Demon (19 page)

“Yes, sir. I apologize for the disruption.” Even from the opposite end of the stage, Rebecca was certain she heard Justyn’s teeth grinding. “It won’t happen again.”

“It had better not,” the director replied. “Now, Miss Hope, can you pull yourself together enough to get through the rest of this rehearsal?”

Rebecca nodded and dried her eyes on her sleeve. While her heart was still pounding, she felt more embarrassed than anything else—embarrassed, humiliated, and most of all, furious with herself for allowing Justyn to get into trouble for her sake. He was still defending her honor, even after how terribly she had been treating him. Yet as much as she hated herself, when he tried to seek her out behind stage, she was sure to stay hidden from his sight. It was odd how their roles were reversed. The year before, Justyn had always been the one disappearing behind the curtain when trouble was brewing.

The rest of the practice was strained for everyone. It was easy to tell no one really wanted to be there. Only Justyn was in true Sweeney Todd form. His foul mood enhanced the effect of the demonic barber’s bloody rage. The scene where Sweeney kills Judge Turpin was especially nerve-wracking. Seeing the evil glint in his eye, Rebecca was worried Justyn might somehow find a way to make the dull prop blade really slice through Chad’s waiting throat. Yet despite the tension between them, their two superb voices merged in flawless harmony when they sang. Chad’s deep baritone was the perfect complement to Justyn’s gentle tenor.

When they finally reached the grand finale, Rebecca was relieved it was almost over. Sweeney had already massacred Lucy, and she pretty much just had to lie on the ground pretending to be dead as the scene unfolded around her. Eventually, Sweeney Todd comes down to the basement to help Mrs. Lovatt dispose of the larger-than-average body count. For the first time, he really sees the tumble of familiar hair beneath Lucy’s filthy bonnet. He finally realizes the beggar woman is his wife and that Mrs. Lovatt lied when she convinced him Lucy had died. In his fury, he throws Mrs. Lovatt into the life-size boiler. It is after that climatic moment that Sweeney finally returns to the fallen body of his wife.

Despite the fact her eyes were closed, Rebecca could feel the despair radiating from Justyn as he cradled her body in his arms. She struggled to stay limp, but even that simple touch made her heart race. Not with the passion which she was accustomed to, but with panic and fear. She didn’t know why. She knew Justyn would never hurt her, and she loved him with all her being. Yet the terror lingered and controlled her every move. It was bearable, but still enough to make her body instantly stiffen, even at his familiar touch. He was too perceptive not to notice. He stroked her hair as he sang his next lines, and his voice rang out with honest, heart-wrenching emotion.

“The barber’s wife was his true love.

An angel sent from up above.

Her outward beauty matched only by her soul.

It was only her love that made him whole.

He was such a fool, such a naïve man.

One mistake foiled his righteous plan.”

Behind lids that were still closed in feigned death, Rebecca felt her eyes burn with unshed tears. She knew he was singing to
her
, as himself and not as Sweeney Todd. Yet, even if she wanted to, she couldn’t respond. She couldn’t break character and risk infuriating the director for the second time that day. So she stayed dead in her role. And she felt just as dead inside.

It was only seconds later that Frankie entered the scene in his role as Toby. When the boy finds Sweeny Todd surrounded by bodies, his suspicions are confirmed. Driven by madness, Toby picks up Sweeney’s discarded razor blade and uses it to slice the throat of the demon barber. Though intended as an act of revenge, it is really peace that Toby gives to Sweeney Todd. He seems almost relieved as his life-blood drips away and he collapses atop the body of his only love.

In a few more weeks, when they performed in front of an audience, Justyn would have to lean over and let the fake blood drip all over her face. There was no blood yet, but Justyn’s body still slumped gently on top of hers. He was careful not to put his full weight against her, but still, she had to fight back the wave of panic with every constrained breath.

“Becca, my love,” Justyn whispered in her ear, “I’m so afraid I’m losing you.”

Rebecca wanted to tell him he was wrong. She wanted to say the words he longed to hear. But the fact of the matter was he
wasn’t
wrong. He
was
losing her, in the very same way she was losing herself. So without a word, without shedding another tear, Rebecca stood to complete the final chorus with the rest of the living dead. Never in her brief acting career had she played a more convincing role.

Rebecca sat on the sectional couch in the Pi Beta Alpha frat house. She sighed and looked around the room at the mismatched furniture that looked like someone had picked it up off the street corner. The frat house was the typical college bachelor pad. It smelled of stale beer and masculine sweat, and she was fairly certain they had never heard of a vacuum or a feather duster. She couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing there. Sure, she had promised Megan she’d go, but that hardly seemed like a good enough reason for her to stick around the rowdy house party. Especially since Megan was so busy making out with Quinn on the other end of the sofa, she barely even noticed Rebecca was there. It had only been a week since the attack, and while her bruises were fading, she was hardly in the right frame of mind to socialize. The large crowd was making her feel jittery and claustrophobic. Still, in some ways, it was better than being home alone with Justyn watching her with those alternately sad and worried eyes.

As the party progressed, the volume of the rock music kept rising to drown out the sound of the growing number of voices. There were dozens of students in attendance, yet Rebecca found herself surrounded by the same group of people she spent most of her time with. Her cast mates and a few familiar faces from the orchestra pit all loitered around the sectional, sipping their beers and only occasionally mixing with the rest of the crowd. Scott was in the midst of a chugging contest with a few of the backup singers, while Chad was making it look like he wanted to pick up one of the chorus girls. It was obvious to anyone who was watching that he was only doing it to get a rise out of Livy. He peeked over his shoulder every few seconds to see if she was watching him, but she hardly spared him a glance.

For her part, the Gothic beauty seemed bored as she sipped nonchalantly from a glass of red wine. She leaned back against the easy chair with her puffy black skirts billowing around her long legs and her knee-high boots stretched out in front of her. She looked so exotic and beautiful. It made Rebecca feel even more blasé than usual in her casual tan dress. It was strapless and pleated with a dark brown belt at the waist to break up the color and accentuate her figure. When she’d bought it, she loved how sexy and adult she felt wearing it. But at that moment, she only felt overdressed and self-conscious showing so much skin. She wished she had just worn her every day clothes.

Justyn hadn’t bothered to dress up for the occasion, but of course, his normal attire was could hardly be called casual. His black pants were adorned with silver buckles and rings, and his black shirt featured a group of eerie, grinning skulls swimming in a haze of smoke. Much like Livy, Justyn was sitting back against the sofa, looking bored out of his mind as he fiddled with his keychain. Aside from a brief hello from Quinn and Megan, no one had so much as glanced in their direction. Between Rebecca’s nervousness and Justyn’s bad temper, they probably thought it was safest to avoid them altogether. Finally, it was Frankie who at least tried to make them feel like a part of the festivities. He walked up to them with a beer in each hand. He held one out to Justyn before plopping down beside them on the sofa, but alcohol was just one of many vices Justyn avoided, claiming he didn’t want to poison his body. When he shook his head, Frankie shrugged and turned to Rebecca.

“You look like you could use a drink.”

Rebecca accepted the bottle without really thinking about it. “Thanks.”

She lifted the bottle and sniffed it tentatively. She had tasted beer a few times in high school, but it wasn’t her drink of choice. In fact, she normally preferred not to drink at all, though not for the same reasons as Justyn. Alcohol made her act giddy and stupid, and usually after even just one drink, she had a headache the next day.

Across from her, Livy was rolling her eyes in annoyance. “My God, Becca. It’s just a beer. Either drink it or don’t, but for heaven’s sake, stop staring at the bottle like it’s going to bite you.”

Rebecca shot her a dirty look, and her grip on the bottle tightened considerably. Livy’s comment had a few other people watching her too, and rather than making herself look even more ridiculous than she already did, Rebecca took a long gulp of the cold beer. She drained almost half the bottle in one swig and then had to fight back the urge to burp.

“That a girl!” Frankie cheered. “Chug it down!”

Frankie obviously had a pretty good buzz going already. He chuckled for no obvious reason as he handed Rebecca a second bottle. When the music paused for a few minutes, he seemed to take that as divine intervention. He guzzled what was left of his beer and started to sing one of the songs from the play as he handed out bottles to the other kids in the crowd. It was from the scene where Sweeney Todd faces off with another barber. Before their contest, Toby, who starts out as the barber’s assistant, sings about his special tonic that could cure any ailment. Only when Frankie sang the upbeat tune, he replaced the rival barber’s name with his own.

“Come try Frankie’s miracle potion

if you get the notion.

It’s so sweet.

Soon you’ll see no matter what might ail you,

sniffles, coughs, or stomach flu,

Just one sip and the cure’s complete.”

Soon other members of the cast were joining in, shouting out the lines the chorus sings while Frankie ran around handing out beers almost spasmodically. Justyn had been studying Rebecca with a frown the whole time she was sipping her beer. As the tempo of the song picked up, he must have decided his own lines fit the circumstances perfectly. He grabbed the bottle from her hand and gave it a disgusted sniff. Using Sweeney’s Todd’s impassive voice, he almost sang the words, but not quite.

“Is that piss?”

This looks like piss.

Sure smells like piss.

It must be piss.”

Justyn put the bottle down on the coffee table and shrugged his shoulders. Everyone else around them thought it was funny, but Rebecca wasn’t in the mood for a sing-along. She glared at him once before snatching back her bottle and draining it. She wouldn’t say it was making her feel better, but her whole body was beginning to numb. That was certainly better than the constant, unrelenting fear. She didn’t even care that she was feeling lightheaded and just a little queasy. When the bottle was empty, she reached toward the cooler to get a third. Frankie had already moved on to hand out his “miracle potion” to a group of orchestra girls, who seemed entranced by his boyish charms.

At least someone is having fun at this lame party,
Rebecca thought to herself.

She was just about to twist off the cap when she noticed Scott and Chad were having fun of a completely different sort. One of them had pulled out a little baggie filled with white powder. A few other kids rubbed their hands together expectantly, but most of them had the sense to stay away. Some guy Rebecca had never seen before went over to Quinn and, looking angry, tapped him on the shoulder. When he pointed out what was happening, Quinn leaped off the sofa, leaving Megan alone to sip her beer for the first time that night. Rebecca wasn’t sure how many drinks Megan had, but based on the fact that she was covering her mouth to stifle giggles about nothing, Rebecca assumed it was too many.

“Hey, man,” Quinn said to Chad, just as he was about to spill the bag onto a glass table where a ruler already waited. “We don’t allow that shit in our frat house. Put it away or get out.”

“What’s the matter, Quinn?” Scott jibed. “Too good for a hit?”

“I’m not playing games with you, Scott,” Quinn said, tight-lipped. “We don’t have many rules when it comes to parties here. Alcohol is fine, and even a little weed we could overlook, but not this. Either it goes or
you
go.”

A few of Quinn’s frat brothers, including the guy who had called him over, were suddenly standing behind him with their arms crossed. They were all so handsome and well-dressed, they hardly seemed threatening. Again Rebecca was reminded of a boy band. There were
a lot
of boy bands running around the New York School of Performing Arts. Still, they must have made an impression, because Chad rolled his eyes and stuck the bag back into this pocket.

“You guys are such a downer,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re missing, but whatever. More for us later.”

Rebecca shook her head as she twisted off the lid of her beer. She didn’t know what Scott and Chad were thinking, messing with those drugs. If they got caught with them on campus, their careers would be over. Of course, underage drinking held penalties of its own. Something she knew Justyn was thinking when he leaned in a little closer and watched her take a sip of her third beer. He had been quiet most of the time, but she should have known he would have to speak up eventually.