Taking Over

Rashel and Rylee walked the halls of the base, learning where everything was. The Brides themselves were leading them, pointing out different things. While still seeming like true leaders, the Brides were leading the girls around as though they were old friends; joking and laughter followed them.
“So then, I was like ‘CC, don’t eat that! It’s my mom’s cat!’ and he was so scared!” They all laughed loudly at Jake. The stories they had to tell made the two Bridesmaids realize they didn't really know much past what was told in interviews and rock magazines. They listened intently to the men, wanting to know everything they could.
“So,” began Andy, “where are you two from? Any strange stories to share?”
Rashel nodded slowly. “We’re both from Massachusetts. We don’t really have many strange experiences, unless you count every single time we’re together. We always seem to do something strange.” The guys laughed. CC threw his arm over her shoulder, squeezing lightly.
“So, twins, huh?” he said with a smile, “The Destroyer likes!”
Jake and Ashley hit him over the head simultaneously. “They’re 16, asshat!” Jinxx said. CC shrugged.
“Yup, and I'm bored as hell. C’mon, Ash! Don’t even try to tell me you don’t like them!”
Ashley laughed. “I may be the ‘womanizer’ of the group, but I know when to ignore the amazingness before me.” He threw an arm over both of the girls. “Besides,” he glanced at Andy. “These two girls just got here. There's plenty of time to hit on them later, right?” Him and CC collapsed into roaring laughter as Andy looked beyond pissed off.
“What have I told you two about that shit?” he growled. Rashel giggled and snuggled into Ashley, making him laugh. He hugged her, and then looked to Andy.
“And what have we told you, time and time again; Joke’s on you!” everyone laughed while Andy ran a hand through his hair with a small sigh, before smiling.
“Alright, you guys suck. So really, Archers, what’s brought you to the base? Well besides my missionaries.”
Rashel sighed. She knew what he meant. “We’ve both had a pretty rough life, and were pretty much done with it. I know I had totally given up, and Rylee was right behind me. It only got worse as we got older; we lost a very close friend, the only one we’ve ever had besides each other. She killed herself, and because of that I hurt myself so badly that I was in a hospital for weeks. Rylz didn't leave my side through it all. I was… I was going to kill myself when Samantha found me.”
Rylee picked up from there, wiping a tear off Rashel’s cheek. “Life in general has been pretty bad for us both. You all, as a band and as real people, have probably helped my sister and I the most.”
~RASHEL’S POV! ~
I hugged my twin sister, my life, my everything, close to me. I hoped she understood everything she meant to me. She kissed my cheek, a silent understanding.
“She’s right,” I said. “You all have helped me more than anything. I hope to one day repay you all for everything.” The Brides got silent for a moment, then without warning darted forwards to engulf my twin and me in a group hug. I squeaked quietly, and then passed out.
When I came to, I nearly passed out again; I was being carried by Andy! I squeaked quietly, making him pause in his graceful gait and look down at me.
“She’s awake!” he called to the others. They all came close; looking to make sure I was ok. I could see the question in all of their eyes, except for my twin who had known I was going to pass out. Damn my weakness to sexii rockstars! Rylee giggled, making me look at her. She shook her head at me. I saw the guys shift slightly, and then felt myself being pulled away from Andy.
“I vant to carry ze pretty girl!” a deep voice said happily. I closed my eyes tightly, not wanting to see the hotness that was now holding me. Considering I had already met his twin, I suppose meeting Tom Kaulitz was just a matter of time. I chanced a peek at his face, and blushed when I saw him looking down at me. “Hallo, new girl! I am Tom, und I hear from Bill zat you speak German?” I nodded meekly. He seemed so bubbly, in comparison to his usual quietness in interviews.
I spoke shyly. “H-hallo. Ich heisse Rashel. Ich spreche ein bisschen deutsch…. Hallo!”(H-hello. My name is Rashel. I speak a little German…. Hello!) I was squeaking a lot more than normal, and blushing a whole hell of a lot. There was also the fact that Tom refused to put me down. Have I mentioned I had this deathly fear of heights? Anything more than two feet off the ground made me want to cry. I discreetly clung tight to Tom, although I'm positive he noticed. I looked at Rylee, begging her to help. She giggled, and then started a war.
“I wanna hold the pretty girl!” she yelled. She darted forwards and stole me from Tom, prompting Ashley to scream the same then steal me from her. I was pretty much snatched and passed around, as they ran around the halls. They seemed to be playing some weird game of “pass the Shelly”….
I felt a few tears squeeze from my tightly closed eyes. I wasn’t even really sure who was holding me right now, but I knew we were moving at pretty high speeds. “I’ll get her!” yelled a very familiar voice. It seemed that the whole group I’d met so far was joining the game. Fuck. I chanced a peek at Alex as he ran towards my current captor, who happened to be Anthony. When the hell did he join?! Several of the others came running down the hallway, from in front of us. Anthony let out a battle-cry and threw me.
Me: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I landed safely in Alex’s arms, but looked back over his shoulder. “Anthony, you asshat! I’ll get you for that shit later!” Alex took off away from the gathering mob. I was suddenly pulled away, and found myself clinging to the new captor. So much moving!
“Hi!” huffed the boy. “My- pant- name is- huff- Jacob! I didn't get to meet you before! The- huff- Voice, right?” He kept running. He seemed to be the fastest out of all my evil captors so far. I nodded, clinging while he dodged confused bystanders.
“I’m Rashel. I didn't even really think my voice was all that great til I came here. Um… why are we playing pass the Shelly?” Jacob laughed.
“Shelly? Nickname? Nice. I'm not really sure, but it looked fun! By the way, my formal title is The Gazelle. I'm the official fastest person in the whole base. I highly doubt we’ll be outrun, so I just gotta hide you and we’ll be good!” he laughed at the end.
I smiled, and poked him. “Can I get on your back then?” he nodded and stopped for a second to let me climb on his back. I tapped his head. “Onward, my noble steed!” I laughed. “Or noble Gazelle!”
He roared with laughter, taking off down the hall. He kept glancing left and right, looking for a place to hide. I looked back. I saw a few people giving chase at the end of the hallway, but none of them were fast enough. Even Andy, the original “gazelle-legs” was probably too slow. As soon as we thought we were safe, we rounded a corner and saw at least a hundred ushers standing there. I squeaked a little, taping Jacob's shoulder to point to the group. I'm not sure how he didn't see them….
“Oh, cheese whiz!” he slowed down, unable to totally stop without falling. He ended up skidding to a stop right in front of the group, who all laughed at him. They opened up a path, at the end of which stood a group of people we really didn't want to see right now. Andy, Jake, Jinxx, Ashley, CC, Bill, Tom, Gustav, Georg, Rylee, Anthony, Alex, Stephany, and a dog were all standing there waiting for us. Wait- dog?
“What the hell?” I called to them. They seemed to know what I meant. Andy reached down to pet the dog.
“This is Usher. His sister Bridesmaid is around here somewhere. They came here with your current ride, but for now they are against him. Gazelle, turn over the girl and no one gets hurt!” he grinned menacingly at the end. This game was odd…. I hoped it didn't become regular. Jacob back up a bit, but froze when he heard a slight woof from behind him. I looked back from my position on Jacob’s back to see a ginormous dog behind us. She looked like a Great Dane, and had a black bow on her neck. This would be Bridesmaid, then. Jacob tried to reason with her.
“Brides, girl! It’s me, Jakey! You wouldn’t hurt us, would you?” She barked loudly then growled. “Um, that would mean ‘RUN’!” I yelled. Jacob nodded and took off to the side, me clinging to his back as tightly as I could. I felt myself being pulled by my shirt, and looked back to see two Great Danes pulling on it. Once they both had a good grip, they pushed their paws to the ground to hold back. Jacob was thrown off balance, making him let go of my legs as he fell. The dogs pulled me back til I landed behind him on the ground, where Andy scooped me up and took off.
“Did the dogs hurt you?” he asked sweetly.
I shook my head. “Nope, not at all. Though I would appreciate an end to this super-weird game!” He laughed his sexii deep laugh and slipped into a side door.
“This is a room that no one ever goes in, so I think we’re safe for a while.” I nodded. Andy set me down on my shaky legs, keeping a hand on my shoulder until I was balanced enough to stand.
“So does that shit happen a lot around here?” I asked. Andy laughed again and shook his head.
“Nah, although I wouldn’t object to it happening more! If it really makes you feel better, blame Tom Kaulitz! He and your twin started it!” Andy was practically jumping up and down in his excitement. I laughed.
“I’m not really blaming anyone! I just wanted to know if that’s something I have to worry about often! ‘Pass the Shelly’ had better not become a new sport!”
“Hm…” he said. I looked at him in question, ignoring the fact that I was currently joking around with my idol like we were old friends. He smiled at me. “I am now going to forever call you Shelly. No complaining.” I shrugged.
“Tell my twin that. According to her, she‘s the only one who can call me Shelly or Shell. Personally, I hate my name so I really don’t care what I'm called.”
“Why hate it if you’re stuck with it? I let ‘Andrew’ be Andy and now I'm a hell of a lot happier!” he smiled his heartbreaker smile.
“Hm, true.”
Our conversation went on like that for a while, meaningless banter and small talk. We decided to wait an hour or so for the others, and if they didn't find us we’d head out. “Hey Andy,” I asked. “Can I ask you something?”
“Well you kind of just did. Shoot, Voice.”
“I know you’ve probably told a bunch of other people this, but I want to ask for myself. How did the Black Veil Brides form?”
Andy laughed. “Well, that isn't asked as often as you think. Most often, I'm asked why or what caused us. Not how, so I have no problem answering. Actually, if you don’t mind, I have the perfect song to answer your question. Guess?”
I thought about it hard. What song of theirs told a history? Oh shit! “Legacy!” I said. He nodded. With no hesitation, we both opened our mouths and sang.
“Racing faster, escape disaster. Partners in crime will leave their mark.
We make our own way, no thoughts of yesterday,
Black hearts of chrome and battle scars.
The legacy, born from a dream
On leather wings, rose from the streets, with our hands on destiny.”
Seemingly out of nowhere, my sister and the rest of the Brides showed up in the room. They closed the door behind them.
“We came from nothing, but promised one thing
We’ll change the world with these guitars.
So listen closely, and don’t stop working. No one can tell you who you are.
The legacy, born from a dream
On leather wings, rose from the streets, with our hands on destiny.
The legacy, born from a dream
On leather wings, rose from the streets, with our hands on destiny.”
Andy and I let out an ear splitting, mind boggling scream, Andy looking shocked that a girl could scream like him.
“RUN (run) RUN never look back
RUN (run) RUN never look back
RUN. RUN. RUN. Never look back
RUN!”
I hugged Rylee as the band looked at us with what I could only describe as adoration and acceptance.
“The legacy, born from a dream
On leather wings, rose from the streets, with our hands on destiny.
The legacy, born from a dream
On leather wings, rose from the streets, with our hands on destiny.”
Smiling, Rylee and I tackled the Brides. They converged in a large group hug that made us all fall to the ground in a laughing heap. From the bottom, CC yelled “Oy, fatasses! Get the hell off of me!”
It took a few minutes, but we finally made it out of the room to find what seemed like every Bridesmaid and Usher in the hallway, suddenly applauding us.
I knew we were home.