Hidden Melodies

Chapter Eleven

Copyright Joelle Blue ©

Ozzie

"Ozzie, can you believe this is happening?" Scarlet chokes out.

"You can't cry Scar, this makeup took literal hours. And no, this is freaking insane. My stomach has actual eagles trying to fly out. My arms feel tingly. This doesn't feel real, not one bit."

"You're right, no crying," she breathes out. "I'm just so proud of us. I guess you could say we're real rockstars now," she laughs. We sure look like it. Taking a page from Kiss, we have our faces painted as skulls with no skin showing. We both have our hair in Viking style braids that lead to long ponytails, and all our tattoos are covered. Scarlet has dyed her pink hair black making her even harder to recognize. I'm wearing a form fitting long sleeve top that shimmers and high waisted black pants to match. I paired it with some custom red velvet vans. Because obviously.

Scarlet is wearing a flared, short sleeved, red jumpsuit that is fake leather and flares at her feet with black Doc Martens. It's skintight and she looks incredible. The material is thin and light but looks like real leather.

Getting here without being spotted was not easy. We didn't tell anyone what time we were going to show up, so we've been holed up in this room since eight o' clock this morning. Diesel taught us how to check for cameras or mics, and the room was clear. Every rehearsal we've done has been private, and when we had to practice with someone, we had masks to wear, the same ones we wore sneaking into the building this morning. Is it ridiculous and a little much? Maybe. But, so far, we still get a kick out of it, so we're keeping up with it. We brought snacks, games, books, took our time getting ready, and now, almost eleven hours later, we're ready to go.

We hear a slight knock on the door making us both stare at the door, forgetting that we're supposed to open it. I finally get some sense and open the door to two huge men both donned in black, bald, and imposing. Diesel was the one to vet and hire security, so I don't know why I'm surprised.

"Follow us, please. Stay close." The closest man says. I nod and pull Scarlet along with me as we follow them through the corridors of the stadium. We're currently underground and will be entering on a lift onto the middle of the stage. As we get closer to our mark, we can hear the crowd getting louder and louder. We can almost feel the walls shake with their movements. It's almost pitch-black down here besides soft white lights every six feet or so. We finally make it to the lift and see the backstage crew, all with earpieces and mics, some with clip boards, and I know one lady has a fanny pack of random shit like Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner.

The guards help us onto the lift after giving us our earpieces and headpiece microphones before we quickly take our marks, hand in hand. I can feel Scarlet shaking, or maybe that's me. Either way, we're trembling.

One crew member, introduced to us as Jamie, an older man who's been doing stuff like this for a long time, is there watching his clock, then looks up to us.

"One minute, ladies," he smiles.

We smile back, too nervous to say anything. Maybe we should have taken some shots? Or a tranquilizer? Why did I think we could do this? I'm about to sing and perform music that I wrote to eighty thousand people. That's a lot of fracking people.

Well, it's too fucking late now, you dodo.

Jamie raises his hand and slowly, he lowers each finger until he makes a fist, then we feel the lift jump and move upward toward the booming crowd. They don't know we're here yet as we're lifted to a circular stage in the center of the stadium. The stage holds everything we need, my drums, the guitars, a piano, two keyboards, a cello, and a bass. We're completely surrounded by our fans and as the lift comes to a stop, all we can see is the silhouettes of everyone who came to see us. We can see the lights from their phones and the sparkle of their outfits.

The stage starts to slowly rotate, so as the show goes on, everyone gets every perspective.

I move toward my drum set which is in the very center of the stage and sit while Scarlet stands right in front of me, strapping up with her guitar.

I hear through my earpiece "kit and guitar, on, velvet and cherry, mics on" and take a few deep breaths and start the new, even longer intro to Shaker.

The minute I start to play, a light show starts on the rim of the stage as the crowd screams and chants. This new into is so fun and upbeat, I can see the fans jumping and dancing. Soon Scarlet joins in, and somehow the nerves are gone. We're in our element, and if I thought playing with Scarlet was fun before, now it's astounding.

After a long duet and light show, we start into our lyrics, making the lights come on, bringing us finally into view. The screams somehow get louder, but the music drowns them out.

No need to be afraid of me

But I bet I could change your mind

Save you from the so called bliss

Your stuck in all the time

Doing what I want, no crime at all

What control, your condescension plays a role

Just call me a shaker

A ruler breaker, ball breaker

By the time the song is done, we both have huge smiles on our faces. We finally get a chance to look around, and the sight is so intimidating. To know all these people came out here for us will always feel surreal. There's a huge screen at the end of the stadium showing us up close, and you can see the happiness on Scarlet and I's faces.

"Well, hello, lovelies," I coo into the mic, earning me a deafening scream while I get off my stool and stroll around the stage, waving to the people farther away.

"Look at all these beautiful faces," Scarlet flirts as she walks to the edge of the stage, waving to the people ten feet from the edge behind the fence. "I don't think we could have asked for a better crowd for our first concert ever!"

"We have a few surprises for you, but Cherry, I think we need a little healthy competition, what do ya say?" I ask as I step up to my keyboard.

"You're on, babe," she responds as she steps up to the keyboard across from me. She looks up at me and down at herself. "Damn, we look good!"

I laugh and shake my head as we start to play the rest of our set, loving every minute of it.