Prologue:
"I think you'll be really excited." Her manager is whispering under her breath, each word dripping with excitement. "This particular group is fairly big; so you'll earn lots of attention. I even got a backstage pass for Ashley, so she can meet them too."
Lisa puffs her chest out proudly. "I have the feeling that you two will be very, very happy with me."
"For once." Kai mutters under her breath, soft enough for the lion-like woman not to hear. Lisa had a raging personality; she was a cut-throat and greedy type of woman. She knew what she wanted, when she wanted it, and she knew exactly how to go about getting it. Lisa also had the ability to tell the future. She could look at someone and, within seconds, judge whether or not they would make it in the real world.
And it was that quality that lead her to Kai, an undiscovered starlet who used to sing at a local bar every Wednesday night.
But Lisa was also extremely hard to work with.
"Here, here." Lisa chops through Kai's thought process like a mediocre karate student. She yanks the brunette to a startling stop, in front of a clean looking wooden door -a pulsing sign hanging above it, marked: 'Sound Room'. Lisa's hand curls around the doorknob and pushes the door open.
The room is devoid of any other occupants. A large, wide soundboard stretches across half of the room, facing a large dark tinted window, and Lisa leads Kai towards it. She brushes a loose strand of ice behind her ear, fingers lightly scanning over the buttons. Her index pauses, hovering over a single button, and Lisa shoots a sly grin towards Kai.
Said brunette shifts around uncomfortably.
"Tell me if they sound familiar." Lisa instructs.
The button is pressed. A song starts, a mix of dark, metal rock with a beautiful underlay of strings; violin and cello.
Kai's heart stops. She stares, wide eyed, at Lisa. Her blood sizzles in her veins, boiling behind her ears loudly, but not loud enough to block out the sound. Despite the fierce heat in her veins, her skin is icy cold.
"You're joking..." She can barely manage a whisper.
Lisa beams arrogantly. She folds her arms across her chest, tight dress-suit tugging slightly against her arms. Her mossy eyes sparkle. "You'll be their opening act, this Friday night. Both you and your sister get back stage passes and your own dressing room." Lisa wiggles a finger. "You will also have an invite to stay with them after the concert."
"Stay with them?" Kai has to lean against the rolling-chair in front of the soundboard. She ends up sitting in it, after it tries to slide away from her.
"You know," Lisa shrugs slightly, "Hang out in their dressing room after the concert is over, maybe go get some dinner, etc."
Kai stares at her.
"I feel faint."
*~*~*~*~*
"Ashley?"
The call resonates through the small, withering house -bouncing around in an echo. Kai stands in the doorway, leaning against the crimson-painted door weakly, and stares at the staircase -waiting for her sister to emerge from the office where she holes up for hours on end. Ashley sticks her head out over the banister.
"What's up?" She asks, cocking her head to one side, amber eyes glinting with interest.
Wordlessly, Kai stumbles towards her and holds out a hand, a slightly crumpled jiffy envelope clasped between her fingers. Ashley's curious gaze slowly hardens into one of wary alarm, and she takes it, reaching down and feeling in the bottom. Her fingers graze across fabric, then something hard and laminated. She pulls it out - it's a plastic card on the end of a lanyard, silky black tie printed with a weird, pento-gram like symbol. Ashley flips her dark hair back and holds it up, so she can see in the slightly dim light.
Her distinctive eyes flicker and change again, clouding with sheer disbelief.
"You... this isn't a nice trick."
"It's not a trick," her sister croaks, "Would I lie about something like this?"
Ashley stares at her, eyes round, like golf-balls, and Kai stares right back, mirroring her expression. Their eyes are locked in an intense battle of utter disbelief and shock. The air around them dips, dropping low into near freezing temperatures, but their innards are warm.
A small, crooked smile cracks across Ashley's face.
"Oh my god," Her voice grows louder with each word, "Kai! You're going to open for Black Veil Brides!"
