AN: Hiya, peoplez!!!!!!!! I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And beyond ready for more awesomeness!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of myself for actually sitting down and writing this… even if it means schoolwork is going undone… ^__^ eh, who cares about school anyway…. I'm almost done, so wOOt…. Meaning it no longer matters… ok, I'm done being a total spazzoid and school-hater… ON VITH ZE STORY!!!!!!!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TOKIO HOTEL (sadly) OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT EXISTS IN REAL LIFE!!!!!!!!! I DO OWN RACHEL, REBECCA, AND LAUREN SUMMERS!!!! STEAL THEM AND SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!!!!!!!!!!!!
Previously: As she did, she noticed something that made her blood turn to ice.
Rebecca was gone. She was alone.
7:40, THE TABERNACLE: 20 MINUTES BEFORE CONCERT:
Rachel's head flew back and forth as she searched for her sister. However, all she saw were strangers, people she didn't know forcing her forwards toward the ticket kiosk. Suddenly terrified, Rachel tried to back away and found she couldn't. There were simply too many people all moving forwards.
She slowly allowed herself to be drawn ever closer to the yawning mouth of the doors leading into the Tabernacle. Girls shouted over each other, rambling on about their favorite band member or song, all trying to out-scream each other. To Rachel, the noise felt like a blanket being slowly wrapped around her nose and mouth. She couldn't breath and could barely move one foot in front of the other. Finally, though, she reached the kiosk and a brief moment of blessed quiet as she dug her ticket out and showed it to the security guard. He took it and looked at where she was supposed to sit.
"All right, Miss, you're close to the front, so take that last door to the left and go all the way down. And please be careful; there's no barrier, so some crazies might try and jump on the stage."
Swallowing hard, Rachel nodded and took her ticket back. The guard studied her face for a second, concern evident, but he let her pass before the press of the crowd forcibly shoved through. She stepped into the Tabernacle's main lobby, again assailed with horrendously loud screaming and the press of already-sweaty bodies. Rachel tried to ignore the crown and press her way to the bathrooms, but ended up caught up in the current of people heading into the "concert hall". She hoped that, once they got into the hall itself, the crowd would disperse some, allowing her something resembling breathing room.
It didn't.
If anything, it got worse. Hundreds of high-pitched voices shouted over each other, all fighting for supremacy. The group she'd been sucked into was part of that competition, as well; as it morphed forwards, the girls all shouted at each other, arguing over whether Bill was cuter than Tom and whether Gustav was more awesome than Georg. Rachel covered her ears, trying hard to maintain some semblance of rationality. Her efforts failed miserably when she realized where the group was heading: the area right in front of the stage. The mosh pit. The one place Rachel had been hoping to avoid, and now she was stuck there. As the bunch of girls reached the stage, she finally managed to break free and lean against the stage itself. She was immensely glad there was no barrier this time; had there been, she would have had nothing to cling to, nothing to allow her the smallest bit of comfort amidst the screams of fangirls and the pressing of bodies and hands against her.
Rachel took a deep breath before letting it out slowly in a loud hiss. This was going to be a long night.
BACKSTAGE, RIGHT BEFORE CONCERT
Tom stuck his head in the back room of their backstage area. Bill had been in there for the last half hour, getting dressed and making sure every last little detail was perfect. He was so OCD sometimes it wasn't even funny.
"Are you ready yet?" he grouched. "We're going on in ten minutes!"
"Almost." Bill didn't turn away from the mirror as he spoke. "And you've been in here like every two seconds reminding me; it's not like I'm going to forget."
Tom nearly laughed out loud at that. "Baby brother, you forget everything," he answered, putting the "baby brother" in simply to annoy Bill. As usual, it worked.
"By ten minutes, Tom. You're older by a mere ten freaking minutes."
"Still older."
"I hate you."
"No, you don't. You just wish you could." He paused to check his watch. "And now you have five minutes."
"I know, dammit!"
Tom rolled his eyes, teasing his brother. "No need to shout."
Bill glared at Tom in the mirror. "You are annoying," he informed him.
"So my last girlfriend told me. And you're out of time."
Bill shook his head as he turned away from the mirror. "Whatever. I'm ready."
"'Bout time."
Gustav and Georg both poked their heads around Tom, Georg glowering at Bill. "Come on, pretty boy, we gotta go!" Tom slipped out of the way as Bill launched himself at Georg, yelling, "Who you calling pretty boy?"
"You. Cause you are," Georg responded, completely unrepentant.
"Look who's talking," Tom called from the door. "Seriously, guys, our last show for four days, and you idiots are going to make us late!" That got the others running. No one wanted to be late for a gig, and definitely not the last one before their time off. They raced down to the end of the hall, paused to regain their collective composure, waited for the opening band to exit the stage, and leaped on, ready to do what they did best, aside from acting stupid.
Perform.
RACHEL
Rachel heard the screams of the girls around her double in intensity as the clock hit 8:00. She raised her head just enough to see Tom, Georg, and Gustav all enter the stage and head for their respective instruments. Her eyes landed on Tom, noting the awkward way he walked to keep his three-sizes-too-large pants from falling off and the way his face lit up at the size of the audience. She felt her head rise farther as he moved out of her line of sight, soaking up the view of him lifting his guitar strap over his head, briefly revealing his muscular chest. As the girls swooned around her, and she felt her own breath catch, she figured he did that on purpose.
She spared a glance at Georg and Gustav, who were getting set themselves. Rachel then glanced around, realizing that Bill hadn't come out yet. Remembering the 1000 Hotels fiasco, she felt the slightest twinge of worry then realized that the others wouldn't be getting ready if he wasn't going to show.
'Wonder where he is, then… Oh, wait, that's right; they do that sometimes… he'll probably come out in a sec,' she thought, her eyes slowly moving back to Tom. And as she stared at him, the strangest thing began to happen.
The press of people on either side of her began to fade away; the noise of the crowd, less obnoxious. He gave off an aura of calmness and surety; an aura that bathed her in sweet peace and silence. That was, until the music started, and Bill came leaping onto the stage with his normal level of enthusiasm.
The screams of fangirls rose in volume yet again, and Rachel lost sight of Tom as hands reached out past her, trying to get Bill's attention. She ducked her head back against the stage as the fear swamped her yet again. Her vision faded out for a moment; she shook her head once, firmly, and it came back. A fine tremble started in her hands and legs. Rachel forced herself to breathe deeply, to not let the feelings overwhelm her.
Her attempts started to work, but then Bill called out to the crowd, "Here we are, in Atlanta! Thank you so much for coming out tonight-" He was cut off by hundreds of girls screaming his name. The girls around Rachel practically slammed her against the stage, hands waving at Bill, hoping to get some form of response. He did seem to notice, as his already bright smile grew even wider, threatening to split his face in half. "We're all so glad to be here, and we hope to give you all a great show!"
Hundreds of voices screamed back, "WE LOVE YOU, BILL!" Elsewhere, people were turning the band's name into a chant; it grew louder, a rising crescendo of voices shouting, "TOKIO HOTEL! TOKIO HOTEL!" Rachel tried to ignore the noise, attempted to get her nerves back under control, and failed utterly. Her legs felt weak and her hands were clenched so hard her nails were digging into her palms. As she fought to regain control of her body from the sudden adrenaline rush, she heard Gustav and Tom play the opening lines of "Monsoon". Seconds later, the entire stadium went silent as Bill started to sing.
TOM
Tom could barely restrain a smile as he watched Bill get into the song. Monsoon was one of their favorites to perform, mainly because it was one of the most well-known, which meant Bill could let the audience sing more often than in their less-well-known songs. Either way, Bill looked like he was having way too much fun as he bounced around the stage, singing his heart out.
Running through the monsoon
Beyond the world
To the end of time
Fighting the storm
Into the blue and
And when I lose myself
Think of you!
Through the monsoon
Just me and you.
His fingers flew up and down the guitar's neck, his body moving almost instinctively against it. As he did, he heard some crazy fangirl start screaming in the audience. In response, he started doing it more, causing even more screaming. Had he not been mostly focused on his playing, he would have been rolling on the ground laughing. Fangirls were so easy to tease. As the song continued, rising towards his favorite part, the girls in the crowd grew quieter as they sang along. Pretty soon, what seemed like the entire audience was singing with Bill.
RACHEL
Rachel shivered as the noise surrounding her swelled. One would think when the screaming stopped, it would get easier to deal with, but no, it almost seemed to get worse. Pretty much every person in the audience was singing and added to Bill's magnified voice, the drumming, and the bass and guitar blaring through speakers only a few feet from her head, the noise was weighing on her, pushing her shoulders down as her body shrank in on itself. Her hands rose to cover her ears again, trying to protect herself.
Not that she expected that to work.
As she struggled with her fears, "Monsoon" ended and another song started. Rachel didn't even recognize what the music was at this point, wishing only that it would stop. She couldn't hear her own voice yelling out for help, and no one around her spared her a second glance. She felt like her world was about to explode, that she was about to shatter into a million pieces………………………………………………………………………………………………..
TOM
The music was in him, flowing through his blood. His hands flew across the guitar strings and his body bounced with the beat. Tom never felt this alive outside of concerts. His blood sang as he played; the sweat pouring off him was unimportant, as was the slight cramping he felt in his wrist. All of it was beside the point: the only thing that mattered was the music.
Their second song ended, and the screaming started up again. Bill raised one hand to the audience, and they quieted down just enough so that he wouldn't have to shout over them.
Bill moved forward to shake hands with some of the fans at the front, saying as he did, "You all have no idea how much this means to us! You're all here, just for us! Thank you all!"
Screams shot up to almost supersonic as hundreds of girls began chanting again. Tom shook his head slightly, amused. This was what he and the others loved about their work: the love the fans showed them at concerts. It was amazing.
RACHEL
Bill was speaking, she knew that. She just didn't know what he was saying or if it even mattered. After he was done, the noise started again, a solid wall of sound that made her knees want to give way and her mind to shut down.
"I can't do this!" she screamed, her voice raw from screaming already. "I can't take it!" One hand fell from her ears to grip the edge of the stage, praying that it would do something to help………………………………………………………………………………………………….
TOM
As Bill continued to talk to the fans, Tom stepped up next to him, fiddling with his lip ring as he did. Several of the fans swooned as he came closer, and he nearly burst out laughing. Bill gave him as sour glance as he stopped.
"Aw, don't look at me like that. I just want to have my chance to say hi to all the pretty girls out there!" He called that last bit into the mike. Screams and several hundred swoons came back. He couldn't hold back his chuckle then, letting it out as he reached to trade handclasps with a handful of fans in front of him.
It was then that he noticed the anomaly.
A single hand wasn't reaching out, up, or in any other direction. Long, pale fingers gripped the edge of the stage so hard the knuckles were turning white. His gaze tried to follow the arm back to its owner, but the crowd of fangirls kept him from doing so. Curious as to whom the hand belonged to, he began to move over that way. As he did, the crowd split slightly around the mystery person, and he got a brief glimpse of her.
Long black hair framing a face paler than Bill's. Slim shoulders hunched around a face whose eyes were closed and whose mouth was open in a silent scream. Finally he stood right in front of her. He bent down to talk to her, but the noise around them was too loud. All he could do was stare, but as he stood there, the others began to press in. He saw the girl's face tighten more, the corners of her eyes trembling. The others pressing in probably wasn't helping, but when they started shouting his name, he saw her already pale face take on an unhealthy grey pallor. Her hand left the stage, started to rise to her ear. It never made it.
Tom watched, helplessly, as the dark-haired girl's eyes snapped open and stared sightlessly up past him, dark grey eyes that held nothing but terror. He caught the barest hint of a desperate scream then her eyes rolled back and she slid silently down the stage to the ground. He waited for a moment, but she didn't reappear. She was trapped, helpless, in the center of a mosh pit. He thought for all of about two seconds before coming to a decision. He stood, pulled his guitar off and stepped back to hand it to Bill, who was staring at him like he'd grown another head.
"What the hell are you doing, Tom?" he yelled over the noise of the audience. Tom didn't answer, just went back to where she'd gone down. He took a deep breath, saw one of the bodyguards come running, and jumped off the stage into the sea of fans.
AN: wOOt!!!!!!!! Chappy four done, finally!!!!!!!!! Sorry to make y'all wait, I was hit with sucky writer's block for this one… but it's done now, so yay!!!!!! So, rachel's down for the count, tom's being an impulsive idiot, bill's wondering when tom went nuts, georg and gustav have no idea what's going on, and a bodyguard is rushing over to help…. Oh, boy, is chappy five gonna be fun to write!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!! Ok, I'm done… bye-bye!!!!
TwinSwords out! l8rz!!!!!!!!!!
