Beyond the Screams ✔

Chapter Seven

My knife slid against the toast, coating it in a thin layer of butter. I could hear the snores from my sister's room. It wasn't too early, but the sun was still high, the sky a beautiful shade of blue.  My sleep had been restless, if Bryce can't get in contact with Glenn then there is going to be a huge problem. The house was silent, so when I heard the loud exhaust pipes from outside I knew that Bryce was here. I grabbed my bag from off the bench and took a large bite from my piece of toast before dropping it back onto the crockery plate. I rushed out of the door and towards Bryce's car. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes looked tired,

"Hey, are you ok?" I asked, climbing into the car.

He pulled a smile, "Yeah, I'm ok, long night that's all."

He pushed on the lever and the car started moving, 

"So, did you manage to get in contact with Glenn?" I inquired hopefully,

Bryce remained focused on the road, "I sure did, trying to convince Glenn into talking was my long night. He's agreed to come into the office around Lunchtime."

A sense of relief overcame me, "Oh thank god, I really needed some good news." I voiced, leaning back into the soft chairs,

Bryce stopped the car for a red light and turned his head to face me, "Why, have a hard night?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," I scoffed, He opened his mouth to say something, "Don't bother asking, it was just some family stuff," I said quickly, not wanting to answer his prying questions.

The light turned green and his questioning glance quickly moved from me and back onto the road. I drifted off until I could see the oh-so-familiar brick building.

It's funny how my feelings changed. When I had first gotten a deal I loved this place, finding comfort in its red brick walls, now it was more of a harsh reminder of things I didn't understand. Alice was right, I spent way to much time here. Maybe once all of this had been figured out and a murderer was safely in jail, I could find somewhere else to record music, or perhaps just finding myself a whole new career. Bryce parked the car closer this time, I hopped out and rushed into the building. I had booked the recording room for my use today, I had been spending weeks simply writing songs, maybe going and recording would help my unsettled nerves. I hated how the office had turned from a loud, boisterous, area to a quiet workplace. It didn't feel right, then again, nothing did these days. I ran into my desk and grabbed as many completed songs as I could, my hands quickly being filled with loose papers. I took the suspect list out of my pocket and opened my draw, hastily shoving it inside. I then rushed back out, my body liberating in the idea of escapism. Music had always given that to me, and no matter how desperate I was to solve this murder, Sometimes a break from the stress was a good idea. I wasn't sure where Bryce was, hopefully, he was behind me, or at least somewhere close, but if he wasn't, then I didn't really care.

I pushed open the heavy doors to the recording room and threw my bag into a corner. I leaned over the large board of switches and pressed a few, the ones I had memorised to press in case I needed to record and no one was able to run the board. I then walked into the add on a room, I closed the door behind me and stared at the clear glass separator before pulling the headphones over my ears, I pressed a small button next to the microphone and pre-recorded music began to flow into my ears. I waited for a few beats before letting the words slip from my mouth, quickly reading the lyric sheet in case I forgot the words. I tried not to focus on anything except the words and the music, but I was failing miserably. Music was a distraction at the moment, a distraction from everything going wrong.

I came to a break in the lyrics and heard the sound of a door slamming shut, my head perked up, I inwardly sighed when I saw Bryce sit down in the chair. I glared at him but he simply shrugged, as if to say 'What do you mean? I'm your Bodyguard, this is my job!'. I quickly began with the words again, moving onto the next verse. I tried to keep my attention on the microphone so I didn't have to look anywhere else, but it didn't take long to realise that nothing I stared at would distract me from Bryce's gaze. I was begging for the song to end, for me to run out of words as the music slowly faded away. I had no such luck. I continued to sing into the microphone for another minute before the music ended. I took off my headphones and opened up the door, poking my head out of the side.