[Act II, Scene IX: Act II Finale] ~Part 2~
TW: May contain disturbing imagery. Fire.
(The stage is silent as the lights rise to VICTOR lying on the ground, dying. Bleeding out. The orchestra and players settle around the room, ready for the finale.)
(As the room waits with bated breath, a shuffling sound comes from stage right as ELESSA enters.)
(She drags one leg behind her. As she steps into the light, she collapses on the stage.)
(As ELESSA struggles to get upright, the music begins, shattering the silence. Jarring, almost discordant. Loud. Through the wail of the electric guitar plays the grand piano, like a silver wire. ELESSA’S THEME. ELESSA sings in a high soprano, words VICTOR said to her throughout the show, back to him.)
ELESSA
I am so close, my love
Until I hear your voice
I will give anything
If only I could see your smile again
Elessa…
Every heartbeat is a wave of grief
Every star mocks me with your absence
How does the sun rise without you? I ask
As the emptiness claws at my innards
I am so close, my love
Until I feel your warmth
I will give anything
If only I can hold you close again
Elessa
Every second in this eternity
Laughs at me in my misery
How does the sun rise without her? It asks
As it falls away into nothingness…
(VICTOR crawls towards his lost love, but before he can reach her, she is whisked off her feet by LORD ASHTON. The music continues to play, desperately, as the two waltz.)
(LORD ASHTON leaves; the lights dim. The whole orchestra except for the piano falls silent. ELESSA continues her haunting aria, but the words she sings are no longer ones we have heard before.)
Should this little window close
Will you be lost to me forever?
I cannot stand to live
A lifetime without you
We are near the end, my love
Until I hold you once more
If not in this life, then
In the embrace of death itself
(The full orchestra resumes, modulating a key higher, a frenzy louder than before.)
I am so close, my love
Until I hear your voice
I will give anything
If only I could see your smile again
(VICTOR, with all his remaining strength, knocks over the candelabras; fire begins to spread.)
And if you are to forsake me
If you are to leave me broken
I will hold you once more
In the embrace of death itself
(The music is anguished; a runaway train hurtling towards its inevitable conclusion. ELESSA’s theme repeats over and over in its madness.)
(The music cuts. The curtain falls. The audience erupts into applause. And why wouldn’t they? It was an incredible performance, after all.)
Beginning | Previous | Next
Last chapter next week. Thank you, as always, for reading.