Tanner couldn’t see their faces with the shadows all around them, but she knew each and every Twisted Feather member as well as she knew herself—or at least she had.
Beats took up residence behind the drum set on the back of the stage. Marcus “Five” Rafter slipped the strap of his bass over his head and stood on the left hand side of the stage. Matthew “Matty” Boston had his rhythm guitar in hand, and then her heart stopped when she saw the lead singer of Twisted Feather take center stage.
Once Jacks was in place, right behind that microphone with his head lowered and his guitar draped across his chest, Tanner swore the air chilled in the room. For a solid minute none of the band members moved, and the spotlight had dimmed enough that it only gave a light glow in front of Jacks’s feet.
He lifted his hand, and that was when the crowd went wild. Absolutely-fucking-wild at this small gesture. The lights came on full blast then, and the band started playing their newest number one hit, “A Red Winter”.
Zoe was singing to the song right beside her, and nearly everyone in the bar had their hands up in the air. Of course Tanner had heard this song, as she had every single one of their numbers. The lyrics were twisted, frightening in their intensity, but also so beautiful.
She looks upon the stars, her heart resting in her hand.
The whiteness of her blood, seeping to the land.
She is no longer there, just a soul, an empty shell.
A life now void as she rests with the devil in hell.
A Princess of the darkness, a Queen of the dead.
A whore for the devil, as she lies beside him in bed.
It was almost depressing in the way Jacks belted out the lyrics, but so damn enthralling at the same time. It was like he was staring right at her, singing just for her. She supposed everyone in this room probably felt the way she did, and that was why these concerts were so intoxicating.
It was like her own private show, like she was standing in the center of a deserted room, staring at Jacks as he lifted his hand, reached out for her, and stared right into her eyes.
She was drowning in the sensation moving through her. Jacks had this deep, soulful voice, one that was almost tangible as it reached out to all of the audience. Jacks closed his eyes and grabbed the microphone. His dark hair was on the longer side, swooping along his forehead, but keeping his eyes still visible to the public.
Tanner could remember his eyes, ones that were soulful, expressive, and had looked right into her own while he took her virginity and her heart.
Even though she was more toward the back of the bar and his eyes were closed, Tanner knew that the color was so blue, and as clear as the Caribbean. With his black hair and light eyes, the combination was a striking contrast. That was the first thing that she had noticed on him when they had met in elementary school: the dark and the light, the mysterious and the clear.
He looked bigger all these years later, like maybe he had been working out. With his plain white t-shirt formed to his chest, outlining his muscles, and showing off the full sleeved tattoos that covered both of his arms, she could feel the remembrance of his touch along her body.
He hadn’t had any ink when she’d left right after high school, and although she had known he had gotten all of that done in that last five years, seeing him the same yet so changed was a shock in itself.
Beats was already sweating as he pounded on the drums in this steady, yet consistent stream of motion. Marcus had his head low, and his light brown hair was longer as well and hanging over his forehead. Matty looked like the only “clean shaven” one, but even though his blond hair was cut short and a stylish disheveled mess around his head, she knew he could be just as wild and reckless as the rest of the guys.
As they finished that song and went right into another one the room started to get warmer, and perspiration lined not only the area between her breasts but along her spine as well.
The guys’ shirts were becoming plastered to their chests, and their mannerisms became fierce and strong the deeper they went into the songs. People were singing along, their hands thrown high in the air, and a few women even screamed when Jacks would hit an especially soulful note. God.
His voice, it still did something to her. Even now, all these years later, she could hear him singing in the basement of his parents’ place. Although most of the time there were the other guys and Zoe around, there were a few times when it was just them. She would just sit in the corner, her knees curled under her as she listened to Jacks do an acoustic version of a song he had just written, or even to a cover from one of her favorite bands.
He had this way about him that could draw everyone toward him. He was mesmerizing in every way possible, but to her it was like a drug she was addicted to. He was like that drug she needed desperately, and staying away had only hidden her feelings. The longer she stared at him, let his words and the melody of the song fill her, she felt her entire body light up. Her heart pounded hard, and adrenaline flooded her body.
One week back and she was already falling hard into the past, one that was five years gone by, and one that concerned a group of guys that probably no longer even thought about the friendship they had all once shared. Hell, she doubted Jacks even remembered the night they had shared, or the way she had run like a scared rabbit from the one person that had meant the world to her.
He probably had gorged himself on countless women, ones that were far more beautiful, and a hell of a lot thinner than she was.
As they moved from one song to the next, Jacks started playing his guitar as well as singing. Most of the band could play multiple instruments, and seeing Jacks on that stage, clearly wrapped up in the music and his fans, made this experience something totally different from what she had experienced all those years ago.
If she felt this intoxicated from just watching them, she couldn’t even imagine how drugging it was for them on that stage.
An hour and a half later and the band had just walked off of the stage. The crowd was still going wild, trying to get them back out for the third time for another encore. But the lights went off, and then came back on to their regular strength. There were a few younger girls, maybe eighteen, who started squealing about how hot the band was, and the sexual things they would allow them to do if they ever had the chance.
“Come on.” Zoe grabbed her arm and started leading her through the crowded main floor. “Backstage passes, baby.” Zoe had the biggest grin on her face, which had Tanner feeling happy as well, but on the heels of that excitement was nervousness.
All Tanner could feel was this strange shaky fear slam into her over and over again like a sledgehammer on concrete. Zoe kept pulling her forward, but it was a push and retreat as all the people around them were trying to move at the same time. The back of Rosco’s held a storage room and a freezer, but she also knew there was a pretty generous employee lounge there, too. They kept pushing forward, until they were at the bar with the backdoor to their right.
“Let’s get a drink before we go back there.”
Yeah, that was a pretty good idea. Tanner nodded, and they waited twenty minutes just to place their order. Once they had both downed a shot, and now held a beer in their hands, they made their way to the backdoor. Of course there was a line of barely legal girls standing by the two beefy bouncers guarding the band. Zoe pulled Tanner forward again, and her beer sloshed over the rim of the red plastic cup she held.