Chapter 23
“Okay, Ben, Gavin, and Blake we should go over that last verse one more time,” Kellen’s voice crackled over the speakers. “Then I need you to stay behind Rick to go over a few parts that need brushing up.”
We were finally able to make our first appointment at the studio.
On the way here I had learned it was going to be a numerous hour deal spread over time to accommodate our schedules.
We had already put in nearly eight hours and had only laid down two tracks.
I had to give props to all the musicians that came before us and were still grinding.
For some reason in my head, I figured it would be like a band session where we went over four or five songs and was good to go. I hadn’t realized how intricate and time-consuming perfecting one song can take.
At the end of the day, I realized how taxing it was, but I enjoyed every second of it.
It was an experience I knew I could never forget.
Unfortunately, I was only able to experience it with Noah, Lincoln, and Drake.
I wished the others could have been here, but our missions had increased due to Horatio deciding to attempt to expose our community.
He seemed to have switched from growing his army to causing attacks on innocent civilians.
We were busy attempting to minimize his damage and preventing unnecessary casualties.
In the last four days alone, I hadn’t shared the same roof over all seven of my men.
More times than not they were out on a mission or cleaning up the mess Horatio had incurred.
The instrumentals came over the speakers, and I adjusted my headsets before leaning into the mic.
I looked over at Ben and Gavin and they grinned at me.
I could tell they were still on the high I was at.
It was an odd pairing of euphoria and exhaustion.
I was more than ready for my pajamas, a cuddle, and a movie, but on the other hand, I was biting at the bit to record at least one more song.
I closed my eyes and belted out my lyrics, hearing my own voice echo back at me. It was hard to adjust to at first, but I now saw the benefits of it. I continued singing until the last note ended. When I opened my eyes, the boys enclosed me into a hug.
“That was fire!” Kellan exclaimed. “I’m creaming my pants for our next sesh. I’m going to get a coffee and then Rick we can wrap it up.”
We all acknowledge or thank him for his time, before he left the studio.
I pulled away from Gavin and Ben and looked over at my guys.
All three of them were grinning from ear to ear.
I jumped excitedly before skipping over to the door separating myself from them.
Drake pulled me into a hug first, followed by Noah, then Lincoln.
“Thank you,” I said to Lincoln for the hundredth time.
He chuckled before kissing my forehead. “No thanks needed. I’m thankful and honored to have seen you in this element. You are so freakin’ talented; it blows my mind.”
“Said the actor.” I teased before pulling him down for a brief kiss.
The outer studio door banged open and Mike came stumbling into the room with two girls tucked under each arm. He looked worse than the last time I saw him. His hair looked greasy and he was in the middle of a bad break out. How he kept pulling woman, I had no clue.
Suddenly, it seemed like all the exultation seemed to evaporate from the room. He seemed to have that effect on anyone in his orbit lately. I looked over at Ben and Taylor, and they seemed just as mystified by his presence. How he knew where we were and why he was here was beyond our understanding.
He was essentially kicked out of the band the night he chose to walk away from the bar.
Yet, he showed up at our practices and now here at will.
I knew Taylor and Rick tried to remain friendly due to their history, but I also knew if he continued down the destructive path he was on it wasn’t for much longer.
“What are you doing here?” Ben asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Mike ignored him and stumbled past me. Lincoln pulled me into the shelter of his arms as if to protect me from his bumbling gate.
I scrunched my nose in distaste at the smell of stale beer pouring from his veins.
His eyes were bloodshot and he was clearly not sober.
A condition his companions seemed to be in too.
On closer inspection I realized that the females were unfamiliar to me.
They also looked like they were at least four years older than him, if not more.
I wondered who they were and where he found them.
If the rumors were true, probably at a bar.
Mike had gotten a fake ID and seemed to be spiraling.
Pops and Jace had already put him on probation, but it didn’t seem to work. Lately, he hadn’t been showing up for missions either. And if my memory was correct, he was supposed to be on one as I thought it. I had a feeling that Pops would be shipping him off after today, for sure.
“What do you mean what am I doing here? We’re recording today,” Mike burped before opening his guitar case.
I quickly averted my head but still smelled the noxious order that emitted from his mouth. I covered my mouth as my stomach roiled in protest. I hadn’t been nauseous in a long time but whatever he ate paired with the alcohol he had imbibed was a horrible combination.
“Mike, you left the band.” Ben reminded him. “And how did you know we were here.”
Because of the security risk involving me, we had been extremely hush hush when or if I left the base. I looked over at Rick and Tyler, and they immediately shook their heads as if they knew my unspoken question. Honestly, I believed them. Mike interrupted the hypotheticals in my head with a smirk.
“Better late than never, I always say. And I have my ways. I never quit. I left because you were playing favorites again. I just needed to cool off a little bit.”
I could see how much Ben was struggling.
He had been best friends with Mike since kindergarten.
They had done nearly everything together; soccer, T-ball, baseball, football, etc.
I knew it was hard for him to kick Mike out of the band, even if he knew Mike brought it on himself.
He realized this could potentially be the moment he was losing a lifelong friend.
I didn’t think Mike was much of a friend and never had been, but I could understand where it was still a hard thing for him to do.
Relationships in general were tricky. It was hard to determine at what point it was better to let the rope go so it no longer dug into your skin and caused further pain and scars.
“Mike, we can’t do this anymore. We’ve all been tirelessly working to grow, and you haven’t been a part of it.
” Ben resolutely stated. “I need to know whoever is in this band is reliable. You’ve been crashing out since Gavin and Blake joined us and why?
Because you don’t like change? Because you didn’t like sharing more of the limelight with Blake and Gavin? ”
Mike immediately went on the defensive. “You made the decision to bring them on, you never asked if we wanted them in our band.”
“He didn’t need to.” Rick immediately spoke up. “Even you can’t deny what they brought to the table. If you want to take a vote, I’ll vote for them to be in the band every time.”
Taylor raised his hand. “Me too. You’re outvoted. Now what?”
The studio producer came back into the recording studio. “Ready to wrap this up?”
He froze as if feeling the tension in the room. “Everything okay here?”
“Everything’s fine,” Ben said. “Let’s go.” He looked at the rest of us.
Mike began to push past us to go into the recording room, but Ben put a hand on his chest, stopping him.
“Not you.” Ben firmly stated. “If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll realize you lost interest in the band a long time ago. You didn’t show up to half of the practices and when you did you drank or tried to impress your girlfriends. You chose yourself, and we’re choosing our futures.”
I shifted uncomfortably, hating to witness another argument. I knew Mike wasn’t going to go away without a scene. My phone buzzed, and I welcomed the interruption. My brows furrowed when I saw the message. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Gavin pull his phone out of his pocket too.
Unknown: Get out of there now. Danger is coming.
I looked up, wondering if this was some sort of prank. Gavin met my gaze, and he had the same look of perplexity. He held out his phone, and I saw the same message on his screen. For a moment, I wanted to chalk it up as a wrong number, but then a niggling feeling began to churn deep in my gut.
Gavin came in closer to me and Lincoln. He showed Lincoln his phone at the same time I showed him mine. Ben, Mike, Taylor, and Rick were still arguing while we all exchanged glances.
“I think we should leave,” Gavin stated.
I hated to lose the opportunity to use our last hour, but something was telling me we should pay heed to the warning. “Who did this come from, and who is coming?”
As I asked the questions, a deep feeling settled in my gut that the people who were “coming” were taking orders from Horatio.
I wondered if Ethan had set a trap for us, but just as quickly as the thought entered my head, I knew it was wrong.
His need to protect Arianna was too great, and I knew with every fiber of my being that Arianna hated Horatio and everything he stood for.
Before Lincoln or Gavin could respond to my question, a loud popping noise came from the recording studio, followed by sparks flying from the sound system. The sound tech let out a loud expletive and frantically ran around the room, attempting to find a fire extinguisher.
Lincoln rushed to help him just as I felt my phone vibrate in my hand again.
Unknown: Leave now!!!
“Can we reschedule?” I asked, just as they unleashed the flames.