Page 107 of Graves

“There’s something else,” he says, taking a sip of beer.

I sit back down. “Sounds serious.”

“Sam, Mike, and I talked about the future of the band earlier. Backstage.”

I stare thoughtfully at the coke and beer on the table. I know this conversation has been overdue. Leslie reminds us every chance she gets that we should figure it out regardless of what the label decides. I’ve been avoiding it because all I want is to finish these five gigs and be able to breathe again.

“We want to keep going,” Liam says. “But only with you.”

My brain is still throwing a party and I’m more wired than I’ve been in ages. It feels like the music is an ocean of drugs, and I’m standing on a diving board again.

“Aran?”

“I… haven’t really thought about it yet,” I admit. “But… if you guys think it’s a good idea…”

That’s the high talking. The craving for more. The coke conveniently erases the fact that I got choked onstage earlier.

A huge grin spreads across Liam’s face. “Oh Aranator! This is gonna be epic! We’ll rise like a phoenix from the ashes and show the world who Grave Sinner really is.”

His euphoria is contagious. The tightness in my chest loosens and a warm feeling spreads through me. Everything’s going to be okay. I’m sure of it. Except…

“I don’t know if this is Grave Sinner material, though.”

“Let’s hear it!”

The laptop is finally booted up. I open the program and one of the four files. The second the first distorted note blasts through the speakers, I hold my breath. I’ve listened to this track over and over, searching for the missing piece—a melody, maybe, or a guitar line to hold the heavy, metallic chaos together.

“It still needs something,” I say loud enough for Liam to hear.

Silence behind me. I turn around.

Liam is sitting with his mouth open, eyes drifting around the room like he’s chasing the sounds that leave tension hanging after every beat.

“What the hell am I listening to?” he asks, less confused than I expected. “The sound of high-voltage power lines?”

That makes me smile. “Not a bad comparison.”

Liam pulls his drumsticks out of his backpack and starts tapping out the rhythm on the wooden table.

“Like this?” He switches to an offbeat. “Or more like this?”

“That’s it,” I say, feeling real joy rise inside me. The feeling of making music together. God, how much I’ve missed this.

We dive into the song, and with Liam’s help, it slowly stops sounding like noise. Like we’re carving its shape out of stone, it turns into a powerful track with a beautiful melody.

22

—

Koh

“It was really good seeing you again. I’ve missed our talks,” Luke says in front of Muvi’s restaurant.

Not that I remember much of what we talked about in the last hour, but somehow he managed to steady my racing heart.

“Yeah.”

I have no idea why I say it. The word comes out in a thin, fragile voice. No matter how hard I try to remember the person I was a year ago and why I left Luke, nothing can erase the fact that this walk felt exactly like the beginning of our relationship.