Angels calling

chapter 7

A few weeks later the guys from Sabaton are on a new tour again. This time one in Russia and they are just at the end of the first week. Hannes is sitting at a table on the bus and playing drums on the table. Joakim is watching him, he notices that the drummer keeps drumming the same tune with frustration. "What's up Hannes?" he decides to ask. He gets a deep breath back. "It doesn't work, I have a piece in my head and it's written here on the paper, but something isn't right, and I just can't figure out what's wrong!" Hannes sits down in the chair and folds his arms. "I don't know anything about drums, so unfortunately I can't help you with that either, did you ask Chris to take a look at it?" Joakim suggests. Hannes nods in agreement. "Yes I did and he couldn't find it either". Hannes takes his pen and paper and wants to walk away when Joakim calls him again. "Do you still have that number of that girl whom found Freya a few weeks back? Wasn't she called Elena? she was also good at drumming, maybe you can ask her what she thinks about it. " Hannes's face lights up. "Yes I still have that number! I'll call her soon and see if she wants to help! " and happy he walks away to put his things away. Not much later the bus stops and it is time to build up for the next show, after which they have a day off.
Hannes intends to call her the next morning and ask for her help.

It is Wednesday night, Tim is away for training at work for a few days and is in Germany. Elena is sleeping well when her phone suddenly rings. She is startled and answers. "Hey with Hannes" it sounds from the other end of the line. He laughs at Elena's sleepy voice. "Hannes, you're a lovely man, but why the hell are you calling at 4 am?" Elena yawns. "4? It is 9 o'clock ", Hannes is surprised. Elena checks the clock again. "No, here it is 4 o'clock at night, its called difference". Hannes can hit himself in the head, why didn't he think about that. In Russia where they are it is 5 hours later. "Sorry, is it okay if I call you back later this afternoon? than you can get back to sleep?" he asks. Elena laughs, "I'm already awake now, so you might as well ask what you called for" Hannes makes a sound of approval. "Well I'm stuck with a piece of music, and something isn't right but I can't figure it out, I wanted to ask if you wanted to hear it because you also play the drums". He says. Elena sits up in her bed and puts her phone on speaker. "I can look at it yes, I don't know if I can be of anny help, but I can try" she says while putting her hair in a new bun. Hannes sends a picture of the music sheets to Elena and she looks at it. "I don't see any errors or anything like that, on a quick run over , but give me a few minutes okay" in the meantime she transfers the notes to an paper sheet . "Can we make this a video call? Maybe when you see it being played you will see it "Elena asks as she walks downstairs to the music room. "Yes you can, wait and I'll call you back in a minute, okay" not long after that Hannes hangs up. 

Elena puts her phone in the stand for her drum kit so that Hannes can watch it right away. In the meantime she connects her phone to the speakers so that she can hear Hannes as well. She takes her drumsticks and waits for Hannes to call her back. She takes another look at herself. She has a blue / yellow eye from a recent fight with Tim and her ribs are well bruised to, Elena doesn't even know if she can play drums well because she hasn't tried that with bruised ribs yet. Hannes calls back with video calling. Elena holds her fingers over the camera first. "Okay, let's start this, I fell and my face doesn't look good, so don't be scared" she says after which she removes her fingers from the camera and sits down behind the drums. "Gosh, it's a good thing you warned! That doesn't look good at al ", says Hannes shocked, after which they go through the music sheets together. "Shall I give it a try?" Elena asks. Hannes nods and Elena starts to play the piece. When she's done she looks dubious. "There is indeed something wrong" she looks at the notes with concentration and makes some notes. "Here it comes again" she says to the camera and starts playing again. After a few tries, Elena suddenly sees it, she makes a few more notes. "I think I have it Hannes" she says happily. "Play, now I'm curious!". Elena starts playing and applies the changed notes. The piece still sounds almost the same, but there is now a better flow, notices Hannes. " that is amazing!" Hannes calls out after she is done playing. "What have you changed?" he asks. Elena looks at the paper and explains some things. 

Meanwhile, Chris comes out of one of the beds on the bus with a sleepy head. "Hannes, what are you doing so early" he asks and makes a cup of coffee. Hannes says nothing but gets the headphones from the computer so that Chris can listen to what Elena is telling. His eyes widen when he hears the voice on the other side of the screen. "Elena, is that you ?!" happy and incredulous he sits down next to Hannes and looks at the screen, there in her pajamas, Elena is behind the drums. "Hey Chris! that was a long time ago "says Elena happily. "It sure is! How are you and what happened to your face? " Chris asks one after the other. "Yes, I'm fine, and this on my face is because I fell this week and hit my face nicely," laughs Elena. Chris notices that her smile does not reach her eyes and she seems a bit gloomy, deep down he does not believe that she has fallen but he does not say anything about it. "We have figured out what was wrong in Hannes's music piece" Elena says happily. She plays the piece again so that Chris can hear it too, and then they talk a while longer. Chris and Elena exchange numbers so that they can have contact more often and there is a lot of laughter until Elena's doorbell rings. Elena looks at the time, it is now 8 o'clock. "Sorry guys I have to go, someone is at the door" they say goodbye and close the conversation after which Elena walks to the door. 

Her mother is standing in front of the door with a bowl in her hands. She passes Elena after saying hello and puts the bowl on the counter. "This is for Tim when he returns, he likes that so much" says mother, after which she looks at Elena inquisitive. "Have you disobeyed again?" she asks, gripping Elena's chin tightly and examining the bruise on her face. "I didn't do anything mom!" Elena sputters, "he gets angry about nothing". Elena Regina Smit I didn't bring you up that way, that's not how you talk about your husband! " her mother says angrily. It's all too much for Elena and she gets angry. "Last time I looked around my fingers there was no wedding ring on it yet! And you would be a much better mother if you looked after your daughter once instead of marrying her off to a monster who mistreated her every time! " she shouts angrily. Her mother slaps her hard in the face and that's the final straw for Elena. She hits back just as hard, "Get out of my house and I don't need to see you again!" she yells at her mother after which she walks away offended. Elena sinks to the floor crying, why can't it even go well. Why does everything have to work against her? After sitting like this for a few minutes she decides to take a shower and then start the day well and truly.