Sharp Teeth - Sleep Token/Vessel FF

Chapter VII

The morning that followed was suspiciously calm. I woke up later than usual, took a long shower, and relived Vessel's words in my head. I had even more questions now than I had before that ghoulish encounter, but a feeling of safety followed me. I knew I could trust Vessel, even though I didn't even know the face behind the mask or even his real name.

"Avacadabra, are you avoiding me???? 👿 Text me back RIGHT NOW"

 Alan messaged me. I missed his last 15 messages since the bizarre encounter during the breakfast.

"Sorry, Alan! Everything is ok, I promise I'll catch up with you soon enough. How's your arm?", I replied.

"Still can't move it but the pain is almost gone! You better tell me what's going on. Are they treating you well?"

"Yeah, everything is super fine. Talk to you later! Got a show to cover."

Alan was my dearest friend and I usually confided everything to him, but the latest updates in my life didn't even make sense to me, let alone Alan. "I will tell you when I'm ready, Alan!" I lied to myself.

The van to the venue was on time and Jace almost missed it. He had a strange look in his eyes, almost like he was mad at something. I turned on my AirPods and played a Sleep Token playlist. All their songs were written by Vessel so I wanted to understand what he liked to sing about.

The studio version of the songs was fire, but nothing compared to the live version. I could see him walking towards the mic when Alkaline started playing. That silly, hypnotic walk. Vessel's lyrics sounded sad and loving at the same time. I've been listening to the "Take Me Back to Eden" album non-stop since I started working for them, so I thought I'd dig deeper. I played "Jaws" for the first time and froze immediately when the song started.

"The whites of your eyes burn
From across the room 
And I'm not here to be the saviour you long for 
Only the one you don't 
Are you watching me with eyes of a predator 
As you move towards the door?"

This part of the song caught me unarmed. This was EXACTLY what happened to me last night when he visited me. Why? Has he done anything similar to other women and this was his MO? Was I just another pawn in his game? I felt furious and confused. Vessel owed me some serious explanation.

The vehicle arrived at the venue and I went straight to the staff room, getting my cameras ready for the show. I thought about calling his name again to check if anything of what he said to me was true, but the staff room was too crowded for me to just summon him if that was even a real thing. My stomach was aching and making some loud noises as I noticed I was hungry. There was a buffet available across the venue, so I headed there to grab something to eat. The corridor that connected the staff room to the rest of the rooms was unusually empty and dark. I tried to walk as fast as I could when someone pushed me against the wall.

"You are such a little slut, Ava! Do you think he will give you what you want? He just wants to destroy you." I saw the fury in Jace's eyes as he held both my hands above my head and pressed me against the wall.

"What the fuck you talking about, Jace? Let me go! You're hurting me!"

"I saw him in your bedroom door last night, don't you think I know what you're doing? Fucking the lead singer of a metal band, how classy of you."

"I'm not fucking anybody, for God's sake, Jace! LET ME GO." I tried to loosen my hands, but he was too strong.

"Tell me, Ava, did he make you cum? Did that weird motherfucker satisfy you?" He seemed drunk in anger and jealousy.

"Jace, please, let me go. I don't know what kind of ownership you think you have over me, but I was never going to date you. Please, let me go." I begged, but his hands held me even tighter.

"He can't give you what I can, Ava. I promise you. I can give you paradise, he can only give you hell and damnation." He tried to kiss me and I turned my head.

"HELP, SOMEBODY. HELP!" As I screamed, I felt a strong wind followed by a loud thumping sound. Jace's body flew across the corridor and went unconscious as he reached the flood. Vessel was on the opposite side, double-checking Jace and walking fast towards me when he noticed Jace was no longer a menace, at least not for a couple of minutes.

"Are you ok, Ava?" He grabbed my face with both of his hands.

"I... don't know. What just happened? Did you just throw him across the room?"

"I should kill this bastard for what he did to you! But I can't, it would be against the rules. I am terribly sorry for what he said or did to you, Ava. Are you hurt?" I could see his eyes piercing mine through the mask, the black painting on his skin transferring to mine as he wiped my tears. "I will never let anything like that happen to you again, Ava. You should have called my name, I would have arrived faster! Please call my name if you are ever in danger. Do you promise me?"

My heart was pounding and I could feel his breath. There was something magnetic about Vessel that made me say "I promise" without even thinking about my words.

"I will join you in your room later tonight but for now, I gotta take care of this mess and make sure Jace never does that to you or anyone else again. You should go eat something, Ava." He said, grabbing Jace's body like a rag doll, throwing it over his shoulders, and disappearing through the dark corner of the corridor.