“Let’s do this. We might do things a little unorthodox, Leif, but I’m sure you can keep up.” Lyrik moved over to the sofa were Austin was sifting through the notebooks. He dug through, blindly pulling out one that was leather bound. “Been working on this one for a while. Like it . . . it’s got an edge that I’m going for. But there’s something missing. Something I can’t put my finger on.”
I glanced that way as he flipped it open to a page where a river of words had been scratched and slashed out and rewritten across the paper.
Incoherent.
A disjointed ramble that made no sense.
But I got that he knew. That he already recognized the words as his eyes dropped closed and he played a few chords.
The strains of a choppy melody filled the space.
Something seductive and dark.
Ash started to tap the toe of his Vans on the floor, head slowly bouncing in time before he started to pluck at the strings of his bass.
A new thread twined.
“You got a range on it, Austin?” Lyrik asked.
Austin began to hum, strumming quiet at the strings of his acoustic guitar. “Yeah. Think so.”
My attention darted between the three of them as I let their process seep in. Getting it.
Realizing this was the way their magic was made.
There was a reason Sunder was one of the biggest bands in the world.
Their style setting a trend that had begun years before and had never found its end.
Powerful and gritty and raw.
The melody curled around me.
A perfect storm.
A beautiful nightmare.
I didn’t know.
Only thing I knew was I felt it way down deep. Speaking directly to my spirit. I tapped my drumsticks against my thigh, letting the rhythm simmer and soak and become something fluid in my mind.
Couple of seconds later, Lyrik drove into a thrashing beat. Knocking us out of the quiet trance and catapulting us straight into the bedlam that was the music of Sunder.
Aggressive and hard and loud.
Austin climbed to his feet, his head thrashing as he found the rhythm. The lyrics choppy and sparse as he tried to make sense of them. As he tested the waters and brought them to life.
I caught onto it, let my sticks loose on the drums.
Got caught up in the raging beat.
Austin began to sing.
Are you lost?
How did we end up here?
I’ve been coming for a long time.
Gone in your eternity.
Now you’ve got me condemned in your sins.
Do you want me on my knees?
Now you’re up and gone.
Vanished without a trace,
And you’re still staring at my face.
Don’t know what to believe.
Questioning everything.
The song shifted from the screaming match that Austin was having with the mic, guy diving into the deep harmony, showing off the range of his voice.
Cause all you do is break me.
Fake me.
Bleed me.
And I don’t know what else I have to give.
Break me.
Fake me.
Lyrik stopped abruptly, his hand clanking down on the strings, feedback flooding the space while the fierceness continued to resonate against the walls.
Huffing, he raked a hand through his hair before he pointed at Austin. “That, right there. Chorus is off. Way fuckin’ off.”
He paced a couple steps, his head toward the ground, like he was gathering up the energy of an earthquake. Harnessing it.
“Lyrics or key?” Austin asked as he scratched something out on the page and scribbled something more.
There was no missing the connection that banged between the three of them.
Between us.
Like I’d become partner to it.
Something brilliant. Feeling created out of nothing.
Enticed from the depths.
Pulled from memories and mishaps and miseries.
None here a stranger to them.
“Not sure,” Lyrik mumbled.
“Chorus needs a contrast,” I cut in. “She better be giving you something good if you’re going to put yourself through that,” I continued, letting a smirk ride free. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut, but I decided it wasn’t time to give a fuck. They wanted me here and I was here. Was gonna offer my opinion.
Lyrik’s attention swung my way. A grin pulled to the corner of the guy’s mouth before he was grabbing the notebook and tossing it my way.
“Have a go at it then, brother.”
I caught it against my chest with my left hand, snatching the pencil that came sailing at me with my right, somehow managing to keep hold of my sticks in the process.
I gave a tight nod, chewing at my bottom lip.
Contemplating.
Searching.
Catching the same vibe that Lyrik had been feeling when he’d penned these lyrics.
Resurrected from a reservoir that was an age old.
I tucked my sticks under my thigh, balanced the notebook on my forearm, pencil scratching across the page as I began to jot a twist in the words.
Cause all you do is break me.
Gut me.
Bleed me.
I’m cursed. Nothing left to give.
Spin my mind when you touch me.
Fill me.
Feed me.
I’m redeemed. All the reason left to live.
I tossed it back, and Lyrik glanced over it, smiling slow. “Ah, Leif here is a romantic.”
Denial blew from my mouth on a pulse of air. “Hardly.”
“Not to worry, man. I’m a firm believer you can’t be a good songwriter unless you’ve fallen in love and then suffered its end.”
My chest tightened. Painfully. In rejection. “They’re just fuckin’ words, man. Nothing more.”
Too bad words were the power of meaning.
“Killed it, Leif. Knew you were going to fit in just fine.” Ash clapped me on the shoulder as I wiped the sweat on my forehead with a hand towel. Skin drenched.
“Think I might be able to hack it.” I grinned, body still on edge from the wild beat of adrenaline pulsing through my veins.
Ash slung his arm around my neck. “Now don’t tell Zee I said this, but you nailed it. You’re a rager. Full on beast. You should have seen the sweat flying off of you. Going to have to have someone come in here to mop up the mess. Epic. Seriously, you’re playing with a country band? Don’t fit, man. That shit’s just weak,” he razzed.
I shrugged him off with a slight chuckle. “Excuse me?”
“Nothing but wasted talent. Squandered. It’s a damn travesty.”
I tossed the towel into the bin. “You even listen to us?”
“Nah. Like I said . . . country.”
I laughed. “You just keep telling yourself that. I bet you fall asleep listening to Carolina George.”
He gasped. “Blasphemy.”
Austin chuckled as he tossed his things into a bag. “Uh . . . Ash is the one who went nuts when Zee suggested we get in touch with you. Dude can lie through his teeth, but I’d lay down bets that if you looked up his most listened-to songs, Carolina George would be sitting at the top.”
Ash lifted his hands in defense. “Hey . . . I just heard the word. Rumor spreads fast in these parts. Every time Carolina George comes into town, people lose their ever-lovin’ minds. You’d think it was Sunder playing or something. Of course, that Emily girl might have a little something to do with it. She is somethin’.”