Heartkiller

Chapter Three: Buried Alive By Love

If I should die before I wake
There ain’t no one my soul to take
If I wake before I die,
Rescue me with your smile

Friday May 19, 2006

Avery and Ville had spent the rest of their first meeting getting lost in conversation. She didn’t take more than a few sips of her beer, and Ville hadn’t even gotten that far. They were simply entranced by each other, laughing and sharing stories like old friends. When the club closed at 2 am, they weren’t ready to part ways, so Avery had led them on a walk around the city. She had grown up in New York, so she knew the city well; she knew what parts of the city would be safe to wander through at this hour. They continued their conversation and got lost in the memories that were rehashed in recounting the stories to the other.

“Law school was a challenge, in and of itself.” Avery said. “There was so much competition, as far as who scored the highest on an exam, or debating who knew Con. Law the best. We used to argue over the smallest things.”

“That sounds awful.” Ville commented.

“No, it was the best!” She grinned, revelling in the memory. “I loved the arguments and trying to prove who was right. Although, I could have done without the late hours. I suppose it comes with the territory.”

“I wasn’t a fan of school. I mean, I went through high school, but my head was always in music.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. When I was three years old or something, I was at a party, and my uncle, who was an Elvis impersonator, had a set of bongo drums laying around. I wandered off and found them, and I just started banging on them. That’s my earliest memory with music, but I think my parents had a feeling then that I’d be getting into this world.”

“You have a family with quite some characters. Dad owns a sex shop, uncle is an Elvis impersonator. What’s next?”

“A Black Sabbath fan pitifully trying to mimic the sounds of the great.” He said.

Avery looked at him with a puzzled look, unsure of to whom he was referring. Ville saw and pointed to himself, but Avery just shook her head and dismissed the idea.

They reached Central Park. Before leading them inside, she held onto Ville’s shoulder to steady herself as she took off her high heels; there was no way she could walk through the wet grass in three-inch heels. With the shoes in her left hand, she took Ville’s hand with her free one and started walking into the darkness of the park. The grass scrunched underneath her feet and she wriggled her toes with every step. Once they got past the trees that covered the perimeter of the park, the two walked into the open field where the full moon shone brightly, allowing them to see each other clearly.

Avery turned around to face him without letting go of his hand. She smiled. She had an out-of-body experience as she took a moment to reflect upon what was happening. Here she was in the middle of the park at a ridiculously late hour with an absolute stranger. She should have felt scared, worried even, but she didn’t. There was something about this that felt right. There was something about him that felt right. Ville waited for her to say something. He could see the gears turning in her mind as she processed something, but he didn’t force her. He was patient. Avery brushed aside her thoughts and looked up at the night sky, taking in the whatever stars were visible.

“Beautiful, right?” she asked, still staring up.

“Yeah.” he agreed.

She looked at Ville only to find him staring back at her. He wasn’t talking about the stars at all. She looked at him with her eyes shining brighter than the moon and that signature smile on her face. Ville wanted nothing more in that moment than to bend down and plant a sweet kiss upon her lips. Avery was ever so enticing. It took everything in his power to stop himself from kissing her; the night had been so pleasant and he didn’t want to ruin it by overstepping his boundaries. Then again, what are the rules when you’re spontaneously roaming a foreign city with a beautiful woman?

“Come on, there’s a fountain nearby where we can sit.” she said and pulled his hand to lead the way.

He followed close behind in a hypnotic state. The fountain wasn’t very far, and they could hear the water rushing. They sat on the concrete that formed the lip of the fountain. They faced each other, and Avery loosened her grip on Ville’s hand, turning his palm over to look at the visible tattoos.

“You have a lot of tattoos.” She stated.

“Yeah.”

“I never understood why people get tattoos.”

“Everybody has their reasons.”

“Why did you get yours?” she asked as finger traced the vines on his left forearm.

“Um, I suppose because I wanted to keep the important things close to me. My influences, my hopes, my loves. I like the feeling of knowing that they’re always with me.”

“So it’s not because it adds to the mystique of being a rockstar?” she asked and looked up to see him laugh.

“No, not really. A side benefit, I guess.”

“So who are these people?” she asked, holding his right arm now.

“Well, this one here is Timo Mukka, who was a Finnish author.” he pointed to the tattoos as he spoke. “He wrote about the melancholy that hangs over Lapland, and he was part of a spontaneous-confessional fiction movement. An influential part of it, actually. This one is Charles Bukowski, also an author. And this one is Charles Baudelaire, a French poet. He wrote pieces that had a supernatural aspect, surreal aura to them. He also translated a lot of Edgar Allan Poe’s works, and I have Poe’s eyes tattooed on my back, sort of on my shoulder blades. ”

“Poe must mean a lot to you, if you’ve dedicated such a large canvas to him.”

“Yeah, he does. He’s one of my all-time favorite authors. He’s also got that self-deprecating quality that I identify with so much.”

“Why are you self-deprecating? You’ve got so much going for you. The music, fame, success… girls, I’m sure.” Avery brought her eyes up to see him, but kept her face low.

“But those are the external… how do you call it?” he snapped his fingers, as if it would help him recall the word which was on the tip of his tongue. “Those are very materialistic things.”

“Yeah, but those things wouldn’t exist if people didn’t connect with you, your lyrics, and your feelings in some way. You have no reason to belittle yourself as you seem to do.”

He was significantly encouraged. She had a point.

“You haven’t even heard my music. How can you say that? What if it’s shit?” he teased.

“Well, if there’s all these people listening to your music, there’s gotta be something good going on... And I’ll make my own judgment tomorrow night.”

Ville checked the time.

“Actually, it’s tonight. It’s four o’clock in the morning.” he said.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry. I’ve kept you out all night!” She looked at him with wide eyes in disbelief.

“Don’t be. You’ve kept up your end of the deal, and tonight I’ll keep up my end.”

“How do I get into the show, by the way?”

“I’ll have security at the club doors give you a backstage pass, and you can come inside.There’s a hallway, next to the bar. If you go past the restrooms, there should be a set of double doors and you'll be backstage."

“Okay. I have another question. You can’t laugh, though.”

Ville smirked. “I’ll try not to. What is it?”

“I’ve sort of, kind of never been to a rock concert before. What am I supposed to wear?” she whispered, ashamed at even having to ask such a silly question.

“Whatever you’re comfortable in.” Ville said with a smile.

“You won’t judge me?”

“I won’t. I don’t know about everybody else, but I certainly won’t judge you.” he said with a sheepish grin.

“Okay then.”

Suddenly, the two were hit by the cold water streaming from the sprinklers.

“I think that’s are cue to go!” she yelled, trying to shield herself from getting wet even further.

The two ran out of the large park in a fit of hysterics at their situation.

“Alright, well, I should head home. I’ll see you at the show?” Avery said.

“Yeah, I’ll see you.” Ville replied.

They pulled into a hug. After separating, Avery went into the street and hailed two cabs, one for herself and one for Ville, who was confused as to how to hail one himself. They said their goodbyes and left in separate cabs.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

The following evening, Avery showed up to the backstage doors as per Ville’s instructions. The security guards at the door had a pass waiting for her, and she put the lanyard around her neck and wandered backstage. There were a few hallways, but Avery followed the sound of laughter until she reached the green room where the band was waiting to perform.

When she walked into the room, she saw a rather strange group of people: there was a rather heavyset fellow sitting on the couches next to a guy with blonde dreads, a guy sitting on the floor with long messy hair wearing a sleeveless shirt to show off his tattoos, and another guy with long (neater) hair and a cowboy hat. There were some gals in the corner of the room as well, and Avery spotted Ville’s familiar face in the opposite corner of the room where he was sitting on a beanbag. The group was watching a guy in the middle of the room narrating a story with his Philly accent, so they were too distracted to notice her in the doorway. When Ville saw her, his face lit up and he walked over to her without disturbing the man telling the story.

“Avery! You made it,” he said. “Come in, come in.”

He walked over to the doorway to give her a hug. With a beer in his right hand and his left arm around her shoulder, Ville started to introduce her to everybody in the room, using his right hand to point them out.

“That’s Gas, Linde, Mige, Burton, Missy, Jackie, and this is Bam. Everybody, this is Avery.” Ville introduced.

There was a round of ‘hellos’ and waves, but they soon resumed to listening to Bam tell his story. Ville grabbed two of Avery’s fingers lightly to guide her back to the corner where he was sitting before she came. He offered her a beer from a cooler, which she accepted; he simply leaned against the wall to allow her to sit on the beanbag, but she chose to stand beside him instead and listened to Bam’s story.

“And I’m like barrelling down the railing uncontrollably on my board. I’m like halfway down, and I just fall forward. There was a moment where I was like ‘aw, shit.’ I knew it was coming. I racked my nuts, but I grabbed the rail to try and ease up the rest of the way, and I just forgot about my face. So I slip all the way down like, this” Bam demonstrated by holding his arms out in front of him and falling forward. “And I hit my face on the rail and scrape it across the floor after sliding like 5 feet. I had this big gash on my face, I think you can still sorta see the scar. But yeah, that was pretty bad.”

“After the other injuries, that’s nothing. It’s like child’s play.” Mige said nonchalantly, unfazed by the story. In comparison, Avery looked mortified.

“I suppose. It hurt like a bitch in the moment.”

“Yeah, but compared to the teeth falling out and cracking your tailbone, this is just a scar.”

“That’s true.” Bam replied.

Once Bam had finished his story, the group branched off into separate conversations.

“I see you figured out something to wear.” Ville commented.

Avery glanced down at her attire. She was wearing a blood red babydoll top, a leather jacket, black tights, and ankle boots. She smoothed the top before looking back at Ville to respond.

“Yeah, you know, I just threw a little something on.”

“You look good.” Ville smiled.

“Thanks, you’re not too bad yourself.” she nudged.

“‘I just threw a little something on,’” he mocked.

Ville was wearing a shirt with his brother’s face on it, a pair of dark jeans and a purple beanie.

“Uh huh. So when do you guys go on? Am I ever going to see you guys perform or was this whole thing just a ploy to get me backstage?”

“Why would I ever do that?”

“I don’t know. As part of some sinister plan, maybe. I don’t know what you Scandinavians are into.” Avery shrugged her shoulders.

“Hahha. Oh, you don’t know the half of it.”

“Should I be worried?”

He nodded with a grin on his face. A roadie came by the room to give them a heads-up that the band will be need to be onstage in five minutes. The group stood up and started to gather themselves in preparation. Bam grabbed a pretty state-of-the-art videocamera and followed the band out of the room with Avery close behind. They stood on the sidelines until introductions to the crowd had been made, and the band went onstage and played an intro.

Ville stayed behind to let his bandmates play for a few moments first. No matter how many times he played a show, Ville was still quite nervous before a gig, despite the alcohol. He lit a smoke and held it between his lips, but Avery could see his left leg wriggling with nerves. She grabbed his arm to get his attention and threw him a toothy grin.

“Good luck,” she said.

He returned the smile and visibly calmed. “Thanks.”

The band transitioned into the beginning of Soul on Fire, so Ville finished the last of his beer, grabbed a new bottle and went onstage where he was greeted by the screams of fans. He took a long drag of his cigarette and then held it between his fingers in order to be able to sing.

“We are like the living dead, sacrificing all we have for a frozen heart and a soul. On. Fire!” Ville sang in a deep, husky voice.

Avery was mesmerized by the scene before her. The music was heavy and gritty while the keyboards provided a romantic touch; Ville’s voice filled the crevices of the melodies so smoothly, creating an elegant sound that Avery enjoyed. Her body gently swayed to the sound, and Bam came up beside her.

“So how do you know Villa?” he asked.

Avery was caught off guard and took a moment to shake herself from the trance.

“I met him last night. We were hanging out after his show.”

“Coming to two shows in a row? You must be a big fan.”

She smirked. “Oh, no, I’ve never heard of them. This is my first time listening to their stuff.”

“Oh, I see.”

Bam had an all-knowing smile, implying the kind of relationship he thought she and Ville would have: a sexual one. Not wanting to cause a scene, she simply ignored his suggestive glances.

“Yeah… how do you know him?” she asked.

“I heard about the band a few years ago on my way to a skate competition in Finland, and I kind of followed them around Europe during their tour until I finally ran into them.”

“So you stalked them?”

“What? No. I just really liked their music, and so I went around to listen to them.” he paused as he let his words sink in. “Okay, yeah, I guess I did kinda stalk them a little bit.”

“You like them that much, huh?”

“More than that. They’re my favorite band of all time. I’ve directed a couple music videos for them, and,” Bam lifted his shirt to reveal numerous tattoos. “and I have them tattooed like all over my body.”

“What is that symbol?” She asked and pointed to the tattoo above his belt buckle.

“It’s the heartagram. It’s kind of like their emblem.”

“What does it mean?”

“Villa would give you like this really poetic explanation for it because he’s gooey that way, but it’s basically a combination of the heart and the pentagram.” He said and put his shirt back down.

“A modern day yin and yang symbol.” Avery clarified.

“Wow, it’s like you stole the words right of his mouth. Yeah, that’s exactly it.”

The two continued to watch the show. Linde started playing the opening chords of Wings of a Butterfly, and Bam rushed onstage with his camera. He put it near Linde’s hands to show them fluttering effortlessly across the strings. Avery stood with her legs crossed and a hand on her hip; she let her foot tap along to the beat, but her eyes didn’t stray from Ville. He entertained the crowd, and it seemed that he had Bam’s attention as well; Bam took the camera to Ville, pointing it in his face. Ville was distracted by the crowd but saw the camera out of the corner of his eye and giggled between verses, eventually shooing Bam away. Once the song finished, he took a moment to introduce the next track.

“This next one is dedicated to a lovely lady whom I recently met. She has a smile that can work wonders, and she’s gotta know that she’s the prettiest girl to walk this Earth.” Ville said and gave a sideways glance toward Avery. “It’s called Buried Alive by Love.”

She blushed. Avery hoped Bam didn’t notice, as it would only fuel his earlier suspicions, but once she saw the smirk on Bam’s face, she knew that he had seen. She refocused her gaze on Ville, who kept looking in her direction now and again during the chorus.

“If I wake before I die, rescue me with that smile of yours,” he sang.

At this point, he didn’t even try to sneak a peek at her. As Avery stood on the left side of the stage, Ville angled his body to face her; his arm slung over the microphone was the only indication that he was performing. He let the note ring out into the crowd while he paused to look at her reaction: she was twisted away in embarrassment and held her free hand over her face to hide her blushing. Ville chuckled into the microphone before continuing to sing, and Avery took a few moments before facing the stage again with a grin plastered across her face. Bam walked over to her.

“You’re working quite some magic,” he remarked.

“What are you talking about?” Avery asked.

“You say you only met last night, but that guy is just in way over his head. I haven’t seen him look at a woman like that since...” he paused to correct himself. “in quite some time.”

He took a gulp of his beer, and Avery looked at him quizzically, signaling him to continue. She wanted to know what he had started to say, but he dismissed it.

“It’s a good thing, don’t worry. It’s nice to see him this happy.”

She gave a small smile to reassure Bam, but it was forced. Her mind was caught in the small nuances of Bam’s words, a result of her profession’s attention to detail. Here she was thinking the two were innocently flirting, only for her to find out that things weren’t quite as innocuous as they seemed. Avery watched the band play the rest of the show. She maintained a smile on her face so that Ville wouldn’t suspect anything; she didn’t want him to assume that he was scaring her by dedicating a song to her only hours after having met. That’s not the part that worried her. What did Bam mean when he started to say ‘I haven’t seen him look at a woman like that since...’? Since what? Since who?

She saw Ville look down and bite his lip with a smile on his face between songs. He looked like an absolute smitten kitten. She enjoyed watching him perform and get lost in the music. There were moments where he would hold the mic out to let the fans sing the lyrics for him, and he seemed exhilarated by the harmonious sound resonating from the crowd. Ville was quite a character onstage. Once the band finished their performance, they all walked off one by one. Ville was the first to go, and Linde and Gas stayed behind to throw their picks and drumsticks into the crowd of cheering fans.

“Nice job, guys,” Bam said.

“Thanks,” Burton replied.

There were high-fives all around, and Ville came over to Avery to give her a hug.

“So, what’d you think?” he asked as the group retreated to the green room.

“It was good. Certainly doesn’t compare to a show by Type O-Negative or anything like that.” she teased. “I’m just kidding. It was really good!”

Ville looked at her, stunned. “I thought you didn’t know any of those bands. You’re the one who said you’d never been to a rock concert before.”

“Ah, and show you all the cards in my hand? I don’t think so.”

She walked in front of him and looked over her shoulder with a seductive look on her face, biting her lip to prevent the victorious laugh from escaping her lips. They walked into the green room and Ville took a seat on the beanbag, pulling her onto his lap. She turned and hung her legs over his, her right side leaning into his chest and an arm sprawled over his shoulders. This way, they could still see each other and continue the conversation without either having to crane his or her neck. Ville kept his left arm around her hips to keep her from slipping off.

“So how many shows have you been to, then?”

“Um, I may or may not have backpacked through Europe when I was in college to listen to the legends.” She smirked.

“You’re sneaky.” he remarked about hiding this from him.

She didn’t say anything and simply sipped her beer. She gave an angelic smile, giddy that she had fooled him. Their attention diverted in the direction of a crash; they saw Bam in the small space between the couch and the wall, which had a large dent a few feet above his head.

“Crash landing. It still counts!” Bam said, standing up.

“No, it doesn’t. You had to jump over the three of us on the couch and land on your feet on the other side. No one said anything about hitting the wall.” Burton countered.

“Whatever. You think the club will notice the dent?” he asked.

“You mean the huge opening in their wall? They’d have to be blind not to see that.”

“Don’t worry, Bammy. After seeing you on the guest list, I’m sure they have allocated some funds for whatever havoc you’ll wreak tonight.” Ville said.

“Shut up, lover-boy!” Bam said and slapped the air to whisk his thought away.

The groups returned to their respective conversations.

“You can’t just say you backpacked across Europe and stop there. What’s the rest of the story?” Ville insisted.

“I’ve already paid my side of the deal!”

“Look, I know I said that your smile can work wonders, but you can’t shoot me one of those right now and get away with this. I want to know where you went and who you saw, missy.” he said, tickling her tummy lightly.

“I appreciate the shout-out by the way. I’ve never gotten one before.” Avery deflected and nursed her beer.

“Oh, yeah? Peter Steele never threw you a shout-out?” Ville teased and chuckled. “You’re very welcome, darling.”

Their foreheads were leaning against each other, and their noses were starting to nuzzle. Ville’s eyes were wide open, looking right into Avery’s blue ones. Having only met the previous night, things were moving fast, but it didn’t cross their minds at all. Avery’s mouth fell agape, and she was itching to catch Ville’s top lip between her own. She didn't rush things; no, she got lost in the moment, looking into those piercing eyes of his. Their lips were centimeters away, when the moment was disrupted by the sound of Avery’s cellphone ringing. She threw her head behind her, arched her back, and groaned. She fished her phone out of her jacket pocket to look at the caller ID.

“Shit.” she muttered. “Is there somewhere quiet I can go to take this?”

“Yeah, I’ll take you.” Ville replied.

He quickly led them down the hallway to a set of double doors which opened to reveal the alley behind the club. The music was still audible, but it was much quieter than it had been anywhere inside. Avery answered the phone, and Ville hung a few paces behind her to give her some privacy. He lit a smoke to pass the time.

“Hey, it’s Avery. What’s wrong?” her voice was stern and authoritative, in contrast to the sweet, sappy voice with which she spoke to Ville.

“It’s my son, he-he ran over someone with his car. I didn’t know who else to call, I-I’m sorry.” the woman on the other replied, her voice heavy with concern.

“It’s okay. It’s why I’m here. Sit down. Don’t call anybody else, don’t answer the door, don’t do anything until I get there. Okay? I’ll be there in twenty.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Avery hung up the phone and turned to Ville.

“I’m sorry, but I gotta go.” she said, her voice softer now.

The two started to head back inside towards the green room.

“It’s a work call.” She explained.

“At this hour?” he was surprised, but tried to remain understanding.

“Lady Justice runs on her own time.” Avery replied.

Ville smiled. “Okay. Will I see you again?”

The two were now at the doorway to the green room. Avery peeked behind Ville and spotted a Sharpie inside the room. She quickly got it and took Ville’s right arm. She scribbled her phone number between his tattoos and kissed the space right after, leaving behind a lipstick mark.

“Next time you’re in the city, give me a call.” She said with a smile.

“I’ll be sure to do so.”

They gave each other a parting hug, and Avery’s right hand slipped down his arm and gently took hold of Ville’s hand once they separated.

“Let me walk you out.” he offered.

“Don’t be silly. I’ll be fine. Go back to your friends.”

“See you around, Ave.”

“See you, Valo.” she replied over her shoulder, hesitantly letting go of her grip on Ville.

♠ ♠ ♠

With the flashbacks, my intention is to provide a glimpse into their relationship so that you can understand these characters better. I hope it helps! :)