American Pyramid

Who Do You Love

-ˏˋ♥̩͙♥̩̩̥͙♥̩̥̩ ⑅

The night after my nightmare, the same vivid images never crossed into my thoughts again. I had a harder time settling back into my house after Sam and I returned to Utah Sunday night. He had tried to ask me if I wanted to talk about the nightmare I had, but I kept shooting him down simply because I didn't want to talk about it in fear of bringing more attention to it in my subconscious mind.

"You alright, babe?" Sam asked, sitting down next to me on the couch as I finished writing in my notebook.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Just finishing up writing a couple of songs I think will turn out good."

"Anything you write turns out good. What're you writing about?"

"It's hard to explain, but the first one is about my experience at St. James. I wrote down how I wanted it to sound, and I sent some texts to our group chat."

"That's why my phone has been going crazy." Sam snickered.

"Yeah, after all that happened on that investigation, I've just been wanting to write about it and make a song. I think it's easier for me to explain."

"That's why a lot of authors write in such great detail involving their own character – it's their way of expressing their own personal emotions."

"I never thought of it that way."

When seven o'clock rolled around, Ben and Ryan were right on time at my front door, their equipment in hand as they greeted us with a smile and warm hug. "How are you, Tori?"

"I'm alright. In need to record a new song, that's for sure."

"We were wondering when you'd be getting back," Ryan chuckled. "Haven't gotten to play in a while."

"I saw the notes you sent about how you wanted it to sound, and by how the notes are written, I'm getting a 70's vibe to it."

"That's exactly what I want. It's like a 70's style, but with a twist."

"Nice! Is the studio ready?"

"Yep! I'm going to go to the bathroom and get us all a bottle of water. You guys can go ahead and get ready."

"Alright. We'll see you in there!"

I made a quick tweet to our new followers that we had gained over the last few weeks, and it made me giddy to see that so many people enjoyed our hard work.

With my hands full of water bottles, Sam was the first to help me offload them onto the nearby table of my studio. My confidence was spiking for some reason, and I was eager to start singing again. "Before we start, what time did Zak say he was going to be here?" Sam asked me.

"He said that he should be here around eight. He left a couple of hours ago."

"Okay. I just wanted to know so I can be aware to listen for the doorbell."

"I left it unlocked. I told him we'd be busy and probably wouldn't hear him."

"Alright, let's get to it, then!"

-ˏˋ♥̩͙♥̩̩̥͙♥̩̥̩ ⑅

Zak

When I arrived at Tori's house, I could vaguely hear her band coming from outside, and she was right when she said that she was glad to not have any neighbors nearby, but if I was her neighbor and heard her singing, I wouldn't mind it. She had told me that she left the front door unlocked for me, and even though it was considerate of her, I didn't like how it was unlocked when she wouldn't be able to hear me come in.

Gracie pulled against me with excitement, likely picking up on Victoria's scent. She loved her, and she and I shared the same common interest. Her vocals were insane – a powerful set of lungs behind those ribs of hers, yet something sounded different in her tone. It was like she was singing with a deep wisdom.

I chose not to intervene with her recording session by announcing my presence. Instead, I locked her front door and took a seat on the couch, Gracie sitting between my feet with her head on my lap. "You'll see her in a second, Gray. She's busy right now."

"Turn the lights down for this," I heard Tori's voice come from the room she used as a studio. "Is it a beast or a man standing over you? With a gleam in his eye, you know what he's gonna do. His wicked soul; he wants to take your life. You can't run, you're frozen inside.... Who do you love? You're frozen inside."

Her voice is so fucking good, and her range was insane. I didn't even want her session to end because I felt like I was in a trance. And for some reason, when I listened to the words she was singing, it sounded like I was in a trance.

-ˏˋ♥̩͙♥̩̩̥͙♥̩̥̩ ⑅