Shelly's Big Day

Shelly knew this was the moment. All she ever wanted was within arms reach. Just one stroke of the pen and life would change. It would be better. No, she thought, it would be great.

Her life was dull, uninspired, and unfulfilled. Shelly craved the spotlight and early in life she had it. A star of her class in soccer and a success in theatre, so much so that Albion College granted her a scholarship to join the theatre program. It was a small school, but Shelly thrived and everyone saw the gift she had and the talent that was overgrown in the small pond of her peers.

Her talent took her to New York, Los Angeles, and even London. Traveling with the cast and crew of To Kill A Mockingbird, Shelly saw what her life would be. She was understudy to Carrie Smitts, who played Miss Maudie Atkinson, and dreamed each night that she would get her opportunity.

One cold Thursday in October, her moment arrived. Carrie came down with the flu and could not perform, the director called Shelly as she was out on her morning walk.

“You’re up tonight, kid,” he said with a monotone voice and a hint of worry.

That was all Shelly needed. She ran back to the hotel, grabbed the script and began to rehearse. Hours and hours of rehearsing. Even during makeup she rehearsed. If she did well enough tonight, it could land her a real role in another show, maybe even a lead. The pressure was immense but Shelly was unphased. It was a dream come true, a moment to be remembered forever.

The show started with a full house. Shelly saw the packed crowd, smiled, and pictured the moment of first walking on stage under the bright lights.

But that’s all she pictured and all she remembered. Suddenly, she was back in her dressing room, still in costume, head between her legs as she sat on the floor alone in the dark. The director came in.

“What happened out there, kid?,” he asked in the same monotone voice but this time with a hint of regret.

“I don’t know. I don’t even remember. All I could see were the lights and all I could hear was my heartbeat and the creeks of the stage as I walked out. I…” her voice trailed off as she choked back tears. The director sat with her for a moment but didn’t say anything. He got up after a while and headed for the door. He turned back to look at her again and Shelly looked up at him. He hesitated but said nothing, leaving the room with a sigh and closing the door slowly.

Shelly knew it was all over. Everything she worked for, gone. The embarrassment was now her reputation. Forgetting lines, freezing, walking off stage. The three cardinal sins of show business and she committed all three.

Months went by without a single audition or call from a show. Even her agent stopped talking to her. She walked every morning with her head down hoping to find a way out of her spiral. It was a lost cause, she thought, the life of spotlights and fame was over for good.

On her morning walk, the anniversary of her debut disaster, the phone rang. It was an odd number but Shelly answered anyway.

“Hello, I’m looking for Shelly Pearce. May I speak with her?”

“Hi, um yes, this is her. This is Shelly.”

“Oh wonderful. It’s nice to speak with you, Shelly. I do hope you’re doing well. Is this a good time to talk? I’d love just a moment of your time.”

“Um, thank you, yes, I’m…I’m sorry, who am I speaking to? How do you know me?”

“Ah, of course, my name is Adam Trask. I am a talent recruiter for a Hollywood Benefactor. He is looking for someone like you to play a role in a new show he’s putting on. It’ll be the talk of the country and perhaps the world. Anyway, I have followed your career ever since Albion and knew that one day you’d fit in his vision. I think it would be an excellent opportunity for you and the reason for my call today was to see if you are interested. How does this sound so far?”

“It sounds really, really good,” Shelly said with a gleeful exasperation that felt like a divine call in the midst of overwhelming darkness. “I can’t thank you enough for thinking of me. And you said you’ve followed me since Albion? Wow, that was only ever local papers that covered my performances, how did you find that? You know what, nevermind, I want to hear more about this benefactor and the show and Hollywood and just tell me everything,” she said with rising excitement.

“Oh Shelly, I’m so happy to hear your enthusiasm and the happiness in your voice. This is terrific news and I am certain the Benefactor will be thrilled. I know you have a lot of questions, but I think it’s best for today to set up a meeting and to let me know whether or not you’re committed. Sound like a plan?”

Shelly sensed something was off. Committed? What does that even mean? She thought Adam to be a nice man, and he delivered this message with a gracious tone, but why could he not answer any questions?

“Yeah, I guess so. Um, I’m a little confused about what’s happening but I guess that’s how Hollywood works, huh? Okay, yeah let’s do it, just tell me where to be and when, and I’ll be there. Uh, what do I do now?”

She was worried, but still excited. It was the first call in a year. Exactly a year. She couldn’t say no, there may never be another call.

“Wonderful! I’m glad you have agreed. I will see you in ten minutes.”

Adam hung up. Shelly was still holding the phone to her ear, not knowing what to do. Ten minutes? As in, he is coming in ten minutes? How is that possible, she thought. Shelly put the phone down and stared at it. She had no idea what was going on and no clue how to process it. Ten minutes? Oh shit, she thought, six minutes have already passed. Oh shit.

“Hello, Shelly!” Adam exclaimed. He walked up to where she stood. His pace was quick and steps were determined. A briefcase in his left hand, a long coat, and a black Colorado Rockies baseball cap on his head. Adam shook Shelly’s hand and pulled her in close. “It is great to finally meet you,” he said in a serious manner, foreign to Shelly who only knew his jubilant demeanor from the call.

“H..Hi, Adam,” she mustered out. “How…how did you get here so fast? Were you following me? I’m a little confused about what’s happening.”

“All in due time, Shelly. All in due time. What matters right now is that you make your commitment ironclad. That’s why I’m here with you,” he said as he sat the briefcase down and pulled out a stack of papers. “You want the spotlight back, don’t you? The Benefactor can give it to you. You want to be famous? The Benefactor can give it to you.”

“I…I…I am so lost,” Shelly stuttered. “What’s going on, I can’t…”

“Stop second guessing,” Adam demanded. “You wanted this. I’m giving you the opportunity to say yes to the fame you’ve always craved. How can you think twice? You can sign right here right now, or be relegated to nothingness forever. Your choice, sweetheart, but if you don’t sign I’m walking away and you’ll never have this chance again. You’re lucky to even get this chance after that humiliating failure a year ago. So what’s it going to be?

Shelly knew this was the moment. All she ever wanted was within arms reach. Just one stroke of the pen and life would change. It would be better. No, she thought, it would be great.

Shelly grabbed Adam’s pen, looked at the dotted line, and signed. Her hand was shaking as she gave the pen back. Adam smiled, Shelly shivered.

“Good choice, sweetheart. The Benefactor is going to be happy about this.”

“Yeah, sure. So what happens now?”

“Well, Shelly, this is what happens now,” Adam said as he slowly pulled a pistol out of his long coat.

“Wh…what what is happening. No no no no I can’t…you can’t…what…no no no no.” Shelly was trembling. She could not stop shaking. Her teeth were chattering as she gasped for air and words and the terror of the gun overtook her and she couldn’t breathe. “No no no no no no…” her voice trailed off and the BANG ran through her eardrums until she heard nothing at all and only silence filled the air. That silence had a sound so maybe it wasn’t silence at all. Maybe it was something different. Her eyes were closed before the bang and now she had to open them but she was scared.

Slowly, Shelly opened her eyes. The light was bright and the silence was still there. She was numb but she wasn’t dead. Her arms were okay and legs too, no blood to be found. Shelly frantically checked her head but that was okay too. All she noticed was the pistol on the ground by her feet. And then she looked up.

“No no no no no…” her voice trailed off and then she screamed through the tears that she couldn’t control.

Adam was dead on the ground. His briefcase was next to him and the stack of papers were hanging half out.

Police sirens rang in the distance but got louder and louder. Shelly couldn’t move, she was frozen. She thought of a year ago and freezing on the stage. It felt the same but this time she couldn’t walk away. She stared at Adam and kept staring.

“HANDS IN THE AIR. HANDS IN THE AIR. TURN AROUND WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR. HEY LISTEN UP. HANDS IN THE AIR. NOW TURN AROUND AND WALK SLOWLY BACKWARDS TO MY VOICE. NOW STOP.”

Shelly was in a daze. She didn’t know what was happening. The police listed off her rights and she said nothing because she couldn’t speak. They handcuffed her and put her in the cop car and gathered Adam’s briefcase and papers.

The daze continued in her head while they walked into the station and she was booked and thrown in a cell. Shelly did not even notice it was happening. She sat on the cold cot and stared at the wall. But it wasn’t the wall her eyes saw, it was Adam’s body on the ground. Nothing else felt real.

Tap tap tap. “Hey, Pearce. Shelly Pearce. Look at me, okay? Hey, look at me.”

She looked to the right and saw an officer outside her cell. “Yes?”

“Look, this is going to be a long day for you, okay? We’ve got your signed confession and we know you also shot Adam Trask, the PI trying to track you down, okay?”

“PI? What do you mean PI? What confession?”

“Oh for God’s sake, your game is up and you’re the one that gave yourself up. Adam Trask was the Private Investigator looking into the serial killings in Utah and you murdered him in cold blood after, for whatever reason, signing your confession. Stop playing around and listen up. Okay here’s…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Okay listen here, I’m sick of your shit. Stop acting dumb. I know you’re a theatre geek or whatever but knock it off. We’ve got you. You’re done. Thirteen innocent people you murdered and now you’re going to spend the rest of your life in federal prison and the victims’ families will have some peace of mind. You’re on every news outlet in the world, you monster. Everyone knows you’re a killer and the case we just closed is the biggest in the last twenty years. Let that sink in Pearce and stop acting like a…like a…to hell with you. I’m so happy to see you in this cell. You’ll rot, you monster.”

Shelly sat back. She couldn’t process what the officer just said. Murdered? Prison? News?

As she sat there, the noise of the station filled her cell. The TV was on somewhere nearby but she couldn’t see it.

“...and here you have it, the mugshot of Shelly Pearce, the killer of thirteen in Utah. The police found her next to deceased Adam Trask, who had been investigating these killings for a year. This is a developing story and we don’t have all the details right now and there are a lot of questions still unanswered. But one thing we do know for sure, the world can rest easy tonight knowing that the most notorious killer in the last few decades is now in custody. Shelly Pearce, a former actor turned murderer. I guess she’s finally the household name she always wanted to be.”