The email went out. “Sunset, I got beeswax for the concert and put it in the cupboard. It’s organic, so we don’t have to worry about any GMO-related infections.”
Answer came within the minute. Sunset must be at her computer. “Thanks, but aren’t you in your room? Why didn’t you just come out and tell me?”
Wallflower didn’t have the heart to admit she approached Sunset twice in the past hour, and had been ignored each time. And she certainly didn’t have the courage for a third attempt, so email it was.
Not so bad. Wallflower sat cross-legged on her bed, tick-tacking away on her laptop with cola and instant noodles close to hand. No need to get up, or be a bother to anyone.
A muffled voice came through her door. “Anyone mind if I do some music practice? Life-or-death struggles or no, I still have classes.”
Wallflower couldn’t hear the response, but she couldn’t imagine her tolerant dorm-mates refusing the free music. She even heard Twilight give a definite positive, and said something about listening while she gamed.
Adagio came into the bedroom, and closed the door securely behind. She didn’t ask if Wallflower cared, but that was fine.
Metal scraped, followed by a click. Adagio had locked the door.
...Strange. Wallflower watched the ex-siren curiously, caught by her movements. There was a flowing, swimming quality to her steps, and a haughty tilt to the nose. Her hips and arms swayed as though attracting lovers, somehow making her burgundy turtleneck the subject of allure.
Wallflower gave a low whistle. She wasn’t into girls – or honestly, much of anything – but something about Adagio…
The girl did not hear, and gave no greeting as she walked past her roommate to dig out the violin. That was fine. Adagio settled the instrument under her neck, raised her bow, and gave an irate sigh as a ringtone blared from her pocket. She traded violin for phone, and rolled her eyes while swiping the green button.
“Nobody calls anymore,” Adagio said into the phone. There was a cool edge to the words, far from her grumpy norm. “Seriously, just text me.”
A sharp female voice laughed over the line, loud enough for Wallflower to hear. “Most people would kill to hear my voice. I’m just making sure you don’t get cold feet.”
Sultrily, silkily, Adagio answered. “And blowing my cover. But whatever. I’m in private.”
“I could leave,” Wallflower volunteered.
Adagio did not notice. “Just remember your end. I do this, and you tell me everything.”
She turned with the words. Wallflower opened her mouth, and would have repeated the offer had Adagio’s movement not revealed a thoroughly unsettling expression on her face. It was flat and distant, beneath cold, killer eyes. One side of the mouth curled cruelly, and one finger balanced a dagger perfectly upon its point. Blue light shined from a gemstone at Adagio’s throat, casting her in a glow like a drowning ghost.
The killer eyes looked to Wallflower – but they just looked through her, then moved away. Wallflower quailed, and slowly closed her mouth.
Words came more softly through the phone. Adagio answered in a cold voice… everything felt cold all of a sudden. Wallflower grit her teeth, hunching down in petrified silence.
“I have all three of them here. Come on over. I’ll be done by the time you arrive.”
Adagio tossed phone and knife to the bed, and took up the violin. She stood, looming above Wallflower, facing the young girl and close enough to touch.
Bow touched string. Music flowed – unearthly, beautiful, unholy. Far more perfect than the half-constructed melodies Adagio played for them before. Serene like a viper’s eyes; perfumed, spiraling…
Terror threatened to beat Wallflower’s heart out of her chest, yet something else crept up from beneath. A drowsy contentment, like the final step between wake and sleep. Nothing to do but close her eyes and drift, letting idle worries pass away…
Her eyelids fluttered. Her head bobbed.
But Wallflower’s worries were anything but idle. Green hands shot up and jammed their forefingers into her ears. The peaceful sensation immediately began to fade, leaving her with unmerciful awareness of exactly what was going on. She had to get up. Scream! Warn the others.
She couldn’t even bring herself to swallow for fear of drawing attention. Adagio was so fast, and her daggers so close to hand. Wallflower would die saving her friends.
...Worth it, surely. All she had to do was move.
Move.
Move.
Wallflower hunched down lower. Trembling. Breathing in shallow gasps and fervently hoping Adagio did not hear.
What a joke. She wasn’t a hero. They were all in the other room.
Head bowed and hair pooling down to her knees, Wallflower made like her namesake. A part of the scenery. Unimportant. Ignored. All she could ever be.
But what about with the ghouls? The Space Nazis? She made a difference then. Surely… surely...
She raised her eyes. Adagio was setting down her violin. Couldn’t leave now; Adagio might brush against her and remember.
Adagio departed, letting the door hang open a listless few inches. Enough for Wallflower to hear, but not see the entrance to their common room unlock and open.
A perky, ditzy voice giggled from the other side. “I brought the handcuffs!”
Wallflower stood. Trembled, and fell back to her bed. She clutched herself, shivering. Crying. Useless. Couldn’t even call or email for help – had never bothered getting in touch outside their immediate group.
“Come on,” she whispered without sound. “Avoid eye contact. Mumble apologies. Slip outside, and warn someone.”
She knew the way to Rarity and Rainbow’s dorm. Maybe they had Celestia’s number. If not, they definitely had Pinkie’s, and she could warn the Pies.
The plan calmed her. She could help. She wasn’t useless.
Wallflower stood. Trembled, and remained standing. Shaking fingers reached and pushed with breathless timidity at the door, opening it only enough for her to meekly slip sideways through.
Memories of the last concert were still murky, but Wallflower remembered the Dazzlings. Aria, Sonata… Adagio. All hard at work with Wallflower’s friends. Sunset and Twilight were being taped back-to-back on the couch, with their ankles stretched over the sides and manacled to its frame. A long length of chain bound Applejack to a plastic chair, running between and around her limbs and culminating with a padlock squished tightly above her helpless, exposed hands.
The bindings were unnecessary for now. All three girls were fast asleep.
Sonata stepped back to admire her handiwork. “Whew, this is more than a little sexy. What say we have some fun once they wake up?”
“No time,” Adagio said. She tugged a little at Applejack’s ungiving chain, and released a smirk.
Aria leered above her frozen gem. “Don’t want the guilt?”
“Don’t want to be late to our own concert.” Adagio gave an aristocratic sniff. “You were the one who wanted to push up the time.”
Aria shrugged. “Safety first. Principal Celestia’s monster hunters...”
She paused and tilted her head. “Man, that’s weird to say out loud. Anyway, this will throw off anyone who wants to mess with us. We’ve already got our little friends sicced on them, but you know how it works – never trust minions to get the job done. I wouldn’t count on it even if we still had the werewolf.”
“Werewolf. Hm.” Adagio smiled thinly. “Aren’t we the minions?”
Aria whipped back her pigtails, catching Wallflower on the cheek. Three steps from the door. “Yeah, but seriously, grow up. We can do whatever we want so long as we follow his orders, and with our powers back we can really do whatever we want. I’ll take that over scraping for rent any day of the week.”
Adagio’s smile turned nasty. “Cute. You’re bringing up the rent?”
Sonata slipped quietly between them. “It’s not like things were easy after we split with you. Backup dancers like us were easy to replace, nobody cared about our singing, and we couldn’t even keep the hip clothes we wore in the shoots. Heck yeah, I’ll sing for Tirek. He gave us back everything we deserve.”
“That he did,” Adagio purred, touching her gem and smiling with teeth.
Aria leaned against the door, checking her nails.
“Excuse me, please.”
One look that sent Wallflower’s heart into her mouth, but not two. Aria moved from the door, and did not turn as it opened.
A frozen, terrified step to the brown carpet of the outer hallway. Wallflower forced her pace to remain slow, willfully avoiding anything that might cause even an audible commotion. Only when she left sight of the door did she permit herself to run. All the way to the elevator, where she slapped the ‘down’ button.
How long had she been holding her breath? She released it and gulped for air, giggling as the awful tension finally began to subside.
The elevator opened. Wallflower made to walk forward, then stopped abruptly as her neck touched something very cold, and very sharp.
The dagger massaged the edge of her throat, then pulled inwards with creeping promise. Wallflower stepped carefully back with it, into a yellow arm that wrapped gently across her front.
Curly hair tickled her ears, and large breasts pushed into her from behind. The elevator door began to close.
Sultry, peppermint-scented words oozed from over her shoulder.
“My sweet little Wallflower… surely you didn’t think I’d forgotten about you?”