Hollywood ***

Mel’s POV

“Up she goes, up she goes,” I mumbled to myself as I walked along.

I had spent a good amount of time that I don’t remember drinking countless bottles of vodka and scotch. I don’t know how many I drank, I just know that I stole a case from the storage room as I came up here. It’s a bit pathetic when I know the combination to the storage room. Then again, it was Neil who told me it was my birthday that was the key. I have such silly friends.

My mind was cloudy and my thinking capability had slowed down immensely. I knew I was drunk but that was it. I could think straight or walk straight. Everything was just one big blurry messy; it confused me. Nothing seemed right. I had no power over my movements. There was no way I could function correctly and I knew it.

What is wrong with me? I don’t even know where on the roof I’m walking. I think I’m near the entrance but I don’t know. Maybe I’m near the center or something. Actually, I’m not so sure anymore. The only things I’m sure about is that it is night time and I am on the roof.

Man, am I pathetic.

“Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess
We seek it thus, and take to the sky
Ripples form on the water’s surface
The wandering soul knows no rest.”

And now, I’m reciting random fictional epic poems. There seriously is something wrong with me. Maybe I’m crazy…..or better yet, insane.

One of my many scotch bottles slipped from my hand as I threw back my head to drink straight from it. I heard it break as it collided with the concrete ground and soon a scream came. It sounded familiar, like I heard it before. Where is the question. But I didn’t care about the scream, I was just upset that I wasted some really good scotch. That was so upsetting to me.

My life is ruined now!

Its only scotch. You don’t really think that, do you?

Am I functioning properly yet?

No. You’re not but at least you can hear me.

Go away.

“Oops. I losted my bottle,” I said, looking down.

From what I could tell, there were people who I think I knew looking back up at me but I didn’t care about that. I was just upset with the fact that I wasted some scotch.

You care about your scotch more than the fact you are standing on the edge of the roof…..you seriously have problems.

My scotch was taken away from just like she was.

That wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t do anything to-

Don’t try and argue with me. It was my fault. It was my fucking fault and you know damn well that I’m the one to blame.

Damn, I could feel drunken tears forming in my eyes as I thought about everything. For a moment, I could actually think straight but that was cut short as soon as I heard something. Someone was calling my name and there was a hint of fear and worry in that voice.

“Melody,” yelled a familiar voice.

I was started when I first heard that voice. Startled enough to almost lose my balance but luckily enough for me, I was able to pull myself from falling. My vision blurred again and became distorted as I turned to see who was there. From what I could make out, my father, Jacoby, and James were there. After blinking a couple of times, I could make out what my father was saying.

“Melody, come down from there,” he called, fear in his voice, “Your friends are looking for you.”

“Belle Mel, come on,” Jacoby said in that same worried tone, “You are scaring me.”

“I’m not doing anything wrong,” I replied, “I’m just taking in the view from the top.”

“Mel, you’re going to kill yourself,” James said as he took a step towards me, “Please come down from there.”

For some reason, I decided to quote something instead of answering normally. Nothing my brain was trying to tell my body came out straight. It was all jumbled up. Nothing came out right the way I thought it was supposed to come out.

James’ POV

“My friend, the fates are cruel
There are no dreams, no honor remains
The arrow has left the bow of the goddess

My soul, corrupted by vengeance
Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey
In my own salvation
And your eternal slumber

Legend shall speak
Of sacrifice at world’s end
The wind sails over the water’s surface
Quietly, but surely”

My eyes widened as I realized that Mel was quoting a fictional epic poem. She was at the state that I feared the most for her. She was drunk, depressed, and delusional. It seemed as if Mel was trying to escape everything. I was scared out of my mind. In one small mis-step, she could be dead. Melody was walking a fine line between life and death…….and between sanity and insanity. We could all see it from her drunken tears, she was about to break.

I knew that none of us would take a step closer to her. We feared that if we did, she’d take a step backwards and fall. I knew that we had to try and coax her to come to us. At this point, Melody was beyond unstable and was just getting worst.

“Belle Mel, come down from there,” I said, calmly, “You’re worrying a lot of people.”

She didn’t hear me. Instead, she faced the sky and raised the bottle of vodka in her hand. “I’m Melody Fucking Romanov,” she yelled but then said in a softer voice, “And nobody cares.”

“You have a lot of people who care about you,” Jacoby yelled, “There’s James and me and your dad and Kat…..and so much more! You have people that do care about you.”

“THEN WHY WAS ALESSANDRA TAKEN AWAY FROM ME? WHAT DID I DO WRONG? WHY DID I HAVE TO LOSE THE ONE THING I WANTED SO FUCKING BADLY?”

We all were taken back at this new development. Never in my years of knowing Melody has she ever screamed at anyone. Drunk or not, this was a first for her. Sure, she’s snarled at someone, namely Kaytee, but never has she screamed at her. Melody would never scream at anyone. That’s when we all realized that she had finally snapped. After years of holding it in, I couldn’t really be surprised at how she would finally react when she finally reached her breaking point.

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG. I DIDN’T DO A DAMN THING WRONG,” Melody screamed into the night sky, “WHAT DID I DO WRONG? I WANTED ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY AND THAT HAD TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME!

I didn’t think she’d be this upset. I knew she was depressed but never did I know how much it hurt her.

What Melody did next scared all of us to no end. She threw her bottle at us but luckily she missed and it smashed against the open door. “Nobody cares,” she said, partially sobbing.

“I care.”

As soon as we heard that voice, everyone, including Melody, turned to the door to see Brian standing there, panting. It appeared as he had ran from the streets all the way here. He was out of breath from all his running but he looked straight at Mel who had now moved into a sitting position, hugging her legs and mumbling to herself. She repeated the same thing over and over again.

Brian’s POV

“No one cares. Alessandra’s gone. My fault.”

Who is Alessandra? I don’t care at the moment. The only person who was on my mind was Melody. I now had a clue on why James was so protective of her. She was on her way to breaking and shattering, losing her own sanity. Something had happened to her and it had basically spent however many years eating away at her until she finally cracked, which happened to be today.

She was crying as she repeated the same thing over and over again. Taking in a deep breath, I walked towards her. James moved out of my way, not even bothering to say anything, as I walked up to her. “Look, Mel, I care. Jimmy cares about you. Liz cares about you. Zacky cares as do Val, Leana, Lacey, Johnny, and Matt. Then there’s also Fred, Jacoby, Nikki, your dad, James, Tommy, Josh, Kat, and a whole lot of people. How can you say that when I can list so many people that care.”

“Alessandra’s gone and it’s my fault,” she sobbed.

“It wasn’t your fault,” James said, “It was an accident that was out of your control.”

“Come on,” I said, holding out my hand, “Come down from there.”

Melody looked my hand then to my face, unsure of what to do exactly. For a split second, I saw the same girl I knew in high school. That same old silly Melody that was unsure of practically everything. That same Melody that always went to me whenever she felt alone and defeated.

She grabbed my hand as I helped her off the ledge and instantly, Melody hugged me, saying that she was sorry. All I could do was comfort her and tell her that everything would be alright.

Maybe it would.

“Thanks Brian,” James said as he and Mick helped Melody into the backseat of her jeep, “We definitely owe you one.”

“No problem. She’s a friend and I wouldn’t want anything happening to her.”

Mick looked at me and said, “I can see why she said that you were one of her favorite people.”

I was surprised when he said that. Even when I basically shrugged her off, Melody still said that about me. She really has learn to forgive people, hasn’t she?

Jimmy, Matt, Zacky, Johnny, Jacoby, and I stood there, watching as James drove towards Melody’s house. It probably would be best if she stayed there with someone keeping watch on her and who better than her own father and one of her closest friends?

“You did something that both James and I were scared to do,” Jacoby said.

We all turned to look at him. He was smiling as that Jeep’s tail lights disappeared into the night but he continued. “James and I both feared that if we took a step closer to her, she’d step backwards and fall. Yet, you were brave enough to actually go to her. Hm, maybe there’s a reason why. She did say that she’d always go to you whenever something happened with her whore of a mother. Silly Belle Mel, she’s finally cracked after all these years of holding it in. Broken and shattered.”

Jacoby turned to leave as I stood there, confused. He was about ready to get into his car when I remembered something.

“Hey! Who’s Alessandra,” I called.

He froze up as his eyes widened. After a single blink, Jacoby snapped out of it as he turned to look at me. A small smile was on his face as he said, “Not my story to tell. That’s between James and Melody.”

With that, he got into his car, driving off into the night. Matt looked at me as he asked, “Where did you hear that name?”

“Melody screamed it and said that it was her fault that whoever this person or whatever is gone.”