A Collection of Stories
The Cycle Begins Anew

“And... that’s the end!”

As soon as Adam heard those words, he released the overly charming smile he’d been holding all evening. His cheeks throbbed. With a sigh, Adam turned to Samantha, “Thank you so much for coming here today.”

Samantha waved him off. “Please, I was happy to. We need all the publicity we can get, what with all the antis and all.”

Adam stretched his back as a yawn, that he’d been suppressing for the last half hour, finally escaped his throat. “Yes, well, you know me, always happy to help out those who need it.”

“Heh, sure,” Samantha grinned. “You and I both know that you owed me.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “For a small favour that you did for me years ago. We’re cousins, Sam. I would have helped you whether I owed you or not.”

Samantha glanced over her shoulder. “Are you sure you can say that so loudly here?”

“Relax, I trust everyone on this set with my life.”

Samantha slowly nodded. “Alright. I’m going to head out before Mom gets too worried. See you soon, Adam.”

“Come back anytime!” Adam waved as his cousin walked off the stage. Samantha joined two friends, a girl and a boy, that Adam could only assume were fellow witches to Samantha.

Adam was about to stand when someone placed a cloth in front of his face. Adam turned to see a woman with light hair holding the cloth. “Thank you, darling. I don’t think we’ve met before. Are you new here?”

The woman nodded. “My name is Lara. Dan hired me to fill in for Abby.”

“Oh yeah, he told me he’d be hiring some new people.” Adam took the cloth and wiped the sweat off the back of his neck.

Lara stepped forward. “Do you need help washing your makeup off?”

Adam shook his head. “No. I can wash it off in my bathroom just fine. Then I think I might nap in my dressing room for an hour. Can you let Dan know where to find me?”

“Sure.” Lara smiled warmly as she watched Adam walk off the set. As soon as he was out of sight, her features shifted. Brown eyes began to glow green, and light blond hair became a deep red by the roots.

Adam dropped the cloth into the sink. He stared at himself in the mirror for a minute, tilting his chin in every which way so that the lighting from the bulbs around the mirror touched each part of his face at least once.

Once he was satisfied that he had taken off enough makeup, he nodded. “Good enough.” He shut off the lights in his bathroom before moving back into the main part of his dressing room. It was basically a large, messy closet.

Clothing of various colours (some for the show and others part of Adam’s personal wardrobe) hung from metal pipes that had become make-shift clothing racks. Nicer clothing racks had been reserved for guests, and Adam didn’t mind the aesthetic the old pips gave the room. Costumes were organized alphabetically in plastic containers and stacked on shelves in the corner. In the opposite corner was a sectional, the couch that had become a second home to Adam.

Adam dropped onto the couch face-first into a stack of four pillows. While it seemed like a great idea at first, Adam quickly realized that it wouldn’t do him well to fall asleep like that. The pillows left his body in a position that was already starting to make his neck ache.

It took a minute for Adam to convince himself that the only way to solve his discomfort would be to actually get up and fix the problem. So, with another, louder groan, he sat up. He shoved two pillows to the floor, leaving one standing tall against the arm of the couch and the other leaning against the first. He laid back against the two pillows and shut his eyes.

This was already more preferable than the position of the pillows before. After a couple minutes of wiggling and settling, Adam began to drift off.

He heard the door click open.

Adam felt more than saw the light from the open door cross his body. He rolled away from the light, burying his head in the back of the couch.

“Adam.” Dan called.

“What?”

“Maddie brought drinks to the meeting room. You coming?”

A heartbeat, then, “Yeah, yeah...”

The door clicked shut once more.

Adam didn’t move. He could take his time, really. Alcohol was plenty whenever Maddie bought drinks. His cast and crew weren’t likely to start the party without him anyway.

The door clicked open again.

“I said I was coming.”

There was an extra click.

Adam sat up in time to see a barrel pointing at his nose. He opened his mouth to speak when a shot rang out.

A Collection of Stories 2 is in the works. For updates, follow me on Tumblr @adventurebeneaththewords. Thanks!

Also feel free to request any characters or plot points you wish to see make a return in A Collection of Stories 2! (And you can ask about them on my blog as well, though some queations I obviously can’t answer without spoiling...)

Until next time, thank you for reading!

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