-September 10th, 1987-
The air smelled of alcohol. Smoke from cigarettes and a blunt that Eric had been passing around earlier stung my eyes and made my nose itch. And above it all, Motörhead's sleazy debut blared on the record player while long haired metalheads headbanged, sang along drunkenly, and chugged down bottles of whisky.
It was total mayhem.
Also known as a celebration heavy metal style.
Earlier this week, we had finished recording the final song for our album; "The Black Gate," now scheduled for a late November release.
It was an exciting time for the band and one certainly worth a celebration as wild as the one that was currently going on at our dingy forest home.
Our producer Morgan was here as well as some of Sebastian's "friends" that I had often seen picking him up. There were other less familiar faces...several members of a local band that played in the vein of Saxon and a bunch of other people that I had never met before.
Looking around, I could see Sebastian surrounded by his friends way on the other side of the room. They didn't join in on any of the fun like everyone else or mingle about.
No, they stood around, observing, talking amongst each other, and passing around beer.
It was unnerving but I still preferred that version of Sebastian over the version that had nearly torn our band apart with his outbursts.
For the past couple of weeks, the once frequent fights between him and Eric had mostly ceased. He'd even apologized to him a few days ago, telling him that he was sorry about how he had treated him and claimed that he wanted to make up.
Let's leave this now in the past, shall we
I don't think Eric really bought it and honestly, neither did I; I was fairly certain that he had only apologized because he was beginning to get worried that sooner or later, he would be kicked out and replaced with someone else if he didn't change his behaviour but nevertheless, a small part of me hoped that he was genuine about changing.
Sitting on the table beside Eric, I occasionally took a sip from my coke, laughing along with my friend as a few guys attempted to form another moshpit in the middle of the living room.
"Man, moshpits in a living room are really not the greatest idea," Eric muttered, shaking his head and rubbing the black eye he had received when he'd entered the pit during an Exodus song.
"You can say that again," I said wincing at the sore bruise on my arm, a reminder that living room moshpits, are in fact, probably the worst idea in metal since Pantera and Celtic Frost in spandex.
Suddenly, for some reason, I yearned to get away from the noise, to be alone with my thoughts for a bit. As much fun as I was having, I needed a break from the partying. A chance to make an escape out into the evening.
"I'm gonna go out for a bit," I told Eric, "I won't be long, I just need to grab some fresh air."
Pushing my way through the crowd, I threw open the door and made my escape into the crisp early autumn evening.
The sun had already set behind the hills and night's shadow was starting to creep over the forest. Soon, the woods would be filled with the various creatures that we shared our lawn with. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled, his lonely song sending shivers racing down my back.
Leaves crunching under my feet, I walked down the grassy hillside, lost in my own thoughts, the music thumping from inside the house beginning to fade away the further I walked.
It was then that I realized that I wasn't alone, that I was being followed...
There was another pair of footsteps crunching on the leaves.
Feeling my heartbeat accelerate and a cold sweat begin to pour down my back, I spun around.
———-
Sebastian's POV
"Hey, look," Jess nudged me, jerking me out of a drunken state.
"Whattt?" I slurred, blinking my eyes and trying to adjust my eyesight to the crowd around me.
"That chick that you've been after, she just left. Alone," he replied with a smirk, "there. That could be your chance."
Marlene
The only thing that echoed in my mind. Time after time, I had attempted to get close to her but it was impossible with her being practically glued to that stupid cunt's hips. But now, I had a chance. Or did I? Alcohol hindered my ability to think, made me make idiotic decisions and this could possibly end up being one of them.
"You should follow her, try and talk to her. It might be your only chance in a long while, right?" Jess whispered under his breath, leaning in close to my ear.
I nodded, peering over to access Eric's location.
He was playing pool with Ace and a few others, clearly more interested in that than what I was doing at the moment.
Go
"I'll be back in a short time," I told my companions, putting down my cup and making my way towards the door, not taking my eyes off of Eric.
If I had my way, you would be six feet under by now...
Glancing behind my shoulder one last time, I opened the door and stepped onto the porch, trying not to look too suspicious.
I could see Marlene just up ahead walking through the tall grass, her hands stuffed in her pockets.
Flipping my hair back, I strode over to catch up to her, the leaves crunching under my feet.
She must've heard me coming because she suddenly whipped around, her green eyes wide with fear. Like a deer caught in the headlights.
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice tight with wariness.
How do I properly put this into words
"Look, I want to talk to you about this. I wanted to tell you this for a long time but never got the opportunity to..." I paused, my mind hazy from that goddamn wine that I had drunk too much of. My words were slurred and she could probably tell that I was quite intoxicated, because I saw from her stance and her expression that she was nervous.
"You're drunk, Sebastian," she told me firmly, "I don't know what you're trying to get at here but you should go back and wait till you're more sober."
With that, she turned to leave back to the house.
"I like you!"
I blurted out the first sentence that had formed clearly in my mind.
She stopped and slowly turned around.
"You're so unlike anybody I've ever met. Come on, let us leave this shithole and build a live for ourselves. Form our own band, without any of those useless fools. We can make a name for ourselves and you can have anything you'll ever want in your life; infamy, money, and me. I'll give you every ounce of love that I have left from my blackened heart, Marlene."
Her eyes met mine and in them, I could see that she had no interest in me or in any of what I had offered her
That look stabbed me in the very depths of my soul.
She shook her head and sighed.
"Look, I'm sorry...but I can't do that."
"Why not?" I ground out.
I knew the answer but what came next sent a fresh wave of rage and hate rushing to meet the rejection that now boiled in my heart.
She threw her arms up in frustration.
"How could you seriously expect me to have any feelings for you after you had treated my best friend like that?!"
"So you'd rather be stuck in this shithole. Oh, I get it now." I spat back at her, the previous pang of sadness now completely gone.
"I would rather be happy living with people I truly care for than force myself into a relationship that I know I'm gonna be miserable in," she yelled, the fear heavy in her voice as she began to back away.
"What has that useless fuck Eric even done for you!?" I snarled, all the hatred I'd ever felt for Eric now threatening to explode into a violent mess that wouldn't end too well for somebody.
"He's been a friend to me and you know what, he's a much better person than you'll ever be," she said calmly.
Before I could say anything, she had turned around and was beginning to make her way back to the house, her steps hurried
That was when something inside me had snapped.
She had almost made it to the steps of the porch when I grabbed her by the arm and tried to throw her to the ground.
A scream left her throat as she spun spun around, kicking and punching.
"Fucking bitch!!"
Suddenly the lawn was flooded with a yellow light.
Shit
I quickly let go of Marlene but not fast enough.
Everyone on the porch had seen what had happened.
Ace, Eric, Svenn and his whore Eva, Morgan. They had all come up on the porch. And on their faces, I could see anger and disgust....
Marlene stumbled off the ground, her face pale with fright and ran up the stairs, throwing her arms around the person I despised the most. He embraced her for a few seconds asking her if she was okay while she sobbed into his shoulder, asking her if I had hurt her. Seeing that made me want to go right up to him and strangle him to death right in front of her. I think that from that moment, I hated him more than anyone I had ever hated in my entire fucking life.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he finally shouted.
"Mind your own business," I muttered, trying to shove my way back into the house.
"I swear to fuck, if you ever lay a finger on her or on another woman ever again, I'll kill you," he spat at me, his hands curled into fists as Ace and Marlene held him back.
"Yeah, whatever you say," I growled back shoving past him and his startled friends and into the house.
There was almost no chance of me staying in the band now, not that I cared too much, but if I was going to go, I was going to go out with an explosive bang that none of those shits would ever forget.
YOU ARE READING
Metal Storm
General Fiction17 year old heavy metal nerd and English whiz Marlene Fjörsberg had never thought that her near future would be much different from the university life that her family had already planned out for her but a poster would very quickly change all of tha...
