Shadow & Flame - Part Two: The Collective - Season One, Episode 9

by Elias Raven

  The stage manager came over to talk to Royston and pointed at us. A video screen lit up behind the stage and a short promo video that Royston had made of Shadow and Flame appeared. The crowd chanted and hooted, knowing what was coming. We were escorted onto the stage behind the curtain while the video played on the other side. We all plugged in and using our wireless headsets made sure we were on. The video ended and the curtain lifted.

  The lights came up on stage, lighting the whole band as we all looked at each other then the fans. I raised my arms as Abel’s hands slashed across the strings and started playing one of Metal Insanities more infamous tracks “Razor.” Elias was right beside him pulling off leads and hammers as his fingers matched Abel’s then soared away.

  Misty dropped into the growling main riff of the song, letting the boys cut loose as Jez chopped downward on her bass and Ace slammed into the kit, driving the whole song forward. The stage came alive below and around us. Black ice then flames and all kinds of wicked effects added to the surreal quality as I stepped forward and started singing my heart out to the fans.

  ~The Razor by Metal Insanity~

  Living on the edge of life

  Hairs breathe between the razor

  The moments that I wanted to give

  The ghost that had to live

  I fall backwards into the flames

  And burn

  The razor drew the blood that turns

  red dripping from my wrists

  I want to scream and …

  My voice breaks from the drone screaming as the whole band surges forward. I drop to my knees consumed as we plow into the next chorus and next. There are no wrong notes, nothing off. The whole band is synchronized perfection.

  Death is my only friend

  The one that walks with me

  To the end

  I don’t have anything

  That money can buy today

  The razor

  I would have sworn I could see women crying in the front row as we brought the song to all its full glory. I could see Elias and Abel both grinning as I took their baby to another level. I grabbed the microphone stand and pulled myself up, and we tore into “Rip Out My Heart”.

  Misty slashed across the strings, pin wheeling her arms as the boys added a mean double rhythm under her playing. Track after track, the whole show was flawless. Pyrotechnics went off correctly and on time to Metal Insanity as the boys leaped off side by side ramps, sliding across the floor.

  We took the first bow and waved goodbye. The entire building was shaking as over twelve hundred fans were jumping up and down, banging on anything that made noise and trying to get us back to the stage. Everyone high fived backstage before we ran out and encores with “Cut The Chains” and “That Bitch”. The place came unglued as we finished and headed back off the stage. The house lights came up as fans howled and screamed from behind the curtain wanting us back. Abel gave me the most wicked grin of his life.

  “That is what I am fucking talking about! Now do you see Rhi?” he asked.

  Champagne was brought in along with flowers. We all lifted a glass to celebrate. The owners of the Fillmore came back and whispered into Royston’s ear. Royston shakes their hands.

  “I'll send over the contracts in the morning,” he told them.

  I started screaming excitedly, throwing my arms around the boys and the band. Everyone was beaming. It was perfect. We stayed backstage for a while until the crowd thinned out. Security was still heavy at both ends of the alleyway as we opened the stage door and started lugging our gear out. Fans piled on either side trying to get a glimpse. Suddenly, I heard a familiar whistling coming across the stage. Royston looks at me and darted inside, bringing a young man in his late teens outside. I could see the kid was shaken.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend anyone; this guy was backstage standing next to me whistling that song. It got stuck in my head, that’s all,” he said.

  I felt a shiver run up my back.

  “Did you by any chance get a look at the fellow? We were wondering if it was one of our friends late to the show?” he asked the kid.

  Scratching his head he said, “Not really.”

  “All I can tell you is that he was wearing a funny hat like a derby or a bowler and a dark like tweed jacket or something. The hat was pulled low and with the way the lights were flashing and all the other effects, I couldn’t really see his face,” he replied.

  “Sorry to trouble you, but thank you anyways,” Royston replied politely, let the stagehand get back to work, and turned back to us.

  “It might be a coincidence.”

  “And you don’t believe it for a minute,” I argues.

  “I’m afraid not.” Royston shook his head.

  “That’s what I thought,” I said, punching him lightly.

  Misty just shook her head and rubbed her arms.

  I told everyone, “Let's go home. I need a cold beer and a final night with everyone.”

  Royston jumped in the tour bus as the rest of us got in our cars. The ride back was quiet, and the moon shined on the bay as we crossed the bridge.

  “Do you think we will get more answers about that whistler guy?” Misty asked.

  “I don’t know. Apparently, we don’t have all the facts yet.” Misty gave my thigh a playful squeeze and I reciprocated.

  ~Epilogue~

  ~The Dry Savages~

  It seems, as one becomes older,

  That the past has another pattern, and ceases to be a mere sequence-

  Or even development: the latter a partial fallacy

  Encouraged by superficial notions of evolution,

  Which becomes, in the popular mind, a means of disowning the past.

  The moments of happiness - not the sense of well-being,

  Fruition, fulfillment, security or affection,

  Or even a very good dinner, but the sudden illumination—

  We had the experience but missed the meaning,

  And approach to the meaning restores the experience

  In a different form, beyond any meaning

  We can assign to happiness. I have said before

  That the past experience revived in the meaning

  Is not the experience of one life only

  But of many generations - not forgetting

  Excerpt from Four Quartets by T.S. Elliot

  Misty~ As with any beginning there is the ending. The poignant moments when we have to let something go in the hope that it will return one day. The next day the sun rose and we rolled out of bed, but there was a heaviness around the house and all of us. It felt like a lead weight was tied to our necks, it was like an unsaid word or phrase that no one wanted to utter.

  Similar to T.S. Eliot poem Four Quartets when he took a long look at spirituality and meaning. How certain passages resonate with the reader, so much that they do something with them. I tattooed certain passages and phrases on my body from Melville and Eliot. The poet had such a profound effect on my thinking and blew away my senses every time I read his work.

  More than a few customers came in requesting to have “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons” etched into their skin, so I wasn’t the only one that thought that or was perhaps a tad crazy. Mad as a hatter perhaps, but we all have a little crazy in us, just varying degrees of insanity that’s all.

  We all gathered at our house for a final toast before we went our separate ways. The boys were unusually reserved allowing Royston and Rhianna to lead the festivities. Each of us were going back to our realities, but after the experience, I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay in Los Angeles anymore. Rhianna was my girl and I belonged by her side.

  The band was going to take off that was for sure, I would have to hire others to work my shop and Nicki could run things while I toured. There were worse things in life then being successful, and I had found my happiness. We all had, there wasn’t a dour face in the room. I looked around at all of us that were gathered and all I saw was smiles. Smil
es from my chosen family.

  There were no egos or hurt feelings, a lot of bridges had been mended and we had done something big, something kick ass that would stay with us forever. It was what we all wanted and it had finally happened. We had a hell of a life ahead of us and we would stay on the roller coaster as long as we could. I couldn’t stop smiling at all of them as we gathered for one final group hug. Even baby Mia squealed at the end smiling and cooing in Gia’s arms. I knew I would see the boys and girls again. My band was my family and we were tight. It just seemed like a chapter of our lives was closing for a moment. I hoped it would continue on some day if we were all willing…

  ~The End~