C7 S07:Curtain Call

"Alright hear me out! You have 30 minutes left before the curtain call. Everyone please get in place. This will be your last act of today. Don't forget that this performance is about more than just a role in the play we have been working on together. Let's finish it with a perfect ending. That's all from me."

The sound of applause broke through the room after Ms. Lyn was done with her speech. Followed by several excited screams and whistles from some members of the cast and crew.

It was now their final show, and they were all so close to the end of it that they couldn't wait anymore.

The cast began filling out their dressing rooms one by one as they prepared themselves for the last scene of their show. Some headed directly backstage while others made their way over to different locations in the audience seating area.

"Safiyya..."

I turned to look behind me.

"What is it, Elena?"

"Your freckles are showing. Let me put makeup on them."

She grabbed onto my arm and pulled me over towards the makeup area. Then she stood next to me with several bottles of concealer, blush, eyeliner and mascara. I could feel her fingers softly moving across my face as she applied the make-up to make sure everything was covered properly.

I let my head lean back while my eyes stared at her reflections in the mirror in front of us both.

"Your hand feels cold. Did something make you nervous?"

My questions made her hands stop moving.

"What..."

"You saw it, didn't you?"

I glanced at her.

Her eyes widened slightly when she realized what I meant.

"Who would've thought that you came at the right time. If it isn't because of you, Director Braydon had already strangled to death by my hands. But there's one thing I want to ask."

I grabbed her hand as she tried to pull away. She flinched, looking at me with fear.

"Why don't you tell them the truth? About whom I really am behind the mask I'm wearing? The director could just fire me that day and you're not going to tremble like you do right now, are you?"

Her hands trembled in my hold while she stared at my face. I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"P-Please don't kill me..."

"Elena, what did you take me for? Do you really think I'm a maniac that would kill other people without any reason? I wouldn't hurt anyone unless they deserve it. Just tell me your reason."

Her lips quivered as she looked down.

"I can't tell them because... you didn't do it."

This caused me to raise my eyebrows. I slowly released her hands.

"I guess you do have a brain. You're right. Even if you tried to tell them, you don't have any proof to back up your claims. So, I won't hurt you and I'll leave it like this. You may leave me now. I can finish up the rest myself."

With that, I turned back to the mirror and continued applying my makeup.

Elena walked slowly towards the door. After making sure the door was closed, tears started flowing down her cheeks as she accidentally bumped into someone. She muttered an apology before running away.

~ ~ ~ ~

"I didn't know you could be such a bully, Saphie. Is this what you really look like outside of school?"

Naura glared at me while crossing her arms.

A smug smirk crept on my lips.

"What a surprise to see our VIP here when the play hasn't ended yet. Were you that excited to get my autograph? Oh~ What an honor."

Her glare intensified.

"Are you trying to provoke me?"

I chuckled at Naura's words.

"Silly. You were only brave enough to bully me in school. But here, you can't even do anything. How pitiful."

She clenched her teeth.

I stood up straight and stepped forward to face Naura.

"You may think you have it easy, since you were born with everything you want, but you can never forget that karma is a real b*tch. You and everyone, including Emily, will pay for your actions. Now if that's all, I'll leave to get my spotlight back."

With that, I grinned at her before I made my way out of the dressing room leaving Naura alone behind. I passed by many people who were talking amongst themselves as they waited for the curtain to go down.

As I arrived backstage, I stood on the right side next to the curtains. I watched the last play where both main characters had their wedding after the villain's death. The moment I saw Emily standing there with a smile on her face, it felt like my stomach churned in pain.

Somehow, this scene reminded me of nine years ago. The day where I almost turned into a killer, but I managed to stop myself from shooting the stranger. Instead, my bullet grazed the side of his forehead. That guy thought that he was going to die, and started to fall unconscious on the ground.

I remember how horrified I was and the fear I felt. At first, I just wanted to scare him but, in the end, I almost took away a human's life.

I quickly put the gun back inside my backpack and ran out from the alleyway. But there was also someone else who might have heard everything. When I looked up, there she was; a little girl who's the same age as mine, staring at me.

Her eyes widened in shock as she pointed at me.

"Your clothes are covered in blood! Are you okay?!"

I froze. That blonde-haired girl's voice rang in my ears. My head started spinning so fast that I stumbled backward and fell onto something hard. The world around me faded away until the one thing that kept me focused was those blue eyes staring at me concernedly.

'She still had that same look in her eyes.'

Emily has been nothing but kind and understanding towards me ever since we've met. If there's one person I could give my trust, it's Emily. And so, being close to her always puts some sense of ease into me.

She's just so... perfect and it's honestly hard to believe I was being used by someone like her. And now, I'm not only losing my childhood friend, but I also lost another 'treasure' I want to protect.

But I don't regret it because I know, someone like me can never truly love anyone or be loved by everyone. People are only temporary in my life and once they're gone, all memories and feelings will disappear along with them. That's why I don't let myself feel anything or feel attached to them for too long.

The same goes for my siblings. I never truly loved them, but I still keep them close to me. If they ever tried to disobey me, then they'd suffer the consequences.

I'm the only one who can control them. I'm the only one who can hurt them. And I'm the only one who can save them.

To me, everyone who exists in my life has only one purpose and that is to fill up my loneliness. I do find it amusing to see so many kinds of expressions they show, which proves they're very good at acting. Most of the time, their reactions are very entertaining, and their actions are laughable to watch.

I've always thought it was funny how humans couldn't tell the difference between right and wrong. All they did was blindly follow what their hearts told them. They were simpletons. That's how I've come up with one conclusion.

Humans are the thing I need but not what I wanted.

Unlike objects that couldn't be fixed, they're good enough to replace the ones I've lost. It would make everything go back to normal and I would have a new beginning, without having to worry about their possible betrayal.

That's why I have to watch out and make sure they never use me again.

The sounds of applause rang through the auditorium as the final performance finished. I put on the mask and walked onto the stage while trying to hide the smile forming on my face. I could hear everyone in the audience gasping as I walked down the center where the main characters sat themselves.

"She's the villain, right? Isn't she supposed to be dead?"

"Whoa! What happened to the ending plot? Why does it look different?"

"What's happening here?"

Those were all the comments I heard, and I chuckled slightly at that before the lights dimmed and went completely dark. I didn't bother looking around, knowing that the audience would have already seen who I was.

I kept walking forward until I finally stood right next to Emily and when I stopped, my body began to glow under dark purple lights that covered the stage.

I turned to her, seeing the shock written across her face. What's more shocking to her and everyone is when I shamelessly snatched the crown on her head and placed it on top of mine using one hand.

When our eyes met, my smirk grew, and a wicked glint appeared in my eyes.

"Heed my words, all of you! I'm the one who should become the next Empress. Not you, Lady Arius. Even if I die, I shall bring the crown inside my grave and I will never let anyone take what belongs to mine again."

With those words left hanging in the air, the entire theater went silent as soon as I made my proclamation.

Emily stared in disbelief, unable to form any words. While everyone else stared wide eyed at the scene in front of them. Some of them even had their mouths open, clearly shocked at what I've done. Slowly, every single person stands up from their seats to stare at me and applaud.

I felt my smile widen as I looked down at Director Braydon.

The director's eyes were shut tight, and his fingers gripped the edge of the chair he was sitting on, his entire face filled with hatred and anger.

After watching him react this way, I finally turned my attention back to Emily, whose eyes were still locked with mine.

"You're going to pay for betraying me."

Before she could say something else, I turned on my heel and disappeared, leaving behind chaos in my back.

'This is just the beginning.'

~ ~ ~ ~

"SAFIYYA HAMARSYA!!!"

I was about to turn when a hand landed on the side of my face, followed by a string of profanities.

"You! How dare you ruin my stage with your sudden appearance! Have you any idea what you almost cost us? It's sixty-nine million! Did you have money to compensate for everything?!"

My eyes immediately shot up to Director Braydon.

He seemed angrier than usual, how surprising. He must be mad at me for making him lose his precious money.

I stayed quiet, waiting for the director to finish his rant. Then, my gaze moved to the rest of the cast who were also glaring at me.

Most of them stare at me with angry looks on their face, while others are smirking like I deserve to get slapped right on the face.

My eyes quickly shifted to Emily who looked away. It's obvious that she's also disappointed with what I did.

"Are you serious?! Do you even have any self-respect!? You caused a scene in the middle of the most important play of the year and ruined the whole production? You didn't even attend the rehearsal!"

"I did attend the rehearsals-"

"You only came on the last day before the performance!"

He shouted with a bloodshot in his eyes.

'Ops... Well, it's not like my absence would affect anything anyway. I'll just pretend I don't hear that.'

"Director, please calm down."

It was Emily who spoke up.

"Calm down? Calm down? Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous!"

As the yelling continued to increase in volume and intensity, a voice called out in the midst.

"Sir! The sponsors are here! Please calm down!"

Ms. Lyn shouted.

Director Braydon stopped his rant abruptly and looked towards the door. His expression softened once he saw that it was a man dressed in a suit. Behind him was a woman in a white dress holding a clipboard in her hands.

The man took a step closer towards the director and gave him a small bow.

"Mr. Braydon. As you may already know, we came here to congratulate you on finally finishing your play successfully. However, due to the incident that happened during the stage performance, can I ask if you could please explain the situation?"

Director Braydon took a deep breath and started to speak as the sponsor listened intently to what he had to say. After a few minutes, he pointed at me.

"This girl, Safiyya, was apparently a part of our main cast for the last two years. Before the play, she blackmailed everyone including myself by trying to sabotage the theater. In a fit of rage, I decided to fire her, but she was adamant to stay so I sent her here to perform alongside our female leads. Unfortunately, she couldn't complete her role after that and caused a scene."

The sponsors nodded his head as he continued to listen to Director Braydon's explanation. Then he turned to me.

"Can you take off your mask now?"

At the request of the sponsors, I was obliged and removed the mask.

A gasp immediately escaped both sponsors' mouths.

"So, it was you all along... But you..."

He said before turning to the director.

"I think there must be some mistakes here. Perhaps this isn't the same person. Maybe a replacement actor or something."

Director Braydon and the rest of them stared at him in confusion.

"My apologies but do you know her?"

The sponsor frowned.

"You didn't know Ms. Hamarsya?"

"She's the real sponsor who sponsored this whole production and brought this play to life. She helped pay for the budgets and the actors' salaries, and even prepared high-class free meals for the cast and crew every time during rehearsal."

The woman turned to speak. She handed a piece of paper from her clipboard to Director Braydon.

"Her name is also written in the contract."

After reading the name aloud, Director Braydon suddenly went pale and dropped the piece of paper.

"That's... That's impossible!"

He stammered.

My eyes followed the paper as it fell on the floor before staring back at everyone. A satisfying smirk adorned my face as they kept looking horrified and shock was clear on their faces.

"Well... Such a disappointment. You're right, Director Braydon. You should have fired that 'girl' earlier..."

I bent down to pick up the paper.

"And now, 'she' ruined everything I've poured myself into. Such an idiot would not be tolerated at the end of the day. The contract will be nullified from now on."

With a cold look in my eyes, I rip the paper into pieces and watch everyone's expressions change. They looked like they had just been struck by lightning, their faces were as white as the walls around us.

Now the contract has been annulled, all of them are going to pay back everything that I've given to them. Including my honor and respectability.

Once I'm done shredding the pages, I threw the scraps onto the ground and gave them one last glance. As soon as my eyes landed on Emily, I grinned sinisterly at her as I turned my head away.

I never thought using people and watching them turning into miserable beings would be so satisfying. They thought I was scared and weak because of them. But they didn't know, I purposely let them feel that sense of superiority. I'll escort them to a higher place and once they reach the summit, that's the moment where I push them off to their death. And seeing Emily being reduced to such misery was more than enough.