The Mocha Music TV Challenge

“Shut up Jason, no there isn’t” James grumbled, hiding his head under the pillow.

“But…”…Jason began.

“Fuck’s sake, lemme go to sleep again!” James groaned. Then another clank split the air, definitely louder than before. Jason gasped. James peeped out from under the pillow. Cliff opened his eyes and stared round.

“Say dudes, did ya hear that weird noise” he said.

“Yeah” said James at once.

“Oh I like that. Don’t believe me but believe Cliff” Jason huffed, folding his arms across his chest.

“Chill Jase, it’s OK” said Cliff. More clanking occurred and this time, there was also the unmistakable sound of footsteps…heavy footsteps, climbing the stairs.

“Ha, let’s go check it out” said Cliff eagerly. He scrambled out of bed. “Come on you dudes!”

Jason hesitated, then got out of bed too. James, seeing that he was about to be left out, thrust the covers back, fell forwards and just steadied himself in time by grabbing at the bedside cabinet.

“Steady on man, take it easy” said Cliff. “How much did you drink?”

“Everyone keeps saying that” James grumbled. He staggered to his feet and followed the bassists to the door. Cliff made to open the door but stopped and let Jason do it instead. Jason peered out onto the landing. Now that the moon had moved, it was as dark as a coal cellar.

Clank, clank, thump! went the strange noises. James moved to stand near Cliff and Jason squinted down the landing, head cocked to one side.

“It’s coming from the stairs” he whispered.

“I wish we had a fucking torch” said James. “Hey, Cliff! Come back!”

Cliff had set off along the landing, heading for the staircase. James and Jason looked at each other before hurrying after him. They reached the top of the stairs and looked down. Nothing could be seen except for yawning darkness.

“Maybe whoever it is, they are coming up the first or second flight of stairs” Jason whispered. “Remember, we’re on the third floor”.

“I think they’re already up” said Cliff. Sure enough, the thumping sound of somebody ascending had stopped. Now the slow clanking was the only sound to be heard.

Cliff set off sown the stairs and even though James and Jason couldn’t see his expression, they could imagine the eager curiosity on his face. They followed him, James muttering, “When I find out who is making all this fucking noise, they’ll have a nice holiday at the fucking hospital!”

The guys reached the bottom of the staircase and they looked all round. A long corridor stretched off in both directions. Suddenly loud clank echoed from the left.

“Ha, it’s on this floor” said Cliff. “Let’s check it out”.

“Shhh buddy, they’ll hear you” James warned.

Jason shivered, partly form the cold (he was walking around in just his underwear) and partly from nerves.

At the end of the corridor, the door was slightly ajar. More scary still, an eerie pale light could be seen through the gap between the door and the jamb.

“Shit” Jason moaned. “That’s not an electric light”.

“No way!” James agreed. “It’s fucking green”.

The light wasn’t bright green, like grass but rather a washed out, sickly green. A pale, unearthly green. Cliff peeped through the door and James pressed his eye against the gap. He withdrew quickly, with a low curse.

“James, what is it?” Jason asked.

“Fuck!” James breathed. “It’s a motherfucking suit of armour!”

Jason felt his heart speed up and his hands go clammy. Thinking of such happenings in the bright light of daytime was laughable. However, in the dead of the night, in strange place, it was terrifying. Jason wouldn’t admit it to his mates but he longed to scuttle back upstairs to his cosy bed.

“Wow, that is totally cool” Cliff said happily. “It’s glowing and everything!”

James swore again. Even through his fear, Jason just had to look. He peeped through the gap and what he saw nearly made his blood freeze like ice.

There indeed was the armour, looking every bit like something out of a Medieval history book. It was glowing with a bizarre green light and moving slowly but surely across the wooden floorboards. It was also coming towards the open door.

Jason drew back, heart pounding. “Shit, it’s gonna get us!” he whimpered.

“If it tries to get me, I’ll fucking kick its nards into orbit” growled James.

“What, through that armour plate?” Cliff asked.

“Shush Cliff, you’re meant to be on me and Jason’s side, not the motherfucking ghost’s side” James protested.

Even in his state of terror, Jason couldn’t help but feel pleased that James had included him in their adventure. Even if it did look like they would soon meet a grisly end from a ghostly suit of armour.

“M-maybe it’s just one of the guys, larking about?” Jason suggested, trying to convince himself as much as convincing his friends.

“Don’t be dumb” James snorted. “Where the fuck would one of the guys get a fucking suit of big ass armour from, huh?”

“Wasn’t there a suit of armour downstairs” said Jason. “Maybe they snuck down and…”…

“But it’s GLOWING!” James pointed out. “How the hell would they make it fucking glow. Look again Jase, it’s all glowing like the fucking luminous paint I used to…”…

He suddenly stopped. Cliff and Jason turned to look at James. In the near darkness, they could just make out a bit of a smirk on his face.

“What is it dude?” Cliff asked.

“The glow” James said in a low voice. “It’s exactly the same as the stuff I used to paint on the stickers when I worked in the sticker factory before I joined Metallica”.

Jason looked stunned. “You mean…”…

James nodded. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure but I think it’s a fucking hoax!”

******************************

“You two wait here” James said to the bassists. “I’ll be right back”.

“Wait, what?” Jason spluttered, as James turned and sprinted back up the corridor. “James, where are you going?”

“Just keep the ghost armour distracted!” James yelled back.

“Shit! I don’t like this” Jason moaned. “I don’t mind admitting that I’M scared of ghosts!”

“Awwww, come on Jase” Cliff reassured him. “You’re OK with me dude”.

“Yeah but not with HIM” said Jason, pointing towards the eerie armour. It was inches away from the door and had paused, eyeing up the lads on the other side.

Then, suddenly, the suit of armour turned round and began walking away.

“Where’s it going?” Cliff asked.

“Shush, it might come back” said Jason.

“Maybe we scared it away?”

Just then, thundering footsteps announced the return of James. He was carrying a toothpaste mug and when he skidded to a halt, some water sloshed out.
“This’ll do the trick” he said to Cliff and Jason. “OK, where’s the ghost?”

“It started walking away from us” said Jason. “We think we scared it off”.

“Huh? Well, it won’t get away that easily from James Hetfield” James said dramatically. He thrust the door open and vanished into the darkness beyond. Jason and Cliff followed, seeing the shadowy figure of James running towards the now retreating glowing armour. James threw the water forwards; there was a splashing sound and a yell.

“Ha, it’s not real!” Cliff said. “If it was, the water woulda gone right through it!”

James had reached the other side of the room and was blocking the far doorway from the armour. Finding a switch on the wall, he pressed it down and the room was flooded with light. Pale green paint trickled down the back of the armour, where James had flung the water.

The armour looked this way and that, trying to find a way out but there was none. James put the toothpaste mug down on a chest of drawers and folded his arms. Jason stood in the other doorway, his indignation at being tricked driving away his fear.

“OK, it’s owning up time” James said to the armour. “Who’s inside you, fucker?”

The armour slumped it shoulders in defeat, Reaching up with heavy arms, it removed its helmet, revealing…

…a young man, about the same age as the lads.