Walpurgis Hallow

Monsters of Rock

Dear Diary,

I've been barely a week in Walpurgis Hallow, and already I feel like I'm kinda in over my head. I've seen great evil here already...and yet, great goodness and beauty here too. Cindy...Cindy Valentine is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I fell in love when I first saw her face, when I was looking to make her a hero. When I saw what she was doing though, back then, I worried...

I worried because I saw the same things in me. A sadism that was corrupting her, but like me...it wasn't her fault. And then...that evil that was preying on her finally broke her.

I tried to save her, but I wasn't strong enough...not then...and sometimes, I feel, not now...

Dear God, I don't know if you exist, but the priest told me you did...and I believe there has to be someone out there, in the sea of stars that is my mind...

Why did you make the scorpion, if I feel pain when I sting?

--

"So, Cindy, you want me to...be the manager? But...why? I don't really have much experience..."

Cindy gave Linnea a pleading look.

"Pleeeaase, Linnea? Pleeeease? I'll make you ice cream sundaes and watch all your movies with you!"

"But Cindy...you do all that already."

"Still!"

"Oh, alright. I supposed it won't be too hard. And it'll let me spend more time with you and your friends."

Eddie Gabriel had suggested that it would a good idea if Cindy, Alice, and Linnea were to form a band with him. Surprisingly, Cindy hadn't been totally opposed to the idea—she'd been in a band before in high school with a few of the other cheerleaders. They had been known as Pink Lemonade, a band as sweet and as inoffensive as their namesake. Not that they didn't play rock—they were merely friendly or subtle enough with the innuendo that no parents noticed or complained. For a few sweet, blissful months, Cindy had been able to pretend that she could get away from the constant drama and pain of school life. For a few hours every week, she could get up on stage and pretend for a minute that she wasn't a monster. Sing something sugary sweet, knowing that in just 12 hours, she would probably end up breaking someone's heart. It wasn't personal. It never was. But it never felt good. She would wait to sing with Pink Lemonade just to try to stop her own heart from aching, her own conscience from hammering her into the dirt. And it never worked.

But some part of her wanted to sing again. She knew the town would never take her back, but she still wanted to sing, damned as she felt. She wanted to be America's sweetheart again, even if she felt like damaged goods.

Alice had never actually played in a band before—her musical experience was limited to playing guitar alone in her house. She also had a synthesizer in her room she played sometimes, working out dark arrangements of Beethoven and Mozart. She had wanted to be part of a band before, but her social status made that impossible. She had been on the sidelines, desperately trying to catch someone's eye, be in the spotlight for once. Now was her chance.

Eddie had been playing both bass and guitar since he was 12; however, he had not gotten serious until Alice had fully entered his life. Alice made his focus so precise that he could pick out chords when just watching TV, from the score. In a way, she had saved him from utter mediocrity—by pointing out his numerous flaws—poor fingering, complete lack of motivation, laziness, and a reluctance to practice (in many ways, the same things preventing him from winning a woman's heart until Alice.) He had come up with the idea of starting a band, reasoning that the very thing keeping him fearful was probably a lack of direction in life.