Symphonies of the Damned

“Biersack!”
There was an annoyed voice, repeating my last name until my eyes finally opened.
“It’s about damn time.” Ronnie Radke groaned.
“What…?” I yawned, sitting up slowly and looking around me in pure confusion.
It took me a second.
“Explain to me…what I’m doing here?” I asked, rubbing my eyes. The room was dim.
Thank fuck, because there was an intense headache forming.
“You were wandering around the venue, drunk as fuck.” Ronnie muttered, walking off.
He returned a minute later with a bottle of water and some aspirin. “Here, I think you’ll need this.”
“Thanks.”
“Anyway, after what happened last time… I wasn’t about to let you get fucking killed again.”
“Oh.” I mumbled, putting pieces together. “Thanks.”
“Hey, I’m just looking out for you.” Ronnie shrugged. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me though, why did you get wasted?” Ronnie wondered. “You seemed fucking pissed.”
“I was?” I asked. “Huh, I don’t even remember drinking in the first place. It would explain the hangover though.”
“Oh. Well, the reason I woke you up was because you’re phone won’t shut the fuck up.” Ronnie muttered.
He handed me my iPhone, flashing with a list of missed calls and texts.
“I should get going.”
“Probably, before your band throws a search party and calls the National News in panic.” Ronnie laughed.
“Wait.” I paused. “They don’t know I’m here?”
“Nope.”
“They’re going to kill you.” I chuckled lightly, pulling on my Vans and standing up.
“Hey, they didn’t ask me if I knew where you were.” Ronnie pointed out. “I just know they’re looking for you.”
“Good point.”
“Let’s worry them a little bit more, yeah?” Ronnie asked. “Do you want to stay for coffee?”
“I don’t know…”
“I hear it helps hangovers.” Ronnie hinted, heading towards the built in kitchen and pouring himself coffee.
“Well then, sure.”
“So, how are things with Jake?” Ronnie asked, handing me a cup. “Is he still being an asshole?”
“You wouldn’t even know.” I grumbled. “He was being a major douche, and I kicked him out of the band.”
“Really?” he laughed, sitting down. “Tell me what happened.”
“You’re like a fucking teenage girl.” I agreed, sitting down and telling him everything.
“Do you know where he’s at?” Ronnie asked.
“No.” I shrugged. “We haven’t left the venue since yesterday, so he’s around here. Frankly, I don’t care.”
“What are you going to do about a guitarist?”
“Yeah, I didn’t think that part out.” I muttered softly, causing Ronnie to chuckle a little.
“Hey, Vincent!” he yelled out.
A second later, a sleep Jacky stumbled from the bunk room and looked around in confusion.
“Yeah?”
“Would you mind filing in for Jake?” Ronnie asked. “You know, play with Andy’s band for the next few days.”
“Uh, sure.” Jacky yawned. “What happened to Jake?”
“He’s sick.” I muttered.
“Oh. Yeah, I can fill in. Don’t worry.” Jacky nodded, heading back to his bunk.
“Thanks!”
“I’ll tell Jinxx to go over the riffs with you later.” I promised, turning back to Ronnie.
“That’s settled.”
“Thanks.” I nodded, grateful. “I really need to head back to my tour bus.”
“Alright.”
“I’ll see you later?” I questioned, getting up.
“Yeah.”
Waving, I stepped off the bus and headed across the parking lot towards my bus.
It was roughly nine in the morning.
“Anybody here?” I called out, stepping on the bus.
“Fucking hell!” Ashley cried out, coming out of the bunkroom. “We thought you got stabbed again!”
“I was on FIR’s bus.” I shrugged.
“Thank fuck.”
He seemed relieved, but his shoulders instantly dropped. He was staring at the ground.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Alright.” I let it drop. He could be extremely awkward sometimes.
“Yeah…”
I walked towards him, intending on giving him a good morning hug and kiss, but he pushed me off.
“What are you doing?” I asked curiously.
“You…”
He seemed lost, but didn’t get a chance to explain because Christian stalked out of the backroom.
“Andrew!” he yelled.
He didn’t seem relieved; instead he seemed fucking pissed off.
“Yeah?”
“Where the god damn fuck have you been?” he demanded, his eyes slightly wet.
Alright, what the fuck did I mess.
“I stalked off the bus drunk, and ended up at Falling in Reverse’s bus.” I shrugged.
“Did you fuck him?”
“What? No!” I yelled, exasperated. “Why the fuck would I do something like that to Ashley!”
“You were drunk.” Jinxx pointed out, following CC.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do anything stupid like that!” I defended myself.
“Really, because you do some pretty fucked up things when you’re drunk.” CC scoffed.
“What the hell are you getting at?”
“Do you remember what you did before you walked off the bus?” CC asked, glancing at Ashley.
“No…”
Ashley’s eyed widened in fear, and he shook his head rapidly. He was silently begging CC to shut up.
“It’s not his fault!” Ashley blurted out.
Christian paused, turning his glare on Ashley. “You’re right…it’s not entirely his fault.”
“Someone explain to me what the hell is going on!” I pleaded.
CC turned towards me, staring me down.
He was blinking rapidly and biting his lower lip. He didn’t seem angry anymore, but lost.
“CC, what happened?” I asked, softly.
“You got into an argument with Ashley and stalked off!” CC yelled out. “You upset him!”
“Yeah…” I trailed off.
Well, fuck.
I wonder what I ended up telling Ashley. Or why the fuck CC was so affected by this.
“He was upset! He wasn’t paying attention, and he, he promised!” CC cried out, a tear falling.
“CC, just tell me what happened.” I groaned.
Even Ashley was glancing at CC with confusion. Jinxx looked sad, but wasn’t saying anything.
“YOU LEFT THE DOOR OPEN WHEN YOU LEFT.” CC yelled at me. “ELOISE GOT OUT AND I DON’T KNOW WHERE SHE IS.”
“Oh, fuck.” I mumbled.
“You mean…you weren’t kidding?” Ashley asked. “Fuck, CC! I’m so sorry! I should have watched her!”
“We’ll find her.” I promised, intent on stepping off the bus.
“YOU LOST MY KITTEN IN THE MIDDLE OF LAS VEGAS.” CC shouted. “SHE’S ONLY THIS BIG!”
“Christian…” Jinxx attempted.
“Don’t talk to me.” CC muttered. “I’m going to keep looking for her.”
He stepped off the bus, the sound of “Eloise!” ringing in the silence every few seconds.

It was several hours later, and the show was about to start.
Jinxx had been helping Jacky learn the guitar parts, and he had them down pretty well.
He was a fucking awesome guitarist.
“Are we ready?” I asked, when sound check was over.
“Yeah, I think we’re good.”
Nodding, I put my microphone down and walked towards Ashley. He was tuning his bass.
“Hey…” I mumbled, wrapping my arms around him.
“What do you want?” Ashley sighed, shrugging himself out of my grasp. “I’m busy.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Ashley mumbled, turning to face me. “I’m just distracted by CC, he’s so upset.”
“I know.” I whispered, kissing his forehead.
Throughout sound check, we had to keep urging CC to pay attention to what he was thinking.
He wouldn’t stop worrying about Eloise.
“I’m sure we’ll find her.” I continued. “We could always get him another kitten.”
“True.”
“It wouldn’t be the same.” I decided.
“Nothing’s are never the same.” Ash whispered. “Things change, even when you don’t want them to.”
“I know, baby.”
“Sometimes, I wonder…why do I even bother? Why do I keep trying, when I’m just going to end up hurt?”
“What are you getting at?” I asked.
He shrugged, looking down at his bass. He was still stiff around me, not really wanting to be near me.
“Does…this have something to do with yesterday?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Whatever I said, I didn’t mean it. I don’t even remember what I told you, but I didn’t mean it.” I promised. “I love you.”
“I love you too…” Ashley smiled gently. “More than I could ever scream.”
“Forever.”
“Always.” I promised, pressing a kiss to his lips.