This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2020 by TL Travis
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Published by Sapphire Publishing
Cover Art by Natasha Snow www.natashasnow.com
Editing and Formatting by Kris Jacen www.krisjacen.com/three-hearts
Issued 2020
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher
To my betas –
Jules you’re my girl, my bff and most likely the one I’m gonna grow old with. Love you sis!
Mildred –
You came to me out of the blue one day and were guilted in to being a beta J. You think I’m gonna let you go you have another thing coming. Thank you!
Layla –
My lit sis, I’m so happy we finally found a project to do together and I look forward to what we have in store for the readers in 2021.
To my editor Kris Jacen (who may no longer want to friend me after Rhone’s edits) –
You put up with my inability to properly punctuate, my need to question every change but you hold firm and stand your ground and because of that you have my utmost respect. Love you girl!
To Ann Lister –
You’ve been my rock through the past two shit filled years of my life. When I wanted to go under, you pulled me back up. Thank you for being there and including me in this project with all these wonderful authors. I’ll forever be you’re Huckleberry!
Dio – Rainbow in the Dark
Pantera – Cowboys From Hell
Metallica – The Unforgiven
Volbeat – Seal the Deal
Powerman 5000 – When Worlds Collide
Shinedown - Heroes
Adelita’s Way – Shine On
Motley Crue – Live Wire
Metallica – Creeping Death
Cranberries – Zombie
Rob Zombie – Living Dead Girl
Drowning Pool – Bodies
A Day To Remember – Resentment
Fame on Fire - Headspace
Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
Halestorm – Freak Like Me
Marilyn Manson – Deep Six
Gemini Syndrome – Stardust
Rancid – Time Bomb
The following songs in this book were written and copyrighted by TL Travis:
Forsaken
Strings ‘n Sex
Reason to Live
Sins of the Flesh (from Maiden Voyage 1, Derek’s Destiny)
Ely’s Song
Want to talk about having your world shift unsteadily on its axis? Like full on tilt-a-whirl ride. One minute, you are sharing a two-bedroom apartment in the seedy side of Las Vegas with your bass player and best friend, Seltzer, working a shitty job cleaning a thousand fucking restrooms at the MGM Grand. Then BAM, you’re living in your equally as shitty band van — all four of us — en route to Seattle to try out for their annual Battle of the Bands contest. Never in a million fucking years did we think we would win it let alone be chosen to immediately head out on the road with two of the biggest bands in the metal world, Maiden Voyage and Social Sinners. The grand prize awarded was a one-year contract with Masterson Management, which managed Social Sinners and recently signed Maiden as well. Then to instantly be thrown into their double-headlining European tour was like…whoa. I thought for sure that was over before it even started when Sal’s wife, well ex-wife now, tried to get into Chase’s pants when we were at their house for our first meeting with him. All the poor guy did was try and take a piss but the dumb shit didn’t lock the door behind him. Seems the former Mrs. Masterson didn’t care what was at stake when she went after Chase. Or maybe she did?
We didn’t even have our first album out, so none of the concert goers had heard any of our songs unless they follow our YouTube channel. Yet we were now in the lineup for Rocktoberfest in Nevada thanks to our management team. This year has been crazy insane right from the moment Chase told us about the contest. Every one of us hated our day jobs so quitting was an easy choice to make. We were getting shit gigs in crappy bars off the strip and knew we needed to take it up several notches if we ever hoped to get noticed and Chase found our ticket out. Performers and wannabes flood the Vegas streets, seeking the same end result we were, and it seemed that’s what the locals had labeled us as well. After the millionth door was slammed in our faces, Seltzer had a total meltdown, freaking out and screaming, “When is this ever gonna end?!”
Seltzer had a particularly bad day at work, stocking shelves at WinCo. Some little twerp took off with his mother’s grocery cart and she was chasing him throughout the store. Selzter was on his knees stocking the pickles when the kid ran into him, knocking the case from his hands. The jars shattered, sending shards of glass and pickle juice everywhere. Frustrated, Seltzer yelled, “What the fuck!” The brat’s mother complained to the store manager about his language and Seltzer was sent packing even though they had the demon child on video and clearly saw who was at fault. When he got home, David was here hanging out and he made a comment about him smelling like a dill douche and Seltzer flipped the fuck out. That’s when Chase came in waving a piece of paper, yelling, “Hey guys, check this out!” Long story short, he had unknowingly entered us into the battle, and we’d been selected to formally audition. The three of us who were still employed told our employers ‘see ya later’, sold what we could, put the rest in a shared storage unit and hit the open road — Seattle bound.
Now, we were living the fucking dream and yet I still felt unsettled, like I couldn’t quite get a grip on the reality of this or some shit. Who knows? When I was younger and restless, my mom would tell me I was just like my dad. I was ten, when she finally gave in and let me have my dad’s kit. Exasperated, she threw her hands in the air, handed me his drumsticks, and said, “Get in the car, we’re going for a ride.” We ended up at a storage unit in Henderson. As she slid the door open, a cool breeze rushed past, chilling me to the bone in the hundred plus degree heat. I will never forget how cold it felt nor will I ever be rid of the images of my mother’s tear streaked face as we went through my dad’s stuff that day. She had Uncle Tony, my dad’s best friend and my mom’s older brother, put everything in there and sealed it up like a tomb after the funeral. This was the first time she had seen any of my dad’s stuff since he died. I remember the dust flying off the tarps covering his drum set as I slid them off, running my fingers along the cymbals and taking a seat behind it. The very stool he sat on every time he played. A sense of elation washed over me. It was like the second my ass hit the black vinyl cushion his spirit called out to me. This was what I was meant to do.