The Daughter Of Dawn

CHAPTER 1

She ran through the dark alley. Not a soul was in sight. She couldn't figure out what she was running away from. She did know, though, that she was being chased. The alley came to a dead end. She had nowhere to go. She turned around and begged, "No! Please don't ! ". Now she saw what, rather who, was chasing her. He wore a black cloak with a hood, a bloody knife in his hand. It was a dark night, so she couldn't see his face.

"It's okay. We'll go easy on you. You're important to us"

who us? She wanted to know. But more than that, she wanted to escape. He came closer and closer , until she could finally see his face. A face that had haunted her for years.

She screamed and woke up, sweat trickling down her forehead. Her bed was covered in white sheets, with a red wooden frame. She wiped off the sweat and looked at the clock that read 5:07. She switched on the side lamp so that she could see in the mirror that stood opposite to the bed. She wore a white gown, which made her freakishly pale skin look normal. She had big, brown eyes, a long, narrow nose and freckles all over her face. She wasn't pretty. Her arms and legs were plum and she had dark circles under her eyes. She worked too hard to forget her past, she slept too less to avoid nightmares. Nothing helped much.

****************************

"No! Please don't " she begged. She ran in the school, hopelessly trying to escape. He fired. He shot her in the leg. She tripped , gasping. He wore a black cloak and his fingers were wrapped around a knife. He walked up to her . "Don't do it. Please! " , she cried, blood pouring out of her leg. He held her by her hair and dragged her all the way to the auditorium. She struggled as hard as she could, but eventually, she stopped.

*********************************

She got out of bed to get ready. She wore a baggy, sky blue shirt with jeans and tied her hair in a neat ponytail. She didn't eat her breakfast and left for The Palais Garnier.

The grand monument stood tall and broad. Its size normally scared people, but Dianna was used to it.

"Felix, a little to the right, please" she said loudly, but kindly.

"Oui" Felix did as she asked him to. He was her best actor, and her best friend. Also, she had developed a crush on him over the years . When she first came to France from the States, she was broke. She worked as a waitress until she wrote her first play 'Captain Crazy'. It was more successful than she expected, and she became more famous than she could handle. She never stopped after that. And then, she wrote the play that broke every theatre in France. "The Daughter Of Dawn" left everyone, including herself, breathless.

The one thing that was common in all of her plays was Felix. From her first, to the one she was making now, he was there in every single one of them. Despite that, they were still just friends.

"Let's take five" she said after a flawless take.

Felix held her by the arm, pulling her with him and sitting her down in a cafe next to the Palais. "Why are you working so hard? You should really take a break."

She wasn't going to tell him why she never took a break. He'd hate her. Was it because of the dome under her eyes? 

"I can't be looking that bad." She said, biting into her croissant. "You don't. You never do." He said , his smile faded,his green eyes diving into her brown ones, like he meant it. She gushed. Nonononono. Not now.

"So, how was your date with that girl? Veronica? "

"Victoria" he said, coughing. "Don't ask. And don't be surprised if you see a funny little tattoo on my right butt cheek." His French accent made it all the more funny. She laughed, something people didn't see her do very often.

"You should try going out too. You know, have fun, get laid." Felix said, smirking. He emphasized on 'get laid'

She laughed again. "Thanks for calling me tight-arsed. I will think about it, though. "

She wasn't going to think about it. She was never going to think about it. She couldn't. Her past wouldn't let her.