Coming Spring 2013 - Demon - Book Two in the Dark Musicals Trilogy!

When Justyn and Rebecca set off for the New York School of Performing Arts, they believe all their dreams are about to come true. They quickly learn that they aren’t in

high school anymore and that the competition is steep.

Rebecca has to compete against a slew of accomplished singers for a role in the production of Demon Barber, including a stunning Gothic diva that has her sights set on Justyn. However, being upstaged seems minimal in comparison to the serial rapist who is terrorizing the campus.

Consumed by fear and obsessed with revenge, Rebecca and Justyn find themselves bringing to life the story of Sweeney Todd both on and off the stage.

 

 

Below is a short excerpt. Please note this is the unedited version, so there maybe some errors.

 

 

 “May I congratulate you on an excellent performance?” Justyn suddenly complimented Livy, breaking Rebecca’s reverie. “Your voice is exquisite.”

“Why, thank you, Lord Justyn.” Livy’s smile was genuine that time. “You were amazing too. Don’t let old Crater Face Carter get to you. He’s notoriously hard on the freshman, especially when he thinks they have real talent. Something about getting our full potential to emerge by challenging us and, blah, blah, blah.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “You know. The normal mentor bull crap. Personally, I wish the old geezer would just sit back, shut up, and let us do our thing.”

“Yeah,” Chad agreed. He sniffed loudly, and pulled a tissue from his pocket to blow his nose as he spoke. “P.C. can be a real schmuck. Don’t let him get to ya.”

 “We know all about this stuff because Chad, Scott, and I were the stars of all the plays last year,” Livy continued. “Not trying to brag or anything. I’m just letting you know how things work around here. Believe me when I tell you—you’ll both be on the call back list tomorrow.”

Rebecca didn’t believe for a second that she wasn’t bragging, even though Livy smiled sweetly as she flung her handbag over her shoulder.  Rebecca noticed the satchel was made from black velvet and lace. She had never seen anything like it before. Really, did even her bag have to be outlandish and beautiful? Rebecca had never felt more like a plain Jane then she did at that moment.  

“So, it’s odd to see two freshmen try out together when no one really knows each other yet,” Chad observed. “You must be the duo that Mr. Pessagno picked up in Jersey.”

Justyn nodded. “That would be us.”

“You’re from Joisey!” Scott chuckled and tried to pull off the stereotypical New Jersey accent. “Look here, we got ourselves a real live Joisey girl!”

“We’re from South Jersey, actually,” Justyn told him, annoyed. “No one talks that way there.”

“Even better, they’re straight from the Jersey Shore, just like that T.V show!” Scott laughed, and turned to Rebecca. “Maybe we should just call you Jerseylicious.” 

Chad and Scott guffawed and exchanged high fives, and Rebecca felt her cheeks start to burn. Now, she decided she didn’t like Livy or her posse. She really wanted to catch up with Megan, but a quick glance over her shoulder told her that the blonde was long gone. When she turned back, she realized that while Justyn had held his tongue so far, he was starting to get aggravated. She saw his lips were pressed in to a tight frown as Chad continued to refer to her as Jerseylicious and Scott made obscene hand gestures in her direction. Rebecca put a restraining hand on Justyn’s shoulder when she saw his eyes start to bulge, but she probably wouldn’t have been able to stop him from retaliating with at least a few choice adjectives if Livy hadn’t intervened.

 “Would you two clowns knock it off?” she reprimanded. Like trained dogs, they both stopped laughing almost instantly at her command. “Don’t mind Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb over here. Sometimes when they sing too much the oxygen doesn’t make it to their brains. Anyway, Mr. Pessagno talked about you two a lot in class last year. He was pretty excited when he came back from scouting.”

“Almost as excited as Crater Face was when he discovered you, huh Liv?” Chad chimed in.

Livy shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, well, we aren’t talking about me.” She turned back to Rebecca and Justyn, though it was obvious where her attention was really directed. “So are you two, you know…together?”

“For a year now.”

 Rebecca answered a little two quickly to avoid sounding pathetic. Livy gave her a cocky smile that made her want to help into the floor, but Justyn wrapped his arm around her waist, which made her feel a little better.

 “It’s been the best year of my life,” Justyn told them. “Becca is my angel of music.” 

“High school sweet hearts,” Livy murmured. “How….sweet.”  Somehow her tone of voice made it sound like more like an insult. “Well, I’ve got tons of homework so I’m ditching this place. But I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around. I look forward to sharing the stage with you, Justyn.” She gave him a dazzling smile, and then turned to Rebecca as an afterthought. “You too, Becca.”

They exchanged goodbyes and nice to meets yous. Though Rebecca didn’t think the conversation had been pleasant at all, she forced herself to stay cordial. She knew it wouldn’t do them any good to make enemies when they had barely put one foot through the door. 

Livy strutted toward the door, and the two guys followed her out, running ahead to hold the door open like they were her personal manservants. Just before she walked out of the theater, she turned back around, puckered her black lips, and threw a kiss in their direction—a kiss that was obviously meant for Justyn.  Just like the sarcastic, demeaning smile was obviously meant for Rebecca.