Page 4 of On The Edge
“You guys are my brothers. I’ll follow you to the end,” Adam replies, stepping closer to the rest of us like he’s fully made up his mind.
“Hell yeah! This is going to be a wild ride, boys.” Kai claps his hands, jumping off the side of the truck to grab Markus and I in a hold. “What are we going to call ourselves? We need an actual band name if we’re going.”
We’re all silent for a breath, and I recognize how important this moment is. How we’re on the edge of heartbreak, of freedom, of everything we’ve ever wanted and everything we wish we’d had.
And that’s when it hits me.
“On The Edge,” I say softly but clearly, as if hearing it out loud solidifies it in place. “Let’s call ourselvesOn The Edge.”
ONE
“And baby,you, you are the reason I live!”The last line of the chorus rings out, echoing through the stadium as every single voice here screams it back at me.
I pull my neon purple mask off, throwing it to the side where a tech catches it and the crowd goes wild.
The drums crash right then, and the three of us onstage start jumping in time with the beat. Kai, our bassist, takes a moment to pull off his neon orange mask, tossing it to the side and I watch as he smirks at the crowd. The moment his face is bared to the crowd, the wails increase.
And what does that fucker do?
Blows a kiss to the ladies who flash us their tits from the front row.
It’s nothing new, butdamn, what a life we live. I tip my chin up at them, smirking before shaking my finger in atsk-tsk-tskmanner and walking off. Kai makes a show of looking until he turns and they scream his name.
I run to the side to grab a quick drink before my next part, just in time for the guitar solo. Markus is killing it tonight; as soon as he’s ready for the first one, he whips his mask to the side.His is green and I have no clue how it doesn’t get caught in his long curly hair.
With his solos, I can fade back for a moment and take a much needed breath. The darkness is broken up by the heat from the spotlights nearly blinding us all. But it does ensure that the first few rows of people are easily seen from the stage.
Even through the darkness, we know without a doubt there are tens of thousands of people here, watching us, singing along with the music thatwewrote. The spotlight can be lonely, but it’s moments like this that make it worth it. At least for a little while.
I’m sweating; four songs live… It’s a lot. This is why I train the way I do. So that when I’m singing, I don’t disappoint the paying customers… or die.
Markus steps into the limelight, fingers flying over the chords as he plays. His long dark hair is hanging freely over his shoulders, a few pieces falling to either side of his face and the rest sticking to his neck. I can see the beads of sweat that fall into his eye as he nods at me to take back over in the spotlight. Running on stage, I join him at my mic stand and we both turn into the microphone, facing the audience. The energy they’re bringing tonight is just fucking amazing. Right as the crowd’s cheering dies down, I know that’s when Adam, our drummer, will throw his mask off.
Three… Two… One…The crowd roars again, and I know that his neon red mask came off, showing our tattooed, blonde drummer boy.
We–okay, I–truly didn’t expect this kind of reaction when we announced we’d be adding this stop to the tour. We added Tulsa because it was the closest major city to our hometown.
When we heard the show was sold out, and our manager said there was a significant portion of ticket sales purchased from our hometown area, I was worried. I didn’t know if anyone would actually show, seeing how they all felt about our ‘Satan music’.Rock and roll with a little bit of grunge and electronics. A crazy kind of mixture–just the way we like it.I didn’t let the guys know my worries, but let’s just say I’m very pleasantly surprised.
“When I feel you there// I wonder how you ever really cared,”I sing my heart out, pouring my soul into my voice. Throwing my hand out to the crowd, I watch as many rows of people jump along with us.
All except one.
A woman holds onto the bars of the gates right in front of me, with her waist-length dark hair covering her face as her head falls forward.Fuck.Singing the next line on autopilot, I watch her slump over the gate, passed out, while the surrounding people push her into the metal repeatedly as they try to get closer to the stage.
Fuck.
“I want to know// does he see you how I do?// does he see beneath the surface?”I sing and walk over to Kai, pointing to the girl.
His eyes widen and I watch as he races back toward the wing of the stage and alert security.
I turn my attention back to the girl. There’s no fucking way she’s going to make it. She has seconds left before she falls and is trampled.
“Fuck, stop it! Stop!” I yell into the mic, running to the front of the stage and jumping down. My knees fucking kill from the impact, but that’s late-twenties-rocker-standard for you. I sprint to the girl and hold her up, but that has the opposite effect. Because of my presence, all the fans start screaming and pushing harder to try and get to me.
I hear the guys screaming at me and Kai barking into the microphone to give me some space. The venue’s security rushes over and starts ripping the fingers that are grabbing every piece of me, but I can’t care. Not right now.
I feel like I’ve been shot.
