BloodLust // yungblud fanfic

Chapter 7

She drove downtown the next morning to sign the paperwork. Tom had given her the address of a hotel in Beverly Hills, and she expected a five-star boutique monstrosity with a rooftop pool, the kind of luxurious place where real rock stars stayed; but when she pulled up in front, she was a little disappointed to see that it was just a mid range chain hotel, and not very fancy at all. What was the point of dealing with all of the press coverage and crazy fans if you didn't even get to live in the lap luxury while you did it?

She went inside. Two men were sitting on a low bench near the front desk, and after a moment she recognized them from the audition yesterday: the man with the clipboard, and the guy with long brown hair, the one who seemed to be in charge. They both stood up as Holly approached.

She didn't see her guy anywhere.
Maybe...
Speculating was pointless. She would find out soon enough.

"Holly Zimber?" The clipboard dude asked, holding out his hand and smiling. He was wearing a grey button up shirt with very nice black pants, and Holly looked down at her own frayed jeans and wished she had dressed up a little. "I'm Gavin, the tour manager."

Holly shook hands with him and then with the other man, who said, "Tom Pallant. I'm the photographer and, I guess, unofficial responsible adult."

It sounded like a joke, but he wasn't smiling. He was very good looking and he wore his plain white Tshirt and faded blue denim jeans, but he had a serious expression on his face that belied his tattoos and floppy skater hair. It was very clear to Holly that these two were the people she needed to impress. The contract hadn't been signed yet; they could still change their minds.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to tour with you guys," she said to Tom.

His mouth pulled to one side. "Don't speak too soon."

Holly didn't have any idea how to respond to that. He must have been joking, but she couldn't read any humor in his face at all.

"Stop it, Tom," Gavin said. "You're scaring her." Gavin glanced around, and even though the lobby was empty aside from the woman at the front desk, he said, "Let's go up to my room. We can talk in private."

A small knot of anxiety began to form in Hollys stomach. What on earth was going on here?

Aside from the open suitcase on the floor, Gavins room didn't look like anyone had stayed in it at all. The bed was neatly made, and there was non of the usual travel mess strewn around, no toiletries on the counter or pizza boxes lying open and half empty on top of the desk. Gavin gestured to the sole armchair in one corner and said, "Please, take a seat."

Holly sat, holding her tote bag on her lap. She had seen this movie. Someone would pull out a knife, or reveal they weren't quite human. Holly, as the hapless and innocent heroine, would scream, or possibly faint, or else prove herself to be a member of that peculiar movie species known as the "strong female character" and bust out her awesome karate moves. Blood would be shed. All might end well, or tragically.

Gavin and Tom sat side by side on the bed, both of them staring at her, and Holly waited for their jaws to unhinge in perfect sync and their faces to peel back to reveal their true selves, scaly lizard people from the Delta Quadrant.

"There's something about the band that you need to know," Gavin said.

Holly suppressed a hysterical giggle. We're all blood sucking vampires from outer space!

Gavin glanced at Tom, who didn't react. "The guitarist quit, as you know," he said. "It was a long time coming. The drummer is sort of... difficult."

"Michael," Holly said. She had done some reading last night, after she got the phone call from Tom.

"That's right." Gavin said. "He's going through a... difficult period. It's important that you're aware. He may treat you quite horribly. The rest of us will do our best to run interference. If you think this will be a problem for you, please let us know now so that we can move to the next person on our list."