Page 14 of Metal & Mud

Music was to her an expression of the soul, and Sabrina Adams' soul was loud. She'd eventually learned to hold back on the dances—she was no ballerina. And besides, dancing prevented her from really opening up with her lungs to sing, and the more she could sing, the more her soul rejoiced.

Which was why, for the first time in her life, music made perfect sense when she discovered not just rock music, but heavy metal music. This was music to thrash to, to crank up until your speakers distorted and your ears threatened to bleed. It was music that spoke to her soul.

The first time she understood death, it was Metallica's "One" that left her in tears. The entire Metallica album got her through her first two years of high school, and while some would consider the band having sold out to commercial interests years ago, her favorite birthday gift of all time was when Jess had taken her to a Metallica concert in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the iconic album.

But as she learned more about metal, she learned more about the subgenres, and what she could and couldn't sing. So she trended towards the specific sub-genre of female-fronted "melodic metal," and loved to sing along with a lot of her favorite bands. They were normally tremendous singers, and they sang about more than death, demons, and kicking ass. They sang about pain, and joy, and social causes, and life, and more.

And of course, being the irrepressible personality she was, she was going to be a prophet of metal, bringing the gospel of growl and some hard rock hallelujah to the unwashed country and rap listening masses.

But bringing metal to the masses was her chosen mission on Fort Pickett, a crusade against the bland corporate moronic influences of bro country, mumble rap, and ditzy fake sassy girl pop. She attacked her mission with the same intensity her sister did her job, or in Sabby's mind, how Jess attacked the weight room. She didn't just want to sing metal for karaoke night, she had to sing metal. She needed to sing metal. She lived for these nights.

So as she sat through the first three acts of karaoke night, she repressed her groans. She'd gotten onto the list early that night, before the party really got started and the folks with more than a few beers in them decided that their American Idol dreams were just one karaoke night away from reality, and that Budweiser was, in fact, a singing aid.

"Hey Jerry, you can cover the register for my song?" she confirmed with her coworker, who was actually running the food counter that night. "It's only four minutes."

"I'm good," Jerry assured her. He always was, Jerry was used to Sabby's forays into the world of performance karaoke. And while he didn't share her taste in music, he was at least cool enough to listen when Sabby went monologuing about it. "So what's in store for tonight? More Nightwish?"

"No, I learned from my mistake there," Sabby said with a rueful shrug. The truth was, it was one of her worst performances. "I'm no operatic soprano."

Actually, she'd made plenty of mistakes in her karaoke choices.

First, she learned that the classic metal acceptance of long songs wasn't a karaoke favorite. Sure, "Ride The Lightning" was one of Metallica's best songs, but at six and a half minutes of thrashing guitar and machine gun drums, it was too long for most people.

Second, epic guitar solos were amazing... to watch someone perform. And they were great to rock out to and listen to... on your own.

Third, she learned that she couldn't go too 'heavy' with the metal. Emotions and metal just led to emotional damage... from the crowd.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, she learned that there just are some voices she couldn't sing. Amy Lee could make the angels weep with Evanescence, but Sabby Adams couldn't replicate half those notes. Singing for herself in the shower, that was fine. Singing for the crowd at the bowling alley, it wasn't.

So she'd prepared for this performance, going with something she hoped would resonate with the crowd. Sure, she was 'selling out' by using a cover of a recent pop song, but so be it. When she'd first heard the song on TikTok, she'd thought it had a good, heavy backing to it, and when she'd heard a metal cover of it, knew she was right.

Besides, there was no way a song with the title of "Unholy" could be anything but metal. The title alone was clad in steel and titanium, and as she pulled her track up on the bowling alley's laptop that was used for karaoke night, she grinned.

She knew she was going to reach someone tonight.

"Hey everyone," she said as she picked up the microphone, looking out on the crowd. They were mostly ignoring her, which was pretty standard for karaoke night. Most of the crowd knew her, and had made up their minds. But she still hoped to reach that one person, so she kept her spirits up. "Thought I'd change it up tonight, this isn't in the normal rotation, but I hope you enjoy it still."

She hit the spacebar, and lifted her microphone. This song was different from most of what anyone did for karaoke night since she was the intro, with no music at all. With a choral backing, she sang the intro.

The guitars and drums dropped, and she lost herself in the music. Sure, she was being seductive as she moved, the whole song oozed sex. She didn't think anyone could make a version that wasn't. For god's sake, when she first saw Halocene's video of their cover, the lead singer had done the whole thing in a latex naughty nun outfit with black wings sprouting out of her back.

As she sang, she watched the crowd. There were a few people listening, a few nodding their heads along... and as usual most of the crowd ignored her. That she could deal with, but as she came out of the chorus and into the second verse, she felt like she'd been stabbed in the gut as she saw one table not just laughing, but one guy actively booing her.

Those jerks! They were cheering when that girl was butchering Carrie Underpants!

She'd been hurt before though, from parents who didn't understand, to classmates and friends who turned their backs on her... she knew what to do. She poured everything into it, anger and hurt fueling the last repetition of the chorus, her voice ringing out acapella again for the final line before the last guitar riff and drum thunder blasted out of the speakers. She was panting, but before she could manage a sarcastic "thank you," she saw something that stopped her.

A guy cheering her.

Not just a guy, but a really handsome guy, his closely cropped hair saying he was military, but the gray "death" t-shirt and black jeans saying he wasn't just a regular soldier. Best of all, when their eyes met he raised his right hand up, flashing Sabby the universal sign of heavy metal, the "devil's horns" that every rocker knew.

It was the greatest compliment Sabby had ever gotten for her singing, and as she opened her mouth, there was no sarcasm at all. "Thanks!"

Leaving the stage, Sabby went back behind the counter, where Jerry was ready to turn the shoes and game register over to her. "Nice cover. Hadn't heard that one before."

"I have," a deep, sure voice said, and Sabby looked up to see the guy in the gray t-shirt. Up close he was even more eye-catching, with a strong jawline and gray eyes that were almost the same color as parts of his t-shirt. His sensuous lips were raised in a spontaneous grin, and his white teeth flashed in the alley's fluorescent lights. The same lights that seemed to wash out everyone and everything, and this guy looked like a million bucks standing in front of her. "You rocked the shit out of that. Better than the original cover!"

"Get the fuck out," Sabby replied before clapping her hand over her mouth. "I mean... I'm nowhere near as good as Halocene."

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