Tonight, however, the music _was_ the savage beast. The music stalked outside the windows, staring hungrily in and waiting for an opportunity to ravage the occupants. The drum machine was its heartbeat, a slow, plodding martial beat, each throb fading into metallic echoes. Slow now, but ready to explode into life at any moment if the chance presented itself. The bass followed, blood coursing through its veins. The synthesizer, its breath rumbling in and out, a deep chord stretched through the heartbeats. Above it all, Joshua's guitar sang, long drawn-out notes that teetered on the edge of chaos before being leashed back in from the brink.
All three members of the band were being held hostage by the beast, caught up in its murderous stalking. They couldn't have stopped if they wanted to. In the front of the stage, Joshua played his guitar without looking at the strings. His eyes shut, he was feeling the music go through him rather than simply playing it. He was so caught up in the music that he had no idea how long it had been going on. But he knew exactly when _it_ should happen. The time was almost here. He turned to Brick, on the synths, and with his eyes still closed, nodded. Opening his eyes, he looked over at Jillian on the bass. She looked back at him with a half-smile. Brick triggered the drum machine, and with a vast gut-wrenching outpouring of intensity the monster finally crashed into the club. Not looking at the audience, and half afraid to, Joshua played like he'd never played before, unleashing a great flood of pent-up tension in a wave that enveloped the whole place. Eventually the rampage ended and the beast drifted to a halt as the final echoes from the bass faded.
Joshua finally turned and looked out at the audience. No one moved. All eyes were on the stage, unblinking. Self-doubt suddenly welled up within him. /They hated it./ The traitor thought crept up and revealed itself, but was forcibly exiled when the audience suddenly broke into thunderous applause.
Joshua was taken aback. /It was amazing,/ came a new thought. /They _loved_ it!/ Stepping to the microphone, he waited for the applause to die down. He felt fulfilled. It had worked, better than he could have imagined. "Thank you. That was our new song... we're calling it 'Omaha Beach.' I hope you liked it. This was the first time we've played it live." Another bout of cheering. "I don't know if we can beat that. I think we'd better stop while we're ahead. Good night!" Holding his guitar in a salute to the audience, he bowed and walked off the stage.
Backstage, Jillian ran up to him and hugged him enthusiastically. "Did you see them? They were stunned! They were blown away!"
"You know, my wife might not appreciate this kind of contact with another woman," Joshua said, winking at his bandmate. It wasn't really true - Nicole knew he'd never cheat on her, but it was fun to tease his bass player. "You were amazing!"
The rest of the night flew by in a haze. After a celebratory couple of beers, a cab took the band back to their hotel. Conversation was enthusiastic and celebratory, but Joshua later had no idea what had been said. Going back to his hotel room, he took his shoes off and sat down on the bed. /I'm too hyped up to sleep now!/ He looked over at the phone. /Should I call Nicole? It's pretty late back at home, but I think she'd love to hear how the concert went./
It was then that he noticed the blinking light on the phone. A message. It was his friend Tony from back home. "Josh. I need to talk to you. Tonight. Call me as soon as you get back."
His voice had an odd edge to it, like he was tense about something. /What's that all about?/ He dialed Tony's number. Tony's wife Trish picked up.
"Hello?"
"Trish, it's Joshua. Tony called me."
Silence on the other end of the line. Finally, "Hold on. I'll get him."
Something wasn't right. What is her deal?
Tony came to the phone. "Listen, brother. I need you to sit down. Are you sitting down?"
"Yeah, I'm sitting down." Was this some sort of game? "What's going on?"
"Josh -" his voice caught in his throat. "Josh, it's Nicole. There was an accident."
Joshua's heartbeat was suddenly deafening in his ears.
"She was killed, Josh."