Page 12 of Dark Room Junkie

“Hey, Noé!” Chris said, and we shook hands.

The other two greeted me with a nod. It was obvious that the mood in this band was completely down.

“What do you mean the crisis is over?” Lukas grumbled, plopping down on the couch. “We’re so screwed. That asshole, Manuel … I don’t wish death on anyone, but that would at least make our misery somewhat bearable.”

“Noé sings like a pro!” Marco exclaimed to everyone.

I nearly choked on my water. As I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, everyone stared at me.

“Okay, let’s jam together. You’ll see—I mean, hear,” Marco said eagerly, turning back to me. “We love Stone Sour. Do you know the song A Rumor Of Skin?”

I looked incredulously at everyone and caught Ramon’s indifferent shrug. Chris was already behind the drum kit, twirling the sticks and nodding confidently.

I knew the song well, as I often played it for myself, but it was hard to believe that Marco had turned their crisis meeting into an impromptu audition. My pulse quickened, and the water in my mouth tasted flat. A twitch went through my fingers, and the desire for alcohol surged within me.A shot would be handy right now.I quelled the thought and took a sip from the water bottle. Lukas, Ramon, and Marco climbed onto the stage and strapped on their instruments. It didn’t look like they were giving me a choice, so I followed them back onto the stage and stood behind the microphone.

“All right,” I consented and placed the water on the floor. Before I knew it, Lukas started with the guitar riff.

Okay, here we go.

Even though Marco had told me what was going on, and I was fully aware that this one song here would determine my fate, I focused entirely on the lyrics, the vocals, and the music. It felt so good to have a band behind me, forming a perfect unit with every note they played, carrying me through the song so that by the end, I dared to do a little more and raise my voice. I felt flooded with positive energy and knew this was what I wanted. Nothing else. Just music.

The realization left me stunned after the last note was sung. The band finished the song, and as Ramon let the guitar fade out, Chris shouted from behind the drum kit, breaking me out of my stupor.

“Join us!”

I tried to smile but my mind was preoccupied. “But what if Manu ...?”

Just hearing his name made the guys groan in unison.

“No,” Lukas stated. “The idiot suddenly changed his mind, and we had just finished recording the second album. He has no right to make demands.”

“Besides, you’re way better than him,” Chris chimed in again. “If you join us, we’ll tell everyone that we kicked Manuel out after we ran into you.”

A flurry of thoughts began racing through my head. Nightrain had never done things by halves when it came to music. At the last band room party, they had announced big plans to take things seriously and had since found a label. It was clear to me that refusing this offer would make me the biggest fool.

Ramon retrieved a few sheets from his guitar case and handed them to me. “These are the lyrics to our songs.”

The writing wasn’t particularly legible, but as Ramon sang the first song, it became easier for me to decipher them. I memorized the melody and noted where I could ramp up. And then the moment had arrived, and the band started playing. Ramon helped me out repeatedly and got me through the first song.

“Could it be ... I don’t hear any accent from you,” Lukas said.

“I grew up bilingual for a while,” I replied.

“Are you American?”

“No, my father was ... is Canadian.” I had no idea why, but I assumed he was still alive.

“Cool!”

What was cool about it, I didn’t know. The man had bailed, and I could have done without that. For years, my mother claimed he had gone back to Vancouver. All he had left me with was his last name.

The afternoon flew by, and we had worked through fifteen songs in no time.

“These are all tracks from our new album,” Chris explained as we chilled together on the couch and I went through the sheets again. “I’ll send you a link later, so you can access rehearsal recordings and learn the songs.”

I nodded and took a big gulp of my water. By now, I felt downright drained, especially since I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I wouldn’t be able to hang around here much longer.

“So,” Marco asked again seriously. “Are you in?”

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