Change in the House of Flies

Bright eyed and bushy-tailed, Matt took a healthy gulp of his black coffee. The warm California sun penetrated his bare, tattooed arms down to the bone as he strolled down the sidewalk to the record label's offices. Taking another swig of his coffee, he yanked open the glass doors, sauntered over to the elevators and smashed the third floor button. Overjoyed to be embarking on another tour, he was itching to get back to the stage. Itching to get back to the one thing he was passionate about.

"Matt! Hold the elevator!" He sprang to halt the doors so one of his band mates could join him. Zacky sprinted across the tile floors, narrowly missing innocent bystanders in the process.

"Morning, sunshine" Matt grinned at the panting man hanging on the elevator door.

Zacky gasped, "Morning." He finally clambered into the elevator, his sunglasses still on.

Matt raised an eyebrow at his friend, "Dude, what hell is wrong with you?" he asked, reaching over and plucking Zacky's aviator's off his pale, sullen face. Dark circles under his squinting eyes indicated a sleepless night due to a drunken stupor.

Frowning Zacky snatched his sunglasses back, "I accidentally drank too much last night." he croaked.

Matt chuckled, "How do you accidentally drink too much?" Zacky took the coffee from Matt's hand, guzzled about half, then handed it back.

"I don't know, all I know is I feel like shit." Zacky groaned as the elevator settled before the doors slid open. Matt gingerly pat his friend's back and offered his coffee to him. Zacky refused, holding up his hand and shaking his head.

"Come on, man. We'll get in here, talk about the tour, get you some water, then we'll go for breakfast." He once again offered his coffee to Zacky. He ran a hand through his disheveled black hair, nodded, and took the cup from Matt. Hardly able to contain his excitement, Matt had to resist the child-like urge to run down the hallway to the conference room. Zacky trailed behind him like a slug.

"Hey, guys, wait up!" Matt and Zacky turned around, Brian was jogging down the hall to meet them. They shook hands, as Brian turned to Zacky, he too, snatched the glasses off his face.

Brian's eyes widened at his appearance, "The hell happened to you?"

"He accidently drank too much last night." Matt explained. "Which, why weren't we invited?

Zacky whined, "Can you guys stop taking my glasses? My head is killing me." He ripped his glasses out of Brian's hands and shoved him behind his ears.

"I went to Gena's cousin's stupid wedding and they had a stupid open bar." He grumbled.

"...and you drank yourself stupid?" Brian snickered. Zacky feigned laughter as they reached the very last conference room at the end of the hall. They talked for hours about the number of shows, venues, technical staff, what they wanted to gain from this tour. As they all loaded into the elevator they looked over the detailed packet their manager had given each of them.

"I'm so glad we could hire back Chris and Jenna." Brian squealed with excitement. Zacky groaned in agreement, slouched in the corner, his forehead pressed against the cool glass.

"We got Madison too! And that girl, Rachel, for sound. I've heard she's awesome." Jimmy jabbed his knuckle into the first floor button on the elevator.

"Hopefully she's available." Johnny ran a head through his bleached blonde hair. The elevator dinged as the door slid open, the five of them strolled out the front doors, and down the street to their favorite diner. Forks and knives clanged together as they devoured stacks of buttery pancakes, crispy bacon, and heaps of scrambled eggs. Zacky, all the while, sipped his water and continued to nurse his hangover.

"I have a good feeling about this tour. This is going to be big for us." Matt vowed as he washed down his toast with fresh orange juice. He pushed his plate towards Zacky and handed him a clean fork.

"You've gotta eat, bud." Brian attempted to coax him.

"You'll feel a thousand time better." Johnny encouraged across the table with a mouth full of waffles. Zacky took the fork from Matt, stabbed a small sliver of pancake, and barely nibbled on it.

"Come on, man, you've had hangovers before. Stop being a drama queen." Jimmy teased. Zacky wrinkled his nose and gave him the finger as he picked a piece of bacon off Matt's plate.

"I do feel a little better now that's I've eaten something." He said as he sipped his water.

Brian pat him on the back, "See we told you." Zacky smiled weakly as he stabbed another piece of pancake with his fork.

"Fellas, I know tour is still a month away, but I want to propose a toast." Jimmy announced, holding his coffee up.

The other four raised their glasses as Jimmy continued, "May this tour be the most badass, amazing, unforgettable, tour to end all tours. This will be our fucking year."

"Here, Here!" They clanged their glasses together.

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Rachel gazed out at her lush, green backyard as she sipped her freshly brewed tea. Birds chirped as they flew by while a squirrel scampered through the freshly mowed grass. On her lakefront, a family of otters played on the dock, while a Great Blue Heron waited patiently to seize an unsuspecting fish in it's huge beak. A picturesque Florida morning, all the while, Fleetwood Mac played softly from her laptop on the coffee table. Taking another sip of her tea, she pulled her oversized blue sweater tighter to her body, making herself even more cozy. This was her favorite part of her daily routine. From beside her slipper-clad feet, a fat Siamese cat softly mewed at her, demanding her breakfast.

"What?" Rachel asked playfully. Sadie stood on her hind legs, stretching against Rachel's and let out another thunderous mew.

She chuckled softly, "Okay, I get it." Rachel turned on her heel, Sadie close behind her as they made their way to the kitchen. A series of chirps erupted from her phone on the kitchen counter, interrupting her task. An ecstatic smile played across her lips.

"Hello?" Rachel answered.

"Hey, what's going on? Sorry I'm calling so early." Molly greeted her. Rachel glanced at the small brown leather watch on her wrist. 7:30AM

Molly is the one who helped Rachel find all of her jobs and she couldn't help but grin at the thought that she had another job for her, "No, no you're fine. What's up?"

"Well, I have a job for you. It's for a North American tour, two months, 35 dates. Hang on let me see who it is. Uh, the manager called me this morning, evidently they were so impressed with one of the tours you did that they asked for you specifically." Her voice trailing off as the keys from the keyboard clacked down with fury in the background. Rachel had worked as a touring sound technician for three years, having worked with many bands.

She smiled so hard, her cheeks grew sore as she climbed on one of her bar stools, "Wow, really? That's a pretty big confidence boost. Did they say what tour?" Rachel rested her chin on her knee.

"No, they didn't say what tour, but things like this happen when you are good at what you do Ah! Here we go, it's for Avenged Sevenfold. You'll be starting in Augusta, Maine on August 3rd. Tour ends on October 4th in Huntington Beach."

Rachel glanced at the calendar by her refrigerator, today was July 6th, the corners of her mouth tugged down, "It's a little short notice, but not bad. Okay, yea definitely, I'm in."

"I figured you'd be all over it, so I already sent you an e-mail." Molly sang into the phone.

Rachel laughed, "Thanks, Molly."

"Anytime. I'll talk to you later." Ending the call, Rachel plopped down on the couch in front of her laptop and opened her e-mail. Along with her flight information to Maine on August 2nd, there was a list of personnel. A broad grin spread across her mouth when she read some familiar names. She flailed about on the couch in excitement. To say she was ecstatic would be a gross understatement. The thrill of traveling with her best friends, getting to see the beauty of the country, doing what she loved. Her thoughts traveled a mile a minute. There was much to do before she had to leave, starting with the hungry cat that let out yet another wail from the kitchen.