I bowed again, picking up the roses people threw to me. I left the stage, hands occupied with flowers. Auden ran up to me, throwing his hands around my neck. "You did it!" he yelled.
"Yeah, I did." I chuckled, half-choking, "Hey, Auden calm down, I'm holding roses here."
Auden let go and pat my shoulder. "You did a great job, mate. You can go back to the rehearsal room for a rest, we'll catch up with you after we clear up the audience and stage."
Nodding, I left to go back to the rehearsal room, before I ran into Auden's wife. I ran into her shoulder, the flowers scattering down onto the floor. "Oh! I'm sorry!" she said, immediately kneeling down to pick up the flowers.
"It's alright." I said, and kneeled down to help.
I placed the roses down onto a small couch near me, and looked back at the woman. Now that I saw her up close, she looked a bit too familiar. "Oh, you were the performer right now, weren't you?" she said, "You were amazing!" Her voice sounded familiar too.
"Yeah, thanks." I wasn't in the mood to talk.
"Come, sit down, let's talk for a bit." she said, dragging me towards a chair. I sat down on a chair beside her, forcing a smile.
"Sorry, I didn't catch your name?" I said, trying to start a conversation, "You're Auden's wife aren't you?"
"Yeah, he's my husband!" she said with a smile, "and the name's Marius. Marius Irene."
The thumping in my chest suddenly grew louder, and my palms began to sweat. "I-I'm sorry, what?" I stuttered. I suddenly felt sick as a lump in my throat began to grow.
"Marius Irene?" She said, confused, "What was your name?"
I sat there, studying her face while scratching the skin on my hand.
"Is there a problem?"
"You don't remember me?"
"No, am I supposed to? Have we met?" She asked, scratching her head, "Are you alright? you look ill." she said, placing her palm on my forehead.
I pushed her arm away. "Don't touch me." I hissed, glaring at her face, "I'm Ryder Wyatt. Your neighbour."
We stared into each other's eyes as her's widened. "Wait- R-Ryder? The one who killed his-"
"Father. Yes. And you're the one who ratted me out." I gritted my teeth and grabbed her wrist.
"Ryder, let go-" she begged, trying to be let loose.
I dug my nails into her skin, bounding her wrists with my other hand.
"Ryder, you're hurting me, let go. Please!"
"I know I'm hurting you, Marius. I'm going to do a lot more than just 'hurt' you. I'm going to kill you."
"What? Ryder, no! Please! Somebody hel-!" I threw my palm against her mouth.
"Shhh." I whispered. Keeping her mouth bound, I dragged her by the hair into the same rehearsal room I was in that morning.
What a shame, I was in such a good mood and Marius Irene decided to show up. Such a mood ruiner. But then again I had yearned to meet her again. I had wanted to kill her ever since.
I threw her onto the floor, kneeling over her body. She kicked around violently, yelling loudly. But fortunately for me, the room was sound proof.
"Yell all you want, Marius. You can't be heard." I grabbed her wrists and threw them back over her head.
"What do you want?!" She yelled, panting. Her face was red and her makeup was smudged with tear stains. I laughed.
"Oh, Marius. It's simple, what I want. You should take responsibility, you know, given that you kinda ruined my life. Repay it with yours instead."
Marius shuddered and screamed again, trying to escape. It irritated me. Her screams reminded me of Mother's. I placed both of my palms over her mouth, pressing her head down onto the carpeted floor. I looked at her watery eyes, wide and afraid. I realised I was suffocating her, so I let go. She couldn't die yet. Marius threw her head up, gasping for air loudly. Coughing, she began to cry. "Stop crying, Marius. You brought this upon yourself."
"I did?! I was a teenager, Ryder! What was I supposed to do? If you saw a scene like that wouldn't you do the sam-?"
I struck her face.
One punch wasn't enough. I struck her again, and again the same way my Father once did. Her face was wounded, and her nose was bleeding.
"I WAS 12. I WAS ONLY 12. My father HIT ME, ABUSED ME. BOTH mentally AND physically. Was I not allowed to defend myself?" I yelled.
Marius lay on the floor, unable to speak.
"I hate you Marius. I hate seeing you. I don't want to see you. I want you to go to hell. I want you to die. I want you to suffer." I ranted, tugging at my hair.
I got up off of her and grabbed a vase off of the window sill. Not even willing to consider what I was about to do, I slammed it against her head, the shards of stone littered all over the floor. Her head was wounded with a deep incision leading from her nose to the back of her head. Blood splattered everywhere, gushing out of the wound. I fell to the ground on my knees, screaming in anger and slamming my fist on the ground.
"I HATE YOU!" IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU, I WOULD HAVE A NORMAL LIFE!" I yelled. I began to cry, slouching on the back of the door. "I could've been normal if it wasn't for you."
I got up, and looked at Marius, still on the ground. She was still alive. Her mouth was open, and breathing despite her eyes being ripped back. I kicked the back of her thigh and stood over her.
"Go rot in hell." I whispered in her ear, before slamming my sole onto her face. Her blood stained my shoe, splattering all over my suit. I wiped my tears and heard a slight rustle from outside the door. Wait, I didn't lock the doo-
Auden walked in, examining the room. He looked at me, a horrified expression on his face. "Ryder...What did you do?"
I couldn't breathe. There was a lump in my throat that wouldn't go away. I had to escape. I had to get out of here and never come back.
"Ryde-" I pushed past Auden, but as he attempted to grab my wrist, I grabbed his shoulders and threw him to the ground.
I looked at the front entrance- it was empty. I had a chance to get out now.
The only problem was, Auden had seen me. And everybody in the building, including the audience, knew my name and appearance. It wouldn't be long before the police came looking for me.
What was I going to do?