23 The Theater of Screams

The Theater of Screams The beast hopped onto the baby grand piano and vomited out an old-fashioned microphone. The audience whooped and cheered again, thinking that it was all part of the concert. Geoffrey even gave a standing ovation because he happened to be a great fan of magic. The piano played a little light jazz whilst the beast spoke with soft, slithery tones into the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there has been a slight change to the very soul of this show," said the beast. The wing on the parroty side of its body fell off, and a tiny, beastly arm began to grow. "I know all the posters for this evening have promised it would be a Patrick extravaganza, but I've decided to use the evening to focus on someone else entirely. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the one and only Bethany to the theater!" The beast pointed its new beastly arm into the aisle, causing the theater spotlights to shine their bright, hot light into Bethany's eyes. The audience clapped and whooped again, in spite of the fact that none of them cared all that much for her at the moment. Bethany raised her hand to her face— partly to block the spotlight, but mainly

because she couldn't bear to look at the sight of Claudette being beastified. Claudette had been the best parrot and the wisest person she had ever known. More importantly, she had been one of her only three friends—and she couldn't believe that she hadn't seen the signs of her transformation. "Thank you for your enthusiasm, ladies and gentlemen, but in your excitement I fear you're making the wrong sort of noises," said the beast with a sad shake of its half- feathered, half-blobby head. "Claps and cheers are not the sort of things that should be given to a girl like Bethany. Once you've seen what's she's brought with her, I'm sure you'll agree that some boos and hisses would suit her far better. Unzip your backpack for the lovely people to see, Bethany."

Bethany felt the eyes of the entire theater upon her. Soon, the whole theater was chanting at her to reveal the contents of her backpack. Even Geoffrey got involved, because he presumed Bethany was in on whatever joke the beast was playing. "There's no escaping it, Bethany. You might as well reveal the truth about yourself

now, or I'll just have to come down and do it myself," said the beast. Bethany didn't feel like Bethany as she shrugged off her backpack. The shock and devastation of the beastly truth made her feel like some hollowed-out shell—more of a puppet than a person. As the rats and the nose pegs tumbled out, she saw the last few days afresh, through the lens of the beast's plan. She saw how everything had been staged—the apology party, the frogs in Miss Muddle's sweetshop, the surprisingly helpful behavior of the beastly items, the Gloria "big shock," and even The Patrick Extravaganza itself—all designed to lead up to this moment. "Some of you in this audience might have heard that she has given up her bad ways, but

I am here to tell you that this is not the case," said the beast. "Do you see those rats? She brought them here today to superstinkbomb each and every one of you!" Jared Kettlefletch stood up from his seat and spat through his gold teeth. "It's true!" he said. "She bought them from… some shop I know about.… I can't believe she was going to use them against me!" "How fascinating," said the beast, positively purring with delight. "Tell me, can anyone see anything else of interest that tumbled out of Bethany's backpack?" Everyone in the theater turned to look at the things strewn across the aisle, but Miss Muddle was the first to spot what the beast