Some Kind of Hell (23 page)
Authors: London Casey
Logan smiled. “Then we saved each other.” Logan turned his head towards the building. “Now. Let’s go save DownCrash and this demo.”
Logan slipped his hand into mine and we walked into the building. We climbed the stairs to the third floor and the second Logan opened the door, I heard music. I heard DownCrash playing. It lasted a few seconds and stopped.
“Let’s try it again,” a voice said.
Tripp’s voice.
Tripp started playing guitar and then a bass came in. I squeezed Logan’s hand, not sure what his reaction would be to seeing someone else playing bass. I hoped he would keep cool and I hoped Tripp and Tatum would give him a chance to talk.
We walked into the studio area along a small hallway plastered with albums and autographs.
Then we turned and there it was.
The open room.
The recording area.
The front wall was a large glass window and on the other side of the window were all the computers and mixing equipment. Where they would take DownCrash’s songs and mix and master them into pieces of perfection.
The song continued and when I saw Tatum playing bass, I sighed in relief.
The drum kit stood empty, telling me there was only two people playing in DownCrash.
Tripp waved a hand and ended the song. He took his headphones off and so did Tatum.
“You guys suck,” Logan said.
Maybe not the best way to welcome himself back to his bandmates but when Tripp and Tatum saw Logan, they were all smiles. Tatum took the bass off and hurried to Logan. He grabbed Logan by his arms and lifted him off the ground for a second.
“Shit,” Tatum said.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Logan said.
Tatum looked at me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“Maggie told me,” Tatum said. “I’m really sorry, Annie...”
“Me too,” Tripp said. He put his guitar down and ignored Logan, coming to me. He hugged me, gently and with care. “I’m so sorry for what I said. How I acted.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “It was a rough night, right?”
“Fuck,” Tripp said.
Tripp then turned to Logan. His lips puckered and he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“I’m sorry I scared you, man,” Logan said. “I know with everything that happened...”
Tripp nodded.
“There was something kind of cool that came out of it,” Tatum said.
“What’s that?” Logan asked.
“Jason made us take pictures of what you did. He wanted to use it as the cover for the demo.”
“The broken bass and shit?” Logan asked.
Tatum nodded. Then he looked at me again. “And he wants you to write something up to put on it too. He’s going to call you either today or tomorrow.”
“I...”
Tripp cut me off. “What the fuck, man? What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Logan said. “I was in pain. I was... like dead or something. I’m sorry.”
“You scared me,” Tripp said.
“Aw,” Tatum said. “He was scared.”
“Fuck off,” Tripp said. His eyes were locked to Logan. “You really scared me. I... I love you, Logan. You’re like a brother to me, you know? To imagine you running out or hurting yourself...”
Logan grabbed for Tripp and hugged him. “Never, man. Never. The music... Annie... you guys... I’d never...”
“He’s right though,” Tatum said. “My stomach was in a knot. Even after you tried to punch me. Twice.”
Logan closed his eyes. “I’m sorry about that too.”
“You wanted to hit me,” Tatum said. “For a long time I bet.”
“We all want to hit you,” Tripp said.
They laughed.
All three laughed.
DownCrash was right there, huddled together, embracing their loss, their pain, their hope, and the bond they formed together through music.
“Can we fucking play or are we going to hug?”
The voice echoed through the room and I recognized it as Jason’s.
Logan looked at me and nodded.
I slowly worked my way to the back room and saw Maggie and Scarlett there. We all hugged. We were, I guess, the girls of DownCrash. We then sat and watched the magic happen.
The magic of DownCrash.
The second Logan picked up the bass and Tatum got behind the kit, the sparks began to fly. The energy was back. The recording happened fast and flawless. Jason leaned over the control panel the entire time, nodding, looking at the guy handling all the recording and mixing, laughing at how big the band was going to be.
And we were right in the front row seats.
Maggie and Scarlett talked a little and I ignored them. Not because I wanted to but because I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t stop watching.
~26~
And even after the recording was done, I couldn’t stop watching. When we went back to the garage and celebrated, I watched DownCrash. The next day when we all met with Jason to talk about strategy, it started to really sink in. Two days later DownCrash received their demo. In a case, with a cover. The picture of Logan’s bass and amp destroyed, my words I wrote to Logan scattered in the background. The demo had no title other than DownCrash.
It was perfect.
We listened to the demo twenty times, at least.
We listened to it in the garage.
We listened to it in the car.
We blasted it around town.
And when we turned the demo off, finally, the local radio station was playing it.
It was like a whirlwind of a dream come true.
DownCrash played three shows in a week, each one with more people in the crowd. The anticipation and need for the band was skyrocketing. People fought to see DownCash. People sang every song, word for word, without missing a beat. When Jason showed up at the last show with a box of t-shirts, they were sold out in ten minutes. A hundred shirts in ten freaking minutes. I stood there and watched the gleam in Jason’s eyes as it happened.
The shows didn’t change though.
They were the same DownCrash.
They played any and all songs, engaged the crowd, and loved every single second of it.
When the show ended, the crowd chanted for DownCrash and didn’t stop. Maggie, Scarlett, and myself were in the back, waiting for the guys. They came off stage, slapping fives and hugging. We stood there, waiting for our men. Our strong, sexy rockstars. They came to us and I held Logan as tight as I could.
I was never so in love in all my life.
The crowd didn’t stop.
DownCrash!
DownCrash!
DownCrash!
The place didn’t calm. The place didn’t empty. The energy was growing and swelling by the second.
Jason walked down the hall, clapping his hands together.
“Boys,” he said. “I have some big news... but first, you better satisfy these fans...”
Logan looked at Tripp and Tripp looked at Tatum.
The corners of all their mouths began to flicker with smiles.
“Holy fuck,” Tripp whispered.
“Our first real encore,” Logan said.
“But we played all our songs,” Tatum said.
“Play them again,” Logan said.
They rushed back to the stage, arms around each other. We couldn’t see the stage but I knew the exact second they were visible again, because the crowd erupted. It was like the show had just begun.
They played two more DownCrash songs, two of the same from the show, but the crowd didn’t care. Not one bit. When it ended the second time, Tripp, Tatum, and Logan all took turns thanking the crowd.
Ten minutes later, Jason had everyone in a crammed room as he paced.
“What’s the news?” Logan asked.
“The news... is that you sold a hundred t-shirts in record time,” Jason said. “Which means I’m going to get my supplier to really step it up. More shirts. Posters. Anything I can get printed.”
“Merchandise,” Tripp said. “Wow.”
“That’s right,” Jason said. “It’s the big time now.”
“Big time?” Tatum asked.
Jason froze and smiled. “You guys have two more shows here and then we’re off for a little while...”
“Off?” Logan asked. “Off meaning...?”
“Do you own suits?” Jason asked.
“Suits?” Tatum asked. “I haven’t worn a suit since...”
He looked at Logan and stopped.
None of them had been dressed up since Logan’s grandfather’s funeral.
“Eh, fuck it,” Jason said. “I guess the greatest rockstars never signed their deals in suits, right?”
“Wait,” Logan said. “Deal?”
Jason smiled. “Deal. You guys have been signed. To RocX Records. Three album deal, six figure advance to each member... oh, and you guys will be playing a benefit show with Chasing Cross...”
My eyes widened.
Tripp, Tatum, and Logan were now standing. They hugged, they cheered, they screamed.
“Whoa,” Jason said. “Calm... calm... I’m not done yet.”
“Not done?” Logan asked.
“The benefit show will be in a month or so, but before that, you guys are going straight into the studio.”
“Again?” Tripp asked.
“This time with Rockett Royce.”
The room exploded again. My whole body shook. I was never so excited in my life and I wasn’t even actually in the band.
“I’m not done!” Jason cried out.
The band looked drained. After the long show and the big news...
Jason put up a finger and went to a corner in the room. There was a box there. He lifted it and carried it to a table. He put it on the table and opened it.
“Look,” he said.
Logan took out copies of the demo. “Wow...”
“We have radio stations lined up across the country to start playing the songs,” Jason said. “And those are to sell. Or hand out. Whatever you want to do.”
DownCrash huddled around the box. They were in shock and so was I.
“You guys - and girls - take a few minutes,” Jason said. “Love this moment because it’s going to get busy after this.”
Jason patted Logan’s back and left the room.
That’s when we all cheered. We all hugged. We all became one in that moment.
DownCrash had done it.
They had gotten everything they wanted. No matter the circumstances, they did it.
Logan had his arms around me and we hugged.
“I can’t believe this,” I whispered. “Your dream... it’s come true.”
Logan pulled away and looked at me. “Annie... my dream came true the second I met you. All of this is just extra fun.”
“Logan...”
“You don’t get it. Without you, I’m just some musician. A rockstar maybe. But with you, Annie, I’m everything. I want to live. I want to love. I want to share it all with you.”
“Now my dream’s come true too,” I whispered.
Logan kissed me just as Tatum kissed Maggie and Tripp kissed Scarlett.
They were rockstars. They were DownCrash.
But all of us, together, the six of us, we were family.
The greatest family I’d ever know and love.
Thank you for reading
The Boys of DownCrash
trilogy!
Thanks to love and support from the readers, London Casey is able to share more books with the world! How do you show love and support?
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More from London Casey:
Hurt Like HELL (stand alone novel)
The Boys of DownCrash trilogy:
The Stronger, Safer Kind (1)
Torn to Pieces (2)
Some Kind of Hell (3)
Soon to come from London Casey:
(A new trilogy featuring bestselling romance author, Karolyn James!)
A Chance at Forever trilogy:
Surrender
Escape
Free
London’s next trilogy:
The Upside of Being Let Down
The Downside of the Truth
The Other Side of Moving On
And if that wasn’t enough… look for the
SAVED
new adult romance series, featuring stand alone novels about love and life in a way you’ve never read before!
London Casey
writes and dreams of writing more. When not writing, London reads, attempts to blog, but somehow manages to end up writing again.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First electronic edition Juy 2013
Copyright © 2013 by London Casey
Published by Hundred to Home Publishing
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.