by JL Bryan
Chapter Thirty-Four
The Assorted Zebras took the stage and prepared to play for their audience of six, including two trolls, a bored goblin, and the billionaire leprechaun who owned their contract. They did a quick sound check.
“All three cameras are rolling!” Malarkay announced from behind the largest camera, the one in the middle. He’d returned to the nameless man’s shoulders in order to reach the cameras. “Make me rich, kids!”
Malarkay stood back, flanked by his security guys.
Dred counted off, and then they tore into “Roller Coaster,” a fast, loud song by Erin:
I’m trapped on your roller coaster
You send me up, you send me down,
And this ride never ends,
We just go around and around...
The music cleared Jason’s mind of any fear about the evil supernatural forces chasing them down, his unrequited love, his uncertainty about the future. His guitar drew him in, filling him with delight while emptying his brain. The strings again seemed to bend up to meet his fingers, the guitar moving his hands like a huge, pulsing magnet moving bits of iron back and forth. He felt like he was in perfect sync with the rest of the band. He felt good.
As they made their way through the playlist, a number of people returned up the steps, dancers and crew drawn back by the song of the Assorted Zebras echoing down the mountain, despite the crazy events that had just transpired. Entranced by the music, nobody really seemed to care about the ghosts that occasionally drifted over them like balloons.
Soon they had a crowd dancing for them. The lighting and camera crews went to work without direction from Heath or anyone else, as if inspired by the music. When Erin sang her song “Nuclear Morning,” they brought the lighting down to narrow spotlights on Erin, so she seemed alone in the ruins.
The small crowd cheered after each song, but the band quickly burned through their list of original songs.
“That’s it. Thanks for coming back!” Erin said after she finished singing “Stolen Rhino.”
Jason looked around for Malarkay, to see how their new boss liked the band’s original music, but Malarkay and his bodyguards were gone.
The small crowd shouted for an encore.
“Should we do a cover?” Jason asked Erin.
“I have that new one I’ve been working on,” Erin said. “But Heath doesn’t want to record it now.”
“Let’s try it out,” Jason said.
“How does it go?” Dred asked.
“I think it’s sort of like...” Erin played her harmonica. It was kind of a blues sound, but a little faster. Jason tried to follow her and gradually worked out a deep, sweet riff on his guitar—really, his guitar did most of the work for him. Dred found a beat to go with it.
When they had the music rolling, Erin turned to the audience and sang:
I was afraid to fly,
Or even walk out the door.
But I knew I had to try,
There had to be something more...