The gusts of wind swayed the treetops from side to side. It was a chilling night for Thorn, both physically from the high winds, and emotionally from sneaking out of her hotel room to meet Gus.
Thankfully, this time, she had Luna with her, which was as comforting as it was odd. It was strange to sneak out of her room with someone else, as Thorn had gotten used to the idea of having this secret and sneaking out...which in itself was a bit odd as this had only been happening for four days. Finding out her biggest fans were homicidal witches felt like such a monumental thing that it felt like it had been four weeks.
"How are you doing with all this?" Thorn inquired of her redheaded friend.
"Fine, I guess." Luna shrugged and sighed. "I did find something at the library, but I want to wait until we're with Gus to say it."
"I'm glad you're doing alright. It was really scary for me, so I imagine you must be feeling similarly." Thorn sympathized.
"Well, it wasn't exactly a pleasant realization." Luna responded.
"This is block 11, right?" Thorn changed the subject for a moment.
"Yeah. I've been counting." Luna replied.
As Thorn and Luna came up to the twelfth block, they saw tons of restaurants, bars, bustling people on the streets, and Gus.
"Hello girls." Gus greeted. "Good timing, I'd just gotten here too. What do you say we head into that alley to talk?"
"Umm…it looks a little spooky." Luna said, looking down the dimly lit alley.
"I think Gus is right. We don't want any of these people to hear us talking about W-I-T-C-H-E-S." Thorn spelled out.
Gus, Thorn and Luna quickly headed into the dark alley. The atmosphere was quite spooky, as the only light came from the glow of the neon signs from various restaurants on the main street.
"Much better. Now we have some privacy." Gus replied. "So what did you find out at the library, Luna?"
"Well…I didn't find much on Wicca, but I did some research on the amulets and it turns out the one Dusk is wearing looks very similar to a cursed one used for supernatural sacrifices." Luna informed. "I think they're going to use Dusk as a sacrifice!"
"Good lord!" Gus exclaimed.
Thorn couldn't believe her ears…but it made sense. Bridgit had been fixated on that necklace since they first met. Bridgit's explanation that she was grateful for Dusk finding her necklace, then giving the necklace away to Dusk had never made sense to Thorn until now. She must have wanted Dusk to have it to make her a sacrifice for some reason. But how did manipulating their chart performance to make them famous play into the situation?
"Why would they make us famous if they just wanted to use Dusk as a sacrifice?" Thorn inquired. "Wouldn't it make more sense to do it with less people knowing about us?"
"Thorn's right." Gus agreed. "There must be some way that your fame plays into this that we're not seeing yet."
"Whether we know their whole plan or not, what do we do?" Thorn asked in a panicked voice. "We can't just let them kill Dusk!"
"What if we ran away with Dusk?" Luna suggested.
"We don't know the extent of their powers." Gus argued. "They could easily find us, and then we'd be in even more danger. There's safety in numbers, as they say, so it's better to be among thousands of people than being on the run by yourself."
"What if we announced at our concert that our roadies had turned on us and were witches? All the fans seem to love us, so maybe they'd help us turn on the witches." Luna suggested.
"Again, we don't know the extent of their powers." Gus reminded. "We at least have more of a chance being around a lot of people, but they could perhaps kill all of those people with the snap of their fingers if we revolted against them. Could you live with the fact that a fan - or thousands of fans - died because of a decision you made?"
"No." Thorn meekly said.
"It just feels like there's no solution without knowing how powerful they are." Luna said, looking more and more rattled as the conversation went on.
"She does have a point." Gus acknowledged. "While it is quite inopportune, we cannot wait forever to make a decision. The witches could act at any moment, and thus, we need to be prepared as soon as possible."
"If we don't know what they can do, how do we know what to do? What if we decide the wrong thing and they just kill us?" Luna panicked. She looked absolutely gaunt with terror.
"If their only plan was to kill us, they would have done it already." Gus presumed. "We have to keep in mind that the witches need at least one of you girls for some reason. Why would they come up with a months-long plan this elaborate if all they wanted to do is kill you?"
"That's a good point." Thorn nodded.
"Do we know if they have any weaknesses?" Luna questioned.
"None that I've noticed." Gus answered.
"I haven't noticed any either…" Thorn trailed off, still thinking about her response. "One thing I've noticed is that Bridgit seems to have sort of a hair trigger. She doesn't really wait to see how things play out; she just reacts so that nothing can go wrong."
"What do you mean by that?" Luna wondered aloud.
"Well, when we had that conversation about you leaving the band when we took a walk in the Chicago park, Bridgit latched onto you saying that you didn't like touring. When she pulled me aside that one morning at breakfast, she tried to force me to say I wouldn't be friends with you if you left the band. You hadn't even said you were thinking about leaving the band yet; she just assumed it could happen." Thorn clarified to Luna.
"Perhaps we could use Bridgit's quick reactions to our advantage." Gus pondered.
"How so?" Luna asked.
"Maybe…" Thorn paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Could we stage a conversation and encourage them to listen in?"
"That's an excellent idea, Thorn! The three of you girls could make up a false scenario to encourage them to reveal more of their plan." Gus paused for a moment, before his eyes lit up with an epiphany. "Maybe you could even get Bridgit to pull you aside, and then you could inquire why she couldn't just use her powers to do it herself. That may give us some insight into the extent of their powers."
"I love that idea!" Thorn exclaimed. "I don't know if you realized it, but you made a great point too. Why did Bridgit ask me to convince Luna to stay in the band? If she's an all-powerful witch, couldn't she just cast a spell on her and force Luna to do what she wants?"
"She must not be able to alter people's state of mind." Luna added.
"You're right! They could have cast a spell on me to convince me to be your manager, but they tortured me instead." Gus exclaimed. "They must not be able to make people act against their own free will."
"So, how should we stage a conversation?" Thorn inquired.
"We have to think of something that would really shock them." Gus looked like he was thinking as he spoke.
"I know! Could we say Thorn's pregnant?" Luna brainstormed, causing Thorn's jaw to drop.
"Luna, I'm still a virgin!" Thorn angrily responded.
"Well, Mary was a virgin yet she still managed it with Jesus. If she could do it, I'm sure you could find a way too." Luna dryly replied, getting a bothered look from Thorn. "Sorry…I had to sort through a lot of Christianity books to find that Wicca charm one."
Gus's face shifted from an inquisitive expression to an annoyed glance. "No, we are not saying Thorn's pregnant. We need to think of something shocking, but actually believable. These witches have been manipulating us for months. They're not stupid. They'll see right through it if we make up something outlandish."
"Well, we know that they're already worried about one thing." Thorn pointed out. "Luna, how would you feel about quitting the band?"
Thorn was the last to head down to breakfast, as per usual. She had actually woken up earlier than Luna today, but she didn't want to do anything that would make it seem like their usual routine had been different to Bridgit, Nia and Sam.
As Thorn walked to the elevator, she admired her surroundings. The place looked more like a palace than a hotel, with chandelier-esque lights illuminating the hallway. The whole floor was furnished with a red carpet which made Thorn feel like she was walking down a runway. She wondered if she'd ever get to walk the Hollywood Red Carpet someday. Even the elevator looked beautiful, with a painting of a forest in the wintertime on each wall.
Thorn hadn't had a lot of time to explore the hotel the previous night, but she was impressed when she entered the breakfast area. The wooden walls were all full of paintings hanging near the ceiling, as well as some silver decorations that looked like fake torches on the walls. Each table had a clean-looking white cloth on it, making the breakfast area appear like a fancy restaurant. Some fake plants were also placed around the room, all of them perched against each wall with the exception of one larger plant in the center of the room.
All of the others were already eating breakfast at a table towards the back left corner.
"Good morning Thorn!" Dusk greeted.
"Good morning!" Thorn replied, as she poured some coffee from the carafe on the table. She then headed over to look at the breakfast selection on the nearby counter. Weighing her options, she chose a seeded bagel and a small bowl of Cocoa Puffs.
"Are you all ready to head to Nashville?" Gus inquired. "It's arguably the most music-oriented place you've performed so far. Nashville has such a vibrant music scene, and it's one of my favorite places in the world."
"Where are we staying tonight, Gus?" Thorn inquired.
"Ah, you'll be staying at the Hermitage Hotel." Gus replied. "It's one of the fanciest hotels we've stayed at so far, and it has a lot of history behind it. Besides the fact it was built in 1910, the whole lobby was constructed in the style of Renaissance art, and many of the suffragists who fought for women's voting rights stayed in the hotel in 1920. The hotel also had a lot of roots in creating the music scene itself. Back in the day, it was one of the only hotels to have an official 'big band,' The Francis Craig Orchestra. This band was part of the first live broadcasts on a Nashville station in the 1920s! The hotel also hosted a number of very famous guests, including Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Charlie Chaplin, Jack Dempsey and Woodrow Wilson."
"Wow, seriously?" Sam exclaimed. "That's so cool!"
"Hey…can I talk to you guys upstairs in our room before we leave?" Luna looked at Dusk and Thorn.
"Oh…sure. Is anything wrong?" Thorn acted surprised.
"No." Luna said, not sounding so sure. "I'd just like to share something."
"Fine by me." Dusk shrugged, as she took the last bite of her breakfast, which was a chocolate muffin.
Thorn sped up the pace of her eating a bit, since everyone else was almost done and she didn't want to keep Luna waiting.
"What do we want to do when we get to Nashville?" Bridgit inquired.
"Music Row is an absolute must-see." Gus said.
"I've heard about that!" Nia exclaimed. "Isn't that where the Country Music Hall of Fame is?"
"Indeed it is." Gus smiled.
"Oh no, is Farmer Jones in the Hall of Fame?" Thorn sighed. If there was anything she hated, it was country music. She couldn't stand the twang of it and its often repetitive lyrical subject matter.
"No, he's not nearly famous enough yet." Gus chuckled. "Although apparently his song "Cowgirls, Beer and Trucks" is starting to get some attention."
"Alright, I'm ready to talk whenever you are, Luna." Thorn said, as she threw the paper plate that she was eating her bagel on into the garbage.
"So am I." Dusk replied. Thankfully, after their talk the other night, there wasn't any anger or disdain for Luna present in her voice.
Luna waited until they had gotten into the elevator to begin talking to Dusk and Thorn.
"Thanks for talking with me, guys." Luna appreciated. "I need to be honest with you and tell you that I really didn't enjoy the concert last night…or any concert…My anxiety has been getting really bad before our shows. I start to panic, I feel like my stomach is in knots, and sometimes I even have trouble breathing. I've been thinking about this a lot, and I think I need to quit this band for my own mental health."
"Oh…" Dusk's mood seemed to instantly drop. It was quite the contrast from her getting angry whenever Luna had previously suggested leaving. "I'm sorry to hear that. Well…umm…I'll just have to enjoy the time I have with you on this tour more."
"Wait…you do mean you'll finish this tour with us, right?" Thorn asked.
"Um…" Luna stuttered, clearly not sure what to say. "I kinda hoped I wouldn't have to. This last week of shows has been pretty hard on me."
"You want to quit now?" Dusk's tone of voice raised a bit. "All these people paid to see all three of us! You can't let them down! Can't you just…I don't know…do yoga to calm you before every show?"
"No! You can't quit!" Thorn begged. "I don't know what we'd do without you!"
"I'm really struggling, guys. I hate doing these concerts. Every night, I just get so anxious and start to panic!" Luna revealed.
"What if our friendship ends if the band does?" Thorn questioned, sounding desperate. "We've been a band for our entire friendship, so what if ending the band causes our friendship to decline?"
"I don't see why that would happen unless we let it. I know it will be difficult on our friendship, but we'll figure it out." Luna promised. "The band was one way we bonded, but we have so much else in common and so many other ways of connecting. As far as I'm concerned, the band was just a label. It didn't define our friendship."
"I guess you're right…but is there any way that we could convince you otherwise?" Thorn pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but my mind's made up." Luna said. "I want to talk about this more with you to discuss how the band can go on without me and stuff."
"Well that's simple. The band will just be me and Thorn now." Dusk curtly said, clearly perturbed by this new development.
The elevator doors opened up, and brought the girls back up to the floor which their room was on.
"I know that!" Luna's tone of voice got a little higher in frustration. "I meant that we need to talk about how to present it to the media. Surely people will be shocked that the band is splitting up."
"And how are we going to tell Gus, Bridgit, Nia and Sam?" Dusk added. "They love us so much that they're going to be heartbroken that you're doing this to us."
"I don't know about you two, but I think I'd prefer an honest approach." Luna admitted. "Let's just tell them my mental health hasn't been good and it's causing me to have anxiety attacks when I go up on stage, so I decided I had to quit."
"We could tell the media we had a huge fight that was so bad that Luna had to leave the band in disgrace!" Dusk blurted.
"How is that a good idea?" Luna crankily remarked.
"Yeah, Dusk, all that does is paint Luna in a bad light. Are you sure your suggestion isn't just because you're upset with her for leaving?" Thorn challenged, as she opened the door to their room.
"I guess you're right." Dusk sighed. "Fine, we can do it Luna's way. How do we want to tell Gus, Bridgit, Nia and Sam?"
Thorn was careful not to comment on anything, since she was still technically beholden to Bridgit's command not to allow Luna to leave the band. While she was a bit looser on actively trying to force Luna to stay in the band, she also didn't want to do anything to encourage her to leave so Bridgit wouldn't take it out on her via torture.
"I'm still of the philosophy that honesty is the best policy." Luna admitted. "It's better to just tell them that I've been having these anxiety attacks, and then help them process afterwards. What do you think?"
"I guess so. This just sucks." Dusk pouted. "Thorn and I are loving the heck out of touring, and…"
Dusk stopped, probably to self-censor herself from saying whatever hurtful thought she was thinking.
"And what?" Luna asked.
"...and I guess we'll have to tell Gus, Bridgit, Sam and Nia about your decision." Dusk finished her sentence, though Thorn was almost positive that wasn't how she was originally going to end it.
"Thanks for telling us about this, Luna. Is there anything else you need to talk about before we tell the other four?" Thorn inquired.
"No…I think I'm ready. It's going to be hard to tell them, though. I feel like I'm letting everybody down." Luna hung her head.
"We'll be there to support you." Thorn patted her struggling friend on the shoulder.
"Yep." Dusk simply nodded. It was clear she wanted to support Luna, but was struggling with such a huge thing dropped on her.
"Thanks, guys." Luna smiled. "Let's go back downstairs and tell everyone."
The walk to the elevator, as well as the trip down to the bottom floor, was done in complete silence. It was hard to know what to talk about after discussing such a heavy topic. Once they got back downstairs, they saw that Bridgit and the others were waiting for them.
"Hey! How'd it go?" Nia chipperly asked.
"Well…we have something to tell you." Luna sighed. "I…I've been struggling mentally this past week."
"Oh no!" Nia exclaimed.
"What can we do?" Sam asked.
"Well, nothing really…I've just been getting really nervous up on stage..." Luna started.
"What's there to be nervous about? People love you!" Bridgit exclaimed in an uber-supportive voice.
"I'm just not good at being up in front of people…I start to panic, and I feel like I can barely breathe!" Luna revealed to the witches.
"There's no reason to worry!" Sam comforted.
"I'm sure in a matter of days, you'll get used to it and love the h-e-c-k out of touring!" Bridgit exclaimed in a bubbly voice.
Thorn's first thought was ew. The false assurances and fake comforting were disgusting knowing they were saying it for such a manipulative purpose.
"Guys, I've really been thinking a lot about this, and…I'm so sorry…but I'm going to have to quit the band." Luna dropped the metaphorical bomb.
"No! There must be another way." Bridgit said. "You can't quit! And leave your friends behind like this? That would be horrible of you!"
"Well, we've talked about it as a group…that's why I pulled them aside just a minute ago…" Luna shared. "Thorn and Dusk agree it's probably best if I leave the band if I hate it this much."
"I mean, we'd do anything to get her not to leave…but I don't see what we can do." Thorn said, hanging her head in disappointment.
Gus quickly chimed into the conversation for the first time. "Girls, it's always hard when a band member realizes that they can no longer stay. Luna, are you sure this is your final decision? There's no way we can make things more comfortable for you, or change your mind?"
Thorn knew why Gus was asking that, and she assumed he probably did not want to ask it just as much as she didn't want to challenge her friend's decision earlier. Regardless of the situation, Bridgit had the two of them over a barrel where they would risk being tortured if they didn't exhaust their possibilities getting Luna to stay.
"No, there's not. I've made up my mind, and I can't deal with being in this band anymore." Luna said. "I'm sorry."
"How is Luna going to get home?" Sam inquired. "We can't drive her all the way back."
"Well, I suppose I'll have to start looking into flights to bring Luna back to Massachusetts. There's no airport in Oakhaven, obviously, so you'll have to take the bus for an hour from Salem." Gus said, a bit of somberness present in his voice.
"Okay. Thanks, Gus." Luna said, looking depressed.
"Of course. We've got to leave for Nashville soon, so are you okay coming with us?" Gus inquired. "I don't think I'll be able to find a flight that quick, and we need to get the others to their next destination."
"That's fine." Luna shrugged.
"Has everybody got everything?" Gus inquired. Thorn saw that everyone had brought their suitcases down, with the exception of her and Luna.
"I still need to grab my suitcase from my room." Thorn informed Gus. "I'll be right back. I can grab yours too if you want, Luna."
"That would be great!" Luna exclaimed. "Thank you."
Thorn headed up to the room, wondering if Bridgit or one of the witches would follow her up there.
"Oh! I just realized I forgot my makeup upstairs in our room. I'll go grab it." Bridgit said. She really needed to think up some non-makeup related excuses.
Thorn mentally prepared herself for another conversation with Bridgit. She wasn't going to give Bridgit the dignity of stopping or slowing down so she could catch up, so Thorn kept a steady pace as she headed up to her room. That could only last for so long though, as Thorn couldn't exactly prevent Bridgit from taking the elevator with her without causing suspicion from Dusk.
"Hey Thorn. So, I think you already know what I'm going to say." Bridgit confronted the black-haired Hex Girl.
"Yeah. I know we can't let Luna leave the band, but I don't know what to do." Thorn lamented. "I tried to convince her not to leave, but Luna's mind is made-up."
"I know. I heard your conversation, after all." Bridgit said with a smirk. "Well, I suppose we'll have to go with more…direct…methods of getting Luna to stay. Perhaps you could tell her you'll end your friendship with her if she quits the band. If that doesn't work, you could just psychologically torture her until she complies. If you need some ideas, I've got plenty!"
"I can't torture my best friend!" Thorn exclaimed. "You're witches, aren't you? Just force her to stay with your magic."
"We can't do that." Bridgit stated. "I can't force anyone to have any emotions they don't actually have. Physically speaking, I could very easily force people to do what I want through intense torture. However, that'd reveal our identity, so we can't do that. Plus it's much easier and more fun to force you to do things that will make Luna think you're a maniac, and watch your friendship with her implode. It'll be hysterical to see her face as she becomes terrified of who she thinks you really are."
"You're a monster." Thorn sneered.
"Thanks, sweetie." Bridgit sweetly said, making her seem even more psychotic. "I'll tell you what, if you mess with her mind well enough, I'll help trick her into staying in the band too. We'll split the manipulation fifty-fifty!"
"No!" Thorn exclaimed, before realizing she was relatively helpless in this situation. "I mean, I don't want to. Even if you don't have the power to change her emotions, isn't there like some ritual you can do that would help convince her?"
"Hey, I like your thinking! Maybe you do have a little bit of psycho in you, sunshine." Bridgit patted Thorn on the head in an infantilizing way. "Ooh! I just got a great idea! How about we do a calming ritual tomorrow night before your show in Nashville? That will leave her relaxed and maybe more emotionally vulnerable, and that's when we pounce!"
Thorn felt a lump in her throat. It was terrifying to her that Bridgit would attempt to lull someone into just enough of a false sense of comfort to be able to emotionally manipulate them into doing something they weren't comfortable with.
"Okay…what am I supposed to do?" Thorn gulped. She could feel her body almost shaking with terror.
"Well, this makes it much easier." Bridgit answered. "You won't have to psychologically confuse her anymore until the ritual tomorrow. All you have to do is find a way to prevent her from leaving if she tries to."
"How am I going to do that?" Thorn inquired. "Gus is looking for flights for her right now. Do I have to pull him aside and tell him to make up some excuse why he can't look up flights?"
"Oh, don't worry. We'll take care of Gus." Bridgit had an evil smirk on her face. "All you have to do is prevent her from leaving if she tries to find another way until the calming ritual tomorrow."
"Okay…I guess that isn't too hard." Thorn stuttered. It was a better alternative than psychological torture, but she still hated the idea of being deceitful to her friend.
"Good, good. Now be a good little bitch and run along!" Bridgit gave her a pat on the head to make her feel even smaller, as the elevator doors opened.
Thorn didn't bother justifying Bridgit's remark with a response. She simply headed to her room to grab her suitcase, trying not to break down and cry.
"Have we got everything?" Gus inquired, as he got in the driver's seat of the van. Everyone had just finished loading all their belongings into the back of the van.
A chorus of variations of "yes" were heard throughout the van from The Hex Girls and their roadies/torturers.
"Alright then, we've got four hours to Nashville!" Gus announced, shutting the driver's door and shifting the vehicle into the drive gear.
Initially, Nashville was one of the locations Thorn was most looking forward to when they first embarked on the tour. The entire city culture was based around music, which was Thorn's kind of place. Going to a city completely centered around music seemed like it should be a dream to Thorn. However, now her dreams of going to the music capital of the world had been ruined, and this had become the place she was least looking forward to going, due to having to manipulate her best friend with a faux "calming ritual" when she got there. Thorn's entire musical career thus far had been a dream that turned into a nightmare, all thanks to Bridgit, Nia and Sam's psychotic plans to do god knows what.
Thorn simply tried to sit back and not think about the horrible task ahead of her too much. She wanted to try to get anything positive she could out of exploring such a vibrantly artistic city. However, the most terrifying thought was that having to manipulate Luna could be the least of her worries. Thorn didn't know what the three witches were planning, but perhaps they would force her to do even worse things to her friends by the time they had carried out whatever their maniacal plan was.
Feeling depressed, Thorn sat back in her seat and daydreamed. She so wished that her rise to fame had been real, and that it hadn't turned into this nightmare it had become. The most insidious part of it was that if she was honest with herself, she had really enjoyed the manifestation that came from the witches' manipulation. She liked the meetings with Gus. She liked recording her first album. She liked making their music video. She liked exploring a new city every night, and performing in front of thousands of adoring fans. She would do anything to make it real again, just to experience those happy, excited feelings one more time.
"Where do we want to go first when we get to Nashville?" Dusk excitedly asked.
Thorn honestly didn't even care. No matter how exciting or unique of a thing they did, it wouldn't change having to deceive her friend the next day.
"I'd personally like to see Music Row." Nia stated her opinion.
"I'm good with Music Row as well." Sam nodded.
"Yeah, that's fine." Thorn shrugged. She wanted to be as kind as possible to Luna right now given what she'd have to do tomorrow, so Thorn figured that she better ask her redheaded friend. "Luna, what would you like to do? If you're leaving, I think you should pick the thing since it will be the last city you'll visit."
"Aww, thanks. That's really sweet of you." Luna smiled. "I'm totally fine with Music Row. That sounds fun."
"We'll stop off at the hotel first, then!" Gus stated. "Perhaps I can finally get a signal on my mobile phone. Luna, I've been trying all morning to schedule your flight, but this blasted phone just doesn't want to work! It keeps saying the signal is jammed."
"It's fine, Gus. I'm sure it will be working soon, or if not, we can just use the phone at the hotel to book a flight for tomorrow." Luna replied. "Staying here another day is fine, I guess."
"I'm glad. I've never had issues with it before, so I don't know what happened. Thank you for being patient." Gus appreciated, as he turned the car left towards Exit 48. "Only 5 minutes left until your hotel, and then we can head to Music Row!"
So that was how Bridgit planned to stop Luna from being able to leave. It was quite a simple mode of prevention, but an effective one.
"Here we are, everyone! Music Row!" Gus announced, as he pulled the van into the parking lot.
"Wow, I didn't expect it to be so gigantic!" Luna gasped, looking at her surroundings. There were tourist attractions as far as the eye could see - buildings everywhere, banners celebrating names of popular songs, a sculpture, a life-size bronze depiction of a man sitting at his piano, and so much more.
"Where do we even start?" Bridgit exclaimed.
"Well, besides what you see out here, there's a number of record studios we can visit that famous artists have recorded their songs in. They hardly hold a candle to Decade Records, in my humble opinion, but perhaps you'd find them worth visiting." Gus chuckled.
"Who were the famous artists?" Nia questioned.
"Oh, quite a few: Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson." Gus named a few.
"Dolly Parton?!" Sam exclaimed. "Hell yeah!"
"Sam loves Dolly." Bridgit rolled her eyes.
"When she sang 'workin' 9 to 5,' I felt it in my soul." Sam said in a very intense voice.
"You don't work 9 to 5, though." Nia pointed out.
"I know. That's how powerful her music is." Sam responded.
Thorn found their behavior odd. Given what they'd done, it was quite easy to label them as heartless monsters that didn't know how to have fun, but she supposed even witches had their personality quirks.
"I'd love to look around outside for a while, then maybe we can visit the studio afterwards." Dusk suggested.
"We may want to do it in the opposite order. I believe they close around 3:30 or 4." Gus informed.
"Okay, that's fine." Dusk shrugged.
"Maybe we could go out to dinner afterwards, since it's my last night here." Luna suggested. "It'd be nice to go out to one more restaurant."
"Absolutely!" Gus exclaimed. "If you enjoyed Punch Pizza, they have a place here where the pizza is absolutely scrumptious. It's called Joey's House of Pizza."
"That sounds great!" Thorn replied.
"Yeah, I could go for some pizza." Dusk agreed.
"Fine by me." Luna shrugged.
"Looks like we've only got about an hour before they close." Gus checked his watch. "We'd better hurry in if we want to see it today."
Thorn and the others followed Gus down a long sidewalk leading up to a building, which had a sign affixed to the top of it reading 'RCA Victor Studio' The building was painted brown, with some white trim on the top of the building around the sign. As they entered the building, the girls noticed pictures of famous musicians in the hallway leading down to the recording rooms. It ironically was not unlike what the girls were acquainted with seeing at Decade Records. Thorn recognized a couple of the musicians, namely Elvis and Dolly Parton, but there were quite a few more whom Thorn had no idea who they were. She noticed a couple more posters labeled Willie Nelson and Jim Reeves, whom she'd never heard of.
There was so much to look at that it was tough for Thorn to know what to focus on. She simply followed Gus down the hall, which led to a set of doors. Gus veered off to the door on the right side of the hallway, and thus, the others followed. He led everyone into a room with a checkerboard floor. There was a large, fancy-looking microphone perched on its stand in the middle of the room. A number of instruments were displayed in the corner, including a piano, a guitar, and a drum set. There were also several chairs set up in the studio, though Thorn wasn't particularly sure if it was for tours or something that was previously set up for recording sessions. Colorful lights on the ceiling illuminated the entire room, creating a magical kind of glow.
As they entered the room, a man wearing a black button-up shirt and khaki pants greeted them.
"Why hello there folks! My name's Tom, and I'll be your tour guide as you're exploring Music Row." the man greeted. He had a thick country accent. "So, what brings ya here today, folks?"
"We're a touring band that's performing here tomorrow night." Dusk explained.
"Yeah, they're the freaking Hex Girls!" Bridgit added with a lot of pizazz in her voice, saying their band name as if it were as well-known as The Beatles.
"Oh, I've heard of you guys! You're that new eco-goth girl group that's taking the country by storm!" Tom recognized. "Well, it's great to have ya here today! Is this your first time at Music Row?"
"It is for us." Nia said. "Their manager, Gus, has been here before, though."
"Yes, I've stopped by here on a number of tours before." Gus informed.
"Wonderful! I'm so glad y'all decided to stop by! This is one of the few studio tours ya can still take in the United States, so y'all certainly came to the right place!" Tom said.
"We still give tours at our studio." Gus playfully teased.
"Ah that's my bad, I meant to say famous studio tours." Tom jested back. "Now, there's a lot of history here in this room! See that piano over there?"
Thorn glanced at the fancy-looking brown piano over in the corner. She and the others all gave a nod.
"That right there's a 1942 Steinway! It was built in New York and started off its life at NBC for 15 years, until it came here in 1957." Tom explained.
"The famous television network?" Nia inquired.
"The very same! It was on Steve Allen's show called Tonight. And ya know what's even cooler? That there piano was played by none other than the King himself!" Tom exclaimed.
"George the Third?" Sam replied in a joking manner.
"Nah, I'm talkin' bout the one and only Elvis Presley!" Tom clarified.
"Woah!" Dusk exclaimed. "That's wicked!"
"What's even more wicked is that this whole place was built with Elvis in mind! He'd come here all the time to record music. In fact, ya see those lights there?" Tom pointed to the red and green lights on the ceiling. "Those were put in to set the mood for Elvis, since he had to start recording his Christmas albums in the summer."
"Why so early?" Luna asked.
"Well, not everyone can record their entire album in a week like you all did, you know." Gus chuckled.
"They'd bring in a tree, Christmas presents, and even turn the air conditionin' up so it'd put him in a wintery mood!" Tom continued.
"That's so neat this was such a pivotal place for Elvis's music." Thorn replied.
"So Elvis stayed at our hotel and visited here? We're going to all his old haunts." Bridgit joked.
"Ah, you must be staying at the Hermitage!" Tom guessed.
"Yes, we are." Gus confirmed.
"What's this over here?" Dusk asked, pointing to a large box in the shape of a cassette.
"That's a magnetic tape recorder, Dusk." Gus responded. "We've mostly shifted to digital means of recording at Decade Records, but back then, records were made by recording the artist on a high-tech tape recorder…or, at least, it was high-tech back then."
"Digitalization has certainly changed the landscape of music." Tom nodded in agreement. "In fact, there's a stairway out there that they used to ask artists to sing in if they wanted to create an echo effect in their song."
"That's so crazy." Thorn couldn't imagine having to stand in a drafty staircase just to create an effect in her music. It was indeed amazing how technology had changed things so much in the world of music.
"Tom, what are all those chairs for?" Luna politely asked. "Are they just for tour groups?"
"That's an excellent question, young lady!" Tom exclaimed. "Music executives would gather here to listen to recording sessions. The room'd be packed. They'd all have to stay very quiet, of course, in order to make sure they weren't picked up by the tape recorder."
"That's so cool!" Luna responded. "Thank you."
"I wanna tell you girls…and man…about one of the most famous people to ever work here." Tom corrected himself when he remembered Gus was the only male in the room. "His name was Chet Adkins, and woo-ey, did he ever do a lot! He was in charge of A+R, talent discovery, being a manager, producing music, collaboratin' with other artists, and making his own music! Man, that guy did everything! He became famous for playin' guitar in the bathroom at his high school, and he eventually quit high school once he got discovered. So the message here is…uh…I don't remember where I was goin' with that, but he was a pretty cool dude!"
"That's super neat." Thorn smiled.
"The message I took away from that is quit school." Sam interjected.
Tom ignored Sam's comment and continued with the tour. "Now, you probably noticed all the instruments here in this room. We had 'em here for artists' convenience, as there were so many artists recording songs here. There were 47,000 songs recorded here over the years, many of 'em by famous artists like Dolly Parton, who had her first studio recording session here! Heck, Elvis alone recorded 200 songs!"
"I can't believe a single room could have so much history!" Bridgit exclaimed.
"Well you better believe it young lady, 'cuz ain't no room got as much musical history as this one, in my humble opinion!" Tom answered. "Now, that about concludes the tour, as we're closin' in a few minutes. If you're lookin' for other places to visit, I'd highly recommend visitin' the Country Music Hall of Fame."
Thorn didn't want to say anything as not to be rude, but that sounded like drudgery to her. She had zero interest in country music.
"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind." Gus stated. "Thank you for the excellent tour, Tom."
"You're welcome! And good luck on your tour! I've got a feelin' you girls are gonna be the next Dolly Parton…well, if she was in a girl group alongside two other girls, and performed rock music." Tom awkwardly stumbled over himself to compliment the girls.
She hated thinking it, but Thorn's first reaction was: We will if three certain super fans have their way.
It had been a relatively eventful night. Much to Thorn's dislike, they visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, causing her to be bored out of her skull. None of the girls particularly enjoyed country music, but Thorn hated it with a passion. Now she knew how Sam felt having to visit that art museum. Gus, Bridgit, Nia and Sam didn't seem to mind it, and even Dusk got a bit into learning about artists back in the day. Afterwards, they headed off to Joey's House of Pizza.
"Alright folks, here's your pizza!" the waiter placed a large platter of supreme pizza on their table, which is the type of pizza they all agreed on. Dusk didn't particularly care for peppers, and Luna didn't care for olives, but this way, everyone got their favorite toppings and could just pick off the one or two they didn't like.
"This pizza is gigantic!" Luna gasped.
"Yeah, the slices are practically as big as my head!" Dusk said as she put a slice on her plate.
"They're so thick too!" Thorn observed. The cheese was riding atop a thick layer of meat and a river of sauce. The crust was hulkingly doughy, and seemed like it would make a person full after taking a few bites.
"I'm gonna be full after just eating one!" Nia joked.
"The slices here are indeed large, but I think it's among the most excellent pizza I've ever had." Gus gave his opinion.
Luna took a bite of the pizza and nodded. "Mmm, you're right, Gus. This is amazing!"
"Place just opened last year." Gus said in between savoring his pizza. "I have a feeling it will be around for a long time, though."
"So what are our plans for tomorrow?" Nia inquired.
"Well, we've got to book Luna's flight." Dusk said.
Bridgit looked like she tensed up a little bit after Dusk's comment.
"I was thinking, Luna might not be able to get a flight tomorrow on such short notice. If you have to be here tomorrow, would you do another concert?" Nia explored.
"Hmm…I hadn't thought about it." Luna admitted. "I suppose I can…if you absolutely need me to."
"It'd be nice if we did one last concert together, I think." Thorn said, trying not to be mean while still following Bridgit's orders. "Just to have something to remember, since we didn't know this would be happening during our last concert."
"I actually had an idea. Luna, what if we tried a calming ritual before the concert…if you end up being here, I mean. It might not do much, but maybe it could help." Nia shrugged. "Just a suggestion."
Honestly, Thorn thought Nia was far better at subtly manipulating them all than Bridgit. She didn't visibly tense up or make mistakes like Bridgit did. Bridgit's behavior was still subtle enough that someone who didn't know her true intentions probably wouldn't be able to figure them out (except in Thorn's case, due to her major slip-up), but Nia was absolutely flawless at her chicanery.
"That's actually not a bad idea." Luna said, still seeming a bit cautious. "We can try it, sure."
"Awesome. Hopefully it helps a little!" Nia cheerfully responded.
"What else is there to do around here, Gus?" Thorn asked.
"Well, there's a number of parks: Shelby Bottoms Park, which is dedicated to nature; Owen Bradley Park, a park dedicated to a famous musician; and Centennial Park. We can also explore more of the music scene on Music Row. I would recommend ASCAP, or perhaps simply walking around the area a bit." Gus responded.
"I'd be up for all of those things." Thorn shrugged.
"Yeah, all of that sounds fun!" Dusk replied.
"We should do all of it, if we have time!" Bridgit said.
"Yeah! We've got the whole day, after all." Nia reasoned.
"That sounds neat." Luna said. "I'll explore as much as I can with you all until I have to leave."
Thorn knew she wouldn't be able to leave, as Bridgit, Nia and Sam would manipulate things so she would have no choice other than to participate in the so-called "calming ritual" that would manipulate Luna into staying. Thorn didn't know if she'd ever forgive herself for manipulating her friend like that.
It was time for another meeting of the 12 blocks north club. Although the meetings every night were beginning to become the norm, Thorn knew they couldn't last forever. Sooner or later, they'd have to make a plan for how to free themselves from the control of the witches. Thorn just hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
Even though she was getting used to sneaking out at night, she still nervously looked behind her every time she passed a block, worried that someone might be following her. Thankfully, she now had Luna by her side, which brought her a bit of comfort.
"You've been doing such a good job playing your part, Luna!" Thorn complimented.
"Thanks. It was a brilliant idea to stage me leaving the band to trick the witches." Luna said. "I only wish I wasn't kinda already thinking about doing what I'm pretending to do. I'm really not happy doing this, Thorn."
"I know." Thorn said, trying to put up a brave front. Luna's words made her heart sink a little, though. "Maybe Bridgit, Nia and Sam are manipulating this to be a horrible experience for you?"
Thorn immediately felt horrible about herself after saying this. She knew that wasn't the case, but she really didn't want her friend to leave. While she wasn't manipulating her friend and was supportive of her decision, her thoughtless reply left her wondering if maybe she was manipulative like Bridgit, Nia and Sam.
"I don't think that's it." Luna said. "I just don't like the idea of touring like I thought I would. It's too much for my anxiety."
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I know that's not it. I'm a horrible person. I'm no better than Bridgit. I just…" Thorn stuttered a bit and began tearing up. "...don't want you to leave us."
"Aww…Thorn, you're not as bad as Bridgit or any of them. It's okay to be both supportive of me while also having your own emotions about how this impacts you. I get it." Luna promised.
"Okay…I'm glad." Thorn sniffled, as she turned the corner to 8th Street. The street was relatively quiet, even though there were a lot of businesses that were located on this road. It was so late at night that all of them were closed, leaving people few reasons to travel on this road.
"Hello, girls." Gus whispered, as he stood waiting for them in front of the door to a small business. "Well, I'd say our plan today was a success."
"I guess, but it doesn't feel like it." Thorn admitted. "Now they're planning some fake calming ritual for Luna, but it's just to lull her into staying in the band. I assume they're just going to leave her mind so relaxed that they can manipulate it, or something."
"I thought we agreed they can't manipulate minds." Luna questioned.
"Well, yeah, but maybe they can make you feel so calm that you're more open to suggestion? Why else would they be doing a calming ritual? It's certainly not to relax you for the concert." Thorn analyzed.
"I would argue today was very much a success." Gus pointed out. "We found out that they very likely are not reading our minds during these meetings. How did your conversation with Bridgit go otherwise, Thorn?"
"Good, I guess. She admitted she can only physically manipulate people. She can't make them feel things they don't actually feel." Thorn reported.
"Excellent. So we don't have to worry about any emotional manipulation then." Gus decided.
"What if the calming ritual is their plan?" Luna worried.
"I hardly think their master plan is to calm your nerves before a concert." Gus chuckled.
"No, I mean, what if it's the sacrifice I read about?" Luna said, her right arm trembling a bit with fear. "What if they make me so calm that I die?"
"That's quite an interesting mental image." Thorn pondered, looking unsure of how to process Luna's hypothesis.
Gus looked deep in thought for a moment. "Luna does have a point. As I said, I don't think they can manipulate you into feeling so calm that you become unconscious, as calmness is a feeling. However, you make a good observation that we don't know the intentions behind their ritual. Perhaps they'll act like it's a calming ritual, and then reveal the ritual is for some completely different evil purpose."
"That's a fair point." Thorn nodded. "How do we stop it, though? We don't know what they have planned, and I don't think we can manipulate them into revealing their plans."
"I think the best thing we can do is remain vigilant and be ready to act quickly. We must do anything we can to prevent their plan from happening at the first sign of something strange." Gus suggested.
"That's not really a plan, though. We're running out of time to plan how to stop them. They could carry out their evil plan any day now." Luna brought up.
"Unfortunately, there's no magic solution for this…no pun intended." Gus argued. "We don't know what they're planning and thus cannot come up with a specific way of stopping them, since they could quite literally be planning anything. The best thing we can do is act in solidarity, and be ready to defend ourselves and Dusk on a moment's notice. We should keep up the charade of Luna leaving the band, and attempt to learn as much about their plan and abilities as we can, and act in an educated, strategic way based on anything we find out. If they try to get the amulet, keep it away from them. I know it's not a plan with any kind of certainty, but I think it's the best we're going to do given we really don't know much about their abilities."
"That's kinda disappointing." Luna sighed. "But I guess it's as good of a plan as we can get in a situation like this."
"I guess you're right." Thorn said, feeling a bit defeated. She had admittedly hoped these meetings would eventually lead up to a magic solution, but she supposed Gus was right. All they could do was take it day by day and use deceit as a weapon, as well as hope they came out of this terrifying situation alive.
The black-haired goth felt a sense of dread when she regained consciousness for the morning in her bed. Today was the day. Best case scenario, she manipulated her best friend. Worst case scenario, she manipulated her best friend, and her best friend would be killed by witches. It was without a doubt the hardest situation Thorn had ever faced. Gus was right that they would learn more about the witches by continuing to deceive them, but she feared the high cost that it may come at. She just tried to take the day a minute at a time.
Thorn tried her best to pretend it was a normal day (although what even was normal anymore?) and put on a Siouxsie and the Banshees t-shirt and some blue jeans before heading down to breakfast. As Thorn left her immaculately put-together room complete with a dresser, desk and ottoman, she admired the fact that the hotel looked like a queen's palace. Beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling; exquisite curtains hugged each window; and a squeaky-clean tile floor led to the breakfast room. She had arrived just in time to overhear the last part of a remark from Gus.
" - hotel, and then we'd head to the park. Perhaps then we could have a big lunch, go to Music Row, followed by heading to Rocketown to set up for your concert." Gus laid out a suggestion for the day's schedule.
"Sounds good to me." Luna said. "Any progress on the flight?"
Thorn quickly turned her eyes over to Bridgit, attempting to cast a glance her way as subtly as possible. The pink-haired girl looked a bit on edge.
"Kind of." Gus shared. "I called using the hotel phone, but they said that they didn't have any openings until Friday. I booked your flight for 8:40am on Friday."
"Awesome!" Luna smiled. "Thank you so much for getting that all sorted, Gus."
"Of course." Gus smiled.
"Alright, I'm all ready to go." Bridgit announced.
Thorn was incredibly suspicious of Bridgit's eager demeanor. Surely it had to mean she was up to no good, or anticipatory of the calming/emotional manipulation ritual coming up.
"Ready to go?" Thorn teased, trying to make sure her tone remained playful rather than suspicious or interrogative. "I haven't even eaten my breakfast yet!"
"Well, grab a donut and let's get going! The day is young, and we've got so many exciting things to do!" Bridgit chirped.
"Sure, I'm ready. We've been down here for like an hour at this point, and if not for Thorn sleeping in forever, we would have left already." Dusk playfully lamented.
Thorn knew Bridgit would keep pushing until they left, as that's just the type of manipulative person she was, so she simply chose to comply and follow instructions. She'd luckily brought her coat down with her, although she hadn't expected to have to leave quite that quickly. Thorn supposed it was inevitable at this point, so she grabbed a small pack of three powdered sugar donuts from a platter and followed the lead of the others.
After two turns and ten minutes in the car, the group had arrived at Centennial Park.
"Woah! I thought we were in Nashville, not Athens!" Sam pointed to a large building with tons of white pillars. It indeed looked like an ancient structure of some sort, very similar to the world-famous Parthenon.
"Well, we are, but you are sort of right." Gus chuckled. "This was actually built as a replica of the Parthenon in Greece. It houses an art museum, which we certainly don't have to explore if you girls feel like you've seen enough art. I know some of your opinions on museums and art."
"Yeah, I'd really prefer not to visit another museum. Yuck." Sam scoffed.
"Sam's right." Dusk agreed. "We've visited enough boring museums. Let's explore the park a little."
"Do we want to split off into groups again?" Bridgit inquired. "Sam, Nia and I, and then you four?"
"Fine by me." Thorn shrugged. "We'll see you guys in a little bit."
"See you soon!" Nia replied, as the three witches began heading in the opposite direction.
The park was pretty large with a large path winding around a lake. Green shrubbery and bulky trees decorated the path around Centennial Park. The path gave them an excellent view of the Parthenon.
"Fun fact, the lake we're walking around, Lake Watauga, is actually artificial." Gus pointed out.
"Sorry, but I'm not in the mood, Gus." Dusk said, her voice sounding kind of somber. Thorn was used to seeing Dusk become defensive or angry to hide her emotional pain and sadness, so seeing her directly express what she was feeling in a vulnerable way was new. "This is gonna be our last week as a band together."
"It is, but…we'll figure it out. It's not like this is happening and then we're never going to talk about it again." Luna assured.
"Bridgit, Nia and Sam seem to be taking it well." Dusk observed. "Very sweet and concerned for us, but that's how they always are. We're lucky to have them, honestly."
"Yeah." Thorn simply said, unsure of what else she could say given her feelings.
"How do we wanna tell the media about this?" Dusk brought up. "I mean, you'll perform in what, two more shows?"
"Well, I was hoping for no more shows, but fine. We'll do two." Luna caved in.
"Okay…thank you. I mean, if you want. Don't do it if it's gonna tank your mental health or something." Dusk backtracked.
"No. It's fine. Thank you for being supportive. Although I'm the one choosing to leave, I also kinda hate this." Luna admitted. "I'm not happy that I'm having to give up the band either, but ultimately, I think it's best."
"Good. You should do what's best for you." Dusk became curt with her words. Her demeanor was very indicative that this was bothering Dusk.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. The fact that the girls were close enough that silences usually were not awkward made this silence all the more awkward.
"Where do we want to eat for lunch?" Thorn attempted to change the subject, in order to hopefully get rid of some of the awkwardness.
"I'm not hungry." Dusk sighed.
"Me either." Luna admitted.
"There's a lovely restaurant called the Bound'ry which just opened a few years ago. They've got pretty much everything on the menu, from Italian to Chinese to Mexican." Gus suggested
"That sounds amazing!" Thorn exclaimed, trying to bring the mood up. In all honesty, part of her motivation was to raise her own mood, but she supposed there was no harm in collectively raising all of their moods in the process of raising her own.
"Okay, that's fine." Dusk shrugged. Her mood was clearly very low due to the situation with Luna, and that seemed to be causing Luna's mood to be low as well. Thorn supposed at least the two of them weren't fighting anymore.
"Alright. Sure." Luna said with hints of depression in her voice.
"Let's return to Dusk's original question." Thorn interjected. "What do we want to do about telling the media?"
"I think honesty is the best way." Luna advised. "I'm open to people knowing the whole story. Just say I didn't enjoy touring very much and I had stage fright performing in front of so many people at once. The band wasn't making me happy because of that."
"I would agree." Gus added. "If you try to hide things or make up stories, it is pretty easy for people to make assumptions and create drama where there isn't any."
"Okay, I'm open to that. I don't think that will hurt the band at all." Dusk responded. "We'll really miss you for the rest of the tour…and I guess we'll see you when we get back."
The situation honestly felt so monumental to Thorn that she'd barely thought past what would happen today, much less when they got back. All she could really hope is that Dusk was right and that everyone would be okay.
Upon entering the Bound'ry, Thorn found the seating arrangements to be quite interesting. The aesthetic of the restaurant felt somewhere in between a fancy restaurant and Jack's. The tables with stools on one end and booths on the other side made it feel sort of diner-ish, but it had a hometown feel to it, which Thorn liked.
"Welcome to the Bound'ry!" a friendly waitress in a lavender shirt said. "My name's Sophie. What can I - wait…are you…The Hex Girls?"
"We sure are." Thorn smiled.
"Wow, it's so great to meet you! You must be Thorn!" Sophie exclaimed. "And you must be Dusk!"
"Yes!" Dusk proudly nodded.
"And you're…umm….Lorna…no, I mean Luna!" Sophie quickly self-corrected.
"Yep, that's right." Luna said, giving the woman a sheepish smile.
"Well, there's a lot of choices here. We've got everything from enchiladas, to spaghetti, to General Tso chicken." Sophie quickly changed the subject.
Thorn admittedly felt a bit bad for Luna. Everyone was always forgetting her name. Sure, she was more of a background presence and didn't really boost the crowd energy like the other two. Even as the drummer, Dusk had quite a large stage presence, hitting her drums with force and looking super into it. Luna, while she was dedicated to playing music, expressed it in a very shy way that didn't seem nearly as bombastic and exciting as the other two. Regardless, Luna didn't deserve to be forgotten or ignored. Apparently Thorn and Dusk were becoming well-known for their personalities among the crowds at their concerts, but it seemed Luna hadn't quite resonated with the crowd as much.
After a delicious lunch, Gus had brought everyone over to Music Row to walk around some of the nearby parks. They had just walked through Owen Bradley Park, which boasted the center attraction of a life-size statue of a man playing a piano. They were currently walking past two huge guitars on a platform on the way back to the tour van.
"See those guitars there, girls?" Gus pointed. "Those are replicas of Elvis and Roy Orbison's guitars!"
"That's so cool!" Thorn exclaimed. She looked over at Dusk, who seemed pretty depressed and out of it. She felt she should check in on her worried-looking friend. "Everything okay?"
"I guess." Dusk shrugged apathetically. "I just thought visiting a place like this would be the happiest day of my life. But I don't feel happy, y'know?"
"Yeah." Thorn sympathetically nodded. "I think all of us believed once we'd hit it big, it'd be a dream come true. But it wasn't for Luna, and that's okay."
"Hey, speaking of that, we should probably get to the theater." Bridgit pointed out. "If we want to have time for the calming ritual, that is."
Despite Bridgit presenting it as a choice, she knew there wasn't actually one, so all Thorn could do was comply.
"Good idea." Dusk pointed out. "We need to make sure we have time for that, for Luna's sake."
Thorn thought it was sweet how conscious Dusk was becoming about Luna's departure from the band, even if she was really down about it. If only Dusk knew the actual intention behind the calming ritual.
"Woah, this looks more like a skating rink than a concert venue." Dusk observed.
The blonde was quite right. The Rocketown building looked like a small recording studio, while the outside looked like some sort of a gymnasium. It was probably the tile floor that gave it that aesthetic, but the fact that the stage was at ground level added to its informal look.
"Well, you're not wrong." Gus chuckled. "This concert venue actually doubles as a skate park and coffee bar. It was actually built as a place for teens to hang out, and expanded into a place for concerts after it was built."
"Interesting." Thorn said. She was feeling a bit mentally short on words as her anxiety level rose.
"Well, it shouldn't be hard to do a calming ritual here." Dusk pointed out. "We can just sit in the middle of the floor and do it."
"I thought you didn't believe in calming rituals, Dusk." Luna challenged.
"I don't, but I just want to do anything I can to help you." Dusk said. Thorn was quite shocked about how vulnerable she was being compared to usual. Dusk was never vulnerable with others, but the thought of potentially losing her best friend must have brought it out.
Thorn felt goosebumps bubble up on her skin. The calming ritual was about to happen, and she didn't know what to do to stop it.
"Alright, ready for the ritual?" Bridgit asked, seeming eager to start it. It was obvious to Thorn as to why.
"Yep, I think I'm ready. What do I do again?" Luna inquired.
"Let's all sit down on the floor and place our palms face down." Nia guided.
Thorn suddenly had a disturbing thought: was Dusk wearing the necklace?! A quick glance in the blonde's direction caused Thorn's heart to sink, as Dusk was indeed wearing it around her neck. Thankfully, it was the one she found at the Autumn Fest, not the one Bridgit gave her. Thorn hoped that would at least slow down whatever the witches' plan was.
"Now, once you place your palms down for a moment, lift them up and join hands with the person next to you." Nia said in a calming voice. The relaxed voice Nia used made Thorn far less calm, as she knew it was just a charade.
Thorn joined hands with Luna, Luna with Dusk, Dusk with Bridgit, Bridgit with Nia, Nia with Sam, Sam with Gus, and finally Gus with Thorn.
"I don't remember this from the calming ritual in the car." Dusk said.
Shit. Dusk was right. This was a different ritual than they'd done when they first embarked on their tour. Did she need to step in and do something now? What was most terrifying to Thorn is that if she did step in, she had no idea what she'd do.
"That's because we were in the car then, silly!" Bridgit said in a cute voice. "Anyway, I'm going to say a few words. Dusk, do you have the necklace I gave to you?
"It's in the hotel room. I'm wearing that one I found at the Autumn Fest." Dusk responded.
"That should still work!" Bridgit assured. "Now, Dusk, focus all your energy on the necklace. It will allow your positivity to transfer over to Luna and fill her up with the confidence you have. Now, to help with the energy transfer, I want you to visualize a woman with long brown hair."
"I mean, I don't think you can magically give someone confidence…" Dusk skeptically said. "I'll do it for you though, Luna."
The necklace. Thorn knew something was seriously wrong now. Nothing she'd read about calming rituals in her mother's Wicca book said anything about taking energy from other people. It was all about taking energy from the Earth.
She had to say something now.
"Don't do it, Dusk!" Thorn cried out, as Bridgit's jaw dropped.
"What do you mean, don't do it?" Dusk looked at Thorn like she was crazy.
"It's not just a ritual!" Thorn shouted. She honestly couldn't think of what else to suggest at this point. Thorn felt like she barely had a chance suggesting such a stupid, simple plan, but all she could think of to say is: "Run! We have to run!"
"That was your plan?" Bridgit snarled, wrapping her arms around Dusk. "Lame."
"What the hell are you doing?" Dusk looked incredibly confused.
Bridgit moved her hands up from around Dusk's body towards her neck.
"Alright, here's what's going to happen." Bridgit's tone became manic. Her facial expression turned almost psychotic looking. "Everybody's going to do whatever I say or I'm going to fucking snap this bitch's neck right in front of you."
"Bridgit…what's going on?" Dusk panicked, physically struggling a bit.
Thorn wanted to say something, but she was terrified to do anything that would get her friend killed.
"Go ahead, tell her. It doesn't matter now. I'm interested to hear what you thought our plan was." Bridgit challenged Thorn.
"They're evil witches, Dusk, and they've been manipulating the charts to make us famous for months now. None of this fame is real. They just made it happen."
"WHAT?!" Dusk shrieked.
"You mean you really thought your little dream of becoming a famous band was coming true? You being famous is no more real than it was when you came up with it after you guys met Luna at that stupid band camp. Camp Rock, or whatever it was called." Bridgit taunted.
"Isn't that just a movie?" Luna interjected.
"This isn't a calming ritual. It's some sort of trick to lull Luna into becoming so calm she doesn't quit the band." Thorn explained, gasping for air. She was so afraid she felt like she could barely breathe anymore.
"You really think I'm doing all this so Luna doesn't leave the band?" Bridgit cackled. "What I have planned is so much bigger than that."
"Wait…is this a sacrifice?" Thorn thought back to what Luna had guessed would happen, which was an idea she initially did not fully take seriously as a possibility.
"I mean, I suppose you could think of it that way." Sam interjected.
"There's no harm in telling them, Sam. They have to do what I want now, or I'll murder Dusk." Bridgit's tone got much higher, sounding as if she were talking to a puppy. "Just to think, I have complete control over a human life. All I have to do is just squeeze a little tighter, and the poor thing won't be able to breathe anymore."
Bridgit must have tightened her grip on Dusk's neck, as the blonde began choking and gasping for air.
"Makes me feel pretty empowered, you know. Whether Dusk lives or dies is completely in my control!" Bridgit laughed maniacally.
"What the fuck do you want?" Thorn screamed, worried the horrible hag could kill Dusk at any moment.
"Oh, what I want is simple." Bridgit smiled.
"Do you remember when Bridgit first gave you the necklace?" Nia asked. "Who did she say gave it to her?"
Thorn paused for a moment to try to remember. Luna spoke up before the memory came back to Thorn.
"Her mother?" Luna uncertainly stated.
"Exactly!" Bridgit confirmed. "This necklace is the key to getting back what I've been wanting since I was a little girl: resurrecting my mother and sister!"
Author's note:
"You're going to miss 100% of the shots you take, but man, you gotta keep trying!"
I thought I should share the advice of some random guy who just walked up to me in the coffee shop I wrote the last scene of this chapter in. Was quite amusing as I'd never seen the person before in my life, and he just walked in the building, told me that quote, and walked out lol. It was also an incorrect quoting of the hockey player Wayne Gretsky. The actual quote is "You're going to miss 100% of the shots you don't take," though I like this person's version better as it basically implies you're going to fail constantly no matter how hard you try haha.
That being said, my internet isn't working as of writing this, so I went to this quirky little old-time touristy coffee shop I'd never been to before, in order to get some other work done. Now that I've gotten it finished, I couldn't think of a better place to write Hexed given all the historical places the girls visit! :)
Anyway, at long last, we find out the witches' true intentions! This chapter included a number of references to some of the most famous real-life places in Nashville: Music Row, the Hermitage Hotel, The Bound'ry, Rocketown, Joey's House of Pizza, Shelby Bottoms Park, Owen Bradley Park, and Centennial Park. I feel like I provided a pretty detailed history of all of those places, other than I suppose I could add that Owen Bradley Park is named after the famous musician of the same name, who was one of the most instrumental country producers of all time (pun possibly intended lol).
For those of you that are Swifties, you know how Taylor mentions Centennial Park twice in "Invisible String" off of her album Folklore? ("Green was the color of the grass where I used to read at Centennial Park" and "Gold was the color of the leaves when I showed you around Centennial Park") The park the girls visit in this chapter is the same Centennial Park she references in that song.
Joey's House of Pizza is one of Nashville's most famous pizza places. The other most famous pizza place in Nashville? That's run by his brother, Manny! Talk about sibling rivalry! *blows comedy horn* lol If you're still reading after that horribly corny one-liner (I wouldn't blame you if you're not), Manny actually competed against a different pizza shop owner that was running the House of Pizza for 12 years, but Manny's brother Joey bought the House of Pizza in 1999, and they began a friendly business relationship serving Nashville their famous family pizza.
Moving on to The Bound'ry, it was opened in 1995 and deviated from traditional Nashville cuisine. As mentioned in the chapter, the restaurant served all sorts of varieties of food, including Mexican, Italian, Chinese and much more. Before the Bound'ry, the building it was located in used to be a place for traveling rock and roll musicians. Sadly, the restaurant closed in 2016 and the building was renovated into a space for events.
Since he's mentioned again here in this chapter, I had a little note I wanted to mention on Farmer Jones. In chapter 10, I referred to an artist named "Cowboy Jones." That was a typo, as I meant for that to be a callback to the artist Farmer Jones mentioned in chapter 5. I apparently just misremembered the name. I've gone back and corrected it now in chapter 10. Sorry about the mistake!
The mention of Camp Rock has become a recurring thing I've worked into all three of my fanfics, where a character mentions working at Camp Rock to which someone responds "Isn't that just a movie?" Given the more serious nature of this fanfic, it's done in less of a jokey way, but I still wanted to include it haha.
For those wondering, yes, Chet Adkins did actually become famous for "playin' guitar in the bathroom." He apparently played there in high school because the room created an echo that made his songs sound better than they did anywhere else.
That's about all I have for this chapter, folks, but thank you so much for reading! I hope you're as excited to read the next chapter as I am to write it!