Hypnotized by the Carbon Monoxide

Trace stood on the side of the stage watching as people filled in the seats his eyes constantly looked for Charlie or Ronnie. In all honesty he wanted to know what she was going to do to the poor man, he had heard something from Nicole Richie’s lips about twenty minutes ago as her and Joel walked by that Charlie was going to make Ronnie’s head physically explode while on his head, and she wasn’t even going to touch him. That to Trace sounded like the best night of reality T.V. ever.

He paused as William walked out onto the stage. Screams erupted from the female portion of the crowd it seemed like as he moved some cords around on the stage finishing up the cord layout so no one would trip over it.

“Shush, the show will start soon.” William muttered into the microphone in the center of the stage. “We’re just doing some last things before we rock this casba.” He stated, his soft voice carrying even into the rafters and upper balcony. Waving his tattooed arms a bit for the crowd to calm down he laughed a little as the crowd began to scream twice as loud. “Shush… shush please.” He muttered. “If you don’t you won’t hear what I want you to hear.” He stated letting his arms drop to his side as the load roar of the crowd died listening closely. “Wait for it.” He muttered lifting one fingers as everyone’s brows narrowed in confusion. Turning lightly he looked at Tony walking up to the drum kit in nothing but a pair of pants as he twirled a pair of drum sticks. “Hey Tony.” Tony waved sitting down as people clapped. “Shush, please, any minute now.” William muttered into the microphone in a soft whispered hush confusing the crowd. “I promise.” He muttered removing the microphone from the stand and shifting the stand to the back of the stage.

Trace stopped as he watched the tall, lanky man move across the stage. Looking down a bit he noticed Charlie standing next to him guitar slung over her shoulder as she put in her ear pieces. Lifting her gaze to him, she watched him adjusting her hair around the ear pieces.

“What?” she asked lightly. Stepping back Trace crossing his arms over his chest taking note she was wearing her Bring my the Horizon t-shirt again with a pair of black skinny’s that weren’t filled with holes, Her make-up was still the same thick eyeliner around her eyes from when she was first planning on destroying people.

“What’s the crowd listening for?” He asked lightly, shrugging she yawned a bit, her hand slapping over her mouth to hide it. “Oh.” Was all Trace muttered as she lifted the neck of her guitar with one hand and the other lifting a small flashlight.

Pointing the light across the stage she clicked the button twice, flashing the light at Brendon holding his hot pink bass on the other side of the stage. Doing the same they both slipped the flashlights away.

William shushed the crowd once more, trying to get them dead silent as he moved around the stage looking between the two standing on the side. He paused looking as Brendon pluck a few chords.

“See, you would’ve missed that…” William laughed as he looked towards Charlie lifting a hand in the air one finger raised. Pumping her hand up, she held another finger up. “You would’ve missed out.” William muttered as she pumped her third finger up before counting off three on her hand and moving on stage playing her guitar. “You would’ve missed out on all the things we could’ve been.” William sang as Tony wailed away on his drums, bouncing in his seat as he hit the bass drum pedal at a quick four-four beat. Brendon plucked, strummed and slapped at his bass strings as he swayed around the stage and fingered the fret board expertly. Charlie danced around her long skeleton like fingers flying over the fret board as her arm and wrist let the pick clutched in her fingers fly over the strings fast enough keeping up with her moving fingers. William’s voice carried over the crowd and up into the balcony were kids stood screaming and dancing. Trace’s eyes lingered on Charlie leaning back a bit as she strummed quickly.

Charlie smiled at the crowd leaning forward a bit towards them as they seemed to rush forward to get a better view, security guards rushing to get them back to their seats. Stepping back a few times she moved her shoulders to the beat along with her hips. Glancing over at William, she smiled at him as he leaned forward towards the few people in the front of the crowd his thin hips moving in what you could call a teasing manor.

Spinning around, Charlie almost skipped across the stage towards Brendon. Smiling at him he nodded at her. Pressing her shoulder to his, he glanced at her as she rest her chin on it.

“Up and Over?” Charlie questioned lightly in his ear with a loud voice no one but him would hear her in. His lips pursed as he tried to suppress his smile.

“Two in.” He called back. Bobbing her head she turned moving back across the stage, jumping up onto one of the amps playing all her heart out.

Trace watched from the side of the stage as sweat trickled down the side of her face, her mouth open a bit as she swayed around. Her once bouncy black hair stuck to the top of her head from sweat as a few beads of it trickled down the side of her neck.

“Mmm, can’t wait to make her sweat like that myself.” His eyes darted over to a small group a few feet off from him. A few guys were staring at her with lust filled eyes as she moved around. Rolling his eyes he looked back at her, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard, he had to admit he did want to make her sweat like that alone, but he wasn’t willing to voice his thoughts so boldly. Not only was it just disgusting to hear people say that about her, it was rude and completely insensitive.

The groups clogging the sides of the stage watched as Charlie and Brendon glanced at each other both nodding. Moving across the stage they almost ran at each other, Brendon dipping down in the middle of the stage in front of the drum set as Charlie rolled over his back lunching a few feet in the air as he threw his shoulders. Landing she stumbled a bit still playing, William froze as his lips moved forming the words he sang; the guitar neck of Charlie’s Gibson guitar nearly taking the frail man out as he went to move to the front of the stage again.

“So…” William muttered as the song ended looking between his two band mates still on the opposite end of the stage they’d started on. “I just almost died.” He laughed his voice louder than anyone on the tour so far had ever heard it, it wasn’t booming, but it was loud. “Thank you Charlie, I didn’t know I was on the hit list.” The small girl just smiled at him brightly.

“You know I love you!” She yelled as he rolled his eyes.

“As much as you love Oliver.” Charlie’s face twisted up in disgust at the mention of the diabolical animal she’d once loved so much, till it tried to eat Puff several months back and gave him to her little brother Tomas, who only being six tortures the poor tabby endlessly. “Anyway,” William muttered steering off the subject quickly knowing it could result in a lot of yelling and time wasting. “This next ones Bang Bang.” The crowd went wild as the heavy bass started a bit slowly while Brendon and Charlie quickly changed spots.

Stepping up to the mic and Keyboard set Charlie placed her fingers on the slick white and black keys playing a soft melody that carried off the heavy bass while the kit drum broke in slowly with the sound of the drumsticks against the high hat. It created the perfect melody as William hummed a bit into the microphone. It sounded some what angelic as Charlie leaned into the microphone letting out a heavy breath into it. The crowd swayed arms up in the air.

“On three!” William muttered. “One!” He held up one finger the crowd waited for his count as Charlie clenched her teeth, eyes closed and pulled her lips back over her teeth a deep, throaty snarl rising from behind her teeth. “Two.” William muttered as the sound grew deeper and louder. A wide smile spread over everyone’s face in the crowd, William’s wide toothy grin joining them as everyone on the sides of the stage watched her with open mouths and wide eyes. “Three! Bang Bang!” He yelled with the crowd as Charlie’s knees bent while her fingers stopping playing the slick keys, the bass and drums hit in perfectly in a heavy quick four-four tempo while she gave I loud deep, throaty scream that no one playing with them would be able to match.

“That was hot.” Everyone nodded at Bryan Monte’s simple words as she pulled back from the microphone grabbing hold of the guitar slung around her shoulders playing it quickly while William sang running around the stage, jumping around. Quickly Charlie stepped back up to the microphone that roar of a scream forming the words: bang, bang your dead now, bang, bang. But the way her lip formed them was as if she were simply singing them, there was no effort in her face like when she did the rising snarl and scream from before. She looked perfect as she screamed into the microphone.

“Wow.” The guys clapped as the four exited the stage. Charlie smiled at them bowing lightly as Brendon slung his hot pink fender bass around his shoulder effortlessly with a wide toothy, playful grin. Tony just nodded at the group as he began moving his drums off the stage with the aid of William and his shy smile.

“You looked good out there.” Charlie looked up at Ronnie standing over her as she reached between her sweat drenched black locks pulling out the ear pieces as she watched him. “Like… hot.” He muttered smirking at her, his dark eyes glistening as he watched the sweaty woman step away from him. “Here.” He stated reach towards her as she pulled the ear pieces out.

“Touch me and I’ll break your fingers.” She snapped lightly, blue eyes closed as she dropped the ear buds around her shoulders and lifted her guitar from them. Looking up she studied the shocked and froze man before her. “I don’t like you.” She stated simply handing her guitar to a stage hand who quickly put it away. Moving back out on to the bright lit stage she knelt down on one knee picking up her pedals, closing the case and locking it as she pulled cords out winding them up. Lifting the items she moved them to the side placing them in their rolling cabinet. Turning she moved to the amps sitting onstage in their rolling cabinets and moved them off stage taking the removable cabinet pieces and locking them in place. Glancing back at the stage she grabbed the cords around the spot Tony’s drum kit had once been as Brendon and William rolled the rest of the amps off stage and helped Metro Station move their amps and drum kit on stage.

Standing off to the side Charlie watched as Metro station took the stage twenty minutes later of cleaning up and setting back up different sets of equipment. She leaned back against a wall as they started off. Mason danced a bit behind his microphone as Trace moved around jumping around and playing his heart out, moving up to the microphone every time he was meant to. Her brows narrowed as he removed his guitar half way through a song taking the microphone singing into it and moving into the seated crowd.

Laughing she rolled her eyes as the teenage girls swarmed for the half dressed man in tight black jeans and an open grey vest, blue eyes darting around the dark room as he sang to them, security pulling him back towards the stage, his black hair starting to stick to his head as he moved. Blake took the chance to shoot silly string at the crowd, nailing Trace in the face with a long yellow string.

“Blake is sharing the love.” Mason laughed with a slight lisp to his words as he pushed his dark brown hair out of his face the second Trace climbed back up on stage taking his guitar again as he put the microphone back on the stand.

“Yeah, too much love.” Trace stated pulling at the yellow silly string in his hair as Blank began playing the opening part on his keyboard to one of their songs while Mason put his sunglasses on his face and adjusted his large jacket.

Leaning back Charlie looked up at Brendon standing next to her.

“How can he wear that thing?” She asked with a small laugh. With an awkward frown and a scrunched up nose, he raised his hands as he shrugged a bit confused. “Do you think he’s ever gotten heat stroke on stage before?” She chirped that the thought of the poor man confusing his words of the songs from being dizzy just before he passed out and hit the stage with a hard thud. “That would suck wouldn’t it?” She asked, Brendon nodded vigorously as he watched them go on with the sappy, slow love song. “Do you know who the fuck Kelsey is?” She asked after a few measures into the song, completely and utterly confused. “And what does an ocean have to do with anything?” Brendon shrugged again, neither one too in touch with there romantic or sensitive sides to understand the warming words that were melting every teenage hormonal girl that wanted to get into one of the band members pants. “Dude…” Charlie muttered softly scratching at her sweaty head. “I’m confused.” She laughed shaking her head, not even really listening to the lyrics of the song, just catching bits and pieces of it.

“Same… wanna go take Tony’s peanut butter, hide it and watch him freak?” Brendon questioned lightly bored with the slow tempo song. “Whoa… feel harder, burn brighter, feel tougher? That’s a nice way to put sex.” He grunted scratching his head as Charlie’s eyes darted back to the four on stage swaying to the slow beat playing it perfectly. “Maybe it’s about sex on a beach.” Brendon muttered in her ear as the song ended, shrugging lightly he laughed. “I don’t know. I’m going to go terrorize people now.” Nodding Brendon hurried off leaving the small woman by her self as the one of the few songs by Metro Station started. Shake It.

Her foot tapped as she watched them move around the stage, her eyes were stuck on the way Trace’s shoulders swayed and how his hips followed their movement behind his snow white guitar. Smiling softly she watched as his hair fluttered around his face, his lips forming a smile as he gasped the words into the microphone, Mason waiting for his chance to sing just after he finished, the whole crowd signing along with both men while jumping up and down wildly and dancing to the beat of the song.