Vivienne
I was sent home the next morning, the doctor gave me some painkillers and told me to not get the cast wet. I did not care about the cast, I did not care about anything at all. I was in a daze still in disbelief, I have nothing left. I lost the last hope, I lost everything.
I sat on my dark green couch staring at my violin, it only had a few scratches on the outside, nothing wood polish wouldn't fix. I was more worried about the violin than I was worried about myself, it was everything I had and everything I ever wanted. "Honoré Derazey, Paris circa 1860" as my grandma used to tell me, it was an antique piece that she owned. She told me a woman gave it to her great-great-grandma many years ago, then her great-grandma got a hold of it until it reached her and lastly me.
For those who see it, they assume it was just an old instrument without meaning, yes it looked old and beat up but it was everything I've ever wanted, it was something that'll never lose or get rid of. It meant everything to me.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
I was able to hear my ringtone go off since I had my hearing aids on, I answered the phone seeing that the director was calling me. I realized today was practice day and I didn't inform him about my accident and didn't even show up to the theater.
"Vivienne? Where the hell are you?" Mr. Coleman said with a serious tone, he was an old man who I respected very much but sometimes he gets on my nerves, he can be very annoying.
"I don't think I can make it Mr. Coleman, I've had a terrible accident and I broke my hand" I stared at my right hand with pity, pity for myself. I heard him gasp loudly from the other side of the phone, I sighed knowing where he was going with this, He was going to call me reckless and irresponsible.
"How can you be so reckless Vivienne, you know we have an event in two months. An event where you're supposed to be solo playing" That I didn't know, he never confirmed it to me he only said I "might" play but never said it was for sure. I can't believe this is happening to me, when I break my wrist and won't ever be able to play again I get the only chance to be the concertmaster.
"At least show up for practice today, I need you to check the main composition for any mistakes."
"It doesn't need to be checked, I wrote the damn thing." I hang up the phone and stood up to put my violin back in its protective case, what bothers me is that if you see my house, my room especially, you'd be so surprised by the number of crumpled music sheets thrown on the ground, just for my compositions to not be recognized as my own.
I'm not saying they're using me to get famous, they just add my name as "co-composer" next to our conductor. Okay fine...maybe they are using me, but I needed the job, I needed the money to pay rent and to live. I had no other option.
The theater was only five minutes away from my apartment so I didn't bother to dress up, I stayed in my sweats and loose shirt. I made my way inside the place hearing the faint sound of melodies, the closer I got the more clear it got.
"No! NO! Dave, you messed up again!" I heard the conductor yell, I sighed and cleared my throat to grab his attention.
"He didn't, you're going too fast. It's up down and up again, not up up, and down" I gesture to Patrick, the conductor, he and I didn't like each other at all. I was much much better than him and he couldn't get it through his hard head.
"But he messe-"
"I know what I heard, he didn't. Dave, can you go again please?" I snatched the baton from Patrick's hand and nodded to the musicians to get ready, I gently grabbed the stick between the fingers of my injured hand and closed my eyes. Without having to stare at the music sheet I gesture, directing the orchestra. The music and the melody played softly going perfectly just like how I imagined it. Flawless by all means.
"Not even one...mistake" I threw the baton to its owner with an unbothered look before making my way to the director's office, Patrick was so full of himself and for nothing. He never accepts that there are people out there who are better than him.
"Mr. Coleman"
"Ah Vivienne, great timing. I was on the phone earlier, with this old friend of mine and I remembered you told me you broke your wrist, right?" I sat down on the chair in front of his desk and confirmed what he just asked,
"Well, he told me there's this woman who can help you heal faster. And you might even make it on time for the event" A woman who'd help me heal? Is she some sort of witch? I don't believe in these fairytales but at this moment anything that'll help me get back my healthy hand I'm ready to try it. Mr. Coleman handed me a handwritten paper with only an address and a first name. I signed 'thank you' and stood up getting out of his office.
"Dalida?" what an odd name, I've never heard it before. I was pretty sure this address was only a few streets away so I'll most likely go check it out later.
Practice went smoothly, a few remarks from Patrick that I chose to ignore by turning off my hearing aids, but other than that it went well. I was still upset I couldn't play with a cast on my wrist but oh well, I couldn't do anything about it.
I typed the address in my phone and it lead me to this old and small library four blocks away from the theater, I pushed the wooden door feeling a soft vibration on my palm as it pushed on the floor leaving a half-circular trail.
I walked to the front desk and tapped the bell, I waited patiently for a few seconds and a very old woman walked out from the back, she was at least over seventy with white hair and a bent posture. She was saying something but I wasn't hearing shit. I quickly put my hand in my pocket and took out my hearing aids.
"Sorry, what did you say?" The elderly woman smiled softly at me and gestured for me to follow her, and that's exactly what I did.
"What you're looking for is in aisle F on the right bookshelves," She said pushing the backdoor and pointing to the thousand rows of shelves that had my jaw on the floor. How would she know what I was looking for? Did Mr. Coleman tell her of my visit?
"Go on, don't be shy" she encouraged, I made my way to the aisle she told me about. I looked through the old books checking every name and title, it took me about an hour of searching to find an old weird-looking book that seemed to have a few recipes. It resembled a medicine book or a cookbook only for herbs, and step-by-step procedures to heal wounds and illnesses. I sat there reading through the interesting manual book, one page was more interesting than the next.
"Vampires?" I read out loud surprised at what I was looking at, not only was it describing what a vampire was and what it looked like, but also their natural habitats and abilities. Just as I was getting to the good part a voice interrupted me.
"It's late my dear, you can come back later," The older woman said with the same soft smile from earlier, I closed the book and put it back in its place. I must come back later to finish what I started, there must be more information. Perhaps I can heal my wrist and maybe my hearing as well, everything would work so perfectly when I find a way to fix my disabilities.
So, for the next few days, I spent my time in the library with Dalida. She'd refill my teacup every time I finish it, today was a bit of a rainy day. I didn't like the rain that much because it always got my aids wet and I'd have to blow dry them or put them in rice to get the water out. I put my hood on to protect my hearing aids as I rushed toward the library.
"Good morning Dalida" I greeted the older woman, oddly enough this time she didn't greet me back. She just nodded and kept reading the book she was holding in her hands. Maybe she wasn't in a good mood today, I sat in my usual spot at the back of the library and grabbed the book I'd been binge-reading for the past few days. I've already reached the last pages so I was truly excited to know what the last pages were talking about.
"Gibberish?" The sentences were just a random set of handwritten words stacked next to each other.
"I due soldati potissimi patientia et tempus, mitto te ad amantem tuum unum extremum tempus?" I said out loud, the same sentence was written three more times on the same page which kind of weirded me out. Some kid must've wanted to mess up the book by writing on it. I sighed and took a deep breath before closing the book.
The room started to shake suddenly, the books started to fall from the shelves as the ground shook under my feet. What the hell was happening? Was it an earthquake? I didn't know what was happening, my heart was beating so fast and my body was shaking as I tried to stay balanced. I looked up for a second and saw Dalida standing at the door with a blank face and completely black eyes.
"Dalida?" I watched her pull her arm up in front of her making me question what was going on. Her middle finger was on her thumb like she was about to snap them.
"il tempo ci cambia"
She snapped her fingers and everything went dark...
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Interesting already, just remember that this is a fantasy book.
muah
-S