Hand of Blood

I had noticed a somewhat dramatic change in Matt's personality compared to what I had seen, or remember of, last night. On more sober terms, he seemed quite reserved, a little shy. Not the kind of guy who would approach a troubled girl he had never set eyes on before, and sneak her into a bar where she was underage. For some reason the guy I was seeing now was strangely comforting. It confirmed to me I wasnt making some wild mistake in befriending him, as he seemed like a generally down to earth, nice guy.

"Hey, your hair's orange?" Matt said randomly, his elbow nudging into my side as he broke the calm silence. I raised an eyebrow as I shot him a sidewards glance, causing him to grin. "Ive been thinking for ages; Im sure it was only black last night," he added in explanation

I chuckled. "A lot of people think that, you know?" I said as I turned forwards to the quiet street. "But... Its not," I added a little stupidly, laughing with a hint of nervousness.

Matt caught onto it and chuckled softly, his eyes still hovering on me. "Its really nice. Different," he commented, causing me to blush lightly at the simple compliment, my gaze turning to meet with his. We shared a small smile before we both turned away once more, our minds concentrating on the destination.

I smiled faintly to myself as we continued walking in silence, my legs following Matt's lead as I wandered the streets I was less familiar with. My arms hung loosely at my sides, swinging to and fro with my body's movements. I turned to the sky, the sun rays beating down and slowly increasing my body temperature the longer I stayed out in it. I sighed a little and rolled my sleeves back up, that had fallen back to my wrists, trying to relieve myself from the uncomfortable humidity. Ironically, if it hadn't rained yesterday, it probably wouldn't be quite so warm.

"Aren't you hot in that?" Matt asked, instantly drawing my eyes to him as I froze a little. Of course I was hot, was the obvious answer, but I couldn't tell him that. Too many more questions. At my blank stare, Matt's gaze became more curious. "I'm warm and I don't even have sleeves," he added with a light smile.

I bit my lip and glanced to the ground, not showing an acknowledgment of his light humor. "No, Im fine," I said dismissively, folding my arms across my chest as my gaze stayed forwards.

Matt's curiosity shone through in his tone. "Are you sure? I mean, you probably are, but-"

"Really. Im okay," I said in a slightly harsh tone, my eyes turning to lock with Matt's. I regretted not controlling my voice immediately at the slightly taken a back look in Matt's eyes. I glanced away. "Sorry," I mumbled, realising my 'make a good first impression' rule was quickly going out the window.

I saw Matt turn away from the corner of my eye. "It's okay," he said easily. "You don't like being questioned, I'll remember that," he said lightly, causing me to turn to him with an amused expression. He grinned back at me before he suddenly turned a corner, leaving me stopping abruptly as he walked off another way to myself. I quickly turned and caught back up with him.

"So, you don't give warnings," I said, a smile playing on my lips as I noted our exchange of qualities. "I'll remember that, too," I said as Matt chuckled, glancing down at me for a moment before leading me endlessly onwards.

+

I wasnt too sure what I was expecting as a place for a band to be practising, but an ordinary house wasnt quite it. That was my lone thought as I looked up the average sized, semi detached house that was standing infront of me. Maybe I had always thought too highly of what bands did, or perhaps this band done things a little different. Either way, I was feeling slightly confused. But honestly, what had I been expecting?

"So... Where are we?" I asked sheepishly as I looked at Matt beside me, his happy smile fading slightly at my obvious confusion.

After a moment, Matt's faded grin fell into small teasing smile. "I don't get what you mean," he said simply, as his eyebrows knitted together. "This is Jay's place, for the band practise," he explained to my blank look. None the less, I nodded obediently and turned back to the house as Matt chuckled beside me. "You were expecting something more professional?" He asked.

I smiled as I glanced at him. "Something like that, maybe," I said a little bashfully, dropping my gaze. "I really don't know," I added, laughing lightly at myself.

"Well, little sis, don't judge by appearances," he said softly, giving me a reassuring smile before he walked away from my side and along the short front garden path. I stood still as I watched him curiously, for some reason my legs momentarily broken. Matt reached the door and opened it straight off, which confused me further.

"It wasnt locked?" I asked as I slowly walked through the front gate and up the cobbled stones laid out across the ground. I stood looking around Matt as he hovered half way in the open doorway.

Matt laughed softly as he watched me, moving to the side to let me into the small square room beyond the door. "If anyone came in here, they wouldn't get very far," he explained cryptically, causing my eyebrows to furrow.

I stood and glanced around the plain box room, doors leading off in every direction. A moment later, my whole body jumped as the dull thud of a bass drum vibrated the floor, causing the still open front door to shake lightly on its hinges. I was a little surprised it wasnt louder, unless of course the drum kit was at the back of the house. Matt smiled at me knowingly as he walked fully into the room and closed the front door, directing me to the door on the left.

I timidly approached it and felt the handle vibrating as I gently rested my hand the cold metal. I raised an eyebrow at Matt as I glanced back at him. He simply smiled and inclined his head, pushing me onwards with his action. I bit my bottom lip as I slowly lowered the handle and pushed the door open.

I was suddenly frozen, as a blast of instruments met my ears, almost stopping my breath as I stood immobile in the doorway. That was loud. And I thought it was quiet while the door was closed. How little I knew.

"The power of good sound proofing," Matt said in an elevated voice from behind me, his tone competing with the almighty noise before me. I wasnt even in the room yet, and I was already blown away. I glanced back at Matt, my feet still glued to the ground. He grinned at me and shook his head, a moment before his hands rested on my shoulders and he lightly pushed me into the room, closing the door again behind us and trapping me in the shaking room.

From what I could gather, the huge space I was in had once the living room, but it had now been joined with the back room to double its size. The walls had been painted alternate black and white giving the room a simple look, and like Matt had said, they obviously had some amazing sound proofing. Completed with a lot of equipment, wires running everywhere and numerous amps, it appeared to make the perfect practise room.

At the far back end of the room, a drum kit was set up, and was obviously in full use, with the drummers attention fixed anywhere but forwards and on his kit. To the left of the room, still quite near the back, there were a few sofas set against the wall where there was another guy playing guitar. His back was slightly turned to us as his gaze stayed on the instrument resting on his lap. Standing nearer the right side of the wall, and probably closest to me and Matt, there was a guy playing a bass guitar. Again, with his back to us I doubted he had noticed us come in. I doubted any of them had.

"Wow," I eventually breathed, feeling like I had been drowning in the music that was drilling through my head. The longer I stood in the room, the less overpowering it seemed to become, but it was still deafening.

"You can sit down you know," Matt whispered close to my ear, a smile in his tone as he finally broke my trance. I glanced at him for a moment and he indicated to another sofa that was along the wall just beside us. It was covered in sheets of paper, a few amp chords and there was a microphone resting on the arm. I moved across to it and pushed away some of the wires from the seat before I timidly perched on the edge. So this was it; some new people to meet, and unfortunately to judge. I had to try and stop doing that. Maybe this would be my oppertunity.

I watched as Matt wandered past me and up to one of the medium sized amps. He kicked it with force, causing it to lightly shake as it moved along the floor at little, and let out a high pitched screech. The bass player glanced around as his amp appeared to malfunction, his scowl only fading as his gaze rested on Matt. His gaze flicked over to me for a moment, and he sent me a small smile, before turning back to the other two guys. It wasnt a smile that matched that of Matt's, but it wasnt a bad start. I frowned the thought; apparently I couldn't stop analysing long enough to give any one a chance.

After a moment of the bass players voice fighting with the instruments to catch his band mates attention, while Matt looked on with folded arms, the music eventually slowed and came to a silence. My ears were already ringing from the difference. Once again, the bass player glanced back at me and Matt, this time with the eyes of the drummer and guitarist also following suit. I suddenly became very self conscious as all three pairs of eyes landed on me.

"Guys, we got a visitor," Matt started, a smile in his tone as his eyes also fell back onto me. It was the most I could do to try and not look like a deer in the headlights, as I was showered with a range of looks. "This, is Brianne."