Page 64 of To Hell

“It’s almost time,” my assistant and a dresser, one of the many Ettore found me, Alan, whispers in my ear. He has a bizarre style. He is wearing overflowing red dress pants with a shirt that is busy everywhere. His smoky makeup matches the smokiness of his hair.

“Yeah,” I breathe, my eyes searching the rope of the audience to find Ettore standing beside someone in the corner and away from the eyes of any camera. It almost seems he is using the person as a shield so he doesn’t have his pictures out. I have never seen anyone who hates pictures like that man.

“It’s happening,” Valerie clacks in her heels and simple black dress with a neon-like necklace.

I sniff, my heart full to the brim. I suck in a deep nervous breath and watch the orchestra wait for their cue so the models can start filing out on the runway.

Valerie gives me a reassuring smile. “You've worked so hard for this, Zoe. Enjoy every moment.”

“I couldn't have done this without you.” I take her hand and kiss the back of it. After all these years, I worship her still.

“Hush now,” she pulls me away from the entrance to a stool we can both stand on while watching from the backstage comfortably.

My heart stops pumping, and my pulse roars in my ears as the lights dim and the eclectic music starts.

The first model steps onto the catwalk, showcasing the first piece of my collection. A holographic white dress with slits that should be provocative but somehow doesn’t show any skin.

I’m not breathing as I watch out for the audience’s reaction. As I see them turning their heads and hear the soft gasps filling the hall, my heart picks up the beat and my tears sprint, prickling my sinuses.

“Yes,” I catch my breath. “Yes!”

The next model steps out in an iridescent green dress, looking like a slave from the gladiator era but with accessories that make her royalty. My excitement swells with the audience's entrapped reaction.

I lived for this moment. There will never be another debut. Everything is perfect, the culmination of all my hard work and dreams.

I keep watching as my models file out elegantly, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much and my eyes burning from crying so hard.

I did it, Virgilio. You are not here to see it, but I did it for you. Here is my fire sign if you are alive. And if you are dead, here is a farewell, friend.

The final model takes the stage, and then it’s time for them to come out in a single file and for me to make an appearance, appreciating everyone with my courtesy bow. I brace up for it and the models file out, cat-walking around the curves carved out for them in the audience.

My closing model comes to stand beside me, giving me her arm, and I slip mine in. We take a step forward and all hell breaks loose.

The booming sound of gunfire slithers through the air, followed by screams and panic.

My heart seizes, and my world spins before my eyes as masked men stomp into the venue with their weapons drawn.

Chaos breaks out. People take cover, and Valerie pulls me backstage, heading for the dressing room.

“What is happening?” I’m already hyperventilating. My heart is jamming hard against my corseted chest and my stomach has turned into a sea of lead.

I knew it.

It was too good to be true.

Life couldn’t let me get this one moment. Life couldn’t let me win this one time.

“I don’t know,” Valerie continues maneuvering through the chaos. We are clambering past people screaming and taking flights. “Hurry!" She yells, pulling me down the hallway that leads to the dressing room, “Get in there,” she opens the door and is about to shove me in when a gun appears pointed at her forehead.

Valerie's face goes bland. It is the first time I've seen her tremble. That perfect cloak she uses to keep her emotions in the dark fades, and her eyes are instantly watering.

On the other hand, I’m back in that dark room with prowling eyes glaring at me and the lifeless body of my father within reach.

“She is coming with us,” the masked man pointing the gun drawls, pulling me to his side. Three more of his colleagues with their weapons circle Valerie to keep her in check, and I wiggle in his hold; my back hits another fleet of them.

“Let her go,” Valerie snaps with a trembling voice.

Everything happening around me feels like an out-of-body experience.

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