Page 174 of Play of Love
Chapter 9
Evie
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Sunday was the worse I’d ever seen Lucy.
We'd gotten word that three of the Vanessas we'd contacted had died, but weren't connected to Angelo. We'd also reached the end of our Anna list with no success.
Although we still had three hundred Vanessas to go, Lucy was a mess. She cried all day and refused to eat, then she resigned herself to her room and refused to come out.
Gage looked completely exhausted with worry and I didn't know what to do to help us both feel better.
It wasn't until late into the evening that Lucy came out of her room, and it was only because I made one of my classic lasagnas. Lucy was never one to turn down a meal that had been specially prepared for her. She thought it was terrible manners.
Gage appreciated the meal, and I's efforts to cheer Lucy up. He looked like he was on his last leg of ideas and I was happy to offer any support I could.
When we finished dinner, we gathered in the lounge and Gage lit a fire in the fire place. It wasn't cold, but the place had a chill on it as it had rained earlier.
He sat on the sofa while Lucy sat on the rocking chair by the fire. An idea came to me as I watched Lucy go into that melancholic state again.
I went up to her room and retrieved her violin, then I went to get mine.
We were a bunch of musicians who played using emotion. Music always made us feel better. It certainly did for me when I was depressed. Maybe it would work for Lucy.
When I returned to the living room with the violins, Lucy looked up at me. Tears were already forming in her eyes, now red from the crying session she'd had all day.
"We haven't done this in a while," I stated handing Lucy her violin. "And I haven't seen you play once since we got here."
I’d never known Lucy to let a day pass without playing. Not even when she was sick.
"I'm too sad," Lucy replied as the tears spilled down her cheeks.
"You always said that our emotions guide the music." I smiled down at her.
"I play when I'm happy, never sad. I've never tried." She shook her head.
"I play with both. You should try it," I replied with deep conviction.
When Lucy nodded I pulled up a chair. I noticed that Gage had straightened up and was looking over at us eagerly with keen interest.
"How about some good old Vivaldi? MaybeStormis in order," I suggested.
Lucy smiled at that. It was one of our favorites. We didn't need sheets for it either. We knew it from memory even though it had been years since we played together.
"Storm is definitely in order." She smiled dabbing at her tears on her cheeks with her beige silk handkerchief.
"On three. One, two, three..."
I closed my eyes as we began. With this piece I never had to try.
My mind and body knew it, and it poured out from my soul. My soul would take over and guide the bow in my hands and the notes from my brain. It was one of the pieces that transported me to a higher plane of existence of transcendence and I no longer existed in this world.
But something different happened. My mind would have usually drifted and gone long ago, but for the passion I heard as Lucy played.
It reminded me of that day so long ago when I'd first heard her. My eight-year-old mind had been consumed with the music because it sounded like something from a fairytale. It was magical then, just as it was magical now.
Except that Lucy was playing with sadness.
