Chapter 13
Johnny sighed as he checked his watch, his silky, raven locks falling into his face. The first bell of the day would be ringing soon. He looked around him. Jimmy an Teddy sat silently, the two dressed in black hoodies over their normal attire. The bassist himself hadn't worn such clothes. He felt a stabbing pain in his heart for what had happened, but he felt no need to show it through his fashion. There was one member of their group they were still expecting, though.
"Where in the name of Lugosi is Gregory?" Johnny sighed.
"I'm here!" they heard the Sackville-Bagg call from behind them.
They jumped when they saw him. He had darker bags under his eyes than usual and he just looked positively drained. If he wanted, Johnny was sure he'd be able to push the singer over with a mere tap.
"What's up with you?" Jimmy asked, sounding genuinely worried.
"I was up most of the night..." Gregory sighed, "I'm kinda worried about Misty and Lynx..."
"I hear that," Johnny nodded as Jimmy and Teddy agreed with a simultaneous nod.
"The day will go by so slow..." Jimmy noted, "Those two really bring life to our classes..."
Gregory nodded sadly. He could only imagine what Misty must be going through right now. And Lynx. How was he taking the news? They all stood there, too sorrowful and worried to speak up.
"Hey guys," a chipper voice chimed behind them, "What's with the long faces?"
They whipped around and saw Misty standing there, beaming and standing tall. So in shock were they, that they had to do a double-take.
"What are you doing here?" Teddy asked, breaking the silence first.
"We have school today," Misty shrugged back, "Why else?"
They awed at her as she began walking to the school.
"I'm goin' on in," she told them, "to go tell the musical director I'd be happy to take the part...if he's still interested in giving it to me, that is..."
The boys stared after her as though she had three heads as she practically skipped off. They glanced at Lynx who appeared far more level-headed than his friend. What had happened? Had he and Misty switched bodies?!
"What's going on?" Gregory asked, turning to him and grabbing his arm, walking up to the doors, "What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing," Lynx sighed, "This is how we cope with this kinda stuff...We busy ourselves with work and ignore the pain. This is therapy for her..."
"But she looked...'happy'," Jimmy awed.
"Yeah..." Lynx shifted nervously, "I think she's in denial..."
"That would make sense..." Johnny agreed.
"How long is she gonna be like this?" Gregory asked, furrowing his brow.
"I don't know..." Lynx replied honestly, "I've never seen her like this...It's kinda scary..."
They walked into the school and saw her speaking to a very enthusiastic drama director.
"Oh, that's wonderful," he cried excitedly, "You'll make such an excellent Mrs. Lovett!"
"Glad you think so," Misty laughed back.
"Alright, well, I'll be posting my official decisions tomorrow morning," he shrugged.
"Okay," she smiled as he walked away.
"I thought you didn't want anything to do with the musical?" Gregory inquired when they approached her.
"Eh, why not?" she shrugged, "It might be fun. Now, when's the student council meeting for that Halloween party?"
"After school," Johnny shrugged.
"Great!" Misty clapped her hands together, "I brought my laptop with all my Halloween ideas. I'll be able to update them on everything that's awesome for the holiday."
The bell rang, alerting them all to get to class.
"Well," she shrugged, "we best be off."
She grabbed Jimmy's wrist.
"Come on," she goaded, "We don't wanna be late."
She then left the others to stare after her in bewilderment.
--
'Wake up
Open your sleepy eyes
Stretch out
Make up the bed now
Sunlight
Kissing your face again
Breakfast is waiting'
Johnny, Jimmy and Gregory all found it difficult not to stare in awe at Misty, who had been singing the song 'Brand New Day' to herself since she walked into the cafeteria.
'Oh oh oh oh
This is a brand new day
And it's getting better every single way
This is a brand new day
And I'm feelin' better when you say
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love'
"Alright, that's it!" Gregory groaned, "What's wrong with you?! You're acting weird for a grieving person..."
"Oh, why should I waste time crying?" Misty scoffed, "It makes me feel much better to just go about my day. Why is that a crime now?"
"Well, it's not," Jimmy shrugged, "but this just seems...creepy..."
"Yeah," Johnny agreed, "you even decided to be a part of the play...What's with that? I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with it?"
"I didn't at first," she agreed with a shrug, "But now I just wanna get out there and have fun! Life too short to waste!"
She jumped up and grabbed her books.
"Well, I'm off to class," she giggled, "I gotta finish our vocab assignment. The night kinda got away from me..."
She walked off, laughing and leaving the boys to stare after her. Gregory and Jimmy looked to Johnny, who sighed. The senior knew much about Psychology; he'd often talked about pursuing more of a career in the study of behavior. He excelled in any psychology class he took, whether it be in school or out. Aside from bass, it was his passion.
"Okay, what's wrong with her?" Gregory asked with a long sigh.
"Classic case of repression," the bassist sighed, "Don't need to know much about psychology to see that..."
"Repression?" Jimmy asked, "She's just keeping it all in?"
"In a sense..." Johnny nodded, "She's holding back any and all feelings of grief by 'repressing' them with fake happiness. Bottling up anger and sadness until it bubbles over...It's a not a very healthy way of dealing with grief, that's for sure..."
"Will she be okay?" Gregory asked.
Johnny nodded again.
"She's just gotta let it out..." he explained, "When she lets it out and cries and cries and cries, relieving herself of all her sadness, she'll be fine."
Gregory sat back.
"What can we do?" he asked, "Is there anything?"
Johnny sat in thought for a moment.
"Well...I figure she'd really let go of all of that pent-up sadness with someone she's very close to..." he replied, "Or...something will just set her off...Probably something just before the funeral..."
Gregory shifted uneasily.
"Should we really be going?" he asked, "We weren't family..."
"We were practically family..." Jimmy noted, "That old guy sacrificed his job when he let us stay after dark...and...well...I hate to sound mean, but if we don't go to honor his memory...who else will 'sides Misty and Lynx?"
"He's got a point..." Johnny shrugged, "It'd be best if we all go...Then we could also support those two..."
Gregory nodded in agreement. They shared a welcomed silence.
"Alright," Johnny said after a moment, "We need to seriously get thinkin' about songs to play at the party."
With another nod, Gregory retrieved a list from his pocket. He'd been thinking the bast few days about what would be best to play. Johnny took it and looked over it. He nodded approvingly.
"Not bad..." he nodded, "I might add a few songs here and there, but this looks good..."
"Yeah," Gregory sighed, "What do you think we should do first?"
"Why not ours?" Jimmy asked.
"Let's save that for the finale..." Gregory shook his head, "What about Bones?"
"The Killers!" Jimmy smirked, "I like that..."
Johnny smirked and nodded, leaning forward to continue the conversation.
--
Finally the end of the day came. The band mates walked Misty and Lynx through the school and to the room where the student council were meeting for the Halloween party. Lynx glanced at the guys.
"So...why do you guys have to come with?" he asked.
"We have to run a list of songs by them," Gregory answered with a sigh.
"They won't censor you guys will they?" Lynx asked with a furrowed brow.
"If they want," Johnny shrugged.
"That royally sucks..." Lynx sighed.
"So, Misty," Teddy began as they neared the room, "What exactly are you gonna put on the table for them?"
She glanced at them with a mischievous smile as she rushed to the door.
"You'll see," she winked, opening the door and sauntering in.
"Oy!!" a voice called, "Student council meeting in progress!"
"Easy there," Misty chuckled, "I'm here because of the Halloween party y'all are throwin'."
"Hey!" another voice shouted.
Misty turned and saw that girl, Jules, standing and glaring at her angrily.
"No, no, no!" she cried, "She'll only ruin our lovely party?"
"Lovely?" Misty echoed.
"Yes," Jules smiled sweetly and dreamily, "We're gonna have everything sparkle all pretty like Edward..."
Misty paused, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Without a second thought, she grabbed Jules by her hair and dragged her to the door, past the band mates and Lynx and kicked her out before slamming the door behind her and locking it. After taking a deep breath, she smiled again and walked back to the other council members.
"Alright, now that the Twitard is out of the room, let's get down to business," she sighed, "Now, Halloween is not about sparkling gay vampires like Edward Cullen. Nor is it about empathetic, Indian werewolves with a bazillion ab muscles named Jacob Black. No! No Twilight shit! At all!!! Halloween used to be about gore and horror. Now it's about a twink with six-pack abs--I don't think so! No. You have to vamp this up! Give these students something to scream and talk about! Halloween is all about screams and terror. That's what you need."
She turned to Lynx.
"May I have my laptop?" she asked.
He nodded and reached into the bag around his shoulder and handed her the laptop.
"Alright," she smirked, "I have a series of decor that I've collected over the years. I tell ya, people come by our place and think it's haunted--especially around Halloween. You know the house the Thompsons moved into last year."
"Yeah, I heard about that," one of the seniors nodded, "The son was all obsessed with vampires or something...It's been said that house was haunted."
"Bingo!" Misty smirked, "That'd be where Lynx and I lived prior to the Thompsons moving in."
"No way!" a junior with blond hair cried excitedly, "That place was so scary at Halloween!"
She turned to the others.
"Maybe we should listen to them?" she shrugged, "They seem to know a lot about the holiday..."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt..." the senior, probably the president, smiled, "Go on."
Misty smirked and brought up image after image of grotesque decorations she and Lynx had either purchased or created themselves.
"These are great!" a junior boy sighed excitedly, "It wouldn't cost anything to get these brought in either since they're from a student. Right?"
"Not a cent," Misty smirked, "I'm offering you these awesome decorations free of charge."
"This is great!" the president breathed, "Julia was heading decoration, but I'd like you to help her. Make sure she doesn't make it all sparkly and Twilight-ish..."
"You're not a Twitard?" Lynx smirked.
She shook her head.
"Hell no," she scoffed, "I prefer decent literature."
"Great minds seem to think alike," Misty chuckled, "Now, on to music."
"Well, we already have that set up, right boys?" the junior girl asked, glancing at the band.
"I know," Misty smiled, "But the guys will need a break once in a while during the dance...We need some tunes to play when they're takin' five, eh?"
"That is true..." the junior guy shrugged, "What'd you have in mind?"
A devilish smirk played on Misty's lips.
"Well, I know of at least one that oughta be playing as people are coming in," she explained, "Like background music in a constant loop as they walk into the gym or whatever..."
She reached down and pressed the play button on her computer. A moment later an eerie music rose from the speakers before jumping into and '80's tune. Lynx's eyes widened and he shouted out in excitement.
"Woo! Ghostbusters!" he shouted excitedly.
As the music went into the song, he started singing with the lyrics.
'If there's something strange
In your neighborhood
Who ya gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS!'
The others laughed and clapped as Misty turned the song off.
"Aw..." Lynx pouted.
Misty rolled her eyes.
"You get the idea..." she chuckled.
"That's great!" a sophomore boy laughed.
"What else ya got?" the president smiled.
"Well," Misty paused in thought, "I have the theme song from the movie 'Dead Silence'...the theme from 'The Exorcist'...Oh! And my personal favorite..."
She reached down and pressed the 'next' button and then 'play' again. They paused, listening to the creak of a door followed by footsteps, a howl, and some more music.
"Oh!" Lynx cried, fake bowing to Misty, "I am not worthy! You brought forth the Thriller! Do the Thriller dance with me!"
Misty shrugged and jumped to his side and joined him in the entire choreography from the video of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. While the music played, the others in the room all clapped to the beat, cheering for the two who could dance to the song and knew the steps by heart. After a minute or two, Misty stopped the music and smirked at them.
"That's fantastic!!" the president cried, "Where did you two learn to do that so well?"
"Many years of studying the video," Lynx scoffed back, "And then some..."
"That's all great!" the president laughed, "Yes, we'll definitely have to do all of this..."
Misty bowed with a triumphant smirk before taking up her laptop and walking back to Lynx to put it back in the bag.
"Leave it out, please," Gregory requested, glancing at her, "You have a lot of music on there, right?"
Misty nodded.
"Then we might need it," he sighed shrugging.
Misty shrugged as well and nodded, holding the laptop in her hands.
"So, Gregory, do you and your band mates have your list of song titles?" a senior boy asked.
"Yeah," Gregory answered, handing the president the slip of paper with the list.
She read over it carefully, eyeing each song title.
"This one here sounds sketchy just for the title..." she eyed him, "The Pot?"
"Ah, Tool...good song..." Johnny smirked, "What's wrong with it?"
"What's the song about?" she asked lamely.
Johnny shifted uneasily.
"Drugs..." he replied sheepishly.
"You boys know we can't let you play music with lyrics concerning drugs," she sighed, "I hate the rule, but it's a rule I don't intend to break..."
"But it fits Dalv's voice so well!" Jimmy laughed, throwing his arm over Gregory's shoulder, "Sing us the first verse Dalv."
Gregory rolled his eyes, but went on with it.
"Who are you to wave your finger?
You must have been outta your head
Eye hole deep in muddy waters
You practically raised the dead"
The others nodded in approval at his vocals.
"Rob the grave to snow the cradle
Then burn the evidence down
Soapbox house of cards and glass so
Don't go tossin' your stones around
You must have been--"
Before Gregory could go on, Johnny had covered his mouth.
"Shut up, Gregory, that's enough," he spoke through his teeth.
Gregory rolled his eyes again.
"Sorry guys," the president sighed, "We can't do it..."
The band pouted.
"Eh, we have plenty more on there..." Teddy piped up, "We don't need that one."
The president looked back over the list.
"Let's see...Atreyu...The Killers..." she pointed to one, "What's this one? Death of me?"
"That's Red!" Misty smiled, turning to her laptop and clicking on the song to play her the chorus.
They listened with smiles as they glanced at the band, trying to picture them playing it.
"I say yes," the president smiled as Misty stopped the song, "That's an excellent song."
She then returned to looking over the music.
"I'd say take out 'Welcome Home'," she shrugged, "That can be a very long song. We don't have all night to enjoy you boys."
They nodded in agreement as she crossed the song off of the list for them before continuing through the list. She pointed to 'Happy?' by Mudvayne and shook her head.
"Too much cursing near the end," she shook her head, "Has to go. Same with this 'Fake it' by Seether. You put down that this one's the 'uncensored version'. Can't have it."
"We can do the censored version," Gregory noted, "It's not very different."
"No," Misty shook her head, "Censored's no good. Just scratch it off."
Gregory shrugged and nodded to the president.
"That leaves eighteen so far..." she sighed, "I love 10 Years, but who is Voltaire?"
Gregory smiled at Misty.
"Could you please play 'Vampire Club' for them?" he asked.
Misty nodded, already queuing up the song to play.
'Well the moon was full and the color of blood
The night the pirates came to the Vampire Club
The leader was tall and snide and slim
He looked like a gay Captain Morgan!'
A murmur of laughter came from the others.
'Well he recognized a vampire from his school
And he did something that was most uncool
He said, 'Hey everybody, see the fool in the cape?
'His name is Bernie Weinstein and he's in the eighth grade!'
"Alright, alright, that works..." the president laughed, "But what about the other two? 'Land of the Dead', and 'Dead Girls'?"
"Simple," Misty smiled, "Land of the Dead is sung from the point of view of the ruler of the land of the dead. It kinda works for the band. And Dead Girls--that's a funny song. It's about this man who is into necrophilia. Lynx, what's the chorus again?"
Lynx rolled his eyes.
"Only dead girls like me..." he sang.
"That's it," Misty smirked, earning a chuckled.
"Okay, those sound like good songs then," giggled the president.
She stared down at the list.
"Three Days Grace is good..." she mumbled, "I like Anberlin...I'd say yes to Exies, and yes to Puddle of Mudd...I don't really know this last one by...'Five Finger Death Punch'."
Misty smiled brightly.
"I know a song by them," she beamed, "Walk away."
"That's the one on there," Gregory nodded.
Misty grinned and played the song. As it began, she started swaying, lost in the music.
'I'm sorry
For the demon I've become
You should be sorry
For the angel you are not
I apologize for the cruel things that I did
But I don't regret
One single word I said'
Misty began singing with the chorus.
'Just walk away
Make it easy on yourself
Just walk away
Please release me from this hell
Just walk away
There's just nothing left to feel
Just walk away
Pretend that none of this is real!'
She stopped the song real quick, not wanting to give too much away.
"That sounded good," the junior boy purred, "You oughta perform a little too."
"I might, if it's okay with them," Misty shrugged back, "Stuff like 'Freak Out', by Avril Lavigne and 'Disturbia' by Rhianna...that's about it...And maybe some stuff by Flyleaf..."
"That sounds great," the president laughed, "Alright, guys, you're good to go. Misty, meet with us after school every day next week to talk more about the decorations. And send Julia back in as you leave, won't you?"
Misty laughed as she turned to leave, closing her computer and holding it under her arm as she and the band left the room. She smirked when she saw Jules sitting against the wall by the door, waiting almost patiently.
"You can go back now," Misty smirked as she started walking away with the boys and called back in her most sarcastic tone, "Can't wait to work with you for the party!"
--
As the group clambered into the van, Lynx thought of something and laughed to himself.
"Um...guys..." he chuckled from the back, "I just remembered...I never got the name of your band..."
He cackled hysterically, causing the band to shake their heads.
"Our band's name is 'Bathed In Blood'," Johnny answered.
"I like that..." Misty purred, "Sounds...dark...The vampire reference is good too."
"Yeah," Lynx agreed before sighing, "So where to tonight?"
"My place," Jimmy winked, "That's how the schedule works out, anyway..."
"Cool!" Lynx cheered, "Off we go!!"
Misty rolled her eyes and sat back as Johnny pulled out of the parking lot. It was a relatively quiet drive, which, of course, Lynx interrupted.
"Too quiet!!" he cried, pulling at his hair before poking Misty's back, "Come on!! Play some good tunes!!"
Misty shook her head before opening up her laptop and opening her media player.
"Are ya looking for something in particular?" she asked, half-glaring at him.
He looked over her songs.
"Ooh!! That one!" he shouted, pointing to one, "I wanna pretend I'm high..."
"Why?" Gregory asked, glancing at him suspiciously.
"I 'ono...I'm bored," Lynx shrugged.
Misty laughed and played the song. The soft strum of a guitar and a quiet beat of drums followed. Johnny gave her a strange look before smirking a little.
"I know this song," he chuckled.
"Oh really?" Misty asked, glancing at him with a smirk.
"White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane," he laughed back, "I love this song..."
"Really?" the band mates shared a look of surprise.
Johnny shrugged and nodded.
"Yeah..." he laughed as the song began.
'One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall'
Misty watched Johnny carefully as he nodded his head along with the music.
'And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Call Alice
When she was just as small'
They were all startled when Johnny began singing the rest of the song.
'When the men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice;
I think she'll know
When logic, and proportion
Have fallen softly dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's off with her head
Remember what the Door mouse said:
"Feed your head, feed your head!"
Misty and Lynx laughed and applauded him, finding the rendition entertaining. Johnny smiled modestly.
"No offense to you, Gregory, but, Johnny, you have a good voice...why did you feel the need to find a singer?" Misty asked.
Johnny shrugged.
"I personally don't really like singing to a big crowd..." he shrugged, "For plays and stuff I'm actually pretty secure with my voice, but when it comes to playing my bass and singing to a huge crowd of people, I just can't hack it..."
"I'm kinda the same way..." Jimmy agreed, "I really just don't like singing to a crowd."
"And I'm behind the drums all the time," Teddy piped up, "We needed something of a frontman who could sing."
"Our other condition was that he couldn't be too ugly, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, eh Greg?" Jimmy joked, nudging him.
Gregory rolled his eyes as Lynx howled with laughter. Misty stifled a laugh. It was kind of a mean joke, but it was just a joke nonetheless. Gregory reached back and smacked Jimmy upside the head in rebuttal, but otherwise didn't look very upset. Shaking her head, Misty glanced up in front of her, her smile faltering. Up ahead, they were getting ready to pass an off-road that led to the cliffs. She'd only been able to recognize it from exploring the countryside. Even before actually meeting the vampire family, she knew those cliffs overlooking the sea were special.
"Wait," she commanded, causing Johnny to come to a sudden stop, "Go that way."
She pointed to the off-road, a look of determination in her eyes.
"Why do you wanna go there?" Jimmy asked.
Misty smirked and glanced at Gregory and Lynx with a mischievous look.
"I wanna see if an old 'friend' has washed up any time..." she chuckled.
A/N: Phew! I was finally able to get out a chapter! Adoring fans, please understand. I am in college now. And my work is just PILED on like you wouldn't believe...XP I was finally able to actually write this chapter in my last class but it might be a while till I can write anymore...so Please bear with me...
Also. I don't own ANY of the songs/lyrics/bands that were listed in the above chapter. Okays. Hope you enjoyed it. I tried to make it relatively long...but...ah well...it's 10 pages in...Pages...(Mac version of Word) so yeah...that's something...
And one more thing. Those who read 'Undying Love' and want me to continue with it. I WILL. It's part of this story. However, this story is rated T, so that's a separate thing that is part of this story. It's a scene that I'm removing from the series of events later along the line. So just be patient. You'll find out what happens later. I promise you.