Chapter Eleven

Darkness, sweet and soothing

I do not dread your call.

Into sleep or into death

Into your arms, I'll fall.

Within your hold, I feel no pain

All the world will slumber deep

But I'll beware the lies that never cease

And pray for dreams you can keep.

Noelle awoke sometime later, finding himself lying on the chaise in one of the offices.

The sun seeped through the high window, burning his eyes and highlighting the dust floating aimlessly in the air.

He rubbed his temples, trying to ease the ache that split his head in two,

"So, you've come around at last!"

Noelle peered through his fingers to see the slender outline of the ballet mistress. She was a stern woman with sharp eyes that missed nothing and set in a face that looked like skin on a skull, her cheekbones stretching the lined skin to the maximum.

The dancers held her in high regard, her career one of the finest in the theatre. But it was a respect marred with trepidation and awe. One with such a history was someone who didn't appr