Echo continued approaching the piano, the music crescendoing with each step forward, until suddenly, both her and the piano stopped. The lights in the room suddenly began to dim around the room, leaving a cone of light in the center of the room containing the piano and Echo. Suddenly, as if on cue, the floor within the ray of light began to rise, leaving a whole underneath into the room below, a strange fog rising out of it.
“Ladies and gentleman, it looks like your in for a very special treat tonight. Please give a warm welcome to Drake Mercurin!” A blue glow began to emanate from the keys of the piano, and suddenly sitting upon the bench was an apparition all in blue. Rising from the seat, he turned towards his captive audience, revealing that his skin was the same see-through tone of blue as the concert suit he wore. His eyes were glazed over, and bullet wound straight through his forehead was dripping a slightly darker blue liquid down his face, eliciting a shriek out of Heather.
Turning back around, the ghost made a move as if to stretch his hands, before beginning to play a tango. Suddenly, Echo’s body stiffened up, eliciting her to scream saying, “Guys! I can’t move my body!” The melody began to pick up, which was odd as the spirit suddenly stood up, and as the ghost turned around it became immediately apparent how. His arms now ended at the end of wrists, revealing a cross section of muscle and bone that oozed the same dark liquid from his forehead. His hands were still on the piano, somehow keeping up the tempo and style of the piece.
The ghost slowly approached Echo, taking each step in time to the music. Stretching out one of his stumps, Echo found herself accepting it against her will, the blue liquid absorbing into her skin as soon as it touched hers. The ghost brought her in close, the stench of death entering her nostrils, before the music began the tango proper.
The two danced across the small stretch of stage, the ghost managing to spin Echo around with excellent skill, catching her often before she would fall off the stage despite not having any hands. All the while, Echo continued to scream. Her body was moving completely of her its own volition, and the threat of falling off the stage was too much for her.
Eventually, the dance came to a conclusion, the two in an embrace that put their lips dangerously close to one another. Satisfied with the dance, the ghost broke the embrace (Echo remained frozen in the awkward pose), returning to his seat in front of the piano. Reattaching his hands, the dark blue liquid around his wrists disappeared, as though they were never cut off. Shaking his hands once, he began to play the piano once again, this time playing the somber opening to an Irish jig.
Right before the tune began to pick up, Echo’s body convulsed, causing her to stand straight upright once again. Suddenly, the ghost stopped playing, the room going silent except for the tapping of feet emanating from Echo’s now dancing legs. The movement of her legs was intense, alternating quickly and rhythmically. After a few more step patterns, the piano was brought in once again.
Echo’s body began to increase the time between steps, raising her legs with level’s of flexibility that she had never exhibited before. The music began to similarly increase in complexity the seemingly dormant body parts littered around the room to add different voices to the song. Echo began to prance towards the edge of the stage, but just as she was about to fall off the edge, her prance continued into the air, finding purchase upon ground that didn’t exist. As she pranced in the air, her legs kicking high, the instruments underneath her would get louder, playing a solo that integrated well with the rest of the music.
As Echo returned to the center of the stage the music fell silent once again. Her feet began tapping slowly at first, seemingly without rhythm, but began to pick up pace, each step coming quicker than the one before, until her legs only appeared as a blur.
“Help me!” Echo screamed in one last desperate attempt for assistance. Suddenly her legs did stop their dance by lunging forward, however, Echo’s upper body did not remain put, instead flinging itself forward and landing upon one of the belly drums before bouncing off and landing softer on the floor.
“Oh God!” Heather screamed, covering her mouth. Echo’s lower body now was topped with the same dark blue liquid the ghost had earlier been dripping, but rather than having a cross section, it was just plain skin. Her top half, upon examination, did not have the same liquid, but did end in the same plain skin.
The ghost stood up from his seat, Standing up next to Echo’s legs and placing a hand upon the stump, absorbing the liquid into his skin. Him and the legs took a bow, before he quickly grabbed the hips, floating around the edge of the stage and down through the hole before the the stage lowered, returning the room as he left it.
“Echo! Are you okay?” Susan screamed, rushing towards their friend who had lifted herself up onto her elbows.
“I think… I’m fine… but I can’t feel my legs anymore.” Echo sat the rest of the way up, resting her body upon her stump. “Ooh… that feels weird.”
Scarlett, who had been clapping like furiously since the end of the performance, raised her flag once more, “Okay group! It’s time to go to our next stop! I know it’ll be a fun one! Let’s skedaddle before the next group arrives.”
Where to next?
1.) The Theater
2.) The Kids Room
3.) The Games Room