Page 49 of Hell House
I mull over what that could mean in my head. “Come on, let’s get warmed up.” She lets me lead her away by the crook of her elbow. I glance back meeting Pierce’s stare before he slings back a beer, not lifting his gaze from where I’m touching Salem. I frown, wondering what his problem is. Salem squeezes my hand bringing me back. This moment right here could be the one that changes the trajectory of my music career, making all my aspirations of putting out my own music a reality. No pressure.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Salem
My tongue feels like sandpaper inside of my mouth. Seriously, where did all the moisture go? I find a pop machine in a dimly lit corner of the bar situated off to the side of the stage. The first act has finished their set, and my body is shaking with nerves. We were able to run through the song a few times, finding our rhythm together before the Battle of the Bands started. The place is packed, making me sweat.
I feed the machine my card with a shaky hand, only to have it spit it back out with an error message. “Goddammit.” I say kicking the machine with my borrowed heels that are a half size too small. That decision is going to haunt me later, I can already feel the beginnings of a blister starting to form on my heel. I lean my forehead against the cool plastic. What was I doing here?
A familiar scent hits me as Pierce crowds me from behind, feeding the machine a crisp dollar. I turn and am struck stupid by him. Why did he have to be this good looking? I’d been keeping myself busy all day, avoiding any thought of what happened to me last night at the football game and every time I saw Pierce, brought me right back to that moment of insanity. That’s what it had to be. I’d heard of college students succumbing to the pressures of campus life and I had just survived escaping a fire. Maybe my brain was catching up to the trauma.
“Which one?” He asks with his stupid smirk gesturing at the options on the pop machine. I fought the urge to kiss it right off his handsome face.
“Water.” He presses the button on the bottom, scooping out the bottle out as the machine spit it out of the slot. “Thanks.”
“Oh, you want this?” He holds the water. I’m too weary and amped up with nerves to play this game. I sigh, turning on my heel only to have him catch me by the crook of my elbow.
“Wait, Salem. Here, I was just kidding.” I snatch the water, breaking the seal and drink a few gulps, coating my parched tongue. He watches me, a nervous energy clinging to him, but I meant what I said to Walker. Pierce and I weren’t anything official, and while I felt drawn to him, he was a walking red flag- a disaster in the making. We’d exchanged a few heated moments and here he was acting like a jealous boyfriend. I didn’t know what to make of that.
“Salem?”
“I have to go on.”
“Knock ‘em dead.” He rubs his hand down my bare arm sending my stomach into even more of a fit of nerves than I’d been feeling. Great.
“Salem?” Walker’s deep gravel full voices calls over to me. “You ready?” His eyes bounce between Pierce and I. I walk over to where he’s waiting.
“Yep. Let’s do this.” I give him a smile that I hope masks how scared I’m truly feeling. Walker places both hands square on my shoulders looking me straight in the eyes. “You’ve got this. You’re going to bring this place to their fucking knees, wildcat.” He manages to take my nervousness down a few notches that is until I feel Pierce’s gaze following me with every step I take up to the stage.
The crowd erupts into applause at our appearance. We’re only the third act, so most are relatively sober still. My body shakes with anticipation. I’m really doing this. My knees wobble as I put one heel in front of the other, blinking hard against the blinding spotlights. Pierce elbows his way to the front, and I swallow thickly as he stares up at me, hands pushed deep in his jacket pocket, his jaw clenched. I place a hand over my eyes shadowing them from the unforgiving lights. I scan the crowd and spot Skye standing next to Javelynn who’s looking up over at Jackson. He gives Javelynn a shy smile, which brings one to my own lips. Go Javelynn.
I drop my hand and catch Walker striding up to one of the mics out of my periphery. Damien and Gary also take their places easily like this is just another day for them. Walker speaks into the mic, “Thanks for having us Possession Bay! We’re the Hateful Hydras with special guest Salem Knox.” Hearing my name boom from the speakers makes my heart drop to my toes.Oh shit.
I look around frantically, maybe I can get out of here. Walker has a great voice. They don’t need me.
A low note plays across the speakers, and I know it’s too late. Walker arches his scarred eyebrow at me, nodding his head in reassurance. Fuck me, I grab the microphone, my freshly polished black nails gleam at me and my heart hammers so hard in my ears that I miss my cue. I lick my lips and see Pierce smirking at me. I narrow my eyes and give the signal to go again. This time, I nail my cue and let the lyrics fly. The crowd goes silent as Walker, Damien and Gary build the song behind me, weaving the melody around my voice. I lose myself, pouring every ounce of pent-up emotion into the song. Walker joins me, and it’s just as magical as when we sang together earlier, only now there’s witnesses to our harmony. Our voices blend easily and then he’s right there, singing next to me into my microphone. He’s so close that I can smell the sweat coming off of him, he looks so good as he works his fingers down the neck of the guitar, gifting the song an impromptu guitar solo that rivals the genius of Jimi Hendrix. The crowd goes absolutely wild, jumping up and down and screaming so loud I can hardly hear when I’m supposed to sing again. But I make it, finishing in time with Walker. The air turns positively electric between us. I find myself pulled to him unable to look away from him as we sing the suggestive lyrics.
As the song ends, I throw my arms around Walker’s slick neck and beam up at him. “You did it.” He says looking at me with awe.
“We did it.” My breath is coming in hard, my adrenaline coursing through my veins making me feel giddy. We make our way off the stage, and I’m met with the screams of Skye and Javelynn.
“Oh my God, girl! I didn’t know you could sing likethat!”
“I’m sorry I doubted you girlie.” Gary says, and I can tell he means it.
“Thanks.” I’m grinning from ear to ear, that is until I spot the back of Pierce leaving the bar in a hurry.
I feel a low tug in my gut to go after him, but then decide no. Fuck him, I’m not letting him and his mood ruin this for me.
“Let’s go celebrate!” Javelynn says grabbing us away from the bottom of the stage so the next group can preform. I latch my hand onto Walker’s forearm and pull him with us. He follows without resistance. I catch him grinning back at me with the same joy I’m feeling.
When we get to the bar, he pulls me to him in another hug. “That was fucking epic, wildcat.”
“I can’t believe I did that.”
“I can.”
I can’t help it, I wind my fingers through his hair. “Thank you.”
