We're Setting Worlds On Fire

“Black Veil Brides is nothing but a band made up of Demonic boys who are parading around in makeup. These five guys need to find Jesus and express themselves through the love of the Lord instead of being Demons of sin and pleasure. Our children are being damned to Hell by listening to such filth and we, as parents, are responsible for leading our children on the right path…” Andy read on, smirking with one eye brow raised as the van bumped down the road.

“What a crock of shit…” Jake mumbled from behind him and Andy only smiled wider as he handed the magazine over to the guitarist.

“I know-what would they say if they knew that two of us really were Demons?” Ashley said, laughing lowly from the front seat where he was sitting next to CC who was driving. Andy only smiled as he looked out the window and watched the scenery pass them by.

“They would shit themselves that’s for damn sure!” CC called from behind the wheel and Andy laughed with the rest of them, but his eyes never left the window.


They were on the east coast-Virginia is what CC had told him and Andy realized as he watched the trees and mountains pass them by that he actually liked it here. Most of the states that they had played in he hated-they were cold and there was nothing to look at but fields and cows. Andy looked down at his hands-they were shaking and he realized that that magazine article had made him slightly angry.

Actually a lot of the reviews they had gotten for the album made him angry. It had only been out a month and yet people were slamming it left and right. Emo fags they had been called over and over and really Andy didn’t care-labels were dumb and the people who gave them seemed idiotic. Andy was only half listening as the guys moved from topic to topic, but he couldn’t help but stare at the land that passed him by.

Things were beginning to get green-spring was in full bloom and Andy thought back to last spring. He and Lily had been living at Jinxx’s and they had been having the time of their lives. The band had gotten started and Andy was growing more and more in love with Lily. At that time he had refused to admit it, but as he sat in that van and thought back…Andy had loved Lily from the very moment that she opened her eyes and looked at him.

He sighed-he hadn’t seen any more sightings of her at their shows, but he would get excited every time that a girl with light blonde hair would be near him. Would she turn in to Lily? Would Lily ever make her presence known? Andy looked over his shoulder and noticed that Jake had set the magazine down and was strumming his guitar. The chords sounded fast and they would probably be loud and Andy found himself bobbing his head to the beat.


“Hey do you guys remember our walk to the warehouse before that battle?” Ashley asked all of a sudden and Andy felt all of the blood leave his face. They hadn’t talked about this-ever-why were they talking about it now?

“Y-yeah. We all kind of looked like badasses.” Jake laughed, his fingers still picking at the strings of his guitar softly. Andy kept his eyes on the tree line as they continued driving down the highway.

“All dressed in leather as we walked down the street. Forgetting everything from the days past and just focusing on one thing-leaving a mark on those Demon bastards!” CC shouted from the front and Andy couldn’t help but laugh.

“I will probably always have scars from that fucking fight-but it was worth it.” Jinxx said, holding up his right forearm and Andy couldn’t help but take in the long gash that was still there. They all had scars from that battle-some physical and some mental. Andy had mostly emotional and he knew he would never get rid of them.

“Lily though-God did you see how vicious she was during that fight? She was fucking amazing with that sword-you and her were like partners in crime during that whole fucking fight man.” Ashley clapped Andy on the shoulder and the singer couldn’t help but smile as he turned to face his best friend.

“It was mesmerizing to watch though. At one point you and her were back to back and she was fighting off this huge chick Demon and you had two guys you were battling. I don’t even think you guys realized that you were that close to one another…” Jake said and Andy only smiled at the thought.


He had had no clue that he and Lily had been fighting back to back at one point during that fight. All he could focus on was fighting whatever was in front of him and making it out alive. Andy looked down at his hands-his green spiral notebook was in his lap and as he looked down Andy noticed that he had been writing down things as the guys had been talking. What? How had he managed that? As Andy looked down at his words-he noticed that the writing didn’t look like his.

The ‘L’s and ‘B’s were really loopy and girly looking and suddenly Andy felt his heart stop. He had seen this hand writing before-he knew it so well and suddenly he was flipping through the beginning pages until he came to another song. Knives and Pens-the writing was the same and it wasn’t his. Could…could Lily be channeling through him trying to help him write another song? Was-was she listening in on their conversation? Andy looked down at the words on the page and softly began to say them out loud.


Racing faster,
Escape disaster,
Partners in crime will leave their mark
We make our own way,
No thoughts of yesterday,
Black hearts of chrome and battle scars
The legacy,
Born from a dream,
Long leather wings,
Rose from the streets,
With the hands on destiny,


“Guys…what’s a legacy?” Andy asked as he looked up from the notebook in his hands and everyone got quiet.

“I-I guess it’s kind of like something you leave behind that will always be remembered.” Jake answered and Andy smirked as he looked back down at the words that had been written down. He hadn’t written them, but he knew who did and he felt tears come to his eyes.

“Play that riff you were just working on and go with it…” Andy said to Jake as the guitarist only smiled and concentrated on letting his fingers slide over the strings of his guitar.


Andy sang slowly, adding words and taking them out as the two of them jammed. CC contributed minimal drum beats by tapping his hands and fingers against the wheel and Ashley had managed to grab his bass out of the back seat. Soon enough the entire van was jamming and singing along as they all tried to add new verses and different verses. Andy screamed loudly, his voice guttural as he imagined what he wanted to say to Lily during that battle. Run-he had wanted her to run away as fast as she could because he didn’t want to see her get hurt or worse.

Of course she had perished during that fight but as Andy looked down at the paper in his hands-he knew she wasn’t too far away. Soon they had a new song on their hands and the guys were all talking excitedly about wanting to get to soundcheck so that they could try it out with everything plugged in. Andy looked down at the paper-his writing mixed in with Lily’s as he had crossed things out or added something here or there. Suddenly the notebook was taken from his hands and Andy growled as he noticed that Ashley was looking over everything.


“Wait-this isn’t your hand writing…” The bassist said as he looked up from the book in front of him and Andy adverted his eyes. How could he explain this? The guys laughed at him every time he claimed to see Lily and now they would really give it to him if they found out that she was writing songs for them from the grave.

“I-I know.” He said simply and the van grew silent as they all stared at Andy. He fidgeted with his hands in his lap and soon enough Andy knew he would have to explain himself.

“Let me see. Wait…this looks like Lily’s hand writing…” Jake said as he took the green notebook from Ashley and looked at it for himself. Sure enough-the writing was girly and swirly and looked like Lily’s.

“I-um…” Andy bit down on his lower lip as he looked from Ashley’s face to Jake’s. Jinxx was also starring at him and Andy was sure if CC wasn’t driving he would be giving him a strange look as well.

“Where did this come from Andy? Did she write it before…” Jake stopped as Andy grabbed for the book and closed it as he sat it down on his lap. His jiggled his legs up and down, running a hand through his hair as he tried to think of a way to explain things.


Lily had always been the one to explain things-not just to Andy but in general. She had such a good way with words and was so well spoken that it always amazed Andy to hear her speak. She had never graduated high school, but Lily made it seem like that never mattered. Andy could spend hours and hours listening to her and Lily would only laugh as she talked and would look over at him.

His eyes would glaze over, his chin resting in his hands with his perfect mouth held open in awe. She used to say he looked like a blue eyed puppy dog and Andy suddenly felt heart sore. He missed her-even the little things about her that no one else thought about, Andy missed and he knew he always would. She had been so much to him-she guided him through life in every way and he knew that that was why he was so lost. He didn’t have Lily…he would stay lost without her.


“It sounds crazy but Lily wrote it…just a few minutes ago.” Andy said simply and the guys all just sat there staring at him. The van had stopped moving, but none of them moved. They would camp out in the van over night in the alley behind the venue since there weren’t any cheap motels nearby.

“Lily-the one who died. You’re telling me that she channeled these lyrics to you and you wrote them down for her?” Jinxx asked, one eyebrow raised and Andy only sighed as he moved to open the van door. All of them followed behind the singer and as they all stood around Andy noticed that the sun had begun to go down and the stars were popping out.

“Yes. I know this sounds crazy, but I think she’s watching us guys. Like some punk rock guardian Angel or something…” Andy said as all of the guys just stood around him and stared. Did they believe him? Or would they think he was crazy?

“So you’ve been seeing and hearing from her?” Ashley asked, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest as he looked at his best friend. Was Andy losing it? Or had he, in some weird way, connected to Lily and now the two of them were communicating from beyond the grave?

“Yes-Look. Look up towards the North Star. Do you see that little blinking star to the side of it?” Andy was pointing up into the fading sky and all of the guys followed where his finger was pointed.

“That’s Lily. Don’t believe me-wink babe…wink at me and show them that you are watching over us.” Andy said as the guys all gave him a ‘I don’t believe this shit look’ but they all moved their faces to look up towards the Heavens where the small star was sitting still in the sky. Suddenly their mouths all dropped open as they looked from the sky and down to Andy who had a smug smirk on his lips.


The star winked at them and in that moment they all knew…Lily was still around and she watching.

Notes

I told you guys Lily was watching-She will always watch over Andy and the rest of the guys. To make this clear-Lily is an Angel. She isn't a ghost or a Demon, she really is an Angel, but she's breaking a lot of rules to see Andy.

Please read and review <3

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