you leave your soul onstage.
* * *
“Had even a single person applauded the performance, my soul would have been forfeit then and there,” Miss Satomi said.
“However, not a single person made a sound.
“And so, although I had technically played music, I had not received the promised applause. And that left my agreement with Tremon, and Hell, in limbo.”
“And Tremon?”
“Oh, Tremon was furious. No one had rejected the bow in this way before! But, looking back now, I think he was also intrigued—I had done something that Hell had not foreseen. So we came to a compromise. Although I could keep my soul, I would send him the souls of promising musicians in return.”
Now everything made sense. Katrina had wondered how someone like Miss Satomi would have ever made such a terrifying bargain. Of course she had trusted Miss Satomi, even loved her as a teacher. But now Katrina had more than trust, or even love. She had the truth.
“The rest you know. Six of my students used this bow. Morihei Sanada. Claire Burke. Lilia Tourischeva. Sabrina Eisen. Kiana Choi. Yifeng Brian Zheng—each of them performed with it, used it, won acclaim with it, and was finally damned by it.
“And you are to be the seventh.”
“I … I understand, Miss Satomi.”
Katrina readied herself. No matter what, she would be grateful for this night, as she had been for every other. She had her music, she had tasted Astrid’s wonderful breakfasts, she had a violin named Aubergine.
Shizuka Satomi walked past Katrina, to her window, then glanced down at her pond.
Around and around the koi would be swimming. Living, growing, killing, in a music that would last today, tomorrow, a hundred years from now.
Yet it would never question, never leave that pond, never, ever, change.
“However, I am not that fish,” she said abruptly.
“Fish, Miss Satomi?”
Shizuka returned the bow to its case and snapped it shut.
“If you want immortality, you’ll have to find it yourself. Although, to be honest, immortality does not seem to be as difficult to attain as it used to be.”
Miss Satomi crossed the room and put the case in the second drawer of her dresser.
Katrina was confused.
“I don’t understand? Did I fail? Are you telling me to leave?”
“Of course not. We’ll have practice tomorrow, as usual.”
“But what about you?” Katrina asked.
Miss Satomi looked out the window. “I’ll just find another soul later—someone who actually deserves damnation. Or maybe I’ll retire. I’m getting tired of this Queen of Hell nonsense, anyway.”
“You can do that?”
“Of course. Now, seriously, are you sure you’re going out in those shorts?”
* * *
That night, Miss Satomi called for Astrid. Astrid was relieved. Miss Satomi had not come down for dinner. She probably wanted a sandwich.
“Miss Satomi, you called? I—” Astrid stopped.
Miss Satomi held the cursed bow in her hands. Outwardly, she was as composed as usual, but inside, she seemed distant and drained.
“So, it’s settled?”
“Yes.”
Astrid had expected this. Of all Miss Satomi’s students, delivering this one had probably hurt her the most. Astrid had grown attached to Katrina, as well. The girl was so precious. Even tonight, after seeing Shizuka, she had come downstairs to show Astrid the music she wanted to play for an upcoming video, about high school girls camping and cooking out and watching Mount Fuji in the moonlight.
Wait.
If Miss Satomi had given Katrina the curse, why had Katrina left in such a good mood?
And why was Miss Satomi still holding the bow?
“Miss Satomi?”
“I told her that my other students gave up their souls,” Miss Satomi said simply. “But that hers would remain her own.”
“But what about you? You need to find another student, right away—y-you need—”
“Astrid. No. There’s no need.”
“But Miss Satomi!”
“Astrid. Please.”
Shizuka put the bow down, then spoke with a voice that Astrid had never heard before.
“No matter what, I can say it has been quite the adventure.”
Shizuka looked out past her fishpond, past her yard. Next door, the family was fast asleep. The chickens were asleep. A small animal, probably an opossum, was sifting through the garbage.
“I admit it. I set out to be great. I set out to be right, to be beautiful. When I was younger, I even thought my music might change the world.”