Brynna

Brynna took another drink from her water bottle, sneering inwardly at the plastic taste. Tonight of all nights she had to keep her promise to Thessaly not to drink, but as she looked out from the cramped wing of the club's stage, she felt the craving all the stronger. The room was a dark cave, smaller and emptier than the occasion deserved, but it was the best she'd been able to do for the mermaid.

The cold atmosphere was doing nothing to slow Thessaly herself down as she belted her way through the chorus of Coral City Nights. Her dancing was razor-sharp, almost violent in the intensity of her concentration. At the edge of the puddle of light spilling from the stage, the small cluster of her fanclub bounced along and cheered, but behind them, the regular punters were standing at the bar or huddling and chatting.

Plastic crackled in Brynna's hand and she looked down to see her fist scrunching the bottle. It wasn't fair, she wanted to scream. To storm into the crowd and grab the scattered handful of journalists who'd deigned to answer her invites by their artfully-scruffy ties and haul them to the front. Thessaly deserved so much better than this dingy venue.

The music died away, leaving Thessaly a slight, statue-like figure in the middle of the stage. Brynna watched her take a moment to steady herself and then look up. She put the mic up to her lips and whispered, "Are you ready?"

It went through the room like a knife. Brynna felt it in her gut, as if she could hear the electricity racing through the speaker cables to summon the start of the timer track for the intro of the new song. Out on the floor, a few heads turned in reflex. How did Thessaly do it?

The sound of storm-tossed waves crashed through the PA for a second before the low throb of the bass line rose into hearing. Thessaly hit her opening moves with the precision of a sniper, one hand raised high over her head and waving. Unlike the Coral City Nights choreo that they'd inherited from one of the other idols in that collab, Thessaly had had to come up with this one herself, and she'd worried at length that it wasn't good enough.

Here, now, in this moment, it was.

Rippling synths sketched a sweet tempo, and over it, delicate and breathy, the mermaid sang,

I'll lure you out with clear skies,

My face placid as a lake,

Be a portrait of perfection

As I shiver in your wake,

The fanclub were already matching her wave, the front row a gentle sway of turquoise glowsticks. Then the beat kicked in. Thessaly's arm guillotined down and she set off across the stage in a rigid strut.

You'll never see me coming 'til I let my pressure drop,

She spun on her heel, arm outstretched to gather in the fans as they finally stepped out of the shadows and up to the front of the stage.

As my clouds turn out the lights you might feel your heartbeat stop,

The music dropped a beat. Thessaly went limp for a second, falling into herself before snapping straight again. Brynna watched that ripple through the fans, saw the shadowed figures of punters behind them drifting closer.

Then I'll be in you and around you, I'll crush you, hold you close,

The mermaid emphasised the 'crush' with a heart-stabbing, closed-fist gesture at her own chest, then shot her hand out in front of her, almost to the eyes of the front row.

Choke you with my salt, as your decks overflow,

She crouched down, hand now making a wave motion as she slowly swung it out to the side.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

I'll kiss you like a gale,

Heads craned in the second and third rows, trying to look over the first. There hadn't even been a third row thirty seconds ago.

Tear away your sails,

Thessaly held her low pose, her voice deeper than had any right to issue from her slight frame but beginning to rise. Her smile turned sly, suggestive.

Take you from astern,

Your lungs start to burn,

The music surged into the chorus, descending piano crashing into rising fanfare.

And then I'll be a perfect storm,

Thessaly surged upright again on 'perfect', fist pumping the air, and the fans were only a fraction behind with their glowsticks.

Blow you a thousand miles off-shore,

Smirking, Thessaly raked her gaze across her audience. That one hit home even behind the third row.

And when night falls calm,

She settled into a more conventional idol step, side to side with hips swaying.

We'll be nowhere on your charts,

My waves swallowing your heart,

Then up again, arm raised and arching outward in a gesture that reimagined the tiny club as an open-air stadium.

I'll be the only star by which you steer,

Audible cheers from the fanclub as the grand swell of the chorus dropped and stripped the throbbing rhythm section bare. Smirk lighting up the crowd again, Thessaly turned her voice coquettish, almost squeaky.

I'll pull you under my waves, I'll never let you breathe,

The only air you're getting is what you beg me to receive,

Her next gesture took in the whole room,

I'll drag you far below the world that daylight ever knows,

You'll spend the rest of your life down in my undertow,

The way Thessaly slid her hand down her abdomen, hip and thigh left no doubt about the innuendo.

Leaning her upper body forward, free hand clenched in a fist, she stalked across the stage like a hunting cat, eyes narrowed and skewering one fan after another.

I'll kiss you like a gale,

Tear away your sails,

She turned and marched back, pointing to herself, elbow at a stabbing angle.

Take you from astern,

Your lungs start to burn,

Then her hand and posture went high, as much over the heads of the fans as her small stature and the low stage allowed.

And then I'll be a perfect storm,

Blow you a thousand miles off shore,

And when night falls clear,

Thessaly reeled herself in, tight inwards to her chest, shoulders scrunched. She had the whole room pinned on her now.

We'll be nowhere on your charts,

My waves swallowing your heart,

Then out again, full of the bombast of the chorus's climax, voice belting,

I'll be the only star by which you steer,

The mermaid twirled into the instrumental, her dance liquid movement between jagged, angular poses of arrogant force. Then she fell still, head bowed, microphone held in front of her cleavage. Somewhere in the darkness not far from the stage, a real camera flashed.

I'll lay your wreckage on the seabed,

Thessaly sang it at almost a whisper, her tone like sweetened glass,

Pressed into the sand,

Your breath in my hands,

Then building as the bassline came back in,

My deepest currents surging through you

Her glance flicked up to her fans in the front row, full of equal parts menace and promise.

Sunken treasure,

My only pleasure,

The beat kicked back in, and Thessaly set off across the width of the stage again, her swaggering stride somehow forcing enough space from the cramped club.

Toss your little boat,

Think you can stay afloat?

Brynna never got tired of watching fans who really got it catch on to a drop right as it happened, in time to kill their next clap or wave. Thessaly spun on her heel, right at the edge of the stage, to put her back to the audience as the rows behind the fanclub didn't quite stop so neatly.

Then the whole song crashed back in at once and the mermaid stalked back to centre-stage, singing,

Because I am a perfect storm,

Blow you a thousand miles off shore,

Glowsticks pounded the air.

And when night falls clear,

Even the non-fanclub types had their hands up.

We'll be nowhere on your charts,

My waves swallowing your heart,

Thessaly matched them all for intensity, delivering a rising version of the chorus's final phrase,

I'll be the only star by which you steer,

Then repeating it, slashing her arm down and out in a finishing gesture,

I'll be the only star by which you steer.

The lights should have gone dark, the whole room should have plunged into darkness like at a big arena concert with real stage lighting instead of the stationary spots that were all this club could afford. Thessaly stood under those lights, suddenly tiny again.

Cheers erupted, the fans howling, whistles and shouts for more rising from behind them. Brynna looked down at her water bottle again, saw her own hand shaking. It felt like she hadn't breathed in minutes.

On stage, Thessaly giggled shyly into the mic. "Thank you. That was my new song, it's called 'Perfect Storm'. I hope you liked it!"