Three Months Ago...
"He got what?" Eli tried not to scream.
Officer Declan had just gotten back from his father's trial and since they couldn't prove either's side they decided that for the next few months that Luke would go to Anger Management and go talk to a therapist they assigned to him. When Eli found out he couldn't believe what a manipulative cunning (insert choice of words here) man his father was. Declan messed Eli's head then headed out the door to work. Eli had become home schooled for the last few months as he was recovering and Officer Declan thought it would be easier for Eli, not to mention Eli didn't care not to go back to public school.
Eli was a smart kid when he tried, but the time around his mother's death he gave up on everything but living. He seemed dead inside, now months later he would play head on head with Officer Declan in Halo and Destiny. He began to work out a little as time allowed with his injuries. Eli was looking a lot like he used to before Stacy passed and that brought a smile to Officer Declan's face. Eli was in the shower when someone knocked on the door of Mr. Declan's house followed with a shout.
"YOU HAVE TO COME HOME SOMETIME SON!"
Eli cringed and turned the shower off and was as quiet as he could and got dressed. He snuck into his room and was about to call Declan when he heard a motorcycle peel out of the driveway.
Eli had been feeling pretty good, he had been getting healthier and was happy, except for the occasional nightmares that haunted his mind one or twice a week. Declan didn't know about Eli's waking up in the middle of the night terrified out of his mind. The dream would usually go like this:
Eli walked downstairs buttoning his shirt as his father, drunk out of his mind already, screaming for him to get down in the next second. Eli wasn't super human so he failed and when he reached the bottom step his father threw the empty bottle at him. Eli couldn't dodge it and it broke cutting up the left side of his face. Eli tried all he could to move, but he couldn't and Luke kept getting closer saying things like " 'It's all your fault Eli' 'You were a mistake' 'I never loved you' " Eli couldn't move as his father's fist connected to his jaw making his head turn to the side. It was a repeat of what actually happened although this time Eli couldn't fight back and stand for himself and he felt like his father would end up killing him. Right before Eli passes out he jolts up in bed.
Eli couldn't get the courage to tell Officer Declan about the nightmares, he just stayed up playing the xbox he now had in his room. Eli called his home school teacher and said he was sick and tomorrow he shouldn't come by and he climbed into bed immediately falling asleep upon laying his head on his pillow. He was asleep still around seven when Declan came back after work. Declan heard screaming coming from Eli's room and rush in fearing the worse possibilities. He saw Eli asleep, yet this didn't make him feel relieved, he lightly shook Eli to wake him up.
"Hey kiddo... bad dream huh?" he said once he got Eli's attention and Eli just nodded and asked for some water. He didn't pry and knew Eli would talk when he was ready, he left and headed to the kitchen to get Eli a glass of water. Eli sat up in the bed and hugged his knees trying to get the images out of his head and a few tears managed to escape from his eyes; he managed quickly to remove their evidence of ever being on his tanned face. He turned and grabbed his phone of the nightstand and pressed play on whatever song was playing next on his music app.
The fimilar strumming of The Offspring's Want You Bad filled Eli's ears and by the fifth song he managed to stop shaking and laid back down. By the tenth song Eli was back asleep and Declan went to check back up on Eli bringing him dinner. Eli woke up shortly after that and turned his music down and walked downstairs every so slightly cringing with each step he took as he remembered his nightmare. Eli walked into the kitchen and saw the officer sitting at the bar drinking a beer and for some reason his hand dropped the plate of food on the floor and Eli turned and ran back upstairs. 'No no no, this isn't the same. He's not like Luke. Everyone drinks... he will become like...' Eli couldn't handle these thoughts and drowned them out with music. Declan cleaned up the glass and then dumped the rest of his beer and for Eli's sake got rid of the rest of it.
He didn't realize that Eli couldn't stand to see someone drinking beer or any kind of alcohol. He also knew he should probably keep his space until Eli was better. That night Eli couldn't sleep and he knew exactly why he acted that way tonight. To his surprise he was ashamed of himself and shocked that he couldn't even stand to see his friend, fatherly figure, drinking in front of him. He knew he shouldn't have acted that way, but he was scared that Declan would end up like his father at that moment. 'Tomorrow I'll go apologize or something' Eli told himself and then stayed up all night playing Halo.
That night Declan didn't get much sleep either and unknowingly to Eli he was one of the opponents in Halo. The two of them put up a good fight between the both of them, Declan was going to let Eli win, but decided not too, well for the first few rounds. A knock on his door awoke him from the few hours of sleep he managed to succumb to. He threw on the shirt that was by his bed and walked to the door, opening it yawning looking slightly down to Eli. "Good morning Eli." Eli muttered good morning back and then said sorry for acting the way he did last night and then left to go downstairs and get something to eat.
Breakfast wasn't as bad as either one thought it would have been with the memory of last night hanging on. Eli sat at the bar eating cereal and Declan sat at the table looking over some paper work before he had to go into work today. An idea struck Declan and he pulled out his wallet and gave Eli one of his credit cards and said, "Go buy yourself a skateboard or bike or something and get out of this house, its nice out." Eli looked up at him and half smiled whispering thank you while watching him leave. Eli ran upstairs after eating and jumped into the shower and looked up the closest skate stores and parks.
He was little nervous getting into his truck that Eli had brought over to the house for him to use when he needed it. Despite all that had happened, Declan had taken him to pass his road test and Eli got this license. Eli carefully peeled out of the driveway and let his GPS take him where the store was supposedly. After about maybe half an hour he pulled into a parking spot near the store and grabbed his wallet and the card with the information on the pin number. Eli found a Gravity long board and a simple regular skateboard and he bought them internally reminding himself to pay back Declan when he had the money. Three hundred dollars later and Eli was cruising down the sidewalks on his new board, singing along to Rise Against and other bands.
"That's why we wont back down, we won't run and hide. Yeah, 'cause these are the things that we can't deny. I'm passing over you like a satellite. So catch me if I fall. That's why we stick to your game plans and party lives, but at night we're conspiring by candlelight. We are the orphans of the American dream, so shine your light on me..." Eli sung and didn't realize he had attracted the attention of a girl and he noticed that she was walking towards him. He stopped and said hello back and then was about to leave when she kept the conversation going when he didn't want to keep talking to her. This was the first girl Eli encountered, let alone talked to in a long time and he just wanted to leave.
"What's the name of the song, um you were singing?" she asked.
"Satellites." Eli responded feeling extremely awkward.
"I liked it, my brother is having a party and his band member needs a singer for tonight. I know you don't know me, but you have an amazing voice. Here's my number call or text me. I got to go. Bye." And with that the girl was gone and Eli was left with a piece of paper.
Eli went home shortly after his encounter with the girl and while on his way home he called the girl. "I'll do it, I guess." The girl told him that her name was Isabelle and told him to come to the address she texted him around 4:30pm. He got home around four and check to see how far away the house was before leaving a note for Declan and grabbing his black leather jacket before getting back into his truck.
He texted Isabelle and told her he was almost there and he was just going to grab some pizza before heading over. To be honest he already had grabbed some pizza he just pulled over at the park before her house and told himself that everything was fine. For Eli this was a huge step and tonight could go either way. "Just sing like you usually do, pretend no one's in front of you. Think you are in your room singing to yourself...or her." Said to himself. This was the first time in what nine months he thought of her, he quickly pushed it into the back of this mind and realized it was almost time and he drove over to her house.
"This is Eli!" a huge football player looking dude said as Isabelle and Eli walked outside into the backyard. Eli looked up from the ground and gave a strong silent nod. Eli quickly learned that the first dude's name was Jeremy, Isabelle's brother. Along with Jeremy was his friend Alan on drums, Noah on lead guitar, Jackson on Screams if they needed or cleans but not major singer, and then Lane on bass.
"So, the usual lead is sick tonight and we are glad Isabelle found us a replacement for tonight. So I'm guessing you will want to know the line up for tonight." Jeremy said picking up his guitar, he was rhythm guitar.
Eli nodded quickly before Jeremy started to talk again.
"We don't like to focus on one band or anything so tonight we are supposed to play a minimum of ten songs and we have at least fifteen ready incase. Now on the rare chance that you know most of these songs by heart we will make you the new lead singer of my band Athem Falls. The songs are: Feels Like Forever by Of Mice and Men, If You Can't Hang by Sleeping With Sirens, The Part That Hurts the Most by Thousand Foot Krutch, Here's To The Past by A Day To Remember, Kids In The Dark by All Time Low, Then we take a break and after the break we start back up with Bleak December by Set It Off, followed by Hope by We Came as Romans, two Rise Against songs, Satellites and The Good Left Undone. The last song is an original so we have to teach you that one, so well lets get going."
Who knows how long, but Eli looked at his phone one last time and he felt sick to his stomach. It was nine and the band was going on. Jeremy and the rest went on stage and introduced Anthem Falls and Eli began singing Feels like Forever when he knew by the strums of the guitar. Isabelle was recording the whole performance and when Eli sung "Say you're okay, I'm afraid that tomorrow is just too far away. Fight the pain, it just feels like forever is crashing down on me. Down on me, me, me..." he entranced many of the people at the party and they decided to actually listen to the band.
Eli looked at Isabelle while singing Kids In The Dark and she smiled at him. Eli began to feel like he belonged somewhere, looking out at the crowd that actually was enjoying the performance. After that song they took a break and Eli went inside to grab a water. Jeremy came up behind him and did the half hug hang off of the shoulder thing to Eli and he flinched a little.
"Dude that was amazing, you made our actual lead singer look so damn horrible. I would love to have you as a full time lead singer, but for now lets get back out there and give them a show they will never forget."
Eli nodded at Jeremy and they ran back out to the stage. Eli got the crowds attention and then they began the second half of the performance. After the last song before the original song they took another quick break to grab water and then Jeremy grabbed the acoustic and two stools, one for him and the other for Eli. Jeremy strummed for a few seconds before Eli grabbed the microphone and sang...
"Look me in the eye, please tell me what you see. I can't tell you what to see. I can't tell you what I see. Nothing's the same anymore. Everything looks so different; I'm not so sure what I see anymore. A boy in the mirror, a ghost of a human..."
By the end of the song the crowd of partygoers erupted into a cheering frenzy. Jeremy put the acoustic down and hugged Eli. Eli checked his phone it was past midnight and Declan sent him a text saying he was working late and wouldn't be home, then another text saying he got Eli's note and he could call Declan if Eli needed a ride. Right before anyone could walk of stage a guy towards the back shouted, "Encore" and others immediately began chanting in a very satanically way, "Encore, encore, encore..."
Jeremy and Eli looked at each other, during practice they practiced and taught Eli three really only two songs extra incase this happened. The band members started playing and Eli belted out the lyrics to You're Gonna Go Far Kid. Eli looked like a whole new and different kid, yet no one knew how he really was. By 2 am most people had gone home or were asleep at Jeremy's house. Eli and Anthem Falls were done by 1 am. Eli left Jeremy and Isabelle by 1:30.
Eli was heading home and he was getting pretty tired as the adrenaline he was hopped up on during the concert was gone. He could barely keep his eyes open and he started to doze off. A loud honk of a horn woke him up and he swerved back into his lane and continued to drive home. When Eli pulled into his drive way he texted Isabelle letting her know that he got home. Declan woke up around 1 and texted Eli asking when he would come back, so when Eli opened the front door and walked in Declan asked him how the party was.
"Well I wasn't really there for the party." Eli admitted.
"Well what did you do all night and early morning."
"I was asked to be a fill in for a band's concert at the party."
Declan looked at Eli and smiled, "That's amazing, who's party and what band?'
"Isabelle King's boyfriend's party at the King's house and her brother Jeremy's band Anthem Falls."
Declan didn't respond and he ran off and came back to the kitchen bar with his laptop and he was searching something. Eli was utterly confused and being exhausted didn't help clear things up until Declan spun the laptop so fast it could have given someone whiplash. It was an article of a popular magazine, King's Daily, the top of the website said, "As you may know my son and his band are performing for my daughter's boyfriend's party this weekend..."
"Eli do you realize who you just performed in front of and for?" Declan asked very excited and rushed. Eli had fallen asleep at the bar after looking at the laptop's screen and Declan shook his head and carried him to what he considered Eli's room. He placed Eli on the bed and threw a blanket over him before he disappeared into the master bedroom and not to be seen until midday on Saturday.
Eli was woken up the next day by Declan sitting on his bed with the laptop, "Eli you have to see this!" and Declan played the video.
"Last night at the King's household Anthem Falls played a concert for a party being held and here is the footage from last night," There was link to the video that Isabelle had taken, " and the big shock that surprised everyone Friday night was the lead singer, he was a fill in for the band's actual lead singer who was sick. Isabelle asked us to keep his name out of the segment for certain reasons, but who else agrees that the fill in lead singer can sing and should do something with it. Hopefully we see more with Anthem Falls and the mysterious lead singer." The video went to talk about the regular news and Eli looked up at Declan.
"I had absolutely no clue who they were and wow." Was all Eli could say he was just shocked and stunned.
" I think this calls for celebratory waffles." Declan said as his stomach growled.
"Thanks D..da..Declan" Eli stutter to catch himself from calling Declan his dad. Eli didn't think of that, but Declan noticed his almost slip of the word dad and he chose to ignore it. They walked downstairs and Eli and him began to make waffles.
"Do you want to watch this spectacular performance of the mysterious lead singer with me?" Declan joked. Eli casually laughed and said yes, so when the waffles were ready the two sat down at the bar and began to watch the concert. Declan was amazed at where Eli had come from and how much progress he had made.