Chapter Thirty-Six: Death By ABC's

~ Thursday, June 10th, 2010 ~

Ravyn, Angel, Dragon, Katerina and FoeNyx all walked up the long driveway of Jarreth and Sandra's home in Riverbank, California. Since the four had graduated from High School five days ago- Katerina still stuck at school for the next three years- they had been coming over to Jarreth and Sandra's and playing around with all of Sandra's old guitars, bass's, mics, and drums. Most of the time they were just screwing around, but lately Ravyn had been getting more and more ideas for poetry and had been going into more and more trances while she wrote. Just the other day, once she had come out of one of her trances and read the poem she had written, she realized that it sounded more like a song than a poem. And so she began creating a melody for the poem, having help from Angel, Dragon, FoeNyx and Katerina. Finally, they believed they had come up with a decent melody and planned on borrowing Sandra's equipment and seeing what it would sound like when they put everything together.

Ravyn knocked on the front door and waited for an answer from Jarreth or Sandra. "It's Open!" She heard Jarreth yell from the kitchen. Ravyn and the others opened the door and walked in. Ravyn stopped in her tracks when she came face to face with Andy, Ashley, Jake, Jinxx, and CC, who were standing in the kitchen along with Vixen, Kitty, Taylor, Sandra and Jarreth. "Oh," Ravyn said, suddenly blushing a deep scarlet. "Hey guys, Jerr didn't tell me you were gonna be here today," she said glaring at Jarreth and Sandra, who just smiled at the four. Jarreth shrugged. "The equipment's in the sound room, go ahead and go in, we'll be in in a sec," Sandra said after she and Jarreth came over and hugged them. Ravyn nodded and then headed up the flight of stairs that was off to the side of the kitchen, heading for the sound proofed room that held all of Sandra's old equipment.

Andy turned and looked at Sandra once Ravyn and her friends had left the room. "Equipment?" He asked, raising a brow. Sandra smiled. "They've been messing around in my old sound room with my old guitars, drum kit, and mic setup. Jarreth's even recorded them a couple times, not that I think they know that yet," she explained, taking a drink of her raspberry mojito that Vixen had made for her. Ashley looked at her in surprise. "Your letting people touch your babies?" He asked chuckling as he took a sip off his whiskey. Sandra nodded. "You should see them. Hell, Jarreth just bought Ravyn a new keyboard so she could keep up and practice with it. She's really good at it. Singing too. Hell, she could rival you Andy with her screams. She's a really good singer," she added as she took another drink. Andy raised a brow. "Really now?" He asked. The more he heard about all this, the more he wanted to see what they could do.

Sandra nodded again. "Lately they've just been playing and singing other people's songs and shit, mostly trying things out," Jarreth said as he took a sip of his cinnamon whiskey. "But yesterday Rave called me up and told me she had come up with something of her own and wanted to try it out with the others. That's actually why she's here today. She's trying out the poem turned song she wrote the other night," Andy looked at the others who all wore looks of shock and wonder. He turned back to Jarreth. "Can we see them in action?" He asked. Jarreth shrugged. "Most likely. As long as you don't let them know your there you could probably watch 'em," he said, getting up from his seat and walking towards the stairs. Andy and the others followed behind him, all nine of them following behind him.

Ravyn stood in front of the mic, looking over at the other three. "You ready to try this all out?" She asked them. Angel, Dragon, Katerina and FoeNyx nodded in turn, FoeNyx twirling her drum sticks in the air, Katerina and Dragon tuning their guitars, and Angel tuning up his Bass. Ravyn nodded to them, then she noticed Jarreth come in the room, poking his head through the door. "You guys mind if I record you on these one's?" He asked them. Ravyn looked back at the others, who all shrugged. She turned back to Jarreth. "I don't see why not," she said, shrugging as well. "We plan on doing 'Perfect Weapon as a warm up and then move onto the song I ended up writing the other night," she informed him. Jarreth gave her two thumbs up. "Awesome. Go ahead and start whenever your ready," he said leaving them alone in the sound booth. Ravyn nodded and then took a deep breath. "Ready?" She asked them. Everyone nodded or spoke their agreements and Ravyn watched as the small red light with the word "Recording" lit up. Ravyn took another deep breath and then started "Perfect Weapon". "Rrrraaaaaaa!" Ravyn screamed into the mic in front of her, matching Andy's scream that she heard in her mind, in both pitch and frequency.

Angel, Dragon, Katerina and FoeNyx all began their parts at the same time Ravyn did her scream, the music playing inside their own minds and matching their Black Veil Brides counterparts. Everything seemed to be running smoothly, Ravyn waiting for the right moment to begin her part and the others working seamlessly together, not missing a beat. After a time, Ravyn went in front of the mic once more and began to sing, using the same movements that Andy did in their music video.

"Awake at night you focus, On everyone who's hurt you, Then write a list of targets, Your violent lack of virtue." Ravyn sang into the mic, matching the Andy singing in her mind with every word. Then she screamed the next part, just like in the real song. "Leave us alone! You're on your own! Watch out!" Angel joined Ravyn in singing the chorus, a mic in front of him, just like it was with Dragon, Katerina and FoeNyx. "We are breathin', While you're sleepin'. Go (go!) And leave us alone. The liars cheatin', Our hearts beatin'. Go (go!) And now you're on your own." Ravyn began to sing on her own, raising her hands and acting like she was pushing something away from her as she did, with the first part of the lyrics. "Here's to your perfect weapon, Crack bones with blind aggression," Ravyn bent her arm, making it look like a birds wing when she raised her arm out, just as Andy had in the video, when she sang the next verse. "Like birds whose wings are broken, You live without direction." She then began to scream once more. "Leave us alone! You're on your own!" Angel joined Ravyn in the chorus once more. "We are breathin' While you're sleepin'. Go (go!) And leave us alone. The liars cheatin', Our hearts beatin'. Go (go!) And now you're on your own." Ravyn then began to scream once more, pumping her fist in the air like Andy had in the video. "Go! Go! Go! Go! And now you're on your own! Go! Go! And leave us alone!"

Katerina took her turn, doing Jake's guitar solo, with Dragon joining in just like Jinxx did in the original song. Ravyn began laughing into the mic, leaning back as she laughed. The guitar solo went on for a long time but finally, Ravyn and Angel began to sing together once more.

"We are breathin' While you're sleepin'. Go (go!) And leave us alone. The liars cheatin', Our hearts beatin'. Go (go!) And now you're on your own." Another bit of the guitar was played by Dragon and Katerina, Angel and FoeNyx playing their instruments in the background and finally the song ended.

Ravyn breathed heavily as she watched the red light above the two way mirror shut off. "How was that Jerr?" She asked him. Jarreth popped his head back through the door once more and gave her another double thumbs up. "That was Awesome girl!" He eclaimed in excitement. "You ready for your own song?" He asked her. Ravyn nodded, as did the others. "Mind if I get a bottle of water real quick first?" She asked. Jarreth nodded and popped out of the room, coming back in a moment later and tossing the bottle of water to her. Ravyn caught it and cracked it open, taking a long drink. She recapped the bottle and placed it on the stand before her. "Alright I think we're ready," she said, the others agreeing. Jarreth nodded again and popped out of the room. The light above the mirror flicked on once again and Ravyn looked back at Angel and the others. She waited a moment then made a signal for Jarreth to stop recording for a minute. "Hey Sandra!" She yelled, knowing Sandra was in the room with Jarreth.

Sandra poked her head in throught the door. "Yeah Babe?" She asked, using the word "Babe" as a term of endearment to her friend. Ravyn pulled out her pack of cigarettes. "You mind if I smoke in here?" She asked, looking at the sound proofed window that was behind FoeNyx. "I can open up the window afterwards if you want," she added. Sandra shrugged her shoulders at the girl. "Do whatever makes you comfortable girl, I don't mind," she told her. Ravyn nodded and pulled a cigarette out of her pack. The light flicked back on as she took a drag and blew it out. Then Ravyn began the song with a scream much like she had with Perfect Weapon.

"A is for Alanni, she drank rubbing alcohol,

B is for Brittany, who jumped from the falls.

C is for Charles, he slowly drowned,

D is for David, who’s scream made no sound.

E is for Elly, her rib pierced her lung,

F is for Fabio, who was mobbed and then hung."

Ravyn sang the song, returning to her screaming as she reached the first part of the chorus.

"Soul by soul we drift through life,

Unsuspecting prey, to the reaper’s knife.

Leading us unexpectedly to our end,

Into hell, we shall all descend."

She went back to regular singing as she sang the second part of the chorus, Angel, Dragon, and Katerina joining in.

"So why not bite the bullet,

When you bite the dust?

Drink poison droplets,

From true human lust.

Sincere beauty, is in fact our own termination,"

She began to scream again.

"Eaten alive, by humanities desperation."

Katerina and Dragon did a quick guitar solo and then Ravyn began to sing once more.

"G is for Greg, who overdosed on narcotics,

H is for Heather, who went plain psychotic.

I is for Isobel, who had her throat slashed,

J is for Jonathan, who’s head had been smashed.

K is for Kyrie, she was stabbed through the heart,

L is for Lexus, her body was torn apart."

She sang and screamed the chorus once more, before Katerina and Dragon went into another, longer solo. Then, once it was finished, Ravyn began to sing once more.

"M is for Miles, who choked on some glass,

N is for Nathan, who was driving too fast.

O is for Oceania, who burned like a star,

P is for Phoenix, he drank to death at the bar.

Q is for Quinnten, had arsenic in his drink,

R is for Ravyn, she vomited blood in the sink."

There was another, shorter solo and Ravyn sang one last time before the final chorus.

"S is for Seraphim, who ended his own life,

T is for Taliyah, who swallowed a knife.

U is for Urania, she got shot in the back,

V is for Vincent, his neck he did crack.

W is for Waynne, who danced with a train,

X is for Xavier, who suffocated in grain.

Y is for Yasmine, she froze in the ice,

Z is for Zane, he was easily enticed."

The final chorus came and Ravyn, Angel, and Dragon all sang and screamed their parts. Then Ravyn spoke in a melodic tone, completely different from what they had been doing as the music began to fade into the background, it too, being slower and less agressive.

"Second by second we fade away,

Into the nothing on a rainy day.

Minute by minute watch the sun disappear,

When we meet the end, don’t show your fear."

Andy stood in the other side of the sound booth with everyone, his jaw dropped to the floor as he watched and listened to Ravyn and her group sing and scream their song. Once it was finished, Sandra came over to him and popped his jaw shut. "So what do you think?" She asked him as they watched Ravyn light another cigarette and take another long drink of her water as FoeNyx opened up the window behind her. "How was that Jerr?" Ravyn asked from the other room. Jarreth pressed a button on the sound board and spoke into the mic in front of him. "That was perfect Rave! Good job everyone!"

"Holy shit," Andy and Ashley said together. Sandra and Jarreth laughed at the two of them. "That was fucking beautiful!" Andy said, grinning madly. "I'll be right back," he said suddenly. "Jerr, can I get a copy of those recordings?" He asked, stopping inside the door. Jarreth nodded. "Yeah, sure, let me tweak them up and then I'll print you a copy." Andy nodded and then left the room, intent on calling his manager, John, and talking to him about what he had just seen and heard.

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Notes

Author's Note:

Well then! That was fun! Death By ABC's is the name of the poem/song I used in this chapter and it was another poem I had written up years ago, back when I was in High School I think.

So what do you think John is going to say when Andy calls? What do you think Ravyn and the others will do or say when they find out BVB was watching and listening?

You'll have to wait until next chapter to find out!

I'm gonna stop here for the night. I still have yet to eat dinner and it's been ready for like, two hours now lol. That and my fingers are cramping up on me, I've been writing all day haha.

Until next time guys! See you on the other side and Blessed Be!

- Kyrie Kerr