethan, but the guys have to hear this.” She thought for a moment, “What about the school, do we go to HR?”

  “With what? He didn’t harass me in any way, quite the opposite. Other than my overdrive imagination, he’s been very professional and kind
. If we accidently get him accused of something, it will end his career.”

  “Probably, ours too. Just a sec,” Kelli held her fingers to her lips, then got up to see that the surrounding booths were empty. “We’re good, but we should go to the house and talk to the guys. It couldn’t hurt.”

  Mikayla barely nodded, picked up her glass then set it down without taking a drink.

  “Mik,” Kelli asked softly, “Can I say something? I think it might…suddenly be important.”

  Mikayla propped her chin on her hand, “Wingman’s gonna yell at me,” she said glumly.

  “Quite the opposite,” Kelli chuckled, “but it’s cute to hear you say that.” She took a moment to compose herself. “Without knowing what Dr. Evenson’s story is, I think your playing, especially today, is moving up to a new level. You maybe didn’t notice but the when the music stopped today, there was a long pause before the class started clapping. They were, like stunned.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Mikayla said, thankful at not being scolded for something.

  “If he was talking about our Sara being, well, the Carnegie thing? You are equally that.” She took a deep breath, “When you did your improv today, I heard her in your music. I think I heard some of Ethan, too.”

  Mikayla closed her eyes, “Did he hear me? I mean really hear me?” Kelli knew she wasn’t talking about the instructor. “I wanted him to.”

  “Mik?” Kelli whispered, “He’s always heard you. Ethan treats you differently than the rest of us. You’re so close to the situation, you don’t see it, but we do. Alvin’s noticed and even Edward has actually said something about the way Ethan looks at you.”

  “I’m really struggling, Kel. This morning was different cuz for a while I don’t think I even heard the backing tracks, I just played. It was like all the pressure and the fear I’m feeling just melted away.”

  “I heard that too, Mik. Ya sorta blew the doors off the place. I was watching Evenson and now it makes more sense. When you took off in the last measures, he stopped playing. He just stared at you.” She held up her hand, “Okay, normally, that’d be creepy but not today.”

  Mikayla found her smile, “I need to get a good night’s sleep and not jump to any conclusions, right?”

  Grinning, Kelli switched their glasses around. “No more evil bubbly caffeine for you. Have some sleepy time hops and barley.” Mikayla took a sip, then frowned. Suddenly she began to laugh. “You need to be a teacher, Kel. Or at least a musical counselor of some sort.” Thinking further, she snorted, “Someone just edgy enough to scare parents a little when they drop their kids off at school.”

  Kelli laughed, “I could dress all in black and re-shave the side of my head, get the nose rings back in, yeah baby.” She watched the color drain from Mikayla’s face. “You know I’m kidding, right?”

  “I jumped to conclusions, didn’t I?”

  “Seems so. You need to go home now. Find the sandman for at least eight hours.”

  Chapter 34

  “What makes Bad Sara show up?” Alvin pondered as they gathered in his living room. By design and more out of courtesy, they decided to brainstorm before sharing.

  “I don’t like this,” Kelli commented, “I’m not even dating him, and I feel like we’re cheating on him.” She glanced at Mikayla, happy to take one for the team.

  “Ethan needs to talk to the security people. He’s said they were made aware of him in the beginning of the year so he could access the practice rooms on his own. They would know about all the first-hand reports.”

  “So, he’s involved with us a hundred percent,” Alvin said, acknowledging Kelli’s comment. “I know we are trying to protect them, but it doesn’t seem honest. Sara deserves better.”

  “And Ethan needs to be part of this conversation. We can’t blindside him with stuff if something goes wrong.”

  Over the next week, Ethan reached out to the two security officers that he knew. The reactions from the two men couldn’t have been more opposed. The younger one, only two years in the job, was open to his careful questions. He’d shared just enough information to begin to narrow the search for odd police calls on campus.

  The older officer, however, shut him down immediately.

  “Ethan, you just need to drop it. To be honest, I think a few people are just pranking some of the more impressionable students. It’s been happening here for years.” He stopped short, “Why are you even asking?”

  Ethan fibbed just a little and guessed at one of the dorms as a location for unusual activity, “One of the girls in my Theory class was saying how Burgum was such a spooky place these days.”

  The guard laughed heartily, “If I had a dollar for every spooky story I’ve heard over the years, I would have retired years ago. We have enough issues around here without a bunch of kids looking for ghosts. Somebody could…get hurt, have an accident. That would be awful for everyone.”

  Ethan nodded, trying not to look disappointed, “Dr Evenson said the same thing.”

  “That assho…” the officer stopped, quickly apologizing, “That crackpot and I don’t exactly get along, but in this case, I’ll have to agree with him. Let it go. I’m still okay with you coming and going at all hours, but if you push it, we might have to reconsider.”

  “I just find it interesting,” Ethan offered, trying not to lose his late-night practice options, “I’ll let it go.”

  “If you see a security issue, let us know. We’re really busy all of a sudden, but we’ll always respond as quick as we can.”

  Sitting down at a long run of tables, two students were finishing up a late-night study effort. Under construction since the beginning of the previous summer, the old part of the library was divided down the middle by a plastic wall to help with dust and silt as workmen built the new walls and hung sheetrock.

  Temporary fluorescent lights hung from conduits to safely illuminate the transition areas to the library.

  Ashley buried her face in her hands, “I’m toast. Please tell me why I should be studying Algebra when I’m going to be a music teacher.”

  “Quit now,” Brie scolded, wearily looking up from her textbook, “I’ll trade you algebra for English Lit. Let’s give it another hour and then go hangout with Amanda.”

  “Fine. It’s getting stuffy in here anyway.”

  Suddenly a gust of air ran along the long plastic sheeting that divided off the construction area. The ripple of the plastic unnerved Ashley, “You said there’d be more people here.” She looked down the long rows of books that faded into darkness, “I’m getting creeped out.”

  “It’s called air-handling? Duh,” Brie commented without looking up from her work. She reached out and tapped her pencil on Ashley’s homework, “Stop being such a chicken. Get your stuff done.”

  “Fine.”

  Down the block in Burgum Hall, Alvin was watching a movie while Edward surfed on his phone, “How long can we be here?” he asked, “It seems like we’re imposing.”

  “Carly doesn’t mind,” Alvin said but he checked his phone, “It’s only been a couple of hours and they won’t be back from the movie for a while.”

  “At least Kelli and Mikayla aren’t going to be regarded as creepers in her own building. I wonder what they’re doing?” Edward grabbed his phone, “Ethan and Sara are tucked away safe at Ethan’s. I’ll text Kel.”

  Alvin grinned, “Sweet nothings and more emojis?”

  “No more than you and Carly,” Edward deadpanned.

  “Touché, mon ami,” Alvin grinned, then pointed at Edward’s monitor, “What’s that?”

  A blob of static danced briefly on Edward’s monitor that was tied to the Library. It blipped then it was gone. “Nothing, I guess,” Edward commented, “The wi-fi in the library’s pretty feeble. The new section will be cool when it’s done.”

  Edward’s phone pinged, “There’s Kelli. She went for snacks.”

  Alvin pursed his lips, “I should have thought of that,” he pondered, “If only to say
thanks to Carly for letting us stage here.”

  Another blip from the monitor caused them both to look. It was the library again, “Uh-oh. There it is again.” He looked up with a grin, “Bad Sara is catching up on her reading?”

  “Doubt it, let’s go.”

  Ashley laid her head down on her arms, “I’m done when you are.”

  Brie smirked, “You were done just after we started. I’ve got one chapter left then…” She stopped in the middle of her sentence and sat there. A moment later, she tapped her friend with her pencil, “Ash…I just heard something.”

  Looking up groggily, Ashley saw her friend staring down the hallway. From behind her she could hear a low rumble as an empty book cart rolled down between two tall rows of books. It stopped just at the edge of the row. Brie let out a long sigh, her eyes still on the cart, “I think English Lit will wait. It’s time to go.”

  “Now who’s a chicken?” Ashley asked, turning around to look down the hall. A small paperback flew off the top shelf of the one of the bookcases and slid along the plastic sheeting and dropped harmlessly on the floor. She looked at Brie, “Other than me?”

  “Who else is here,” Brie whispered, “other than us?”

  “Just another couple,” Ashley pointed over Brie’s shoulder, “Way down in the other section. They mighta left.”

  Brie blinked just as the lights above them hummed with a surge of power. Ashley turned to look down the row just as a hardback novel came flying down the dark row. It hit the floor and slid to a stop at her feet.

  “Um…is anyone there?” Ashley peered into the darkness.

  “We’re out.” Brie said, quickly cramming her homework into her book bag. She pointed behind her, “We can get out through that door.”

  No sooner had she said it when from the end on the darkened corridor, books began to flip out of the top row, cascading down onto the floor. Brie looked long enough to realize she couldn’t see anything down the long row. She grabbed Ashley’s arm and they sprinted for the door.