Chapter 7: Of Music and Arguments
And so the day came where Adam, Chase, and Koal were set to perform live in a local bar. It was a nice little restaurant/bar called Spunky McDougals that Adam had been too several times; even though he wasn't old enough to drink. The food was good on the other hand and he was a regular so he knew a lot of the workers. There were a few hours left before they were set to play.
"Are you about ready to go?" Adam asked Cinder as he fastened his belt. He wasn't really wearing anything special; just an old pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He was also wearing an arrowhead that Cinder had found had found one day while they were hiking around his neck.
"Just about" Cinder replied. She finished brushing her fur and sprayed on little bit of a special Pokémon grade perfume Adam had gotten for her the last time he bought her care-products. She tied on her red bandana and Adam helped her put on the gold necklace he had given her for Christmas.
Once they had gotten dressed Adam loaded up his instruments and amp in his car before heading back inside to see if he had missed anything. He grabbed his wallet and phone which he slipped into his pocket and grabbed his keys. His mom was in the kitchen.
"Alright, we're heading out." He said. "Probably won't be in until after dark."
"We won't be here, remember?" she replied. "Me and Johnnie are going out of town for a couple of days. There is that motorcycle rally going on in Myrtle Beach and we were going out there for the weekend."
"That's right…I remember now." He replied. "Well, you guys be careful out there." He added giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"You be careful also." She replied.
"I will." He said before he slipped on his shoes and headed out the door.
Both him and Cinder climbed into his car and buckled up before he pulled out the drive and they were on their way. It was a typical Friday night, so Spunky's would probably have a good number of people there getting a few drinks or eating out. It was only a fifteen minute drive there so they arrived in no time.
Adam parked around back and gathered up his equipment before they made their way in through the back door. It was only 5:00 and people were already there getting in a few drinks after work. Adam made his way over to the stage they had set up for open-mic nights. Chase was already there setting up his drums.
"Hey, glad you made it." Adam said as he set his things down and started setting up.
"You know I wouldn't miss this for all the tournaments in the world." Chase replied.
"Did Koal say what time he would get here?"
"He should be here soon."
Chase was right. Koal arrived a few minutes later and set up his guitar also. After everything was set up; they made their way over to the bar where they managed to find some seat and they ordered a drinks. With there still being an hour before show time, they went ahead and ate a small dinner also to hold them over till after the show. Once they had eaten, Chase, Koal, and Adam made their way to the stage while Cinder sat not too far off with Chase's Absol and Koal's Lucario.
As the clock ticked closer to show time; Adam grew a little nervous. They hadn't really played many live shows and the ones they did were just neighborhood performances. This was going to be once of their bigger gigs yet. More and more people filed in to get a beer and most decided to stick around and see how this local unnamed band would be. Finally; it was time to start.
"Alright, everyone…how are you all doing tonight?" he called over the mic. There were a fair number of cheers that dame from around the room. "Well, we are gonna do something tonight that we haven't done a whole lot." He continued. "This is the first time we have ever played a gig this scale; but we plan on giving you guys on hell of a show." More cheers erupted from the crowd.
"Now tonight, we will be playing just a mix of songs. Mostly will be rock, but we may even play a few country to slow things down at times. We will have a box set up were you can submit requests. When we take a break, we will look through the requests and see which ones we can get out for you. Now, enough of all this petty rambling. It's time to rock." On that note, they immediately went into their first song.
"Little supernovas in my head.
Little soft pulses in my dead.
Little souvenirs and secrets shared.
Little off guard and unprepared."
"I was never good enough to find.
I was never bad enough to mind.
In the middle I will do my best.
Take me in your arms and leave the rest."
"I will give you anything to…"
"Say you want to stay, you want me to.
Say you'll never die, you'll always haunt me.
I want to know I belong to you.
Say you'll haunt me."
"Together, together we'll be together, together forever."
"Little variations on my page.
Little doors open on my cage.
Little time has come and gone so far.
Little by little who you are."
"I can see the patterns on your face.
I can see the miracles I trace.
Symmetry in shadows I can't hide."
"I JUST WANT TO BE RIGHT BY YOUR SIDE!"
"I will give you everything to…"
"Say you want to stay you want me too.
Say you'll never die, you'll always haunt me.
I want to know I belong to you.
Say you'll haunt me."
"Say you want to stay you want me too.
Say you'll never die, you'll always haunt me.
I want to know I belong to you.
Say you'll haunt me."
"Together, together we'll be together, together forever."
"I BELONG TO YOU!"
"Together, together we'll be together, together forever."
"I BELONG TO YOU!"
They went into their solo where they each seemed to show off a little of how well they could play.
"Little supernovas in my head.
Little soft pulses in my dead.
Little souvenirs and secrets shared.
Little of guard and unprepared."
"I will give you anything to…
I will give you everything to…"
"Say you want to stay you want me too.
Say you'll never die you'll always haunt me.
I want to know I belong to you.
Say you'll haunt me."
"Say you want to stay you want me too.
Say you'll never die you'll always haunt me.
I want to know I belong to you.
Say you'll haunt me."
"Together, together we'll be together, together forever."
"I BELONG TO YOU!"
"Together, together we'll be together, together forever."
"I BELONG TO YOU!"
Cheers erupted from the room. Adam smile to the Chase and Koal. He wasn't nervous anymore. Now that they had gotten over the first hump; they had it set.
"Alright…" Adam said. "That was a little bit of a newer song so now we are gonna take you back and play a classic." Adam went into a steady intro. Almost instantly several people started cheering.
"On a dark desert highway,
cool wind in my hair.
Warm smell of colitas,
rising up through the air."
"Up ahead in the distance,
I saw a shimmering light.
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim.
I had to stop for the night."
"There she stood in the doorway.
I heard the mission bell.
And I was thinking to myself:"
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell.'"
"Then she lit up a candle
and she showed me the way.
There were voices down the corridor.
I thought I heard them say…"
"Welcome to the Hotel California.
Such a lovely place.
(Such a lovely place.)
Such a lovely face.
Plenty of room at the Hotel California.
Any time of year.
(Any time of year.)
You can find it here."
"Her mind is Tiffany-twisted,
she got the Mercedes Benz.
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys,
that she calls friends."
"How they dance in the courtyard,
sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember,
some dance to forget."
"So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine.'
He said, 'we haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away.
Wake you up in the middle of the night.
Just to hear them say…"
"Welcome to the Hotel California.
Such a lovely place.
(Such a lovely place.)
Such a lovely face.
They're livin' it up at the Hotel California.
What a nice surprise.
(What a nice surprise.)
Bring your alibis."
"Mirrors on the ceiling
The pink champagne on ice.
And she said 'we are all just prisoners here, of our own device.'
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast.
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast."
"Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door.
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before.
'Relax,' said the night man.
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave.'"
They went into a long solo. When they finished; the entire room exploded with cheers, yells, and whistles. Adam was beaming with joy. They played several more song before they decided to take a break. They took the time to look through the request box. It wasn't packed, but there were more requests then Adam thought there would be. They picked out several of the best ones and returned to the stage to play fill them.
The first one was a country song. The next two were classic rock. The one after those was a newer rock song. They continued to play requests until they needed another break. People kept approaching them and telling them how well they played. Adam even got a few phone numbers from some girls but he crumpled them up when they girls weren't looking because Cinder was giving him an angry look.
"Man, they love us." Chase said while they were on break.
"Yea, and look at all these requests we are getting." Koal added. Adam reached in and pulled a request from the box. Just then, Cinder walked up. Adam looked at the request.
"Well, we can't play this one." He said and started to toss it aside.
"Why not?" Cinder asked.
"It calls for a duet with a female singer and I don't think Chase want's to sing in that high a pitch." He replied with a little laugh.
"I'll sign the part." She replied. Adam was throw off by here offer.
"Are you sure you want to?" he asked. She nodded. "Alright, well, if you really want to…I won't stop you."
They all got a quick drink before making their way back to the stage. Cinder took up a mic next to Adam. Adam heard spots of laughing come from the crowd.
"Alight folks…we are gonna play one more song. Now, this is Cinder and she will be helping me with this song." There was a more scatter laughs and he even though he heard someone say: "You're joking, right?" They took their placed and Adam started with a short simple intro.
[Cinder] "Nobody listens to me,
Don't hear a single thing Iv'e said,
Say anything to me,
Anything to get you from my head.
Don't know how I really feel,
the faith it takes to make like i don't care."
"Don't know how much it hurts
to turn around like you were never there
Like somehow you could be replaced
And I could walk away
from the promises we made
And swore we'd never break."
[Both] "I thought I lost you…"
[Cinder] "When you ran away to try to find me
I thought I'd never see your sweet face again
I turned around and you were gone and on and on
the days went
but I kept the moments that we were in
cause I hoped in my heart
you'd come back to me, my friend
And now I got you
But I thought I lost you!"
[Adam] "I felt so empty out there
And there were days I had my doubts
But I knew I'd find you somewhere
Because I knew I couldn't live without
You in my life for one more day
And I swore I'd never break
Those promises we made!"
[Both] "I thought I lost you
When you ran away to try to find me
I thought I'd never see your sweet face again
I turned around and you were gone and on and on
the days went
but I kept the moments that we were in
Cause I hoped in my heart
you'd come back to me, my friend
and now I got you
But I thought I lost you!"
[Adam] "I told myself I wouldn't sleep
Till I searched the world from sea to sea…"
[Cinder] "I made a wish upon a star
I turned around and there you were"
[Both] "Now here we are, are
Here we are."
[Cinder] "I thought I lost you."
[Adam] "I thought I lost you too."
[Cinder] "I thought I lost you."
[Adam] "I thought I lost you."
Yeah
[Both] "I thought I lost you
When you ran away to try to find me
I thought I'd never see your sweet face again
I turned around and you were gone and on and on
the days went
but I kept the moments that we were in
Cause I knew in my heart
you'd come back to me, my friend
And, now I got you
But I thought I lost you!"
[Cinder] "But I thought I lost you."
[Adam] "I thought I lost you too."
[Both] "So glad I got you, got you."
[Cinder] "So glad I got you, yeah….
I thought I lost you."
[Adam] "I thought I lost you too."
There was a deafening roar as the crowd cheered, hollered, screamed, and shouted when the song finished. Adam thanked the crowd before they started breaking down their setup. Everyone wanted to come up and shake their hands; most of them wanted to meet Cinder up close. It wasn't every day that you met a talking Pokémon.
It was almost an hour before they managed to slip out the back and stow their instruments in their vehicles.
"Damn, guys…that was amazing." Chase said. "Especially you two." He added looking at Adam and Cinder. "You guys blew that last song outta the water."
"Yea, Cinder…I didn't know you could sing like that." Koal added. Adam noticed the inside of Cinder's ears turned a light reddish-pink tint; which was her way of blushing.
"It was nothing you guys." She replied. "You played well also."
They took a few minutes to say their goodbyes before leaving. Chase and Koal soon departed but Adam and Cinder made their way back inside so Adam could pay their tab. There were still a large number of people who insisted on meeting them, but Adam promptly and firmly stated that they need to leave.
Adam approached the bar and called to Gen, the bartender. After she finished with an order, she made her way down to him.
"You guys really rocked it." She said.
"It was nothing…" Adam shrugged. "I'm ready to pay the tab so we can leave."
"You don't have to pay…it's on the house." She replied. Adam was taken aback.
"Wait…what? That's like a $50 dollar tab."
"Nah…it's on the house." She insisted. "With that show you did, we had more customers stay longer and therefore spent more on drinks and food. I say you have more than paid off for your tab."
"Oh…Alright then…thanks." He replied.
"No problem, just don't let Sharol know about this. She would raise some serious hell over it."
"I won't."
He and Cinder turned and left out the back door. They hadn't gone more than a few feet before there was a voice behind them. They turned to see the one person they had not expected to see; Cinder's old trainer.
"Well, that was certainly something else." He said with a sneer. "Looks like you are still going on with all that worthless talking shit."
"I can do what I damn well please." Cinder snapped. "You are no longer my trainer anymore; you can't tell me what the hell I can and can't do."
"Wha…what did you just say to me?" He asked.
"You heard me." She growled. "Now do us a favor and go fuck yourself."
Adam was speechless. He had never her Cinder talk like that. She very rarely swore around him regularly; but the hear her go off like this…he never expected it.
"Why you fucking BITCH!" the man roared and made a move towards her. Adam rushed forward and struck him in the stomach, making him double over, before he uppercut the man in the face. The man fell back on the ground. Adam quickly pinned him to the ground.
"I don't think so." He said. The man struggled to get free.
"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!" he shouted.
"No, I don't think I will…Not until I- "His words were cut short as the man struck him with a rock he had grabbed from the ground. Adam fell off of him; blood streaming from a gash above his left eye. The man got to his feet and kicked Adam sharply in his side while he was still dazed. He drew back to strike him again.
"No you don't!" Cinder snarled as she slammed into him. The man was thrown a few feet where he hit a large trashcan. He shook his head and staggered to his feet.
"Oh…you are so going to get it." He said as he picked up a metal piece of pipe from beside the trashcan. "I'm going to enjoy beating the shit out of you just like the good old days."
He rushed forward with the pipe raises up high ready to club her with it. Cinder stood her ground. It felt as if every fide in her body was on fire and years of hatred and rage and begun to rush to the surface. She bared he teeth and her paws clenched tightly into fists. The man swung at her. She ducked under his arm and delivered a powerful and well-aimed Fire Punch directly to his gut.
The man fell to the ground clutching a burnt section on his torso. He gasped and pain. Cinder stood over him and could help but laugh to herself when she saw the pure fear he showed. She got close to his face.
"Now, I don't want to ever see you again." She said in a sinister tone. "Or it will be worse…much, much worse."
The man managed to get to his feet where he stumbled away as fast as he could; the smell of singed hair and burnt flesh clinging to him. Cinder turned to Adam who was slowing getting to his feet, still in a daze. She rushed over to help him. Once he was to his feet, she broke down and flung her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. Adam did his best to comfort her. After a few minutes she looked up and his brusied and bloodied face. Before she could say anything, he pulled her close and kissed her passionately. They remained there for several minutes before they made their way back to Adam's car; eager to get home to rest their sore and tired bodies.
Next Chapter: Burning Desire - The Conclusion to You Belong With Me
Songs: Stone Sour - Say You'll Haunt Me
The Eagles - Hotel California
Miley Cyrus feat. John Travolta - I Thought I Lost You
