crowz

three

I woke up a few hours later in my hotel room bed, head ringing. I pulled myself to the bathroom and lord, did I look like a mess. The clock on the wall read 12:32. We were supposed to arrive at the venue at 5 for sound check, which seems like a long time to get ready, but trust me. It's not.

"Hurry the fuck up, i'm gonna puke!" Lake yells a few minutes later, pounding on the door.

"It's unlocked, i'm just showering!" I yell back. The door opens violently and i can see the shadow of her body bent over the toilet. "Damn babe, how much did you drink last night?"

"Shut the fuck up," she says in between heaves. "Tell you what. Sid knows how to party. I swear i was in space for a few hours."

"What does that even mean?" I laugh.

"Dude knew how to get his hands on anything, and i mean anything. Some of the purest shit i've had in a while."

I nod slowly, even though she can't see me. "Guess i'll have to keep that in mind."

After we were all done getting ready, we met back up with the guys in the lobby. Well, most of them. Sid, Joey, Clown and Craig were still in their rooms gathering their stuff. Jim patted the spot next to him on the couch, and I gladly went over.

"Feelin okay?" he asks.

"My head kinda hurts, but other than that I'm fine," I say. I notice Corey glaring from across the room.

"You have a hella high tolerance," Jim chuckles. "You drank a lot before I noticed you were fucked up. I did have to end up carrying you to your room though."

"Hah, thanks. Runs in the family," I shrug. "Great grandparents started a distillery a long time ago, and since then, i'm pretty sure our blood is half alcohol from birth."

He laughs. "Damn. That's tight."

"Hell yeah," I smile. Corey leaves to take his bags to the bus, and I continue in a hushed voice. "What's his deal?"

"He's probably just mad you're with me and not him," he says, smirking at me. I put a finger to his lips.

"Ah ah ah, we are not a thing. No strings attached, remember? Don't go all lovey on me," I say, raising an eyebrow.

He laughs and rolls his eyes. "Right."

-a few hours later, after soundcheck-

"You guys gonna watch the show again?" Emma asks the guys.

"Probably from the side, yeah," Joey replies.

"Why don't we go out into the pit? It's not like anyone would recognize us," Sid suggests. Clown rolls his eyes.

"Some people totally would. And besides, security and management would kill us," he says. The opening band finished their last song in the distance, meaning we had about fifteen minutes before we went on stage.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but i'm gonna be in the pit," Sid shrugs. "Just don't tell management."

"You guys have any pre-show rituals you do?" Liz asks.

They all think for a moment. "Not necessarily," Jim says. "We try to make sure not to eat for a while before shows so we don't throw up in our masks anymore."

All four of us girls cringe. "That's disgusting," Liz says.

"It's true," Mick shrugs. "Learned it the hard way."

"What about you guys? Do you have any pre-show rituals?" Chris asks.

Lake shoots me a look, and I laugh. "Well are you gonna tell them, or do you want me to?"

"I do half a line of flakka before every show," I say. Some of the guys' eyes widen.

"No shit?" Paul says.

"No shit," I nod.

"Well damn, you gotta share now!" Sid exclaims, jumping from his spot on top of the couch.

"Ah, i've got a limited supply. Y'all can join me, but you've gotta bring your own shit," I smile.

"I don't believe it for a second," Corey says boredly. "You're not actually gonna-"

I pull out the bag of crystals, and his jaw drops for a second. "Believe me now?"

"You're insane," Chris says, shaking his head.

"I'm an artist," I reply, taking out two considerably sized crystals. The guys watch in silence as I crushed them on the counter and railed the line. I tap my nose, look back up, and Sid starts clapping.

"Impressive as fuck! Dude, we're gonna have a hell of a good time on this tour," Sid smiles.

"You are full of surprises," Clown shakes his head.

I laugh and stand up to take the bag back to my dressing room. When I come back, some of the guys had left, probably to watch the show from the pit. "Five minutes before we go on," Liz states, cracking her back. "Y'all ready to have a good time?"

I smile, and Emma yells "hell yeah!"

"I'm most excited for the after party," Lake says. "Sid said he wanted to do something big tonight since it's our first big tour."

"You two really like each other, huh?" Liz smirks.

"I don't know yet. I do know, he's a really good partier."

"What about the after party?" I wink, elbowing Lake jokingly.

"Nothing happened yet!" she says defensively, and we all laugh.

"We're just fucking with ya," Emma smiles, then glances at the clock. "Y'all ready to fuck shit up?"

"Absolutely," I say. We all fist bump, then run out on the stage. The crowd cheers, and I smile. "What the fuck is up, you crazy motherfuckers?!" I scan the pit, and sure enough, all nine guys are out there. Jim catches my gaze, and I wink. "How bout we start things off with a song called Fuck Me Up?"

Liz, Lake, and Emma start playing, and I blow a kiss towards Jim. "Baby, I can see your ring, and i can really tell that it don't mean a thing. Better be careful what you're askin' for, cuz i've got a loaded gun and i've used it before! I said hey, big papa let me give you a ride, I need another reason to feel dead inside. Don't ask me for my name, that's not a part of the plan. All you gotta know is i'm your biggest fan!"

The crowd here is liquid. Absolutely electric. A massive smile spreads across my face as I look towards my band, then back to the Slipknot guys in the pit.

We made it.

"Fuck me up, fuck me up good!"

Speaking of getting fucked up, I could feel the flakka kicking in. I think in trying to impress the guys, I accidentally did more than usual. It wasn't gonna kill the show, but it certainly wasn't gonna make performing easy.

"Fuck me up, fuck me up good!"

a/n: so i think i've decided Ryssa's band is based off of Highly Suspect and Badflower.
how are y'all liking the story so far? continue commenting and voting, cuz it's lowkey the only thing keeping me going okay i love you guys ty🤍