My Personal Hell by D. Richardson (easy to read books for adults list txt) 📕

Me and my family would attend. And when I had the chance I would go backstage and meet the mastermind. Then I would make certain that he stopped this farce before too much damage was done.

 

 

 

 

Ailith

 

 

 

It was crunch time. We had a week to make sure everything was prepared. Bastion and the men had to chase off three wolves in the last few weeks. All of them trying to break into the theatre, and all of them weren’t from this pack. I was willing to bet which pack they came from.

Sadler had taken a further interest in the benefit, and was currently helping to oil the pulleys for the curtains. We were down to just dress rehearsals, using streamers for ‘Burn’ so we didn’t use up any of the gas. Then Chris, Stacey, and Jen ran up to me. All three in a panic.

“We never found a partner for you for ‘A Thousand Years’. Now we have a huge gaping hole at the end of the performance,” Jen bellowed.

“Okay, okay, calm down, just breath,” I said.

“What are we going to do? The programs are already printed and waiting to be distributed at the door. We can’t just skip it,” Chris panted.

“We’ll figure something out, maybe Kevin can pick up the slack,” I suggested.

It had turned out that Stephan was Keira’s and Kevin’s alpha. They had been a huge help in the performance, Kevin teaching us the necessary steps for the dance we wanted. And Keira was unnaturally gifted when it came to makeup. She also made a great backstage manager.

“No, he doesn’t fit, not if we want it to be perfect,” Stacey said, desperation clear in her voice.

“Hey, is everything alright?” Sadler asked out of nowhere. All four of us turned to him, and then it looked like all three girls struck the same idea at the same time. All of them starting to circle him, Jen using measuring tape to measure his shoulder width and everything else in between. He panicked a little when Stacey and Chris started testing the sturdiness of his shoulders and hips. “What the hell are you doing?” he snapped though he couldn’t seem to get away from them.

“Girls stop,” I snapped, they all paused to look at me. “He can’t afford to risk his home. We have to find someone else.” He gave me a strange look, but the girls overrode him with their arguments.

“We have masks for everyone but you, no one will even know it’s him,” Jen argued at the same time that Chris and Stacey jumped in.

“He’s the only one with the right height and strength to be your counterpart.”

“We don’t have time to find anyone else. It’ll be a struggle just for him to learn the steps quickly enough.”

“I’ll do it.” We all stopped to stare at him.

“What?” I asked, I was saying that to him a lot lately.

“It’s fine, I’ll wear a mask, Jen can make sure no one recognizes me. You don’t really have a choice,” he muttered with a shrug.

I didn’t have time to argue as Jake turned up to tell me how the instrumental department was doing. The girls had whisked him away before I could turn back to them. I didn’t like it, it was a bad idea. A really, really bad idea. But it was his choice, so I had no choice but to let it go. Distracted by the girls practicing their vocals.

The night before the performance I stayed at Stacey’s house. We thought it would be best if no one saw me leaving the house. Jen and Camilla had told me that Drake had announced to them that they would be attending. Though the girls had arranged a plan to leave early, claiming they wanted to eat before hand, just in case the food sucked. Though we all knew it didn’t. The home ec students had been testing their food on us for weeks, making sure it was perfect for customers.

When I got there at around noon, everyone was already there. Even Jen and Camilla. The performance wasn’t until five so we had some time to make any final adjustments. We had managed to get our hands on an old popcorn machine, one of the techs had to rewire it, but it was free so we didn’t complain. We had even managed to get several old mom and pop shops to donate several old cash registers so every stand that we had set up for after the performance would even have receipts.

All of us were dressed alike, the girls in simple black blouses and slacks, the guys in black button ups and slacks. The only ones dressed differently were those serving as security. Their only job was to keep anyone from robbing us and getting back stage. The only difference in the way they were dressed, was that they wore jackets over their button ups.

I was helping to organize the lobby when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to see Stephan, dressed the same as his men with Jaeger a step behind him, grinning. He wasn’t supposed to be here during the day.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, more afraid of his presence bringing Drake before we were ready for him.

“Relax, rumors of your benefit have traveled far. Several packs are requesting permission to enter the territory to attend.”

“And he’s allowing it?” I couldn’t believe that he would allow any more attention to be drawn to this than absolutely necessary.

“It’s either that or break etiquette. If he denied everyone then he risks alienating all of them. If he only allows certain ones he risks losing possible allies. I have to say, you have him in a tight bind.” I had to close my eyes for a moment. The guilt hit me hard. I didn’t want to cause Drake any trouble. I just didn’t see a way around it. “Hey, relax, you’re only doing what you have to do,” he put a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Then why doesn’t it feel like it?” I asked, he smiled down at me.

“Doing the right thing is never easy. That’s how you know it’s the right thing.” I nodded, running a hand over my hair, smoothing my pony tail. “Now, where do you want me?” he asked and then laughed at the look I gave him. “I’ve been sitting on the sidelines and watching other people work for years. It’s about time I got my hands dirty.” I blinked a few times and shook my head to clear it.

“Um, Jen could probably use a hand making sure everything is organized,” I said and he gave me a slight bow before moving passed me into the auditorium.

After he was gone I went around to the back balcony to make sure the equipment was working. Jared was currently speaking though the earpieces warning everyone when the lights would dim and what he was doing. He never stopped until someone told him it was working properly.

“How’s it going?” I asked behind him, he turned and smiled at me.

“We’re ready.”

“I hope everyone else is,” I muttered before going back down stairs.

 

 

 

 

Sadler

 

 

 

I climbed out of Drake’s car with trepidation. It was part of the ruse that Ailith came up with to keep suspicion away from me. Though I was dressed similarly to the rest of them, it was actually most of my costume. But she had wanted me to arrive with Drake and his family. Which only consisted of Drake, Becca, Aaron, Aidan, Asher, and Bailey, the only children that weren’t already there working.

None of them were supposed to be within sight of the lobby. The plan was for all of them to stay behind the scenes, until it was absolutely necessary for them to show themselves. And that included almost all of Drake’s enforcers.

There were several nicely dressed people waiting outside the brightly lit front doors. The doors were lit but there was a curtain on the inside, hiding any activity until they were ready to be seen. They had done a lot of maintenance on the front, making it look like it used to when the theatre was an opera house. It preached elegance, making you feel like you were about to walk into the fanciest of halls.

I had no idea what the line up was tonight. I hadn’t been allowed to actually see the full dress rehearsals. So I was prepared to be just as surprised as everyone else. Drake made way for us to the front of the doors. I guessed he wanted to be there to confront whoever opened them.

 

 

 

 

Drake

 

 

 

 

I waited, my anger building. Someone was going to open those doors, and I would be the first to see them. It was ten minutes till five, they should be opening any minute now, to give the patrons time to be seated. And then I heard the locks turn. I put on my most intimidating expression, and the door swung wide. There stood a girl, it was not what I expected. She was just a child, no more than seventeen. But I didn’t recognize her, and she was human. She took one long look around, including me, and gave a dazzling smile.

“Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the Last Stand.” I had heard that that was what they were calling this little performance of theirs. If I were being honest it was an impressive name and spoke of their last stand to save the school, clever. “If you will please enter in an orderly fashion, feel free to browse, the concession stand is open if you are hungry, and the ticket takers will be ready in a moment. After you receive your ticket please wait to be seated by the ushers. Thank you, and enjoy yourselves,” she finished with a charming playful wink.

We stepped in to see a very peaceful, elegant display. The floors were polished, the glass was gleaming and the lighting was perfect. But every single person I could see working behind the counter or around the room was a teenager. Not a single adult was in sight.

We walked along the walls, thinking that there were rare paintings, but they were only painted on as though they hung there. The effect was quite impressive, though I felt like I had seen the technique somewhere before. I wasn’t much of an art enthusiast so I didn’t put much stock in my own memory.

Becca and Asher decided that they were hungry so we made our way to the concession stand. They had everything that didn’t require a plate and a table. Candy, muffins, cupcakes, popcorn, soda, bottled water, and one man was carding people for wine. I thought I had seen him before but I couldn’t place him. So I supposed not everyone was a teenager. But he just looked like a bartender, not a major player. At least they were obeying the human laws.

We were finally able to buy our tickets, five dollars for an adult and three for children. Then the double doors on either side of the counters opened, it was rather gallantly done. When an usher found us I finally saw someone I recognized. He was a young wolf and a member of the school football team if I was correct. He bowed respectfully and presented us with several programs.

“Alpha, if you’ll be so kind as to follow me, I’ll show you all to your seats,” he spoke softly, respectfully, following the rules of etiquette perfectly.

He led us down the middle aisle. The place was bigger than I realized. The lights were dim, and the curtain was down. The effect was calming, gentle almost. He showed us seats right in front of the stage.

“You realize the implications of your actions, correct?” I said quietly. He bowed again.

“I’ll except any punishment you deem necessary, after the night is over,” then he turned and left. After five minutes the place was full. Even the balconies. I could have picked out a balcony, they were just a few dollars more than