The scraping of metal against wood woke Natalie up from a deep sleep. The sun streamed in through the blinds and specks of dust drifted lazily in the light. The scraping stopped for a moment and started up again quickly.
"God, seriously?" Natalie rubbed her eyes and pulled her long black hair away from her face.
Aside from playing two shows the past two days and not getting very deep sleep due to inebriation, she was exhausted. Today was not the day to be woken up early by whatever the hell that noise was. After scooting out of bed, putting on appropriate pants for anywhere outside the bedroom and pulling her hair into a loose bun, Natalie opened her bedroom door.
The scraping was louder out here but obviously coming from downstairs. Looking to the left she noticed her roommates' doors already open, except for Tori, the rhythm guitarist, who could sleep through anything. Natalie suspected she had someone else in there with her, anyway so it was better not to bother her. Moving slowly down the wooden staircase the scraping not only became louder but it sounded like there were two things causing the noise.
Just as she opened her mouth and turned the corner to scream at whoever was causing such a racket this early, the smell of breakfast hit her square in the nose. Bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes… What couldn't be fixed with food? Natalie's anger dissipated almost as quickly as it had set in. Her feet moved the rest of her across the living room and into the kitchen. Around the middle island stood her other three roommates who also happened to be her bandmates.
Picking idly at a bowl of cottage cheese was Nickles, the drummer. Her usually bright emerald eyes were dark from lack of sleep and the way her back hunched over the counter she probably wasn't feeling so well, either. Her bright red hair looked like an untamed lion's mane sticking out from her head. Nickles nodded her hello silently and slowly. She was usually a bit more upbeat, the one always the first up in the morning, but today the hangover was speaking for her. Nickles' real name is Elizabeth but it had to be changed to better match her counterpart.
Sitting on the counter rubbing Nickles' back was Suzanna the lead guitarist. For a girl she was uncommonly tall, moreso than anyone else in the band. Tall, blonde and high cheekbones? She was made for the lead guitar role in a Dethklok cover band. The role didn't really suit her, however; Suzanna grew up a drummer and being out in the front wasn't exactly her comfort zone but she took it in stride, still going downstairs to play Nickles drum set whenever she could.
Finally, cooking in front of the small electric stove was Jill. The bass player was silent while she cooked and didn't seem to really notice anything else going on around her. She usually stayed quiet until she got drunk and then all bets were off. Lackluster brown hair framed her mousy face. Unassuming was probably the best word for Jill which worked to her advantage when she was up to no good.
"What the hell was that noise that just woke me up?" Natalie asked loudly as to get everyone's attention.
Suzanna looked up almost worried that she had done something wrong. "I was moving some amps around to get better sound in the other room. Sorry."
"It's fine. Just don't do that shit while I'm asleep next time. My head is killing me. What time did we even get home last night?"
The thought of last night proved too much for Nickles as she quickly stood up straight and made a bee-line for the bathroom.
"I think around 6? I can't say. Where's Tori?" Jill shoveled eggs onto three plates, hovering over the fourth as if to see if Tori was really here or not.
It wouldn't be the first time, Tori was a notorious no show for their morning-after-show breakfasts. She either shacked up with someone she found at an after party or brought someone back home with her.
"she's still asleep. Is someone in there with her?" Natalie asked, looking at Jill who just shrugged and grabbed a plate full of food to take upstairs for Tori.
Natalie made her way back up the stairs taking care not to spill the mountain of food perched on the plate in her hand. She stood at the door to Tori's room and knocked loudly. The sound of blankets moving around came from the other side followed by light footsteps.
The door cracked open and Tori's body stood in the way, preventing any sight into her room.
"what's up?" Tori asked groggily, scratching her stomach.
Tori was almost as tall as Suzanna but had much more of a presence about her. Crystal blue eyes stood out on her pretty face, framed by long chestnut-colored hair that fell past her shoulders. Her personality attracted many kinds of people, mostly douchebag men who wanted to sleep with her. Although she loved to play the field, she didn't give it up to just anyone. Usually only buisinessmen types came through her door, and maybe the random male groupie. She had a serious attraction to Charles, the manager for the band they emulated on almost a nightly basis, Dethklok, and usually sought out men who reminded her of him.
The band they played in, Murmaiders, was a common sight on many flyers around town and the country. Men loved to see women play as their favorite band, and women loved to see girls that could seriously put on a heavy metal show. The men were strange because as fans of Dethklok, to want to have sex with any of the ladies was kind of off-putting. You like the way Skwisgaar plays guitar so you want to get with Suzanna because she looks like him? Latent homosexuality, much? Either way, the ladies were popular in their own right and had a lot to show for it. Even their own version of Charles, who came by to help them with booking and money matters.
Natalie handed the plate off to Tori, who took it with a nod. "be down in a few." She said as she stepped back and shut the door.
Downstairs Nickles had returned to the kitchen, and was now in the same spot picking at a single pancake without syrup. Suzanna sat next to her looking over every few moments to make sure her friend was doing alright. Jill was eating forkfuls of food quickly, spilling crumbs on the floor. Natalie returned and took up next to Jill.
"So we have another show tonight?" Suzanna asked, peering up from her plate. Too many shows stressed Suzanna out more than she cared to admit but again taking everything as it came, she gave it her all every single time.
"Yeah we do. At the civic center. We're headlining remember?" Jill replied, looking down at her plate as though she didn't know what happened to all the food.
"Jesus not again." Nickles mumbled and put her head in her hands. Suzanna looked alarmed and jumped up to get a wet paper towel.
"Perhaps we should rest a bit more before we get going?" Natalie suggested.
"Oh well no shit on that one," Jill said over her shoulder from the sink. Dishes clattered as she put them all in the sink to soak before washing. The dishwasher broke last week and they hadn't had time to fix it. "When is Morgan coming by?"
Morgan was their manager, the Charles of their band. She was serious and hard-working, but still fun to be around when she did loosen up. Never went out for drinks after a show or joined them on the rare vacation they took to the beach. Morgan worked with them to make sure they got every penny they deserved and so they stayed on the (somewhat) straight and narrow. The ladies didn't get into nearly as many mishaps as Dethklok, but they still needed a parental figure every now and then.
"I'm not sure but she'll let us know when she is I don't doubt that." Natalie replied and got up to go back to sleep for a few more hours. The other girls followed closely behind, Suzanna holding Nickles up the entire way upstairs.
Later that afternoon, around four thirty, a sharp taptaptaptap hit the wooden front door. Morgan stood outside in the sunlight that directly hit the front porch every afternoon. Sweat beaded on her forehead, which she quickly wiped away as to not look unkempt. Morgan would never be caught with one hair out of place. Her thick brown hair was held in a tight bun directly on the back of her head. A clean pressed pantsuit hung perfectly on her skinny frame and on her feet were black Italian leather pumps. No patent leather for this woman. She had gone to college with Tori who met her in a history class before the band was even together. When Tori was a senior in college and the band had started gaining popularity, she asked Morgan to take care of their bookings and money. Morgan agreed (working pro bono for a while) and the rest is history.
"Come on ladies I know someone is up in this damn house." She thought, looking around at the porch. It was clean, much to Morgan's approval. At the far end to her right was an old bench swing suspended by chains, and to her left was a new bike, probably belonging to Nickles.
Morgan sighed and knocked sharply again. Her hand was held in a fist as she prepared to bang on the door when it flew open.
Tori of all people stood in the doorway with a grin on her face. "Business time already?" she smiled and waved Morgan inside.
"You know it. Very big show tonight are you all excited? And most of all ready?" Morgan welcomed the feeling of cool air on her skin as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the living room. Tori must have been practicing because her guitar leaned against the couch and the TV was on mute.
"Of course we are. Never miss a show. The other girls are in the process of getting up they should be down any moment." Tori flopped down on the couch, grabbing the guitar on her way down.
Morgan perched herself on a chair to the side of the couch and leaned her bag against her leg. Her hands rested on her knees, back straight as an arrow. Tori noticed this all the time.
Looking up from the instrument, Tori scoffed. "How is sitting like that comfortable?"
"You ask me this all the time. And I'm going to be a lot more comfortable when I'm old and don't have a hunchback." Morgan smiled at Tori and stood up when Natalie came down the stairs. "Good morning, sunshine."
"Oh hey Morgan I didn't know you were here why didn't you tell us?" Natalie sat down next to Tori.
"I just arrived. Tori said you all would be down shortly anyway. No need to come banging on your doors, again."
Natalie and Tori exchanged looks of embarrassment and then laughed. A few months ago after a particularly busy night of partying, they had forgotten about a photo shoot they were to do for some metal magazine the next morning. Morgan had to literally drag every one of them out of bed and get them in the van for the shoot. Needless to say those pictures weren't on the refrigerator door.
Jill came down next, followed by Nickles and then Suzanna. The girls squeezed together on the couch while Morgan ran over the details of their night.
"As you know you ladies are headlining at the Civic Center tonight. It is a sold out show so I expect the best from every one of you. We have a lot of fans out there that pay good money to see you all so no bullshit."
"When do we ever give you bullshit to clean up? In terms of the actual show, that is." Nickles piped up, apparently feeling better now.
"You don't but I just feel like I should say it. Now I've heard of maybe some special guests but I'm not too sure what that could entail. The mayor's son perhaps? Maybe just some VIPs who want to feel special? Five backstage passes have been given out for tonight so expect some fans to come through when you're off stage. Sign some autographs, take some photos and then you guys can do whatever you want. OK?" Morgan looked at them expectantly.
"Well whose names are on the passes? That's how you know who it is. Duh. And we never give out passes usually we just meet with the huge crowds as we leave. How were there even passes to get?" Natalie looked at Morgan like she was dumb for not thinking of this.
Morgan shot her a don't fuck with me look. "If there were names I would tell you, now wouldn't I? They just say VIP so whoever it is wants it to be a secret. Don't worry there will be security as always. Are you all ready to go? We have to get the gear in the van."
Despite being a somewhat famous cover band, the Murmaiders still had to load and set up their own gear for every show. Roadies just weren't in the budget. Some venues had people to help them set up but they still had to get it there.
Each band member was in charge of their own gear. Nickles having the most to carry, had the biggest burden. Suzanna was always willing to lend a hand, however. The feel of a snare or high hat in her hands brought a smile to her face. That being said, she didn't treat her Gibson with disdain. Even that was special to her and she took good care of it.
The heat of the day had all the girls sweating by the time they piled in the van to go to the show.
"This is bullshit. We need some help with that stuff. It never gets any lighter even after all these years of lugging it around." Tori said, lightning and cigarette.
"Well that sure isn't helping." Jill tilted her head toward Tori who turned her head toward the window as to not see anyone anymore.
Nickles sat in the driver's seat and turned the key with all her strength. The old van roared to life, and they were off.
At the civic center, Morgan made sure they all had their badges and even found a few employees to help with the equipment. One guy was more than happy to help, even asking the girls why they carried their own stuff if they headlined events such as this one. They all laughed and found it cute he thought they were real rock stars.
Once inside Morgan went off to find whoever was in charge to make sure the Murmaiders were taken care of. The girls sat in their dressing room sipping cheap beer. Tori fiddled with her guitar, making sure it sounded just right.
"It's really bothering me who these stupid VIPs are. Who wants to be back stage with us? We usually just leave right after anyway. Now we have to sit and entertain these fucks? What gives?" Natalie complained to no one in particular.
"Hey maybe it's some big record execs who want to give us record deals!" Suzanna offered optimistically.
"Honey, please. We don't even write our own stuff who would want to sign us?" Nickles piped up from the desk in front of a mirror where she fixed her hair up with gel. She had no desire to dread her hair like Pickles so instead she just spiked it up to more resemble him in his Snakes N Barrels days.
"You never know…" Suzanna replied quietly, looking back down at her own guitar that lay flat on her lap.
"Well whoever it is let's show 'em a good time. We know how to get down, right? Let's hope they do, too." Tori offered, holding her beer above her head.
"I'll drink to that. Jill cheers with us, damnit." Natalie stood up and clinked her bottle against Jill's which sat on a table while she laced up her boots.
Bottles clinked together and the ladies got ready for their time on stage.
A few hours later, the group stood together on the side of the stage behind a wall of amps. The crowd cheered and whistled as their names were announced.
"Let's do this. Again." Natalie held her hand out and each one put their own hand on top.
"Let's go!" they all said in unison and then walked out onto the dark stage.
Nickles hit her sticks together to count them into the first song and on the last count the lights flipped on and they were bathed in the glow of stage lighting. The crowd went crazy for the ladies of Murmaider, playing the songs of Dethklok.
At some point Suzanna looked out into the crowd. She made it a point to try and do this at every show to try and seem more present on stage. The stress from being up front flowed out from her fingers as she played chord after chord, riff after riff. At one point when she looked up she swore she saw red hair next to blonde next to black next to brown and another brown with a distinctive fu Manchu mustache.
Just fans she thought, and moved around to stand opposite Tori for their respective solos. Tori noticed the odd look on her face and gave her a quick what's going on? glance as they passed one another on stage. Suzanna openly shook her head and kept playing.
After an encore the girls joined one another stage right. Nickles was the last after she threw her sticks into the audience. Natalie tapped her throat as if to turn it back on but only whispered: "Good job." She gave a quick thumbs up and went to go find water.
"I think they're here." Suzanna said after Natalie walked away.
Jill removed her top and wiped her face with it. "Who?" she asked from behind a cotton barrier.
"They. Them. Deathklok?" Suzanna said with worry in her voice.
"You were just seeing things. There are plenty of people in every crowd that look like them. No way they would be here. They have much better things to do than come watch cover bands play." Jill wrapped her shirt around her chest and leaned against an amplifier.
"I don't know. I think it was them." Suzanna said in a small voice. She looked at Tori for confirmation and Tori returned her look of semi-worry.
There was really no need to be worried of course, any cover band would be in awe if they met the band whose songs they played for a living. Tori was hoping they were here. That meant Charles would be, too. Suzanna just didn't want Skwisgaar to come and tear her apart for her guitar playing. Her small ego would crumble if assaulted by his words.
Natalie returned with Morgan by her side.
"You all ready for a little meet and greet?" Morgan's smile betrayed her secret.
"Who is it? I know you know!" Pickles got up in front of Morgan and stared straight into her eyes.
Morgan just held up her hands and laughed. "I have no idea. Let's go."
They walked single file back into the dressing room and immediately began to change into their regular clothes.
"Hurry, ladies, I'll be back in 5 with whoever these VIPs are." Morgan turned on her heel and closed the door behind her.
"That bitch knows. God why is she so insufferable sometimes!?" Jill threw her pants on the floor in frustration and walked over to the mini fridge in her underwear. She opened a can of beer and downed it in a few gulps.
When the doorknob jiggled, Jill jumped behind the mirrored desk to find cover. "Hey Tori, hand me my clothes, please." Jill put on a big goofy smile and Tori threw her clothes in her direction. They fell about five feet away, just out of her reach. Jill would have to come out to get them.
By then it was too late. The door was open and Morgan was leading a group into the room. Suzanna inhaled sharply first, followed by everyone else.
"What? Who is it?" Jill called from behind the desk.
No one answered. In front of them stood, of course, Dethklok. The real one.