Claimed at dark

Fear is never something I really had to deal with. As a child I never was scared too often and when I did become frightened, it took a lot to do so. One of my all time favorite movies as a child was The Exorcist. Does that make me strange? No, But needless to say I do tend to stray from all things normal. In the situation I'm in now, fear would be something that most girl my age would feel. The auditorium is filled with college sponsors and parents, so many people that not a seat in the house was empty. Except for the two that were reserved for my parents. Where were they?

"Rebecca, You know peeking will only make a dancer more nervous!" Olivia said from behind me.

She is performing first and I was last. For the past ten minutes while everyone warmed up, she has been pacing back and forth, anxiety smeared into every inch of her face. This performance was to be the last chance to show our talents to the college scouts. It was only the beginning of our senior year, but these select college elites only toured once, starting with our school. For me, I was performing with dreams of being accepted into Juilliard, New York City's top performing arts school. Today would sign my fate and determine who it is I would become in the future.

"Okay students gather around! We are about to begin!" I took a quick look out into the audience one last time to see if they were here yet and only disappointment was what I saw. As our Instructor talked and wished us luck, I pulled my phone out and sent them a text message.

"WHER R U? We're About to start!"

By the time I hit send, the huddle was over and Mrs Forrester was heading to center stage to introduce herself and us to the crowd. Her speech was short and simple, complimentary and thoughtful; not over done. It wasn't about her or her background; It was about us. Quickly after ending her welcome, she introduced Olivia and the crowd went into loud applause. I watched as she walked out with poise, and confidence. The nervous girl who was just sweating bullets back stage was no longer in this building. She gave a quick curtsey to the judges and scouts and turned to face the curtain. The music began and she sprang into her routine. I've watched her rehearse it before but never has she delivered it with such power and ferocity. She was an excellent dancer, but I was better. I was number one in our class which is why I was asked to go last. Mrs Forrester wanted the scouts to remember me, to be blown away with my technique. She assured me this was the best thing to do, however now watching Olivia completely destroy all of her fears, and knowing I had to watch eight more girls perform before me, was now starting to weigh on me. Not because I was scared, but because I would soon grow impatient.

Olivia ended her routine and the scouts seemed very pleased. I saw a few begin to jot things down on their notebook, Others did not; including the one from Juilliard. She would not be attending NY with me, but to know she was going to be accepted somewhere or even considered was very pleasing to me. The next few girls came on and performed well also but my attention was on the two empty chairs with my name on it. Where were they? I suddenly started to feel like something might have happened but I didn't want to think too negatively. I glanced at my phone and saw that I missed a text message from them.

"Running Late! be there shortly. Love you"

A weight was lifted off my chest and I felt like I could breath again. I looked out at the audience again and saw my dance partner Miguel. He waved with high energy and mouthed "Good Luck" to me. He was my gay best friend and really supported me. IT sucks that I couldn't perform with him since we worked so well together but he understood the necessity of showing of strengths as a solo dancer. Finally after all the girls have went, and the scouts looked irritated, it was now my turn. Mrs Forrester approached the mic and began to introduce me.

"Last but not least, We have an amazing dancer who is sure to have everyone entertained, and feeling things they haven't felt in a long time. She is a joy to have here at Lancaster High school and I'm sure a lot of you will remember her name. Rebecca Rhodes."

The applauds were loud but not distracting. My chin was held up high as I pranced out on stage. One last glance over the crowd showed that my parents had not arrived, but I couldn't let this stop my performance. I gave my curtsey to the judges and scouts, winked at Miguel who had tears building up in his eyes with a smile that stretched across his face and turned toward the curtains. I took a deep breath in, and exhaled as the piano began playing. The song is called "Dancing" and it is by Elise. As her hypnotizing voice comes on, I launch into my routine. A routine I've kept private for I didn't want to spoil it for anyone. Not even Miguel has seen this routine so it was a very special moment. I've worked so hard on perfecting it and that definitely showed. My Leg extensions were perfect, my back arched at the correct angles. My hands floated through the air as I executed each move at the correct marks. The powerful lyrical routine showed all my strengths, which is what I needed to do If I were to get the attention of the Juilliard scouts. I glanced at him as I launched into a pirouette and saw that he finally looked like he had saw something he liked. I couldn't help but smile as I spun across the stage.

One spin, two spin, three. The third was the last before launching into a mid air split that was sure to catch the everyones attention leaving their mouths open, jaws on the floor. It was the opening of the doors at the back of the auditorium that caused almost everyone to turn around, missing the perfect landing. "DONT STOP" I say to myself, so I kept going. As I lifted myself up, I saw Mrs Forrester run to the back of the room to yell at whoever it was who rudely entered as well as the Juilliard Scout smile at my continuation of dance. It wasn't until I over heard the loud gasp and sob that I decided to quickly glance at the back of the auditorium. It was the two cops who spoke to a shocked Mrs Forrester who now had my attention. A strange gut feeling hit me and I faltered in my dance routine. I tried to regain my footing and press on, but when I saw her look then point at me, then the cops as well, I knew something happened.

The routine was no longer important. I knew it was my parents, something happened. Something bad. I froze on stage as everyone watched the cops walk toward me. The music either stopped playing or everything went silent in my head. My heart pounded and for some reason I knew what happened. The police were now inches from my feet asking me to step off the stage with them. I felt a lump in my throat and in defiance, said no. I demanded they tell me right there what was going on, but I knew. They looked at each other and back at me. Everything became blurry then as my tears welded up in my eyes.

"Rebecca..." Mrs Forrester now said fighting through her tears. Her hand was on my foot, she looked up at me from under the stage.

"Rebecca dear, there was an accident..."

"Mom ... Dad..." I couldn't even fight the words. They just came out in a voice that was unfamiliar to me. I sounded like a wounded child asking for her parents.

"I'm sorry my dear ... they didn't make it"

If the shock wasn't there, I'm sure I would have felt the pain inflicted on my knees when I landed on them. If my heart beat wasn't so loud as it pounded in my chest and broke into a million pieces, I'm sure I would have been able to hear my screams. Everything was a blur as my tears fell from my face. Hands were reaching for me but I pushed them away. One of the police officers then lifted me off the stage and began to carry me out as I still screamed for them. One moment I had everything I wanted and was about to get one more of my dreams turned into a reality and the next, everything was gone and taken from me.