Radiant Eclipse

We left Chicago after our show that night and made our small trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I slept the whole night away with no need to grab the sleeping pills, and when I woke up the following morning at ten or so, I didn't have that annoying hangover feel to what I was doing. The guys were gone, probably to go sight seeing or play Frisbee-Golf in the parks, leaving the entire tour bus to myself as I walked around in my knickers. I was busy frying myself up an omelet when I heard a knock on the bus door. I skipped down the steps and opened it as Johnny blushed and looked away.

I rolled my eyes and said, “You either come one and deal with the fact that I only wear clothes in public, or you can go away until those rare moments when I step off of this damned vehicle. Your choice, dear sir.”

I turned away as he followed me onto the bus, the thud of the door closing proving that he was the only one with me now. Flipping the omelet over, I asked, “You hungry? Making myself breakfast, right now, if you'd like to join.”

Johnny lied down on the couch with a sigh and a smile as he replied, “Sure. Sounds good. I just woke up myself like ten minutes ago. Slept well for some reason last night and -”He stopped talking. I continued to make him breakfast when he could be heard getting to his feet and going towards my side. He gently brushed the skin of my shoulder blade as I flinched away and stepped back.

“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped, holding the metal spatula with my right hand tightly. I don't know if I was going to beat him with it or not, but I sure as hell wouldn't allow him to touch me without having my own swing at him.

“I'm not trying to be slick, okay?” he assured me with worried eyes as my grip on the spatula eased a little bit. Not fully, but my knuckles were no longer turning white like before. “You have a note stuck to your shoulder blade, Vick. Did you know that?”

I furrowed my eyebrows as I asked, “What?” and reached my arm over my head, hands brushing against what felt like a sticky note that had been taped to my back. Tugging it away with a little bit of a sting to it, I brought the note to my face and tossed the spatula to the sink as Johnny looked around in the back of the tour bus for something, or someone.

The note was in a handwriting that was tilted a bit to the left, and it was smeared, which meant that the culprit was left handed. Michael's left handed. I held my breath and proceeded to read the note out loud for me and Johnny. “You still sleep with the essence of a queen, my beauty. But you do not dream about your king, do you. M'lady? I will happily change that in one week's time. Youwill be mine..”

“That's from him, isn't it?” Johnny questioned, as I handed him the note and nodded.

“I gotta get away from here,” I explained, running to the back of the tour bus where my clothes were folded in a suit case. I tugged on a pair of jean shorts and then slid myself into a black, push-up baby-doll dress that was basically backless. As I inserted my feet into a pair of ballet flats, I said, “Tell the guys I went shopping. Or, something like that. I'll be back in an hour.”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Johnny exclaimed, halting me as I was about to head down the stairs. He pushed me gently backwards a few steps as he said, “You're being stalked by some crazed lunatic who will stop at absolutely nothing until you're his, and you wanna go out there alone? Are you as fucked up as people try to make you seem, or are you just plain old scared right now, Vickie?”

“I'm not fucked up!” I shouted.

“Then be smart about this and realize what you'd be doing if you went out into this city alone after waking up to a little love poem by mister Jack the Ripper,” he stated, ripping the note up and tossing it into the small trash can beside the kitchenette.

“Jack the Ripper only murdered women,” I informed him. “Never raped them and told them how much he loved them.”

Johnny rolled his eyes and shrugged, saying, “Whatever. Point is he's crazy, Vickie. And I may not be a psychologist, but I should tell you that I know when someone's less than stable in the head. Look at me. I've fucked up more times than I can even remember. I have to have Matt or Zacky tell me what the hell I've done wrong, now.”

“So what? You want to follow me around like a lost puppy, Johnny?” I asked, angered by the fact that he thought I was so helpless I wouldn't be able to stand up for myself. You weren't able to before, remember? Or are you loosing your head for real?

“No,” he disagreed. “I want to walk with you like a friend rather than some dude who seems to strike up conversations on a whim. Jesus Christ, Vickie! Am I not a friend? Is that why you keep shoving away my help? Because I consider you to be one of mine.”

“No,” I replied softly, hurt by his words. “I just don't think I'm that weak, John. I thought I was bigger than this, that's all. And you are my friend. I guess it's just...I don't know. I've never really had a friend to tell everything to and not be hurt by it in the long run. This shit is all new to me, okay? I'm sorry. And I'm losing my head right now because I am scared shitless. For all I know, he's watching me right now.”

Johnny glanced around quickly and then said, “Let's go to the mall or something. Get out in public so if he is following you, he won't be able to touch you without witnesses.”

“This is like the buddy system, isn't it?” I asked.

“I think it's sexier this time,” he mumbled, thinking I wouldn't hear it.

I laughed and asked, “Which one of us makes it sexier, exactly?”

He blushed and said, “What? Can we just go, already?”

Before exiting the bus, I turned to look at Johnny and said, “You're just too smart for your own damned good, kid. I hope you know that. You're gonna get yourself into some sticky situations if you don't loosen up and be a kid for awhile.”

“What kind of sticky are we talking?” he questioned with a sly smile.

“Not that kind,” I snapped, walking away with a smile growing across my face secretly.