Kaos Jolt (Unedited)

Before the Show

         After a twelve minute drive dripping with absolute desolate silence, Bones spoke up with these words of consolation: "Chill out, numb nuts. You got heads to explode, and I got asses to kick, so get your head in the gig."

        "Fuck off man," I snapped back. "I already know once I head back my shit is gonna be layin' on the fuckin' porch. He'd even fuck with Excalibur and Shard if he'd have his chance." (Excalibur is my cherry-red First Act guitar that I've owned since I started playing. It's considered a massive travesty to my fellow band members because of the shape it's in, but I always bring it to all of our shows. I guess you could say it's my good luck charm.)

        "Fine," Bones said after a long pause caused by my spite-filled anxiety, "but just remember, you don't do well "at this gig, the boss ain't gonna be pleased."

        The car came to a slow as we reach our destination. "I got this in the bag," I replied. "I just hope the crowd can handle my mind-blowing riffs tonight." I finished my statement with the most evil grin ever. A grin that Bones couldn't help but return.

        As we walked through the barbed-wire doors of the building, I remembered something the boss had said a long time ago. Someday, these walls will make you famous. It was the first and last time I met the boss before then. He always had a veil of mystery about him. But he had a way of always giving me advice when I needed it...even if it were through Post-It notes throughout the backstage.

        As I started to withdraw into the memory of the note, an abrupt blast of noise screeched my thoughts to a halt. The familiar sounds of the crowd roaring snap me out of my meditation as I walk through the hall of the backstage towards my home away from home. I burst through the door to my dressing room only to see a familiar, yet not so friendly, set of faces.

        "Where the 'ell 'ave you been?" asked a dark-haired guy in the corner with a scowl.

        "Yeah, we all been waitin' fo' yo' pokey ass ta play tonigh', jus' like every other time," snarled the ginger girl next to the door. She slammed the door behind me with so much vigor it nearly shattered the single glass pane that happened to be the only real separation between us and the stage.

        These two people, Alyssa Johns, bassist, and Bastion Wright, drummer, were two of the members of the most amazing band that played at High Voltage: 'Kaos Jolt'. The band was originally just these two members, but after a while they got tired of playing small gigs and recruited an amazing guitarist to kick up the volume: me.

        "Don't worry," I tried to reassure with the most insincerely apologetic, shit-faced grin I could muster. "I still made it, didn't I?"

        Alyssa, a girl who would in any other instance make my blood boil, gave me a glare that sent icicles through my veins like swarms of frozen ants on parade at an indoor picnic. "If you woulda been any later, the boss woulda had our contracts in shreds. You gave us no time to prep, and we got five to set up." The death gaze I received at this point told me that all I was to have in my future was death.

        The stagehand burst through the door. "WE HAVE FIVE MINUTES UNTIL SHOW! GET ON THE DAMN STAGE!!!!!!!!!" The door slammed as he rushed out quickly as he came in.

        I shrugged. "I guess I'm off the hook," I said mindlessly.

        A hand gripped the back of my neck tightly and pulled me so I was eye-to-eye with the other guitarist of the band, Lars Jameson. Lars and I have always seen eye to eye with each other in the past, especially since we were always in the same class and no one messed with us because of our Italian heritage. This time, though, the cold chill that emanated from the usually friendly green eyes that now hid behind thick, raggedy brown hair froze me solid from the inside. "We may be friends," Lars said in the most cutting tone imaginable, "but if things keep going on like this, you will be out." With that, I was released and pushed towards the stage, left with solely a hope that the gig would be better than the band's hype session...