Crucible: The Accomplice

The first thing I did back inside the bus was put on some different clothes.

I was so used to wearing the same thing all the time, that I almost started panicking when I felt new things on my body.

I looked around at my things and grinned. I could actually have nice things when I was with him.

I heard an accented voice calling my name from the front and hopped off my bed, following the voice. It turned out to be Matt’s.

“Dahlia, I explained the situation to these other blokes, and now they want to meet you” Matt told me offhandedly.

I nodded and looked at the two others. At once, they both stepped closer to me.

“I’m Lee” One of them said, not bothering to stick his hand out. The other, on the other hand, did. “And I’m Matt, as well. But you can call me Vegan.”

I shook his hand and gave them a smile.

“Come on, you fuckers. We have a sound check to get to” I heard Oliver from outside the bus.

They all hurried off, and I followed a little slower. As we went in the venue, some guards stopped me.

“Sorry, little lady. Bands only” He told me. I attempted to get past him, but couldn’t. I saw Jona was the closest to me as they were entering.

“Jona!” I called, causing him to turn around.

“Sorry, sir. Just trying to get rid of this fan” The guard said. I glared at him. “I am not a fucking fan, you ass” I growled.

“You little..” He started to say, but then Jona understood what exactly was going on and came over. He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away from the guy and into the door.

“She isn’t a fan, she’s part of the band” Jona said, staring down the burly man. He stopped glaring at me and looked at him apologetically.

“Fine, but you better keep a shorter leash on her” He said. I tried to pull away from Jona and attack him, ready to spill some blood right here, but Jona held me still and pulled me into the building with him.

“Please don’t start fights with the staff here” He pleaded. I huffed, but agreed anyway.

We walked up to where the band was preparing, the first band of the night already going on.

I turned to Oliver. “Hey, um, I’m going to go into the pits, okay?” I told him. He gaved me a surprised look.

“You don’t want to watch it from side stage?” He said, glancing out at the huge crowd. I shook my head.

“I’d rather be down there, it’s..fun” I told him hesitantly. He smiled and nodded.

“Alright, but don’t get yourself hurt” He told me, and I gave him a look. He laughed, “Okay, I know you won’t. But on our last song, get up there with me, okay?”

I stared at him, confused, but nodded anyway before hurrying down past the guards and into the crowd.

The first few bands weren’t stirring up the crowd as much, so I just stood around. Then, the lights dimmed again and the same opener came up.

Matt came out and got behind the drums, Lee and Jona came out with guitars, and Vegan with his bass. Then Oliver walked out, grabbing a mic on the way.

“How are we doing tonight Las Vegas?” He growled, causing screams and yells to roar in from the crowds. So that’s where we were. I hadn’t even tried to figure that out today.

“Let get things started with a very well known one” He said, and then the beginning the the first song they played yesterday started.

The crowd churned and I got into the movements again.

In the midst of his scratchy screaming, I managed to take down a few girls who were being annoying in the middle of the pit.

You know those girls who are so in love with someone famous they have no idea what’s going on around them? Yeah, girls like that.

They continued to change songs, and every once in awhile I’d look up at Oliver and see him with a little smile on his lips.

I entertained him.

“Alright, this will be the last song of the night” I heard him finally say. I looked towards him and, very inconspicuously, he nodded to me.

I hurriedly pushed my way through the crowd to the front. Some girls started to push me back, not wanting to lose their spot, but then he reached a hand out to me.

Immediately the other girls reached for, but it snapped it back as they did. As they were distracted, I pushed them out of the way and grabbed his hand and he hauled me onto stage.

“What are you up to?” I murmured suspiciously. He just smiled.

“This next song is going to be dedicated to my new friend, Dahlia” He said to the crowd and then turned to me, “Go have some fun.”

I looked at him oddly, extremely confused.

Then he said, “This, is Chelsea Smile” and I understood exactly what he mean. I grinned wickedly.

I stood there for the first part, and then the drums came in and it got heavier. As it did, Oliver yelled “Catch” into the mic and threw me into the crowd.

As to his command, they did exactly that. Every person under me grabbed and pushed me to the pit.

I did just as he said, I had fun. Maybe it was the song, or him telling me to, but I had more fun during that song than during the whole thing.

And it didn’t even matter to me that he just threw me as scraps into the media for all the harsh things that went around, because I could tell by the looks on the fans’ faces that they weren’t going to let this go easily.

But maybe that’s exactly what Oliver wanted.