The Price {Completed}

Chapter Eight

The crowd erupted into outrage, demanding to see the end of the story, but I barely noticed them as Mr. Lennox finally slowed. He forced me around to face him and jabbed his finger in my face.

"What was that?" he demanded, shaking me.

Before I could answer, I caught a glimpse of Ferdinand running up from the darkened stage behind Mr. Lennox. He ripped his lace mask off as he drew near. "They're calling for us to finish! Don't you hear that?"

"Did you think I would let that base display of utter disregard for the art continue?" Mr. Lennox said, tightening his grasp on my wrist until I was forced to flinch. Seeing it, Ferdinand's jaw clenched and he tried to make a grab for my arm, but Mr. Lennox moved me out of reach.

"Stay out of it, Popov," Mr. Lennox hissed, turning back to face me.

Ferdinand didn't do as told. "Leave her alone."

As if he were a string wound so tightly that it suddenly snapped, Mr. Lennox let go of my arm to grab a handful of the fine hairs at the back of my head. The tender skin shrieked in protest as he whipped me around, and I gasped in pain. Pinned between Ferdinand and Mr. Lennox, I could only stare at the latter with wide eyes as I tried not to move.

"Stop!" Ferdinand said, once again making a bid for me, but Mr. Lennox pushed him sharply back with the end of his cane.

"Mr. Lennox, you're hurting me," I stuttered, gripping his hand to try and relieve the pull on my hair. Tears filled my eyes even though I fought against them.

"I should have you thrown out. Both of you!" he shouted.

Through the blurred tears I saw the gathering group of the corps dancers watching with their mouths hanging open in a semi-circle around us. They witnessed as I froze at the prospect of being kicked out of the company. My blood ran cold and I shook. Banned from the only life I knew? The one thing that kept me sane, ripped from me as painfully as a scab? The thought was so foreign that the mere mention of it strangled me until I gasped for air.

"What are you talking about? We were dancing!" Ferdinand shouted back. His face had gone white, with mottled red around his cheeks. Mr. Lennox barked out a harsh laugh.

"Dancing? You were doing something entirely different from what I told you. That was some hodge-podge of puppy love and amateur form. It was laughable and crude." He shook my head for emphasis, pulling more of my hair from my scalp in his grip. "There is no room in this ballet for anyone but me. You do not exist."

With a stillness and foolish self-confidence that I somehow knew was something as inbred into him as racing was in a thoroughbred, Ferdinand hissed an answer through clenched teeth. "Well, the audience clearly liked our version more. They want life in a ballet. They want to see life and love, and you-" But before he could say any more, Mr. Lennox raised his free arm. I thought he meant to clear away the audience, make sure they weren't here to witness this mutiny, but then I saw the horrible truth as the cane clenched in his fist arced through the air toward Ferdinand's face.

A sickening crack filled the air, mingled with my screams, as Ferdinand collapsed to the floor with a heavy thump. While still clutching me, Mr. Lennox swung the cane again and again, landing echoing blows on bone and flesh.

"What are you doing?" I screamed, trying to grab his hand before he could land another blow on Ferdinand.

"Stay out of it, Nadia," Mr. Lennox said, wrenching the back of my head down so that I gasped in pain. I ignored the burning in my scalp though and glared at him through the sheets of hair tumbling from my bun.