Page 79 of Disharmony

“Vixen,” Zander speaks to her softly, “remember I told you I had a surprise for your birthday?”

She crosses her arms. “If you think a bullshit surprise is going to make everything better, you’re fucking wrong.”

She turns her head to see Zed and freezes. He’s been hidden behind the huge guy until this point, and her sullen expression lifts.

“What the—” she gasps and wobbles on her feet as Ripper and Venom come out of the dressing room to join us.

The Basilisks are dressed as skeletons tonight, but each of them have taken a different creative slant on their outfit. Zed wears a full black suit; his trousers are tucked into heavy boots, and his jacket sits above his knees with a red, blood-stained waistcoat underneath. A voodoo puppet is pinned to his chest, and a top hat covered with fake spiders sits on his head. His smooth white mask has deep bone contours, which carve out his features, and the material moves and flexes as he does. The mask covers all of his face, apart from an opening for his mouth, where he’s painted his lips chalk white underneath, and eye holes, where his red eyes sear through.

Venom has opted for a black skeleton one-piece that resembles armor. It has wide, silver shoulder pads and bones made from elaborately crafted metal. He looks like he’s been resurrected after dying on a battlefield. A huge crown decorated with shiny rubies sits atop a long black wig that is streaked with white and flows down his back. His mask is shield-shaped and covers the majority of his face, lining the shape of his chin. He’s the king of the underworld, complete with contact lenses in the pattern of a chessboard that can hypnotize anyone with a single glance.

Ripper’s style is more relaxed than the others. His loose-fitting, long-sleeved black jumper looks like it’s been attacked by hungry wolves. It hangs around his knees, along with a necklace of skulls the size of my fist. His face is painted black and white, and prosthetics alter his appearance. His black hair is slicked back, and his eyes are suspended in sunken holes. Elaborate cheeks, eyebrows, and jaw bones have been expertly crafted into angular shapes, and strange raised symbols cover his skin that morph the shape of whatever lies beneath. His yellow eyes glow like a cat’s. I’m not sure how he managed to pull it off in such a short space of time without the help of a makeup artist.

“Happy birthday, Vixen,” Zander says to Vixen. He places his hand on her trembling shoulder. “This is your surprise.”

Vixen’s mouth opens and closes, like she can’t believe what she’s seeing.

“Happy birthday,” Zed growls in a voice much deeper than the tone he’s been using all day.

Vixen nods in thanks but is too speechless to reply. If someone arranged for the Basilisks to play at a party of mine, my reaction would be the same.

“We want to get a good view,” Zander says, leading her out by the arm. “Let’s go.”

“Enjoy the show,” Ripper says as the three of them disappear.

“Are you ready to go on stage?” Ted asks the guys.

Ripper ignores the question and turns to me instead. “Are you ready for another one of our shows, Ash?”

“You’ll be watching from backstage with Ted,” Venom says. “It’s what the VIPs do.”

My stomach flips at the mention of being a VIP.

“We’re ready,” Zed declares. He looks at his bandmates and they nod.

Venom’s shoulders straighten. He and Zed pace past me. In their costumes, they seem to be double the height they were earlier.

Ripper hangs back.

“Look after her, Ted,” Ripper says, then to me, “See you on the other side, Ash.”

* * *

The crowd roars as the Basilisks take the stage, making me worry the rickety warehouse will come crashing down on top of our heads as soon as they start playing.

It’s not a proper stage, like the one in Camp Harmony, but there’s enough room for Ted and me to sit on stools and get a perfect side-angle view through the curtains. I can see Venom and Ripper perfectly, but Zed likes to sing right at the front of the stage directly to the fans.

They playDead Bonesto start. It’s one of their older and slower-paced songs that fits with the theme of their costumes and gives Zed a chance to show off his vocal range. My arms erupt in goosebumps as he sings. I run my hands over them as tears spring to my eyes.

After my mom died, this is the song I listened to over and over.

“Today’s goodbye,

The black kiss of death on your forehead,

Darkness seeping into your bones.

Bones that’ll never be whole again.

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