The Project - (Closed for Cg)

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa Marlowe

”Oh my God!”

Melissa exclaimed as she let herself into the auditorium of the run down theatre. Standing at the back of the now only partially furnished auditorium Melissa’s eyes were drawn upwards to the shaft of light that beamed downwards, the limited illumination giving a hint as to the splendour that once was The Palace Theatre.

”... It’s beautiful ... “

She breathed as she picked her way carefully towards the stage and with only the slightest of struggles managed to ahaul herself up onto the elevated platform to get the best vantage point of the auditorium as she looked outwards from the stage apron.

The place had been boarded up for years and there was no denying that it was totally run down having been abandoned for years before that. Indeed everything she could see was dusty and faded and broken which was the reason that her father had managed to buy the building for such a good price and why he intended to demolish it and develop the plot on which the Theatre sat.

It all seemed so sad to Melissa: So sad that such a wonderful place had gone to ruin and doubly so that all the history hidden in the building was to be lost forever... Which is why Melissa had chosen to make this place her Summer project. A perfect focus for her interest in textiles and design. It also helped that she had a real fascination for the arts generally and that she had researched stories of past days of music, drama and dance prior to taking up ‘custody’ of the Theatre for the Summer.

She reached for her bag and took out a notebook and pencil, yet instead of writing a list, she began to sketch the outline of the room before her and then focused on a few of the faded facades that still swirled ornately even in their unloved state.

She had been curious to explore the place in its entirety. The foyer had been old and faded, and many of the rooms located back stage were dark, damp and decrepit, but she held out hope that this auditorium, stage and possibly prop and costume areas would prove a treasure trove of evidence from the past.

Of course her father didn’t understand Melissa’s fixation with this place. He had been aware of her interest in the building well before he bought it and hoped against hope that she was showing some of his business sense at last! He had expected her to be thrilled that he was developing the plot, but instead she had been so devastated by his destructive plans that he had reluctantly agreed to hold off the bulldozers for up to 8 weeks at the most in the hope that she would ‘get all that nonsense out of her system’ - and in truth expected her to give the whole thing up in less than a month... and hopefully with that any of the secret ambitions she held that he knew would distract her from either entering into business with him or marrying well ...


Auditorium

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljsimynwCE1qd9yrro1_500.jpg

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa Marlowe

 

[cgraven]

The Palace at one time had been the Grand Dame of the West End theater district. A small intimate theater offering a selective house, for a very selective patronage. Lilly Langtree the Swedish Nightingale had graced the stage of the Palace as had Sarah Barnhart, and The Barrymore’s . Chopin had played for the opening. It had been the toast of the town, but that was in a bygone day in a bygone era. Like many of the old houses it had become a Vaudeville house, then a home for Burlesque, and in its last days a seedy parlor of flickering pornographic images. For years now she had lay forgotten and neglected a faded painted lady, shrouded in dust, whose best days were behind her. Yet the that Grand Dame held her secrets close, secrets from the days when she was a bright fresh faced. Mathew Bauer was one of those secrets.

Mathew Bauer had come to The Palace as the first violinist, the Concert Master. second only to the Maestro. His talents shown like a beacon, his arrangements of Wagner breathtaking and technically compositions allowed those of less technical ability to play the Master’s works. He was accepted into the rarified realms of the theater’s director and patrons. It was in that access that Mathew Bauer was ill prepared to deal the duplicity of those driven by wealth, position, and the appearance of propriety. Bauer had risen from a humble birth in a little German Duchy.


Bauer had first met Miss Amelia Marlowe at a director’s reception for a visiting pianist. She was gay, flirtatious and so very alluring. There’s had been a secret, romance of stolen kisses, whispered passions, and clandestine meetings far from the polite society that was the alluring little redheaded beauty’s natural element. When Bauer had proposed to her Amelia just laughed at him.


“ You can’t be serious Mathew…..”

She fanned herself impatiently as she saw that he was very serious.

“My father’s holdings in lands, his investments in shipping and railroads, has made him one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the country. How could you ever believe that I his daughter would marry below my station, marry a mere musician Mathew? All for a few stolen kisses and a dalliance, a lark?”

Amelia pulled her gloves on and straighten her dress,

“Besides I am engaged to marry, Saturday next, John Saltenthal, Senator Saltenthal’s son.”

They found Mathew Bauer hanging in the wings that night before the performance. It was soon after that that the rumors of a vengeful spirit began . A spirit they say bent on vengeance for love betrayed.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

In a matter of only a few days Melissa had ‘set up camp’ in the auditorium, the only room in the place with enough light to write and sketch by. Between the chairs and the stage a tressel table had been found, cleaned and set up and now held Melissa’s papers and equipment. One halogen lamp sat upon that table, another was secreted beneath. To the side within the shadow of the stage was a cool box and ‘picnic bag’ to which she had gradually added each day. Then at right angles to both, covering the area which used to be the red carpet of the aisle, she had laid out a blanket upon which were a selection of cushions and rugs, some from home, some found within the theatre.

Melissa sat there now, the light pouring down and dancing on the cascade of fiery curls which she had twisted and pinned high to avoid the dust. She leaned back poised at a 45 degree angle, her pencil running in deft, long strokes as her eyes fixed on the ornate facade to the right of the stage.
She had taken photographs of the interesting areas of that auditorium, but the flash seemed to wash out the detail and she did not have equipment sophisticated enough to actually do the justice to the detail. To her mind photographs were too 2-dimensional anyhow and thus she had set about working through her list sketching all features which interested her.

And this architecture was especially unique. To the right and left of the stage had been these impressive arch like features which she had read housed the boxes where the richest theatre patrons were seated during performances. Yet she was uncertain as to what the ground level part of these structures had been used to. The strangest feature in this theatre was that on the left, the arches were crumbled and formless, whilst to the right, though worn, the appearance and structure was amazingly well preserved.

Encouraged by this, Melissa had briefly explored the area beyond that facade and found that it led to an area at the side of the stage where ancient costumes and props were now stored. Whether these had once been dressing areas or practice areas or merely a holding area much like the ‘green room’ used on TV nowadays she did not yet know. Her plan however was to record the outward part of this structure first and then to move explore and catalogue the contents in the area of the stage wing.

http://www.zurichmansion.org/images/theatre2.jpg

Theatre wings

 

[cgraven]

Mathew Bauer, in that moment of black despair, as he stood their on the catwalk looking down upon the stage, the soaring strains of his arrangements drifted up to him slipped the noose around his neck and stepped out into the either. Blackness, the abyss, that dark velvet nothingness that he longed for closing in around him the light fading as he fell.

He saw the body hanging there, the head laying at a grotesque angle, suspended between Heaven and Hell slowly turning. Poor Wretch the thought came unbidden to his mind. Then Mathew Bauer’s eyes grew wide with fear, his body began to shake uncontrollably as he dropped to his knees in horror as he looked upon the Wretch’s face and saw that it was his own. A silent scream broke from his lips. A dream, a night mare , it must be that and yet a cold realization began to grow in his breast, he had killed himself, damned himself for what, for a woman that had betrayed him with a smile.

Slowly over the decades his bitterness grew, the bitterness of the damned. His torment to be bound to the place where he had been idolized for his brilliance in musical arrangements, to this place of his cruel betrayal. How many endless days and nights had he looked out over the stage, the seats of the house and watched the slow death of the place of his imprisonment? The hand that reached through the veil to touch for one breath the world of the living their warmth only again to have that sweet warmth turn from him as Amelia had. Mathew Bauer’s despair and rage grew. It grew until the dark Lord could feel his soul was ripe for the picking.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa Marlowe

The halogen light shone across the table as Melissa stood and flicked through the record of textiles she was collating. Each page held a photograph, a pencil sketch, a colour drawing, a swatch of the original textile and then notes and ideas recorded neatly to capture ideas as she had them.

The page she was looking at currently held a photograph of red and gold brocade from a hanging in the stage wings. Originally it must have been used to form a petition between two back stage areas or even to act as a barrier between the arches of the facade and the area behind. Despite the use of lighting and flash, the original photos had either been too dark or bleached out. For that reason she had sat upon a disgarded and shabby chaise longue and done a detailed pencil sketch, capturing the way the fabric hung almost haphazardly from pulleys and ropes above. It was this drawing that she was now trying to turn into a colour representation for her album. But what to use? Pastels were too light, oils too dense. What medium would best represent the fine vibrance of the fabric as it must once have been?

Leaving the brightness of the table and the auditorium behind, Melissa rummaged in her rucksack and took out a high powered torch and moved across to the arch, slipping beneath it and into the dark expanse behind. With silent steps her trainers padded towards the side of the stage where the fabric still hung. She gave a sigh of exasperation as she shone the torch on this faded finery she realised that this did not give any better sight of the quality she wished to record.

After long consideration, she decided that the only solution was to take the curtaining in its entirety into the auditorium where the natural light from the ceiling would enable her to represent it's quality accurately. Putting down the torch, she gave an experimental tug at the fabric. The end eased free shedding dust downwards making her cough and reconsider her tactics. Moving to the side, she noted that there were a plethora of coiled ropes and pulleys. Surely one of them might free the curtaining? One by one, she worked on the ropes, loosening and looking upwards to see if they had any effect on the fastenings above. Straining her eyes in the dim light, she tried to work out what was attached to what. Like working out a maze her eyes ran from the end of the curtaining rail, downwards, around a pulley and onwards.

”Noooo.... “

The frustrated exclamation escaped her lips as the torch light gave out leaving her in darkness. She should have brought the halogen lamp as she had earlier, she realised belatedly. But it was strange because the batteries were new and usually lasted a long time before giving out! She took a tentative step forward, her hand extended as she began to feel her way back towards the arch and into the light of the auditorium beyond.

 

[cgraven]

….I thirst for her innocence. A betray for a betrayal.

The dark temptation taking root In Mathew Bauer’s tormented soul. He watched as the young beauty came into the darkness of the wings, the brilliant little light held in her delicate hand. Her lithe young body dressed so immodestly. The thin white fabric that clung to the sensual curves of her breasts drawing the viewer’s eye to their full rounded perfection. The dark denim fabric that accentuated her maidenly charms rather than hide them. Memories Of Amelia came flooding back. The way her low cut bodice, the swell of her breast had been laid bared to him as she taunted and tempted him with her body.

He felt the warmth of his anger warm him. A smile bowed his cold lips as suddenly this sensual little beauty was plunged into darkness into his world.

”Noooo.... “

Her frustration doing nothing to lessen the honey sweetness of her voice. Mathew Bauer watched as like the blind, her hands out stretched she staggered towards the light. The stray hairs at the nape of her neck danced in his ghostly breath. A kiss brushed the nape of her neck. Then a bold fleeting kiss brushed her ripe full lips. Then he was gone as she again stepped into the world of light and warmth.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa

She was used to being surrounded by the darkness of the theatre. The whole building seemed shrouded in the past, but Melissa had found that intriguing. As she stepped tenatively forward, she hesitated, listening to the heavy silence that seemed to smother her in the pitch blackness.

She drew in her breath sharply as she shivered. The stagnant air of that place, seemed to be punctuated by a stray cold breeze that played at the back of her neck and somehow sent a shiver of something more than anxiety down her spine.

Eager to move into the light once more, Melissa took one, then a second step forward, coming to an abrupt halt as she felt an undefineable sensation brush the nape of her neck.
She turned her head, searching the darkness blindly only to be met with a full kiss pressed to her lips. She exclaimed then, a sound part way between a cry and a whimper.

”Wh... who's there..?”

Her voice shook as the darkness swallowed it up.
There was no way anyone could have broken into the theatre.
Why would they even want to?!?
And strangest of all, why would they hide out in here?

She strained her ears to try to detect any sound, any movement, but all she could hear was the heavy hammering of her heart.

Almost as if shaken free of the fear that held her transfixed, Melissa suddenly found her feet and stumbled, shakily through the darkness, feeling her way as she went, her hands finally making contact with the arch and dragging herself around it to fall into the comparitive brightness of the auditorium.

Turning to face that dark arch, she backed rapidly away from it until she stood in the pool of light that beamed down from the ceiling eyes wide as if she expected to be pursued out of there.

It was crazy; inexplicable. She glanced around the room, but there was no evidence of entry or sign that anything had been disturbed. She crossed to the table and did a quick check of her things and then went through her bags but could find nothing disturbed.

” … weird … “

She murmured.

Checking the time, she saw that it was still early enough to continue and picked up a halogen lamp and stepped back towards the archway then stopped. Even as she berated herself for the fear that rose in her, she retraced her steps and put the lamp back down beneath the table once more.

A coffee … that was what she needed, she decided. With the briefest pause to pick up her purse and a final glance towards the arch, she made her way to the back of the auditorium, out into the foyer and to the external door which as ever was still locked from the inside. There was no other entry to the theatre, the other doorways having been bordered up or collapsed so they were no longer accessible from outside.

She let out a sigh of relief, reassured that the theatre was indeed as secure as she had thought, but still exited into the much brighter day and headed for the local coffee house.
Even when she was seated, with her hands wound about a vast mug of frothy coffee, she found that for some reason, she was still trembling …

 

[cgraven]

” Look Bauer…………………

The voice of the Dark Lord echoed in every fiber of his being.


…………………. look see her innocence her perfection of body and face………..


Bauer’s eyes were drawn to the calmly young redheaded beauty her wild silken tresses piled high on her head, the sweetness of her lips.

”Wh... who's there..?”

She exclaimed then, a sound part way between a cry and a whimper. Her voice shook as the darkness swallowed it up. Like a frightened little mouse Melissa fled the sweet velvet darkness stumbling to the safety of the light that streamed into the auditorium form the oculus. Yet it was not only the shaft of dusty filtered sunlight that looked down on the innocent young beauty. Other eyes, unseen eyes watched from the darkness watched as she was bathed in the light of the sun’s warmth a warmth he hah not felt for an eternity.

For the first time in many a year Mathew Bauer stole slowly from the deepest blackness of the dark arch. He entered the realm where light and dark met lingered , and mingled . That half light world of grays and shadows. A world were for the moment he was nothing more than another shifting shadow. He watched as the gorgeous creature glanced around the room, picked up a lamp and stepped back towards the archway, hesitate and then stop. The quizzical look that marred her flawless features, her turn as she retraced her steps and fled from the theater seeking the warmth of the sun and the world of the living.

Fear not, she will return………

The Dark voice came to Bauer.


she will be ours……..

A smile bowed Mathew Bauer’s lips as he slipped from the land of shadows and into the light. A score of sheet music left on the table. Then back, back through the shadows and into the soft velvet darkness as he awaited her return.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa

Melissa did not go back to the theatre.

Her mobile rang and instead of letting it go to voice mail as she had done since taking on this theatre project she took the call. A friend inviting her for a night out. The chance to meet up with others and 'get her head out of that dingy ruin' were offered to her and she took it.

There were times that night when she was tempted to confide in the assembled company of those strange sensations that she had experienced, but preferred instead to be swayed by the group opinion that the place was dull and without interest and their amazement that Melissa should waste her time collecting and logging the history of the 'rags' she collected there.

Melissa smilingly took the criticism, but it did not deter her from her intentions, rather the ordinariness of their discussion more or less convinced her that she had just allowed herself to get freaked in the darkness which had led to an over-active imagination.

It was heading for 10 am, later than her usual arrival, when Melissa secured the doors behind her and made her way into the auditorium. True she looked round the place more carefully than she had previously, but paused only to drop her bag and take up a halogen lamp and without stopping made her way to the arch and then on into the back searching for and picking up the torch she had left the day before. She looked at the unlit bulb and flicked the switch. The light glared brightly out wards.

”... strange ... “

She murmured to herself and despite her earlier determination, decided not to hang around for too long. And so she made her way back to the auditorium without further incident.

Once back in the auditorium, Melissa switched off and set down the lamp and checked the torch once more. Over and over she clicked it on and off and watched the beam light up and extinguish. She shook her head. It didn't make sense, but there must be a feasible explanation; perhaps the batteries had shaken loose and now had somehow …

With a sigh of frustration she stowed the torch in the rucksack beside the table and turned to her book once more. Reaching out to turn the page, she halted, her suspended hand lowering to pick up an unfamiliar page of paper. She looked closely, her eyes running over the notes that danced along staves of sheet music.
Now where had that come from?

There was no way it could have found its way onto her table.
There was no way anyone could have been in here after she had left yesterday.
Letting the paper flutter down onto the table, Melissa stepped back until she stood in the reassuring warmth of the light that shone down from the ceiling her eyes searching the shadows as she turned round slowly … not even knowing what it was she was looking for …

 

[cgraven]

Deep in the velvet darkness of the arch Bauer stirred as the sweet fragrance of the little redhead filled his nostrils he stood at the edge of that shadow lands of grays that marked the boundary between his world of darkness and her world of light. A world of brilliance he could but enter for a moment before being drawn back into the velvet abyss. Only she could invite him into her world for more than a heart beat or two.


Mathew Bauer heard the metallic click of the lock, soft sensual tread of her dainty foot. He watched as the stunning young beauty looked round the place more carefully than she had previously, but paused only to drop her bag and take up a halogen lamp. He faded deeper into the darkness of the arch while Melissa made her way to the arch and then on into the back searching for and picking up the torch she had left the day before. She looked at the unlit bulb and flicked the switch. The light glared brightly out wards.

”... strange ... “

The sweetness of her voice was like a white hot brand to his soul. His hand reached out as if to cup her chin but she turned her soft eyes wide and quickly made her way back to her world of light and warmth leaving him in the cold darkness.


“ Youth beauty……..they tempt a man’s soul……..

The Dark Lord’s voice came to him once.

Is she not as beautiful and young……….. as your betrayer………. Amelia.


“Amelia.”


Her name slipped from Bauer’s lips unbidden to softly caress Mellissa Marlow more sensed than heard.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa

… Amelia …

The name had not been spoken out loud and yet she had heard, or rather felt it?

There was something strange about the place … almost .. restless … and it was that emotion the filled Melissa now. She had a plan, a work schedule and a deadline to meet and yet she stood, holding her breath, listening for … something …

The jarring melody of her mobile made her jump. The harsh replica of some mexican hat dance shattering the silence.

”Hey! .. What you up to ?”

She spoke into the phone recognising the caller name.

”... you know what I'm doing … yes … you know I'm not gonna give up on this place... “

She laughed wandering between the stage and front row stalls as she chatted.

” … well it is run down .. but... no … not a mausoleum … no … “

She turned and sat in one of the plush front row seats.

”... it's sad though … it must have been so beautiful … “{/I]

Her eyes roamed over the stage and the facade to the right and then upwards to the faded pattern above her.
All the time the caller spoke on.

”Look … it's just something I have to do … “

She sighed.

”... I don't know … I just … “

She halted as the caller interrupted her.
With a grimace she stood and only half listening hauled herself up onto the stage edge.

” … and you thought you'd call just to tell me that, did you?”

It was she who interrupted now, her voice irritated.

”Look … like I said … I'm busy … so … “

The caller it seemed continued to lecture.
With a exclamation of frustration, Melissa hit END and slung the phone down onto the stage.

”Arrrrghhhh …. !”

She exclaimed in mock frustration, then lay back until the dusty wooden boards could be felt beneath her once white blouse. She gave a heavy sigh and focused on the darkness above her, idly watching the shadows shift and change in the scant peripheries of the auditorium's natural light.

” … maybe he's right .. I could very well be losing it … “

She murmured to herself, unable to suppress a chuckle that bubbled forth at the craziness of her project and her imaginings …

" ... and now I've started talking to myself ... "

A wide smile lit her face as she shook her head in self derision.

 

[cgraven]

”... it's sad though … it must have been so beautiful ……………….”Look … it's just something I have to do ……….

Mathew Bauer watched as the stunning young beauty pace, he could see the aggravation, the tenseness in her lithe young body.

” Look … like I said … I'm busy … so ……………….”Arrrrghhhh …. !”

In a fit of temper she through the object she had been speaking into. Bauer was mesmerized he could not take his dark haunted eyes from her as she lay down upon the stage her body straining against her clothing, laying there as if an offering to the theater.

Is she not Magnificent?

The Dark Lord’s voice a tempting whisper in Bauer’s soul.

Her name is Melissa,………..Melissa Marlowe.


“Melissa…………..”

Her name flowed from his ghostly lips once more to be felt more than heard.

Play for her, let your music stir her soul …seduce her body.

The dark lord handed the tortured soul a violin. Bauer tucked his violin under his chin his finger closed around the bow. As the first haunting notes of his sonata echoed through the young beauty’s senses the dark Lord drew back becoming one with the darkness Those first few haunting notes became a flood and then a tidal wave of sensation crashing over the young beauty in a growing tidal wave. As the tempo of the music grew to a fevered crescendo Bauer’s ghostly form shimmered and enter the gray world of shadow. To be glimpse from the corner of the eye only to fade when earthly eyes sought that shimmering ghostly image.

Laying on Melissa table was the sheet music of that same haunting sonata and it bore the faded name Mathew Bauer.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Slowy Melissa sat up with a sigh.
Belatedly she realised how dusty the stage was and with a grimace began to unbutton her blouse intending to shake it to try to dispel most of the particles.
Stopping she listened more carefully. She was sure she heard music?
Remembering that she had thrown her phone down she concluded that the ring tone must somehow have become altered. She could only hope that it wasn't broken?

Scrambling up to her knees, white blouse hanging open to reveal a white cami-top beneath, she searched for the phone in the dimness. The melody seemed to increase in volume and momentum. Finally spying a stray metallic glint way off to the right side of the stage, Melissa scooted on hands and knees across the boards to reach out and pick up the errant object.

” … that can't be... “

She whispered staring at the screen.
A few buttons pressing to blare out the jarring tune that contrasted so completely with the melodic notes of the violin proved that the sound could not be originating from her phone. Switching off the power just to make sure, Melissa looked upwards then round in an attempt to discover from where the music came.

Standing slowly, oblivious to the smutted knees of her jeans or the dusty shirt she stood listening to the rise and fall of notes. Turning slowly she could feel the music as if it emanated from the very heart of the theatre and somehow resonated throughout her body.

She should have been afraid.
Logically she should have fled once more.
But there was something in those ethereal notes that held her transfixed.
So much so that as yet, she made no connection between the sheet music she had found on the table earlier …

 

[cgraven]

The Theater seemed to brighten, come a little more alive as Melissa slowly sat up with a sigh. It seemed to hold its breath as the firry young beauty belatedly realized how dusty the stage was and with a grimace, began to unbutton her blouse. The stillness broken by the haunting notes of Bauer’s sonata seemed to once more infuse life into the brooding entity that was the Palace theater. Plaster cherubs eyes seemed to follow the lithe young beauty as she scrambling up to her knees, her white blouse hanging open to reveal a white cami-top beneath, the sensual cleavage that hinted at the perfection of the girl’s breasts. The sensual richness of the ghostly strains began to warp around the young beauty senses as she scooted on hands and knees across the boards to reach out and pick up the errant object.

” … that can't be... “ Her voice a soft breathy whisper.

The eyes of the Nymphs looked down upon the girl, smiles bowed their lips while they danced, as Pan took up the haunting melody on is pipes, his eyes searching out the redheaded human beauty. Standing slowly, oblivious to the smutted knees of her jeans or the dusty shirt she stood, listening to the rise and fall of notes. Turning slowly she could feel the music as if it emanated from the very heart of the theatre and somehow resonated throughout her body.

The music sensually caressed Melissa senses, a seductive temptation to loose her hair and join the dance of the nymphs that looked down on her with smiling eyes. The temptation to dance for Pan to embrace all that the awakening theater had to offer. Bauer smiled as he saw how his music moved her as he took another step from the cold and darkness of his world, to the warmth and light of hers.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa

Without even realising it, Melissa stepped out from the wings to the centre of the stage. Turning she looked outwards into the body of the auditorium which seemed to fill and resound with life, the pulse of the music it's heart beat as it soared and throbbed through her own being until nothing but the notes filled her mind and conscious thought seemed to cease.

Unbidden, Melissa raised a hand, her fingers catching the elastic that held her haphazard hair clear of her face. Deftly she pulled, releasing her tresses from their confines, her hand pulling clear to drop the elastic unheeded onto the wooden boards as she walked forward straining to locate, even to join with the melody as it continued to weave it's spell.

The music seemed to sway and dance around her. Slowly she turned in a vain attempt to capture the elusive sound, her body moving as a snake charmed by a pipe.

She seemed so close now; as if the notes themselves were chasing around her, just beyond her touch. Again and again she extended her limbs, only to find her objective elusive leaving her to turn and weave once more, her movements measured and almost balletically graceful.

At some stage, the blouse slid unheeded from her shoulders.
The notes became more rapid, more energetic.
She stood, she turned, she reached.
A dance puncutated by alternate activity and pauses gained momentum until the crescendo sent her spinning, the theatre turning around her, impressions of glowing light flashing momentarily as if she was being spun round and round.

And then her body was pressed against the hard boards of the stage, leaving her staring upwards almost as she had before, but this time something was different...?

…. Matthew Bauer ….

The name entered her mind, swirling, repeating echoing until she had no choice but to speak the name outloud.

”Matthew...?”

Her voice seemed to be swallowed by the vastness.

”Matthew Bauer....”

The name came clear and strong.

 

[cgraven]

The eyes of the Place watched as Melissa stepped out from the wings to the centre of the stage……….Unbidden, ……..a hand, her fingers catching the elastic that held her haphazard hair clear of her face………….. Deftly she pulled, releasing her tresses from their confines, her hand pulling clear to drop the elastic unheeded onto the wooden boards as she walked forward

The cherubs watched as the young beauty slowly pirouetted. Her arms rising as her supple young body surrendered and swayed to the haunting melody. It led her own caressing her sense leading her on as her blouse slipped from her shoulders leaving her heaving breast straining against her cami-top. The notes became more rapid, more energetic. She stood, she turned, she reached. A dance punctuated by alternate activity and pauses gained momentum until the crescendo sent her spinning. the faces of the smiling nymphs flashing before her eyes. Pan with his pipes dancing madly just out of Melissa’s reach, the smiling, now bare breasted nymph’s reaching for her to draw her into their sensual dance. Her world spinning out of control. Her body was pressed against the hard boards of the stage, leaving her staring upwards almost as she had before, but this time something was different, as she lay their like a virgin sacrifice her sweet ripe lips parted and she breathed his name,

…. Matthew Bauer ….

Bauer took a step closer now standing at the last barrier between the world of shadows and the world of warmth and life that was hers.

”Matthew Bauer....”

The name came clear and strong from Melissa’s sweet ripe lips and Bauer stepped into Miss Melissa Marlowe’s world of light and warmth.

“Dance for me Melissa! “

Mathew’s voice as dark and rich as the world he had come from. His lips brushed hers in a soft sensually seductive kiss. Pan’s hooves echoed on the stage as his pipes picked up again the threads of that haunting melody. Bauer’s bow joined in as the dark seductive melody again warped around the young human beauty. The bare breasted Nymphs danced in wild abandon as Pan danced around the redheaded beauty, her firry tresses a flaming halo framing her angelic face as the theater came to life, smiled down on the calmly young beauty, a dark invitation for her to become one with the music and leave her shy modesty behind .

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa Marlowe

As she spoke the name, the man filled her vision, a shadow at first, melding into the form of a man. Melissa had the impression of a tall, dark being, yet it was his eyes and then his voice, which mesmerised her.

“Dance for me Melissa! “

The dark tone was commanding. The vision of those dark, flint-like eyes still filled her senses as the kiss pressed to her lips, their soft seduction reminiscent of the touch she had imagined through the darkened arch way.

And then it seemed a whole orchestra were playing, filling her mind and the theatre with live and movement. And yet the music did not come from any orchestra pit. The melody played out around her, as if it wove in and out of her senses, conjuring her to join the celebration even as she blinked her eyes seeing visions of fantastical beings as they danced around her.

Fearing for her sanity, Melissa sat up, rising tentatively to glance around her and shake those imaginings from her sight.
But the vision intensified.
Somehow the wild dancing centred on her.
Cheubic spirits circled her, a whisp of fabric, a touch of flesh, the kiss of a breeze as the whirlwind grew enveloped her.
Somehow she was on her feet.
Somehow she was in their midst.
Around her the sound of pipes, the bowing of a violin rose and rose until she was entirely captivated, the eye in the storm of music and dance that played out around her ...

 

[cgraven]

Cherub, nymph, and fawn danced around the stunning redheaded beauty. The ghostly music imparting life to the old theater, a life that centered on Melissa herself. The brush of a cherubs wing on her cheek as light as the kiss of a butterfly’s wing on a summer’s day. The caress of a nymph’s gossamer gown tempting Melissa to surrender and join the dance. Bauer smiled as he bowed his violin the warm sensual beauty of the girl filling him with dark desire as she sensual rose to her feet. Pan pranced around the beauty with a tawny fire in her hair and a dark smoldering fire in her eyes as Melissa be came enthralled by the sound of pipes, the bowing of a violin that rose and rose until she was entirely captivated, the eye in the storm of music and dance that played out around her …

Bauer’s lips brushed hers. His violin laid aside his fingers slowly pulling at the helm of her cami-top, his kiss lingering and deepening as the music became a living enmity, a creation of sound and feeling that now caressed the young beauty as a lover might.


“Dance for me Melissa!”

Bauer’s voice felt more than heard, his teeth grazing her earlobe as he whisked her Cami-top from her.

“Dance for me my proud young beauty!”

Bauer picked up his bow and again the haunting, strains of the violin caressed the young beauty’s senses The fluttering kiss of the cherub’s bathed her face and caressed her lips. The nymphs hands caressed Melissa as they teased temped and danced away. With each little trill of Pan’s pipes Melissa clothes became more restrictive, more oppressive a marked contrast to the little golden nymphs freedom and joy.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Melissa

Again the ethereal kiss pressed to her lips, sensually mesmerising.
The fingers that played so skillfully upon the violin now turned their attention to her clothing. And yet the music played on. The music as a caress around her and the dancing of her senses within rendering her helpless to free herself from the intensifying kiss ...

“Dance for me Melissa!”

Again the command seemed to echo silently.
The sensation at her lips moved to her mouth.
The garment was somehow whisked from Melissa’s body, yet she was not even aware that her upper torso was covered now by only the wisp of a white lace bra.

“Dance for me my proud young beauty!”

The voice seemed to echo around her and throughout her being.
Melissa blinked, teetering on the edge of taking the step to submitting to that demand.

For infinite seconds she saw the theatre as it truly was; dark, dusty and dead, yet when she glanced back towards where strains of the violin now rose, the theatre glowed, assaulting her senses with a primeval pursuit of pleasure that drew Melissa to step aware from the smothering darkness of what actually was and in doing so gave herself into the hands of those sensual spirits.

Around and around she turned, her body subjected to kisses and caresses that teased and tempted her to be drawn further and further into the world where restriction of reality did not apply.

The violin, the pipes, the touch of the cherubs, the turning around to seek each touch now, rather than evade made Melissa’s body flush with heat. Her jeans garments of the current era seemed out of place, seemed to prevent her from fully entering into the freedom of that world she found herself impossibly drawn to.

Without being aware of her actions, Melissa walked almost sleep-walk like to the right of the stage. Where before she had checked each step to prevent a tumble she moved sure-footed down into the wings and to the thick brocade hanging which had resisted her previous attempts to shift it. With one pull, the heavy curtaining fell aside to reveal a wardrobe of dresses, which to Melissa’s eye were as new.

Without thinking, her hand extended and drew out a gossamer dress; long, flowing and so fine it was all but transparent. Her hands moved to unbuckle her jeans, sliding them over her hips and down her legs. Kicking off sandals she removed the modern garment with deceptive ease, as if assisted in some way ....

The dress found its way over her head, down over her shoulders and skirted the curves of her body as if a caress. The cream coloured fabric seemed like a second skin and mirrored Melissa’s own porcelain colouring. In start contrast her fiery hair tumbled about her shoulders, leading the eye tantalisingly towards the cut of the bodice displaying a tempting cleavage.

The setting, the costume was in place.
Melissa turned seeking out the music, the voice, the direction as to how the rest of this scene was to play out ...

 

[cgraven]

Music followed around Mellissa as if it were a living thing. Caressing her , calling to her with soft hypnotic strains so dark and sensual. Bauer watched as the lithe young beauty was drawn to the wings of the stage. The dreamy far away look in her eyes beheld the thick brocade hanging there a veil between her world and that of the unknown. Her dainty hands again grasped the thick ornate drapery which had resisted her previous attempts to shift it. With one pull, the heavy curtaining fell aside to reveal a wardrobe of dresses, which to Melissa’s eye were as new and as sparkling as the transformed theater which now called to her in the soft seductive strains of the music that surrounded and flowed through every fiber of her being.

The Mad world of the Theater swirled around Melissa as the sweet innocent redhead hand extended and drew out a gossamer dress; long, flowing and so fine it was all but transparent. It seemed to hold is breath as her hands moved to unbuckle her jeans, sliding them over her hips and down her legs. Kicking off sandals she removed the modern garment with deceptive ease, as if assisted in some way .... Down over her shoulders and skirted the curves of her body as if a caress. The cream colored fabric seemed like a second skin and mirrored Melissa’s own porcelain coloring. In start contrast her fiery hair tumbled about her shoulders

As Melissa stepped from the shadows and rejoined the dance the theater seemed to embrace her. The living pulse of it caressed her supple young body as a lover would the brush of Pan’s lips to hers as he pranced and played his pipe. The Lord of the dance, wine, and love, seductively calling to the young innocent. A floral couch of flowers and grape veins befitting Bacchus now stood in the center of the stage. Pan took the stunning redhead’s hand and led her to the floral couch were Melissa was led to recline by the sweet little kisses of cherubs, and the soft caresses of the nymphs. With each little surrender her world of reality slipped further away, and the world of the theater and Bauer became more real more substantial.

Pan leaned forward and as he laid his pipes aside his lips brushed the young innocents with the taste of sweet summer wine. The fawn let his kiss linger and call to the young girl.

 

[DeliciousMaiden]

Sightlessly as a sleepwalker, Melissa found her way onto the stage. Melodies seemed to wrap around her, entwining her with their sensual sound. Buoyed by each note, as if riding the waves of the ocean, Melissa’s every move seemed directed by the notes that wove around her as she was guided as if entranced towards the couch.

Hands seemed to guide her, to draw her downwards, to tempt her to recline to give herself up to the hypnotic thralls of movement and sensation of kisses and caresses that seemed to cover her whole body as she stretched out couch, her body undulating as she tipped her head back in sweet surrender.

The kiss that pressed to her lips then drew her from her somnolent state.
There was something, a quality that caused a heated spark to ignite unexpectedly through her body. Yet she did not resist, or pull away from that lingering embrace and allowed the kiss to linger and feast on her compliant lips as the music soared, cherubs danced and her heart quickened to a beat caused by a forbidden reaction she could not explain ...

 

[cgraven]

Bauer’s bow sensually, seductively, stroked not only the strings of his ghostly violin but the soul of the warm vivacious little red head . He watched with evil delight as Pan danced around the chaste beauty his pipes calling to a darker more primal part of her innocent young nature. Each note of their combined melodies seemed to wrap around her, entwining her with their sensual sound. Melodies that took form, became the delicate hands of young nymphs caressing the young redhead, buoying Melissa with each note, as if riding the waves of the ocean. A wave that would bring her to the floral couch of Baucus.

Hands seemed to guide her, to draw her downwards, to tempt her to recline to give herself up to the hypnotic thralls of movement and sensation of kisses and caresses that seemed to cover her whole body as she stretched out couch, her body undulating as she tipped her head back in sweet surrender.

Those dreamy eyes that had been half lidded as Melisa had danced enthralled by the music, by the moment fluttered open as pan’s lips caressed hers soft compliant lips. The fawn saw the first spark of haunting curiosity, spark to become a glowing ember of forbidden desire as the music soared, cherubs danced and her heart quickened to a beat caused by a forbidden reaction she could not explain. As their lord’s kissed deepened calling to that forbidden pleasure that now burned within Melisa chubby little cherub hands slowly began to strip away the stunning little innocent redhead’s shimmering gown, bearing her gorgeous body to Pan.

His lips parted from the young beauty’s sinfully delighting little kisses floated down the sensual bow of Melisa’s neck. Those naughty little kisses were soon mingled with seductive little lover’s nips, and dark erotic tonguing as the fawn explored his little human consorts magnificent contours of the aroused little redhead’s breasts. The tip of Pan’s tongue lazily circled her now puffy dusky pink areola, his lips softly suckled the stunning young beauty’s nipple in to a throbbing little peak. His sharp little teeth gripped the toward little rosebud and the fawn inhaled deeply drawing a cool stream of air across Melisa’s fevered nipple. As the haunting sonata built to a feverous crescendo its sensual caress felt as much as it was head by the stunning young beauty.