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Chapter Thirty-Seven Taylor leaned back against the brick wall, waiting for his brothers to join him for the show they were about to give. Physically, he felt amazing. Having fed, in fact, overfed the night before and again that evening, his body was in rare form. Mentally though, he didn’t think he’d ever felt worse. Guilt was overwhelming him as he thought not only about the life he’d taken, but about what he’d done to the girl tonight. Though he’d clouded her memory afterward, what he’d done to her as he drank was not something he was proud of. But, he had to admit, the blood was richer and hotter from her fear. It had been a similar experience to drinking from Melanie that first night. He ran his hands through his hair and looked down at the scarlet shirt he was wearing. How fitting, he thought as he watched his brothers walk toward him. “Hey dude, ya alright?” Zac asked as he placed his hand on Taylor’s shoulder. Taylor looked up at him with clear blue eyes, “Yeah. Are you?” He replied, looking at both his brothers. “We’ll manage.” Isaac said, a little smile gracing his features. “Well, are we ready? The crowd sounds pretty hyped out there.” Taylor stepped away from the wall he was leaning against, put his arms around his brothers and pulled them into a familiar huddle. The show was about to begin. ~~~~~ Becky and her friend Katherine made their way up to the front of the theatre. Katherine had forgiven her friend immediately when she saw her. Not only did the girl look ready to faint dead away, but she had been given two second row seats by Taylor, instead of the row Y seats they’d come in with. Sitting heavily down in the seat, Becky looked up at her friend and smiled, “Wow, it’s nice to have a friend in the business, huh?” She said, out of breath. |
“I’ll say!” Katherine exclaimed as she sat down next to Becky. If they stretched their arms in front of them a bit, they could touch the stage. “Damn, wonder who you have to know to get in the front row?” She laughed.
Becky smiled and wiped the sweat from her brow, “I have no idea.” She answered. She looked down at her watch. In ten minutes, the lights would go down. There was no opening act on this leg of the tour, so all they were waiting on was Hanson themselves. The crowd was already getting antsy, and she knew as soon as the lights went down, it would just get crazier. Sighing, she took a drink of water from the bottle Taylor had pressed into her hand as he walked her to the back door of the theatre so she could find her friend. She was hoping she’d feel better once the music started playing. The way she felt then, she could have closed her eyes and just slept through it, and she knew she didn’t want to do that. She needed to see Taylor up on that stage and it was going to take a little more than fatigue and some menstrual cramps to make her miss it.
~~~~~
Beatriz and Sonya stood next to each other in the lobby of the theatre. Girls crowded around the merchandise tables and pressed against each other for the best view of the t-shirts, posters and other things there, all adorned with the faces of their idols. On her head, Sonya wore an old baseball cap she’d borrowed from Zac. The fans were beginning to recognize her and the others and would often come up to them wanting to give them things to give to the boys or messages to be relayed. “Are you sure this is the only way?” Sonya asked Beatriz, watching as the woman tipped the water up to her lips, her eyes scanning the crowd systematically.
“Of course I’m sure.” Beatriz answered, her eyes darting over to her face.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” With a sigh, Sonya turned back to the crowd, watching as flushed faces passed her as the girls held tightly onto their treasures, having no idea what they would be witness to.
~~~~~
Mr. Jones made his way through the crowded area backstage. Diana had tried to get Melanie and Camille to stay outside in the bus and watch the children, but Taylor had put his foot down and said he wouldn’t do the show if they were left with them. So, not only were Taylor, his brothers, their band mates, road crew, media, and many others there, but Diana and Walker and their other four children as well. He looked at his watch feeling he needed to see Taylor before the show started. As he passed the restroom, Kirk stepped out. “What exactly are you doing in the women’s restroom?” He asked.
Kirk licked his lips, “Uh, nothin’ really. Y’know, just having a snack.” He smiled at the man.
Mr. Jones looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “Well, enough of that. You stick to me tonight. We’re going to be needing you before it’s all over. Don’t fuck this up, young man. We are all treading on thin ice with the Lady.”
“Look, when I left him—” Kirk started defensively.
“I’m not talking specifically about last night, though that certainly never should have happened.” Mr. Jones said, narrowing his eyes. “I’m speaking of the last weeks since we all joined this circus.” He sighed, “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? This is the last night we have to go along with this charade.” He shook his head, then made his way on to where the three boys stood, waiting to go onstage. “Taylor,” he said, “are you feeling alright? How is your little battle scar?”
Taylor shot him a look, “It’s fine, thank you.” Isaac and Zac looked on at the two. They had never really understood Taylor’s disdain for the man. He’d always seemed to have his best interests at heart to them.
“Don’t be so petulant. Lift up that lovely blouse you’re wearing so I can look at it.” The man stated.
Zac snickered and Isaac grinned as Taylor’s obligatory snotty reply came out of his mouth. “It’s not a blouse. Jesus Christ, is that what they call it in England?” He said, pulling his shirt up.
“Only when it is on gentlemen of your build.” Mr. Jones replied without looking up. “Why must you wear so many articles of clothing? You’ll have to pull up that lovely undershirt as well.”
With a huff, Taylor pulled the next shirt out of his pants, “Man,” he whined, “you’re gonna make us late.” Zac and Isaac both strained their necks and their eyes to see the long reddish wound on their brother’s side. All things considered, it looked to have healed very well over night, undoubtedly helped along this evening by the contribution Becky had unwillingly given him just a half hour or so earlier.
Satisfied, the man stood up straight, “It is not I that makes you late, young master. It is the preening you three do in the mirror as well as the attention you give all the young ladies.”
Taylor wrinkled his brow and began to stuff his shirt hurriedly back down into his pants as Zac stepped a little closer, “Preening? Preening?! I don’t preen. Tay might preen, but I don’t.”
Taylor straightened his collar and muttered, “Isaac’s the preener.” as he peeked out the curtains to look at the crowd. “Hey, there’s Becky. So, do you think her name is Rebecca?” He said, turning to his brothers.
Isaac looked out as well, “She looks okay, doesn’t she?” He said brightly, looking back at them.
Zac peered over his shoulder, “Yeah, she looks alright.” He answered.
With a sigh, Taylor leaned back against the brick wall again, “Geez, when are they gonna be set?”
Mr. Jones looked again at his watch; “I believe your father said there’d been a problem with an amplifier or something of that nature and that the show would start a few minutes late.” Taylor rolled his eyes and hit his head on the wall behind him. “Taylor, you know don’t you, that what happened last night was not your fault? Please, put it out of your mind. It’s not worth worrying about.” He said gently.
The eyes that looked back at him had lost all their usual coldness, “How can I not worry about that? He might have been somebody’s father…”
“Well then, he shouldn’t have been out late at night trying to kill people!” Mr. Jones hissed. He looked back and forth at the people milling about around them. “Now, get ahold of yourself, and go out there and do what you do best.” The man said, straightening Taylor’s shirt again, “I never thought I’d say this, but you are a very talented young man, and you can be proud of what you do here tonight. You make all these young ladies happy and for whatever reason, they look up to you a great deal. You’re a good person, don’t forget that. Things have happened that have been beyond your control but you have risen above it all and done the best you can. That’s all anyone can ask. Case closed. Now, go and give them all something to remember you by.” He said, and he turned and quickly strode away, leaving the three boys looking at each other, puzzled expressions on their faces.
“Dang, what was that all about?” Zac asked, looking after the man. Just then, the lights dimmed and the three brothers looked from one to the other, silently affirming that they were ready to go out and put on as good a show as possible, because it’s what they did every time. Anything less was unacceptable.
~~~~~
“What’s going on, anyway?” Camille asked Melanie. They stood to the side of the stage, waiting for the show to begin.
“Hell, I don’t know. All I know, is Beatriz told me to tape this show from start to finish and if I took the camera down she’d have me beheaded. So, guess what? I’m gonna tape the show.” Melanie looked around, a bored look on her face.
“Well, what’s going on?” Camille asked again. She was met with a glare from Melanie. “Where’s Taylor? I wanna go see him.” She started to turn away, but Melanie grabbed her.
“Oh no, you don’t. They told you to stay by me and keep the girls off and that’s what you’re gonna do. Taylor’s a big boy now, he can take care of himself. Obviously.” She grinned.
“Hey, he’s very upset about that whole thing.” Camille stated.
Melanie put the camera up to her eye, “Yeah, well. So what else is new? The point is, his instincts are kicking in and nobody is gonna be able to push him around anymore. It’s about time.” She said, panning the crowd. “Hey, look—there’s Sonya and Beatriz.” On the front row of the balcony, she’d spotted the two women. “That’s kinda weird. I can’t believe Sonya isn’t rocking baby Taylor right now, since he’s upsetty wetty.”
“Shut up—you’re such a bitch sometimes.” Camille rolled her eyes, then looked up at the empty stage. “Geez, what’s going on anyway? The longer they wait, the harder it is to keep these kooks under control.” She crossed her arms in front of her and sighed. “Hey, Kirk’s out front tonight. Bet he loves that.”
“Yeah, well, we better get out there. She wants me right square in the middle. They gave us a spot there with the lighting guys.” She took the camera down, “Hmmm…wonder if anyone would notice—“
“Don’t even think it! Of course someone would notice you attacking the lighting guy. Especially when the lights never changed again. You better watch yourself…” Camille said, as the two made their way through the crowd to the box, “Taylor is really starting to get pissed at you.”
“Oh, yeah. Like I’m scared of Taylor.” Melanie huffed, perching upon the rail for the best view. “Now, don’t let anybody stand up in front of me and if they hold up any of those giant signs, kill ‘em, ok?”
~~~~~
The lights went down and the crowd became a frenzy of arms and voices all raised in adoration of the three boys taking the stage in front of them. Sonya had seen the sight enough times now that she took it all in stride. Beatriz however was delighted. “So, this is what our little Taylor does for a living?” She smiled. If not for her amazing hearing, Sonya wouldn’t have been able to pick up the comment over the din of the voices.
“Yes. He’s very talented. I’m so glad you’re going to see him perform before you kill him. It would be a shame if you missed it.” Sonya groused.
Beatriz didn’t look at her, but a tiny smile crept across her face all the same. On stage, she watched as the musicians took their places. When the lights came up, illuminating the three boys, she found herself captivated by Taylor. His blonde hair shone and his face glowed as he began to sing the opening notes of “You Never Know”. It was hard to hear the music above the crowd, but she was still able to hear that Taylor had an amazing voice. When he harmonized with his brothers, it was even better. Yes, it would be a shame to lose that talent, but she felt like she had no choice. She could do this tonight, or wait ‘til someone else did it first. She leaned up, glad no one was there to block her view of the boy she’d come to care so much for. As he stepped over to the edge of the stage, she saw him look down at a girl, and give her a tiny wave and a smile. His shirt was silky and a bright red color, making the flush of his cheeks stand out even more than usual. His energy level seemed to be high and he was very bright eyed, all signs he’d just fed. With a sigh, she sat back, waiting for just the right time to do what she had to do.
Becky and Katherine both were having the times of their lives. Once the show had begun, Becky immediately felt better, and when Taylor looked her way and smiled, her tiredness had totally flown out of her mind and her body. As the music pounded her ears and the beat reached her feet, she found herself on a natural high like she’d never experienced before.
Taylor looked over at Isaac and smiled. There was an electricity in the air that he hoped his brothers were feeling as well. It seemed that once they’d hit the stage, they’d put all their troubles behind them. Even if it were only for a couple of hours, it made all the difference in the world to them and their relationship as brothers and as friends. The music could always make them forget their differences and now, that was more important than ever, because their differences were much bigger than just one of them wanting hamburgers and the other wanting pizza for dinner. As they began the acoustic part of their set, Taylor turned a bit on the stool, to see his brothers beside him. Isaac had that big grin on his face as he looked at the audience and Zac’s smile gave away the fact that he wasn’t nearly as cool as he tried to be. His father continually flitted around the stage, taking video of them, which would later be put on their website for the fans to enjoy. Another look at Becky took a little more of the guilt off his shoulders as she looked to be enjoying herself immensely. He laughed when her friend smacked her playfully in return for a smile and a wave from him.
As the set list lengthened, the crowd fell more and more in love with their idols. Finally, it was time to do “Save Me”, a crowd favorite. It wasn’t a song they’d always been able to do. Some nights, Taylor’s voice wouldn’t allow him to hit the notes, but that hadn’t happened in quite some time now, so they had performed it every show since Chicago. Tonight though, Taylor decided to come out from behind the keyboard to do the song. He trotted over to Isaac to tell him what he was going to do. “Hey, I’m gonna dedicate this one to Becky, okay?” He said.
“Tay, do you want her life to be hell tomorrow?” Isaac laughed.
“Aww, they’ll love it.” Taylor smiled at him.
“Alright, we’ll do it without the keyboard.” He said, and he turned back to Zac and let him know what they would be doing as Taylor walked over to the edge of the stage. He picked up the microphone and began to speak. For a moment, the crowd was so loud, he could hardly be heard, but when he pointed at Becky, they quieted down enough for him to be heard.
“I’m gonna sing this song tonight, for Becky.” He looked at her face as she blushed and smiled at him. “She wrote me a letter and I just wanted her to know how much it meant to me.” As the opening notes to the song started, the crowd sang along with him. In the balcony, Beatriz smiled, remembering a night in her library, listening to him sing the song accompanied only by the sad sound of his piano. Now, he had more than two thousand voices joining his own. As he came to the bridge of the song, he walked over in front of the girl and sang. It was the exact passage he’d sung for her.
Suddenly the sky
is falling
Could it be it's too late for me?
And if I never said I'm sorry.
Well I’m wrong, yes I'm wrong.
Then I hear my spirit calling.
Wondering if she's longing for me?
And then I know
That I can't live without her.
Won't you save me?
Savin's what I need.
I just want to be,
By your side.
Won't you save me?
I don't wanna be.
Just drifting through the sea
Of life.
Sonya had almost managed to forget what was going to happen. The show had been exceptional and she had hoped that once Beatriz saw him perform, that she would change her mind about her plans that night. But, a glance over at her told her that indeed, it was about to come to fruition at that very moment. Beatriz turned her head a little to the side and slowly extended her hand in front of her. On the stage, Taylor closed his eyes and shook his head a tiny bit as he backed up. The song had ended and the crowd was going wild. Isaac and Zac watched him, both wondering if he was going to bow, or what, but when the microphone slipped from his hand and hit the stage, it made a loud boom throughout the theatre. His hand went to the keyboard first, then to his head. As his eyes rolled up into his head momentarily, a tiny trickle of blood began it’s descent down his upper lip. Raising his hand to his face, he wiped his nose, then looked with curiosity at the blood on his hand. Looking up, he staggered toward Isaac for a second, then as Beatriz’ hand shot out again, Sonya watched as he sunk to his knees. His eyes went to where the two of them sat and the tiniest smile graced his lips before he collapsed to the floor. The once screaming crowd now was practically silent as they all realized something terrible was happening. Both Taylor’s hands went to his head as he writhed on the floor in pain. The microphones on the stage were picking up every sound as Isaac flung the guitar from his shoulder and Zac bounded from behind the drums. Their backup musicians stayed where they were, too shocked to move. Kirk watched the crowd. He’d known this would happen, and though he didn’t approve, he understood. He had no desire to watch what was happening behind him. His sensitive ears told him enough. In front of him, Camille was moving at an inhuman speed toward the stage. He grabbed her before she could get there, “No! Just let them handle it!” It was all he could do to hold on to her as she cried and struggled to be with Taylor. She knew she couldn’t save him, but at least she could be with him and perhaps soothe some of the pain he was obviously going through. But that was not a part of the plan.
Melanie continued to videotape, zooming in to catch it all. Isaac had knelt down, somewhat blocking her view of Taylor, but when he moved for a moment, she could see blood running from his ear as well as his nose. It appeared that he had gone into a seizure or something. His father had joined them onstage now, tears running down his face as he tried to help his son, but didn’t know what to do. Where was Diana, she wondered? As Mr. Jones rushed out, she watched as he began to perform “lifesaving” procedures. A bitter smile crossed her face as a tear rolled down her cheek. Hanson weren’t the only ones who knew how to put on a show. Beatriz’ little performance was every bit as mesmerizing as theirs. And then some.
Sonya still sat in her seat, motionless, watching what was going on. Zac appeared to be in shock, frozen to the spot just a few feet away, watching the unbelievable scene in silence, while Isaac was right there, crying right along with his father. As Diana made her way out, the seriousness of the situation was becoming apparent to the audience. Taylor’s body was giving out on him as his brain continued to hemorrhage. It was becoming harder to take in a breath as the parts of his mind that ordinarily controlled those functions were being flooded with too much blood. The pain had begun to subside, but only because he was pretty much paralyzed. Beatriz had caused an aneurysm that would have already killed a human. Taylor looked into the faces of his father and his big brother, “I’m sorry…” he breathed.
“Sorry for what?” Walker asked, holding his hand and looking down into his blue eyes.
Diana was now by his side as well, “…everything.” His eyes began to close slowly as his mother took him into her arms, pushing Mr. Jones out of the way.
“No, I’m sorry, my baby…” she said, gently rocking him and stroking his hair. “I love you so, so much. I’m going to miss you precious, and I can’t wait ‘til I’m with you again…” She leaned in and kissed him on his forehead as the girls in the audience began to react. Some of them wailed, while others had begun to pray silently, their eyes shut and their folded hands up to their faces. Camille’s laments had become softer as she pressed her face into Kirk’s chest. As paramedics ran onto the stage, having been called by the theatre’s management and a number of hysterical fans from their cell phones, the family was pushed back farther away from him. Mr. Jones stood back, knowing there was nothing they could do to bring him back, but knowing it would make for good press. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Melanie continued to film. In the balcony, Sonya sat, no emotion on her face, and Beatriz as well, looking exhausted, but satisfied.