In The Dark

67 - November 8th

A large, twelve passenger van pulled into a church parking lot and parked near the back entrance. All of the musicians were packed inside, wanting to join Melanie for moral support when she met with the families of the murder victims. Simon had lucked out when he'd made the call to organize a meeting. There had already been a fundraising event planned, so he arranged to have the musicians attend as special guests. The musicians all agreed that they would match whatever monetary amount the event raised in order to help the families with funeral costs and other fees.

Melanie was sitting in the back of the van between Emma and the window. She was chewing her nail nervously and stared at the church. The van was filled with overlapping conversations and no one had noticed how anxious Melanie had become. She had been really eager to get back to Oregon to connect with the families and give them some support, but the closer they got to actually meeting the families, the more she started second guessing herself.

Simon and Sam went into the building first to meet with the event organizers and let them know that the musicians had arrived. They returned soon after and opened the back door of the van to let everyone out and give them the rundown of what to expect when they got inside. The musicians climbed out of the van and entered the building through the back door, which opened up to a busy kitchen attached to the gymnasium where the event was taking place.

Emma took Melanie's hand as she stood up to leave, but stopped when Melanie refused to follow. She looked back at Melanie curiously, taking in the panicked expression on her face.

"Em, I can't do it," Melanie gasped, making eye contact with Emma for a moment before returning her gaze to the door where her friends were filing into the church.

"Okay," said Emma gently as she sat back down and clutched Melanie's hand between both of hers. "Tell me what's wrong."

Brian had just stepped out of the van and turned back when he heard Emma and Melanie talking. He waved to Howie and Nick to go without him and he leaned into the van to look at the girls.

"Can we just leave the money and go?" Melanie squeaked, her body beginning to tremble. "I don't want to go in there."

"Just calm down," Emma soothed. "We're not going to force you to go in if you don't want to. Just breathe and try to relax before you get too worked up, all right?"

"I need to leave," Melanie gasped, on the verge of panicking as the door opened and a man stepped outside to smoke. She shifted anxiously in her seat, pulling her hand away from Emma and straightening her upper body to catch her breath. Realizing Melanie was fully panicking, Brian quickly hopped back into the van and leaned over the seat to speak with her.

"Melanie, come get some air," he instructed, motioning to Emma to coax Melanie out. "We won't go into the building, but you need to come out so we can help you breathe. Maybe walking a bit will help."

Emma gently pulled Melanie out of the back seat and toward the door. Melanie's legs gave out as they got her to step outside and she sat back on the floor of the van, leaning forward and gripping the edge of the van tightly as she tried to catch her breath. Realizing something was wrong, the man at the door dropped his cigarette on the ground and put it out with his shoe. He cleared his throat and quietly inquired if they needed help, but Brian politely assured him they had everything under control. The man nodded, looking at them worriedly as he ducked back into the building to give them some privacy.

"What's the worst thing that could happen if you go in there?" Brian asked calmly, stepping aside so Emma could sit next to Melanie.

"They're gonna be mad," Melanie squeaked, forcing herself to breathe slowly to calm herself down.