Trapped (egobang trans)

Chapter 11 - Out of Your Shell

Danny stood outside the room that Brian had told him he had band practice in. He could hear people talking inside, people he obviously didn't know. They were muffled by what Danny assumed was some kind of sound-proofing in the music room, so he couldn't hear what they were talking about.

Slowly he pushed the door open, and all conversation stopped. Poking his head round the door Danny was met with an unexpected sight. Four people, all wearing some kind of mask, each with some kind of instrument. In an eerie synchrony their heads turned his way and for a second Danny felt like he was in a horror movie, about to be kidnapped and strapped to a surgical table by the masked cult.

"Dani, you came!"

Danny jumped, yelping in a tone too high pitched for his liking. Blushing, he looked to see Brian. He opened the door further, actually stepping into the room.

"Geez, Brian, you almost gave me a heart attack! What are you, some kind of ninja?" he chuckled.

Brian grinned.

"Yup, I've got a PhD in murder," he joked, closing the door behind Danny.

Danny's attention fell back on the masked group, and he felt slightly uncomfortable again. None of them had spoken yet.

"Who are they?" he asked awkwardly.

"Oh, these are my band mates," Brian said, completely brushing over the fact they were wearing masks.

"What's with the masks?" Danny asked outright.

He was aware of how rude it sounded, but his curiosity got the better of him. They looked cool, but he had to know the reason behind them!

"What're you talking about? These are just our faces," exclaimed one of them defensively, though Danny could see him grinning.

He could just about see his mouth, but the top half of his face was covered by a lion mask. It even had a mane, which Danny had an off thought looked a bit like his hair. He had a bass guitar at his side, a hand on the neck to keep it upright.

"He's kidding. These are our stage masks, and we actually have costumes to go with. We don't wear them for practice, though," clarified another of the masked students.

This guy had more of a hat than a mask, though his eyes were covered. The hat itself resembled a traffic cone, segmented and orange. Danny smirked at how comical it looked. The cone dude was stood at what looked like a keyboard, though Danny could see a strap hanging from it.

Beside him stood a guy with a mask that Danny could only compare to that of Ant Man, and in his hands he held a white guitar which looked incredibly polished.

Finally, the drummer. His mask was more robotic, white and with a large menacing jaw. Two black circles of fabric made the eyes and it was disconcerting that Danny couldn't see where he was looking.

The lion came forward, approaching Danny with a smile on his lips. Closer up he could just see eyes through the holes in the mask, which relaxed Danny and assured him there was actually a person in there. He awkwardly held out his hand to the lion.

"Hi, I'm Danny," he introduced.

"Meouch."

Danny gave a clipped laugh as they awkwardly shook hands. Meouch's barely visible eyes narrowed.

"You think my name's funny?" he challenged, before letting go of the act and smiling again, "Just kidding."

"I'm Sung," introduced the cone, then looking over at the other two, "And that's Phobos and Havve."

The two waved silently, and Danny waved back slowly. These definitely weren't the band mates he'd imagined, but at least they seemed friendly. They also seemed far from boring. He was intrigued.

"Are you here to join our practice, or...?" Meouch asked curiously, tilting his head at Danny.

Danny held up his hands and shook his head.

"No, I'm not a musician," he denied, "I'm just here to watch."

"I'd call being a singer a musician," mused Brian, his cold eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Oh, no, I'm not really a-"

"You sing? We've been looking for a singer for ages! All we've got at the moment is Sung's talkbox," Meouch said excitedly.

"Hey, the talkbox is cool!" protested Sung.

"There's only so much it can do, bud," Meouch retorted, then turning back to Danny, "So, wanna give it a go?"

Danny looked over at Brian, who was stood with his arms folded looking quite smug. He glared at the shorter guy, finally catching onto why he'd invited him in the first place.

"No thanks, I'll just watch today," he decided, folding his arms to close the debate.

To his surprise Meouch didn't look all that disappointed. He shrugged, walking back over to the others and picking up his bass guitar.

"No problem. Just go sit your pretty self down and marvel at our awesomeness," he joked.

Danny clenched his jaw at the obvious feminine connotations, but did as he was told and found a chair off to the side.

"Do you want to practice the song from yesterday?" Sung asked, looking over the group.

"Sure!" agreed Meouch happily, adjusting the tuning pegs slightly on his bass.

The entire group became animated as they prepared themselves. Danny watched as Brian disappeared, returning a second later with a keyboard which he quickly set up.

Sung looked over the group again, and they all nodded to say they were ready. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Meouch, it seems we have a full house tonight, right?" he projected in a slightly put on voice.

Meouch nodded.

"Yup, this is definitely a full house," he agreed certainly, and Danny smiled at the fact that he was the only one there.

"Well, how about you introduce this next song to our amazing audience?" Sung continued.

"Sure thing." Meouch turned to Danny and paused for dramatic effect, "This song goes out to all the ladies in the crowd tonight."

Once again Danny tensed. It took all his willpower to not say anything - it was just part of their act so he shouldn't get so riled up by it. Luckily they started playing then, so he could focus on that instead.

They were good, amazing in fact. Focusing on one element of the instruments was impossible, they melded together so well. Danny soon found himself tapping his foot and bobbing his head, the obvious 80s influence pleasing his taste in music. Even the group itself seemed to be getting into it, namely Meouch and Phobos since their instruments weren't as rooted to one spot.

So far Danny assumed the piece was purely instrumental, but as some point he heard a strange mechanical sound, vaguely recognisable as a voice. Looking up he could see Sung with a tube in his mouth, a contraption that he'd somehow failed to notice before. Synthesized words spewed from a small speaker that had been set up, and Danny squinted trying to understand them.

"Girl, I like the way that you dance
When you dance
Like the way that you dance
When you dance with your pants off."

Once he figured it out it was so crystal clear, and Danny could hardly contain his laughter. This was scarily similar to some of the stupid songs his brain came up with when he was singing to himself. When the chorus came around a second time he even found himself singing along without thinking. Across the room he caught Brian's eye and saw him smiling.

With a pang of shock Danny realised what had happened. A part of him wanted to sink away at the thought that his voice had possibly been heard, but another part was enjoying the whole thing. At home he had to sing quietly so his parents wouldn't hear, but here, none of that was holding him back. For the first time, he actually felt comfortable and was even beginning to come out of his secluded shell.