3. A new grey and terrible day .

Yuree

" No please !" the girl cried out in fear , her eyes stared at me with abject terror . She was shaking with fear but I kept my face neutral....cold . I took hold of her hand and raised the knife in my hand . This was it , her final part . With this knife she would die and I would be a killer .

All for my love .

" No , don't , Please - Ahhh!" she screamed as the knife came down .

" Cut !" Mrs Wen said and we immediately stopped .

" What's wrong miss?" the girl asked and Mrs Wen just shook her head with disgust .

" It's not enough . It's not GOOD enough . " Mrs Wen said getting off her seat and walking up on to the stage .

We were in a large auditorium , three sections of over 150 seats each filled the room . There was a cloak of darkness by the seats , the only light was the one on the stage .

A couple of students sat by the front rows , they had been watching us perform our scene . That's the life of a drama club member , everyone gets to judge you . And from the look on Mrs Wen's face we had obviously done something wrong .

" Do you know what you did wrong ?" she asked looking at me and the girl . I knew we did something wrong , I thought .

" Well ...I guess I moved too fast ? or was I supposed do something before stabbing her ?" I asked looking at one of the students holding the script .

" No , and no Yuree ." Mrs Wen said holding my shoulders in a firm grip whilst smiling a cold smile . Then she turned her head sharply at the girl , " Your acting was not bad ...It was a catastrophe , rapped in a disaster and with a cherry of BAD !" she yelled and the girl visibly flinched, while I lowered my eyes .

" But miss I did all the right motions , I said all my lines correctly and I -"

" And I don't care ". Mrs Wen interrupted the girl with a condescending smile ,"You forget who's directing this play and who is the drama teacher here . Is it you ?"

The girl looked down and shook her head dumbly . This seemed to please Mrs Wen and she smiled .

" The scene is of the lover killing his girlfriend inorder to be with the person he loves . Or the person he thinks he loves , but the real person he loves is the victim, the girlfriend he is killing ! And looking at you two , I don't see chemistry I see a catastrophe waiting to happen . how many times have I said this?"

" Five times ." one of the students said , Mrs Wen looked at him as if he'd told her how many times she had sneezed .

" Well miss we tried the exercises you taught us about putting on a convincing affinity and I -" the girl said lamely but Mrs Wen was faster .

" I don't care , do you hear me ? I-DO-NOT-CARE ! " she said pressing the bridge of her nose and squinting her eyes shut . She heaved a big sigh and then lifted her head and regarded both me and the girl , turning her head from side to side as if it was the first time she was looking at us .

Her head stopped at the girl .

" Lassy do you have a boyfriend ?" She asked suddenly and the girl, Lassy blinked at the change indirection but answered quick enough .

" Yes Mrs Wen "

Mrs Wen narrowed her eyes but then turned her head to me ,

" And you Yuree , anyone special ?"

" umm well ...I um " I stammered at the intimate and really sensitive question .

" So no " She guessed and then she gave another sigh .

" This won't work , at all . You two can't do this . " she said gravely and I felt ill at ease .

" What do you mean Mrs Wen ?" I asked , and she laughed .

" What I mean is we can not have you two playing the leads . "

" But miss , we're try ...give us more time , we can get it -" Lassy started but Mrs Wen raised her hand and the girl closed her mouth .

" That's the problem , your trying to give someone feelings you feel for someone else . So Lassy your out and Yuree can stay ...he has no emotional hiccups and we can build on his lovelessness ."

I stood stunned , not again !

This was the fourth girl removed from the play . The first one was too forgetful of the script , the second was too lazy in her acting , the third came only to eat from the snack bar and now Mrs Wen got rid of another girl because she was in a relationship !

I was getting tired of this , I was the male lead in this play but I'd barely gotten to finishing a quarter of the script . At this rate we were never going to finish rehearsals or even put on the play .

" But I ... How is it ...how is it a problem if I have a boyfriend ?" Lassy said tears in her eyes , but her face was angry ," How does it matter ?"

Mrs Wen smiled condescendingly at her , " I just explained , listen well next time . Now there is door , please use it . Your acting career ends here ."

" This is crazy ! I should be the one to play this part ! I'm in a relationship and know what love is . But what about him ?" she pointed at me , " He can't bring out anything romantic ...he's single and has been single since freshman year ! " .

" Thank you for the information ...Now please use the door . " Mrs Wen said this time the smile was strained , she was mad .

" Fine I'll go . But here's some extra information , that boy over there won't be able to bring out any romantic feelings with any girl you bring ...you want to know why ?" Lassy said smilling venomously and I looked down ready for the blow .

" He likes men ... do you hear me ? Men ! Not women , so if I was you I would choose a different male lead ...instead of just switching up girls like clothes !" and with that Lassy stormed out with her back straight and not a glance behind her .

The auditorium was silent for a few moments after she left . Nobody said anything, I kept looking down but I could feel the looks , the small glances going my way .

That was another I had forgotten to mention . I liked men , not women . It wasn't a secret but I didn't exactly advertise it . Or yell it at the top of my lungs like Lassy had . But I felt sorry for her , she was a good actress , and she loved it . I didn't blame her for what she said , she had been hurt , that had been obvious with the tears in her eyes. But she'd acted tough and walked out . Just like a good actress .

" Just like a drama queen ." Someone said from the row of seats , a moment later there was a agreement . Nobody here was unaware of my preferences , so what she said was no surprise . They'd just been glancing at me to how I would react . I had chosen to do nothing . So to them it was fine .

" Well there goes another one ," Mrs Wen said as if it wasn't her fault Lassy had left .

" Yuree ? " she said looking down thoughtfully ,

" Yes Mrs Wen ?" I responded ,

" Do you like your part ? Your character ?" she asked me and I was thrown aback . Mrs Wen wasn't the type to ask what someone liked or didn't like . For her there was one rule , you take it and if not...I don't care . It was odd hearing this from her and for a moment I didn't know what to say but she stayed silent waiting for my answer .

" Well not the character exactly but I like the idealistic thought behind him . He is conflicted and confused , unsure about what's in his heart and I can relate to it alittle bit . But the rest , the deception and betrayal to his lover is not ... nice ."

" So you like the shade but not the hue of the persona . That ...is significant ." she said looking thoughtful .

" How Mrs Wen?"

" Nothing you have to worry about ... atleast not yet . But if the idea in my head takes a nice form , you may lose your part ." she said and before I could say anything she turned and walked away .

I was going to lose my part ?

I wish I had just said yes or no instead of being so honest !

?????

" You can't stay here , it's depressing and ... dead . A joke by the way ." Olibia said , she had told me her name last night . I had told her it was a beautiful name and she had smiled proudly but with a raised nose in the air , like she knew it was beautiful but it was okay for me to tell her so .

" Where...must...I...go ?" I asked her , talking was getting easier but I still couldn't talk fast . Every word seemed to be forced from my mouth deep in my throat .

" Anywhere but here . Staying in a graveyard won't help with your unfinished business . " She looked at the graves scattered around like stones , we were underneath an old tree . I had crawled here in the night from my ...my grave .

Olibia had tried to get my name from it but " It's a paupers grave . So that means you were too poor for a real tombstone and the slab of granite that they put there only has R.I.P written on it . No name , no birthday or when you died . " she had huffed at the unfairness of the it all .

" No name ...then... who am...I ?" I asked her and she shook her head .

" I don't have the answer to any of these questions but I'd trade Anubis's staff for them ." she had said .

" But ...back...at the...stairs...you... had...a file...on me."

" What ?" she asked her eyesbrows raised , then she realized what I was talking about ," Oh you mean your file . It's not a medical record or a detailed story if your life . It's a contract with the Death , signed by your soul as it moves to hereafter . There's no personal details except how you died and looking at you it's obvious . "

I looked down at my shirt , it was dirty from crawling through the ground and a large part of the front was missing . I could see my chest , I had stab wounds .

They were dry and dirty , very little blood at all . I felt no pain from them . Actually I barely felt anything at all .

The first physical sensation I had felt was pain when Olibia reached into my mind . But besides that I felt nothing , no hunger , not cold even though it looked like a cold day with grey clouds and a strong breeze . But I felt nothing ...just nothing .

" Okay here's an idea . " Olibia said suddenly ," how about you go into town and there you might be able to find out your business , finish it and then crossover ."

It didn't seem like a bad idea . But first I would have to get there . I could see it from where I was sitting . I saw tall buildings far off from where we were .

" I don't think you can crawl your way there . Time to use those legs before they fall off. " She said and I couldn't tell whether she was joking or not.

I braced one hand on the tree and then the other . Using it as a hand hold I tried to lift myself on my left leg but I instantly collapsed . I got up and tried again , this time holding a firmer grip on the trunk of the tree . I put my right leg down and lifted my body weight on it . I stood up. I turned to face the direction I was to go .

" Mm not bad , not too bad atleast ." Olibia said tisking her tongue ," But that's standing , not walking. "

I held the tree tight and then took a step . My leg fell , alittle numb and I had to pick myself up .

" Oh void , this is going to take light centuries ."

Actually it took about half an hour but by then I had learnt to walk again and didn't need to hold the tree .

" Oh sweet light , finally . Now town is that way " she said pointing to the far away buildings. I smiled at her and her reaction told me I may have done it wrong . She flinched and grimaced , I felt bad . I couldn't feel my face so I didn't know if I was smiling or snarling .

" Sorry ... about...that ." I apologized .

" We need to get you out of those rags . if you stay like the way you are , you'll draw in the wrong crowd . " She said ," Come on let's get you something inconspicuous but with a little style ."

Then in a twinkling flash she was gone and I was all alone .

[ AUTHOR'S NOTE

Olibia doesn't have legs this whole time . She thought about coming in a physical form but as she left the spirit world she thought against it . " I can't be bothered with gravity " is what she said and so throughout the novel she is completely legless and floats like a mystical spirit . ]