Rum and Coke

It was two days after the accident when the hospital released Ellie.

The soft, melodic sounds that were put out by a lone guitar brought on the first wave of cheers from the crowd. The crowd went into a frenzy when the tempo picked up and the other instruments joined in. The crowd completely lost it when the lights came up and flames erupted from upstage. Only when the lights dimmed a little and the flames stopped did they realize who, exactly, was up on stage. Avenged Sevenfold- minus Shadows- decked out in their usual outfits, smiled down at the crowd. Renn, also in his usual black attire, stood in his normal spot stage right with a worried expression that shot to center stage. Ellie’s entire right side was covered in bandages and plaster, save for her head. She looked as if she had come straight out of a WWII movie. She was confined to her wheelchair- doctor’s orders. Doctor’s orders that Brian was making sure Ellie followed verbatim.

“… So grab a pike, grab a sign,”she sang shakily.
“]If you still got it, grab your gun
And we’ll march on their ass-
A thousand strong
They’ll listen to us
Yea, they’ll listen again” Her voice grew stronger with every line

So come one, come all
Gather ‘round and
Listen while you still can
I’ve got something to say
Oh, I’ve got something to say

Yea, so gather ‘round
Say gather ‘round
Listen to what I say
I say listen to what I say now” the music cut out. The only light onstage was the center special which was focused on Ellie.

“They can kill me,
but they’re not going to stop me.
I refuse to let them steal my dream
Of a better life
A better future
And a place that I can finally call my own,” she spoke vehemently.

This wasn’t just her war anymore, it belonged to everyone. After she took several deep breaths, the rest of the stage lit up. Ellie cast a quick glance around with her good eye before the musicians nodded their head. Ellie took a deep breath and looked back out at the crowd. She waited for them to quiet down before she spoke.

“Well, don’t you all look lovely today?” she said with a cracked smile. She quickly looked down at her attire. “I think I look lovely, too, wouldn’t you say?” She looked back at a few of the musicians. “Hey, Christ, Vengeance, don’t I look pretty enough to go to a ball?”
“Gorgeous, sweets,” Christ said with a smile.

Ellie nodded her head and looked back to the crowd. “No, I don’t think I will, though,” she said in a soft voice. Her brow wrinkled as she struggled to find the right words. “As many of you know, my brother, Ryan, and I were recently involved in an accident. We were walking across the street when a car that was going too fast hit us. We were both propelled over the car and Ryan got most of the blow.” The crowd was dead silent once again as they hung onto her words.

“Now, I know that I generally wait until a few more songs until I preach, but I felt as if you guys should know why Avenged is behind me. You see, the other driver was intoxicated- not enough to be legally drunk, but still enough to impair his judgement. I’ll let you in on a secret: that driver only had two shots, and they were thirty minutes apart. It doesn’t matter how much you drink, if you don’t have a designated driver, or your driver decides to drink, you better walk your ass home or get a cab. You don’t have to be completely wasted to kill. If those people had thought things through, then my best friend, practically my twin, wouldn’t be fighting for his life right now. He would be up on this stage, right where Jimmy is sitting,” she spoke from the heart as she turned and pointed to Jimmy with her cane. “And, the passenger in the car wouldn’t have gotten killed,” she added softly. “His best friend now has to live with the guilt- live with blood on his hands.”

Ellie took a breath before continuing. “I was in the room when he woke up. He-he thought that we had died. Only after confirming that our lives were still intact and a few bantering, did he ask something of me. He said: go, sing our songs…and sing the song that started this all. I know you can manage a way to play- get our message heard.”

Matt Berry started a playing a simple melody on the keyboard. “This, is the very special song to me. It is the very first song that I sung in front of a public audience.” Ellie smiled quietly to herself as she recalled the memory of her mother. “It’s from the musical, Company. This is Being Alive.

"Somebody, hold me too close,
Somebody, hurt me too deep,
Somebody, sit in my chair
And ruin my sleep
And make me aware
Of being alive,
Being alive.

Somebody, need me too much,
Somebody, know me too well,
Somebody, pull me up short
And put me through hell
And give me support
For being alive,
Make me alive.

Make me confused,
Mock me with praise,
Let me be used,
Vary my days.
But alone is alone, not alive.

Somebody, crowd me with love,
Somebody, force me to care,
Somebody, make me come through,
I'll always be there,
As frightened as you,
To help us survive
Being alive,
Being alive,
Being alive!"

“So, I’m performing tonight. However, due to some personal business, my rhythm guitarist left last week, and my bassist left the day Ryan and I got hit…and, well, like I said, my drummer is still fighting for his life in a hospital…” Ellie looked behind her. “So that leaves me. Now, as amazing as I am, I can’t play four parts and sing all at once, especially with one side of me almost completely disabled, that, and I’m kind of stuck in this chair for another week or so.. So, after much debate…mainly to let me perform, the guys of Avenged were kind enough to let us do a sort of joint-concert. So, it’s basically a free for all of what we’re going to play and when we’re going to play it. Yes, this means that Shadows will be helping me sing some SY songs, and I’ll help sing some Avenged songs…so, let’s call Shadows on out here. No one is allowed to get a break tonight. We’re working for the entire two hours. C’mon, you old man! I wanna rock!”

Shads walked out with a mic in his hand and his dimples flashing. “Fine then, I’ll join you,” he said with a playful roll of his eyes. “You know, since you look like death, mind singing “Dancing Dead” with me?”

Ellie grinned. “Did you even have to ask?” she replied as she motioned the guys to start it up. It was going to be a very impromptu concert…one that Ryan would have thoroughly enjoyed.