Great another hippie, Murdoc placed his face in his hands as the long haired twenty something year old in his vest, bell bottoms, and sandals stood before them strumming at his guitar. The sounds that the guitar made were God awful, but the player seemed far too stoned to even notice. Murdoc had the sudden urge to grab a fist full of his too long brown hair and yank it until it all came out. He looked over shooting Del a look silently signaling him to get rid of the latest failure.
The ghost looked just as annoyed as he did as he moved in grabbing hold of the guitarist and tossing him out the front door.
"Man that was fuckin' bad, all these mother fuckers are bad actually." He said as he went back to his spot next to Russel who was currently out of it.
"Next!" Murdoc screamed
He hated this; he hadn't done auditions for a very long time. He never liked them, after the first hour everybody sounded God awful. There had been two or three that were decent, but the way that they looked made him sick to his stomach, some of them he had the feeling would try and take the band from him. He didn't like that idea; his paranoid side told him his band mates would go along too willingly with that.
A tall slender girl came into the room holding a guitar that looked like she had just bought it. The minute she hit the first chord his suspicion was confirmed; she'd never played in her life, she just bought the damned thing maybe twenty minutes ago, and thought she could fake her way into a band by wearing too much black and trying to appear 'deep'.
Murdoc shoved away from the table and stormed out of the room. He waited for Del to yell after him, but the ghost didn't make a sound. He knew he could leave him in charge of tossing out the worthless idiots trying to worm their way into Murdoc's band. He also knew that while Russel was out he had the perfect opportunity to try and force 2D out of his room.
He paused outside of the singer's room thinking back to the last time he'd been in there. How hard he had been crying, how violently his body had been shaking, and the hateful tone his voice had held. He felt chills as he thought back on it, about the emotion, emotions he'd never seen come from the lanky man. He was usually just sad or too fucking happy, Murdoc couldn't stand either emotion, but they were preferred over the darkened one he'd had that day.
This was stupid; he just needed the idiot for a few hours. After that he could go back to his room and cry some more.
He slowly pushed the door open to reveal the singer lying on his bed staring up blankly at the ceiling. Somehow he looked thinner and paler than he usually did, he almost looked dead actually. Any rage he had before was completely gone leaving him lifeless at this point. The bassist made his way over to the bed and leaned over the younger man waiting to be noticed.
"Wot do ya want, I told yew not ta talk ta me no more." 2D said, his voice came out scratchy and weak.
"Ya look like shit, now I got a ton of talentless guitarist auditionin' out there. If I gotta sit through that shit with Russel and Del then you do too." He growled as he pulled at the singer's arm.
2D jerked his arm away and glared up at the older man. He slowly moved into a sitting position letting his long legs dangling over the side of the bed.
"No" He whispered, his voice came out hollow.
"What, what do you mean no?"
"I'm not doin' it Mu'doc, I can't do t'is anymore. All ya do is scream at me an' beat me up all da time and den ya go and….I just….I can't do it no more, I'm done." He said shaking his head slowly.
He wasn't sure if he was ready to strangle him or have a complete mental breakdown.
"Ya better not be sayin' what I think yer saying." He said trying to sound threatening.
The singer stood up and looked at him sadly.
"I'm leavin' te band, goin' back to my mum and dad's house. I can't take tis anymore."
"Wot I give yew a band, a place ta live, and ya rather go back to England and wot…Work at tat stupid fuckin' carnival, get paid shit, and have sex with more girls who will just shag the first guy they see?"
"Yew 'ad no right ta do tat to me, I really did love her…..I rather do anyfink than be around you." He said bitterly before leaving the room.
Murdoc ran after him, he caught him half way through the hall way grabbing him and slamming him back against a wall.
"Yew ain't goin anywhere, tis is my band, yew owe me ya fuckin' idiot." He growled angrily at the younger man.
He still looked lifeless; he was probably on more of his stupid pain pills. Those things always seemed to make him more off in the head than usual.
"Let go of me, I told ya tat I'm leavin' and tat's it." He said as he tried to get out of the older man's grip.
"Hey Murdoc you got a package." Russel yelled from the rec room.
The Satanist growled as he let go of the vocalist, he didn't say anything else to him. He just started making his way back to the current audition room, he assumed the drummer had woken up, and sent all of the talentless idiots back to their homes. He could feel 2D behind him, he had the minor urge to turn around and punch him in the face, but resisted. At least he'd gotten the kid out of his room even if he was trying to leave the band; there was no way that he would leave. He was like a stupid little puppy dog, he couldn't be away long at all.
"Wot the fuck is it fat arse?" He asked as he looked over the large FedEx crate that sat in the middle of the room.
Russel shot him an angered look before looking at 2D.
"Hey D, good to see you man."
"Hey Russ" He replied sadly.
Murdoc looked over the box and noticed all of the stickers were in what he sure was Japanese.
"Japan, wot te fuck, who ordered this?" He asked as he turned looking at his two band mates.
"I didn't, I been in me room all tis time."
"Hey man I don't order shit from the internet….Besides I don't touch our computer, last time I did I got all these sick porn sites…Man you got some real fucking issues."
"Shuddup and open the fuckin' box."
"I ain't your fucking help; it's probably some more of your sick shit." Russel said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Bloody hell just open te Fuckin box."
Russel sighed heavily before leaving for the kitchen, a few minutes later he returned carrying a crowbar. He shot the bassist a look before going to work on tearing the large crate apart. The front crashed onto the gray carpeted floor and more papers fell out. They stood around the box looking at it, but all they could see was darkness. 2D was the only one to move closer to the entrance, they watched as the singer leaned his head inside looking around for whatever had been delivered to their home. A few seconds later he screamed and fell back to the ground, his black eyes wide.
"T'ere's a girl in tere, a little girl." He cried out looking confused and horrified.
Russel looked at Murdoc with shock and disgust.
"Man I fuckin' knew you were messed up, but seriously?"
"Yew actually t'ink I would do somethin' like tat, wot t'e fuck do ya think I am some kind of sick pervert?" He asked feeling pissed and slightly offended.
"That is the dumbest ass thing you have ever asked me."
They turned their attention back to the crate when they heard mumbling. A young girl slowly stepped into the light taking in her surroundings with fear and curiosity. She appeared to be around ten years of age at the oldest, her hair was a mix of blue and black and just came to her shoulders, she wore a white shirt, and white pants. She studied the three men for awhile like she didn't know how to react. Murdoc was still trying to get past the fact his singer threatened to quick and now they had a small Japanese girl in their house. The girl turned her full attention on 2D and her eyes widened in fear, she ran back into the box and began screaming sometime in Japanese. Murdoc swore that somewhere in there he could understand the word demon. The singer only looked extremely confused.
"Wot did I do, she's t'e one in te box, why she seem scared of me for?" He asked sounding almost hurt.
"Yew don't got any eyes you fuckin' moron."
2D looked up at him like the realization just now hit him.
"Oh…Right….I'll go get 'er ten." He said as he stood to his feet and made his way back into the crate.
They heard a high pitched cry then a few cuss words as 2D was thrown from the box and the young girl landed on top of him with one hand firmly around his throat and the other pulled back in a fist ready to hit the man she thought was some demon trying to kill her. Murdoc leaned back against the wall lighting a cigarette as he watched the situation unfold. He didn't know why a small girl had been delivered to their house, but it was keeping him amused for the mean time. He could feel Russel staring at him with strong disapproval and gave him the finger.
"You're a fucking prick" He mumbled as he went over pulling the small child off of the vocalist.
He held her in the air back the back of her shirt. She continued kicking and screaming in her language, she looked at the large man holding her with that same look of fear and rage. 2D stood to the ground and looked closely at the small girl who turned to him and growled. Murdoc laughed.
"Hey faceache she likes you as much as I do."
Murdoc walked over to the crate and noticed a red piece of paper at the entrance of the box. It was one of the flyers he had made for the band auditions; he held the paper up so his band mates could see it. They looked at each other in confusion then back to the young girl who had finally stopped fighting and just dangled in the air with her arms folded across her chest looking frustrated.
"She's our new guitarist?" 2D asked sounding painfully confused.
"No way she's, wot ten?"
"This is weird man, you ordered a little kid off the internet to play guitar for us?"
"Will ya stop thinkin' I'm ordering Japanese kids off of the bloody internet?" Murdoc yelled angrily.
The girl turned her attention to the angry man and tilted her head in curiosity.
"I fink she might like yew Mu'doc, she'd be te only one." 2D said mumbling the last part.
Russel laughed; Murdoc slapped him in the face. The action caused the young girl to begin screaming again except this time at the bassist.
"I don't think she liked you doing that."
"Too fuckin' bad, he's my singer I can do whatever I fuckin' want to him."
"Was yer singer, not no more."
"Wait, what, you're leaving D….Dammit Murdoc what did you do to him this time, I told you not to fucking talk to him anymore." The drummer yelled angrily.
"I'm not yer fuckin' kid so stop treatin me tat way you fucking lard. I did while yew were all out of it, he already decided to leave before that."
"First you hit him with a car, then you throw him through a windshield, you knock two of his teeth out…"
"Three I believe" Murdoc corrected smiling proudly.
"Look you really need to stop messing with the kid; it's really fucking with his head."
The bassist looked at 2D who appeared to not have heard a word they had said. He was too busy studying the young girl who was staring at him with just as much curiosity. She reached out grabbing at his hair with her small hands, he leaned his head down so she could look through it more thoroughly. She seemed pretty fascinated by the light blue.
"Ya like it? It's really like tat ya know." He said sounding proud.
He stood up straight and the girl leaned in studying his blackened eyes. She reached out touching along his face like she was checking to make sure that he was a human being and not some demonic fiend that wanted her dead. She smiled shyly then looked back at Russel.
"He's al'ight, his eyes are just tat way cause he's possessed by his friends, tat's all." 2D tried explaining to the little girl.
Russel sat her back down on the floor, this time she didn't attack or run. She just stood there looking up at the three men.
"I don't think she understands anything we're saying D."
"Hey sounds like you." Murdoc said bitterly.
"Shuddup Mu'doc"
2D sat down in front of the small child and they continued staring at each other. Murdoc was beginning to lose interest; he took another drag from his cigarette and looked around the room.
"She seems pretty fuckin' useless to me. She's a kid, can't even speak a word of fuckin' English. Wot good would she be in my band?"
"Wait yew ain't getting rid of her, I can teach 'er English and she gotta play guitar if she came wit tat flyer of yers." The singer began rambling as he looked up pleadingly at the bass player.
"Fuck, fine, Russ go get a guitar from the studio."
"Man fuck you, I'm not your damn man servant."
"Just do it you possessed fucking fat arse."
"I should just bash you with this damn crowbar." Russel said before leaving the room.
Now it was only the three of them, he considered talking to 2D about what he'd been saying earlier. Actually he wanted to talk to him about a lot of things, but he was beginning to sober up. He really didn't want to talk to the singer about anything if it meant he'd be doing it sober with all of his feelings intact. He watched the taller man sitting on the floor trying to teach the young girl some English words. He really wasn't into the idea of taking care of a little kid, he hated children. He couldn't stand them when he could understand them and he was pretty sure a little kid screaming in a language he couldn't understand would only be worse.
Finally Russel returned with a red guitar in hand. When the small girl saw it her eyes lit up and she began jumping up and down grabbing for the instrument. The drummer handed it to her and within a minute she began playing it beautifully. The three men stood there staring down at the little girl who played the guitar better than any professional they had seen in their lifetimes. He really hated the idea of taking care of a kid, but his band desperately need a guitarist, and this was the only time that day he didn't feel like stabbing his ear drums.
The girl stopped playing when she noticed them all staring at her. She sat the guitar down next to her and looked around worried.
"Holy-"
"Shit" 2D finished
"There's no way in hell you're going to tell me we can't let her stay now." Russel said as he looked over at the Satanist.
"She can stay, but we gotta get a translator fer her…What the fuck is her name anyways?"
"Hey luv wot would yer name be?" 2D asked looking at the young girl.
She tilted her head to the side as she tried to comprehend the question.
"Yer name, yew, wot are yew called?"
She continued staring blankly.
"I'm 2D" The singer said pointing to himself.
She stared a bit longer before realizing what he meant.
"Two….T-two….D….2D" She finally managed out as she pointed at the older man smiling.
The singer smiled and nodded his head.
"Good, good, and tat's Murdoc." He said pointing at the bassist who rolled his eyes.
He was bored as hell by this point, they solved the guitarist problem at least they had that over with.
"Mu-Mur….Murdoc…..Murdoc" She repeated again as she stared up at the older man.
He wanted to say that she looked as dumbly innocent as the dullard did, but he couldn't. The way she'd been ready to fight and something about her eyes told him that there was something darker to the little girl. It could have just been his paranoia talking, but he had the strangest feeling that she wasn't just some random child who had been abandoned by her parents.
"Tat's Russel"
"Ru-Russ-Russel"
"Good, good, and yew are?"
She looked confused again, she opened her mouth a few times trying to say something, but nothing came out for awhile.
"No-Noo-Noodle….Noodle, Noodle" She repeated as a smile spread across her face.
2D tilted his head as he looked at her.
"Yer name is Noodle, tat's an odd name fer a little girl."
"I doubt tat's her name faceache, just a stupid word she knows."
"Noodle, Noodle"
"Great now she won't stop sayin' it, good job dullard."
"She'll stop when she wants to, so yer name is Noodle" He said pointing to the young girl.
She nodded her head slowly in reply.
"Well this is boring as shit, I'm goin back to the Winnie to get drunk. I'll see you lot in the morning, ya bother me and I kick yer ass. 2D if tat kid comes near me I'm breakin' some more of yer teeth." Murdoc said before quickly leaving to the parking garage.
He could tell by the way the blue haired man had acted with the kid that he wasn't going to leave anymore. She was becoming quickly attached to him, probably because of his brightly colored hair and lack of real eyes. Little kids always liked strange looking shit, there was no way that he would leave the band….Not like Murdoc thought he was really going to leave anyways, 2D was too idiotic to be able to make it on his own, he'd always need the Satanist.