Disasterpiece

My eyes scanned wearily over the cornfields, my foot pushed down harder ever so slightly on the accelerator – fleeting images of Children of the Corn spun around the back of my mind. Corey really wasn’t joking when he said they were in the middle of nowhere, I’d been driving for almost 90 minutes already and most of the sights to be seen were cornfields and abandoned barns. I glanced into the back of the car at the food that had no chance of even been moderately warm anymore and sighed, if this wasn’t Corey I was helping out I would’ve turned around miles back and claimed engine failure.

The road – or dirt track - bore to the left, I followed it around and squinted; in the distance I could see a large house surrounded by various cars, cars that looked completely out of place in a farm setting. I let out a small breath of release when I pulled up next to a familiar car and turned the engine off, I had every mind to beep the horn and get some help to carry the food in, but if they were recording the last thing the needed was the sound of a car horn in their music. Actually it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they didn’t mind; no doubt they’ve incorporated it at some time.

So I grabbed what I could carry and slowly made my way up to the front of the house and knocked lightly on the door. My foot began to tap impatiently on the cold stone after a few minutes, I looked around for a door bell but there was none in sight. Gritting my teeth I pressed on the door handle and found it unlocked, my heart began to race nervously, I looked around for a second contemplating. It would be just my luck if I was to walk in and find myself in someone else’s place that had no idea who Slipknot even is.

I bit the bullet none the less and invited myself in, I found myself standing in a dark drear hallway; the temperature dropped at least five degrees. I shivered, the hallway was aligned with doors and old furniture and an aging red rug ran down the length. I decided that I would just walk down towards the end and if I heard any noise behind a door before then then I would head through said door. So that’s exactly what I did, my arms began to groan from the weight of the plates as I drew closer to the end, still silence engulfing me.

Well, it was silent until I heard a door creek and then a loud crash.

“Fuck!”

“Oh dude you are so screwed, that looks pretty expensive.”

I quickened my pace and came out at the end of the hallway into a large open sunroom, I looked around and found Sid and Chris hunched over pieces of shattered porcelain. I placed the food onto a nearby table and walked towards them quietly until I was standing right behind them unnoticed. I peered over their shoulders at the mess and shook my head, if they were trying to salvage something they were going to fail miserably.

“If you ask me it looks beyond repair, even with your skilled hands,” I mused out loud. Both Sid and Chris jumped in surprise and spun their heads around to look at me. I offered a small wave and a shrug. “But hey that’s just my opinion?” I added. Chris looked back at the pieces and stood up with a sigh.

“She’s right dude, there’s no way we can fix that – the label will pay for it anyways,” he said to Sid. Sid snorted and stood up with a yawn, no hair off his back evidently. “So…how come you’re here anyways, I mean I don’t want to be rude or anything?” Chris asked me. I smiled at him and pointed back at the food I’d left on the table.

“You’re not been rude, I feel kind of intrusive as it but Corey said you guys were famished so I bought some food,” I explained, Sid’s eyes lit up in excitement as he left our sides and skittered towards the table with a squeal. Grabbing what he could he made his way back towards us but then walked through a door I had not noticed before.

“Food bitches!” I heard him yell. Chris rolled his eyes and offered me an apologetic look; I chuckled and waved my hand loosely in the air, even though I hadn’t known him for very long I could appreciate typical Sid behaviour – almost as if it reminded me of someone else I knew.

“Oh hey I’ve got some more in the car I’ll just go grab ok?” I told Chris.

“Do you want some help carrying it?” he offered, I smiled and nodded. From the small amount of time I spent around Chris at the party I gathered that he was a really genuine guy, actually he was probably the most reserved of the group – well as reserved as any member of an international mega metal band can be.

“Yeah if you want, I think I went a little overboard but I had no idea how long you guys were going to be here or how much nine guys can devour,” I joked, Chris grinned as we made our way back towards the entrance and out to my car. He whistled when I opened the back door and raised his eyebrow at me.

“Are you expecting a nuclear war anytime soon?” he laughed. I hit him lightly on the arm and started grabbing the bags of groceries I had bought for them on my way here and handed them to Chris. Once I had grabbed the rest of Daniels now cold food we headed back up to the house and through the door Sid had disappeared behind. It turned out to be a lounge-like room; one wall was made entirely of glass that looked out onto a recording studio full of musical instruments. The studio looked like a slightly older and delusional kid’s toy room.

I put the plates on a table in the middle of the room next to the ones Sid had bought in and Chris dumped the bags carelessly on the floor. We turned towards the glass wall and looked into the studio where Shawn, Mick and James were belting something out on their respective instruments.

“Where are the others?” I asked Chris.

“Um, probably in the mixing booth or outside smoking,” he answered, unsure. I nodded and turned around, grabbing one of the plastic bags I searched around for the paper plates and cutlery I had bought just incase they didn’t have anything here.

“Hey since you guys are so big and everything shouldn’t you get a rider or something?” I asked Chris who was now sitting on one of the couches watching me.

“Technically yes, but someone at HQ screwed up so we are rider free for the next day or so,” he explained, I made an “oh” sound and nodded.

“Does ‘HQ’ come in often and check on you guys?” I asked as I finished setting up the plates and started unwrapping the food.

“They keep their distance until we are almost done, usually it’s just us, a producer and engineer and whoever brings the rider each day,” he answered. I my insides squirmed uneasily, now I really did feel out of place. But then maybe I could just act like that rider person and deliver the goods and then get the hell out of here. I finished unwrapping all the plates and shoved the scrap foil into an empty plastic bag, standing up I smiled at Chris.

“Well I’m done, I should be going now anyways – I hope none of this kills you guys,” I laughed nervously. Chris stood up and frowned at me.

“You can’t just drive all the way out here and then leave, you haven’t even said hello to the bastard who invited you,” he said. I shrugged and tugged at the bottom of my shirt uneasily.

“Not like I won’t see him again, anyways I’m quite content to leave now knowing none of you will starve to death in the middle of nowhere – literally, you guys really are in the middle of nowhere,” I added seriously.

“Scared that some possessed children will come and sacrifice you?” a familiar voice joked from behind me. I turned around and saw Corey come in through the door with Paul, they must’ve been out the back smoking like Chris had predicted.

“Oh you guys are a hundred times scarier than psychotic farm kids,” I chuckled; Corey rolled his eyes and drew me into a warm hug.

“I promise we won’t kill you,” he whispered into my ear before we broke apart. “And how much food did you bring?!” he added in surprise as he looked around, I smiled meekly and gave him an innocent look.

“How am I supposed to know how much you guys eat or how long you’ll be here?” I questioned. Corey ruffled my hair as he stepped around me and began serving himself some of everything. Paul and Chris joined in almost immediately as if they had both been waiting for someone to make the first move. “It was hot but it took me forever to get here so it’s not my fault,” I warned them. Corey shovelled a forkful of lasagne into his mouth and swallowed quickly.

“Are you kidding? This is five star compared to the stuff we use to live off,” Corey laughed; he sat down on the couch and patted the space beside him. I stepped forward to go sit down but heard another door open behind me, looking around I saw James, Mick and Shawn come out from the studio – they looked quite happy with themselves.

“Hey Vixen how you going?” James asked casually, the other two acknowledged me with smiles, but food was the first priority on their minds.

“Hey, yeah I’m pretty alright – recording going well then?” I replied, James nodded and pressed his finger to his lips.

“So far so good but that’s all I can say,” he answered, then headed over to serving table. Another door opened again and Sid came bounding out with Craig and Joey following behind.

“Dibs on the schnitzel dudes,” Sid exclaimed, running past me. I smiled at him and glanced at the other two new arrivals, Craig waved and followed Sid to the table but Joey had stopped mid step and was staring at me. I adjusted my stance uncomfortably and looked at the floor, my heart began to race and that strange feeling I had almost managed to forget started to rise up from the pit of my stomach. I could hear the conversation behind me somewhere faintly in the back of my mind but I couldn’t register it, suddenly it felt like there was a dead silence in the air – an eerie almost perverse emptiness just swooning between Joey and I.

It was broken by the sound of a slamming door, I looked up from the floor and Joey was gone, I couldn’t mistake the silence in the room now. My eyes widened in shock, did he just storm out of the room? More so, did he just storm out of the room because I was here?