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“What is it?” I asked, putting led hair
Her eyes drifted over to the wo to her knees, her black robe draping around her, her back still to us
“She’s not human,” Dawn said quietly, her fear audible with each syllable
I couldn’t tell if Daas being overly paranoid or not, but if she didn’t feel safe here, in the place I thought she would, then I wanted us to leave
“Let’s go,” I said, assuring her I got tothe back of the peith a whack, the church not constructed for someone as tall as me I pulled her up and we squeezed out into the aisle
We both stared du absolutely still in thethe altar
A huge BANG caused us both to jump and flip around
The huge wooden door we cah had slammed shut The flames in the candles around it danced, and it felt like a shadow ca over the sun
We looked at each other I could tell the terror inside Daanted to annihilate her But it was just a closed door It was just the wind Nothing could happen in here, in one of these houses of the holy, with Ro outside the door as norht of as a sure thing in this world
“Co her hand
We made it to a fes outside the door e heard the rustle The sound of clothing dragging on the ground Ragged breathing Heavy thumps Behind us
I squeezed her hand, , to not turn around Even though we both kne that there was sooing on in this goddamned church
We got to the door and I tried to open it, lifting the heavy iron latch on the handle
It wouldn’t open
There was a terrible, skeletal crack behind us, followed by more in rapid succession It sounded like my dad when he cracked his knuckles, but deeper,every bone in their body, over and over again The sound was so loud, so clear, and so sharp that it echoed loudly around the church
Dawn started to turn around to look, but I tugged harshly on her ar into hers “Do not turn around,” I told her “Whatever you do, do not turn around”
I saw her s, her eyes bulging wide, her ether and nodded
The cracking noise got closer, the rustling, dragging noise continuing Infor us with bony arers, her black cloak behind her, her joints and bones breaking as she stretched and grew and took on an inhuman form I was so tempted to turn around and look, to see if the horror in ht there behind us
Fucking shit I was going to lose it
I took in a deep breath and tried the door again, willingthat ould be let out of the church
The iron latch lifted I gasped in relief and pulled open the heavy door and, with Dawn’s hand in mine, we ran out into the busy Ro the terror away from our faces
We ran all the way back to the hotel We never once looked back
Despite ent on the church, despite the e felt,or, more specifically, didn’t see, the concert in Root back fro desperately to make sense of what had happened (our theory was that either ere extremely paranoid—with reason—or the demons fed off our fear), ere quickly swept up in the soundcheck and the concert proceedings
Normally I would have been worried abouttogether, the fans in Rome, but none of that even crossedher safe When I knew Max would be on the side stage with her during the show and Jacob would be on the other side, I relaxed Imy music the way I wanted to I conjured up all the drea fa II ith the people anted to receive it
So yeah, Rome was an awesome show Thank you, Italy I played sober, reive everyone my soul, and they in turn see, they cheered, they danced, they rocked out And every now and then, I’d look to the shadows of the side stage and see Daatching est fan, and that’s what I so loved about her That through and through, she was a fan, a lover, a friend, a girlfriend She was everything, and at thatA world at my feet and a woman with my heart
Things didn’t get weird until we finished the encore I decided on “Wet Lips” again, just because I was feeling respectful, just because I was feeling Because, God-fucking-dah I loved being a solo artist, I loved having the control and going at it on my own, it was lonely It was lonely in this creative realm I missed Robbie and Mickey and even Chip, our sound tech Ithat actually ued the lyrics, even when he didn’t write the song I missed it all But noas alone, the one-o of it This was my tribute
It was after the solo during “Wet Lips,” the one part where I really thought that I gave Mr Jae a run for his ers, that I saw sos were not one hundred percent normal and ere not one hundred percent safe
I looked out into the audience Half the tihts and couldn’t really see any individual faces, which usually made it that et off on it (unlike Robbie, who did get off on it) But with the sporadic way the house had the lights for “Lips,” the spotlight was going off on the crowd
And I saw a fa back at me
Long white hair, calculating purple eyes, and a vicious, razor-sharp grin
The ultiroupie from Hell: Alva