So Friday was a big failure in the terms of the Singing Specter, but that was in the past. It was so yesterday, and today was SATURDAY! So as I sat in my room, 11:30 at night, I contemplated what to do.

Should I go, or should I not?

I had basically hidden in my room all of today, just thinking about this matter and laying low. If someone had seen my face, even for a moment, they could catch me as I sulked about outside and my cover would be blown. All I did was type on my laptop and check fanfiction sights every hour. Occasionally my mind would wander into the fantasies and daydreams.

I was sitting on the tour bus after a big concert. We would have about a week to take a break before going back to practicing and performing. The laptop was hot on my legs as the fan started to kick in. With a chuckle, I opened the fanfiction sights I used to often check a few years ago. Before, I was reading about Tino, Phil, Austin, Alan, and Aaron. Now, I could see my name tagged onto many of the stories.

The novellas ranged from fantasy about me being a literal angel to some smutty works. There was a flux of Cashby shippers as well as Jalex. Oh, the good old days when I was among the shippers of these men!

I still shipped Jalex pretty hardcore.

But my heart leapt as I saw I was among them. I guess this was just among many perks of joining a popular band! I finally got my own official ship. I half squeal out of my fangirl side, earning odd stares from Austin.

Ravelyn and Ralan were among popular stories. I laughed happily at the stories, shed silent tears as someone died (or me, sometimes I happened to be killed off in these stories) and gladly left comments under my pseudo name, Chaos’sWolf. No one would know, but I would gladly appreciate each of them. There were some talented writers out there!

Oh, if only these daydreams came true!

It was long since I had checked the updates of my favorite stories and the laptop lid was closed. As I glanced over to the black zip jacket that limply hung on my chair’s back. Jack sneezed next to my leg, curled up on my bed.

“Hey, buddy. Do you think I should go?” I asked the blind pug. His tail wiggled at the sound of my voice. Scratching between his ears, I thought it over for a moment.

Okay, I needed to go since I had to possibly repair some hammers that might have been jostled out of place.

This was simply and excuse my brain gave me to go and play once again on the old piano. Blest would’ve missed me if I had stayed away too long. I know my dad was still out talking to Arestino at the bar and I was a little early for my midnight session, but hey, I had some repairs to do first of all!

I slipped out of the house, quietly patting Jake as I went. Taking my drawstring bag and phone, I tromped through the front yard and towards the church. This time, I was extra careful to avoid town and just rush to the old church.

Yesterday after I saw the men, I was terrified. What did they think of it? Why were they at the church? Would they figure out it was me? I mean, I was also angry for being interrupted, but still a little terrified.

So as quietly as I could, I used an emergency entrance and squirreled away through the insides of the wall until I reached the back of the sanctuary. I coughed slightly as a plume of dust rose up from my jacket. Beating the black cloth back, I managed to brush off most of the grey flecks.

Tonight, the moon seemed to be tucked away behind clouds. This would mean for more good coverage and less of a chance of getting noticed. Thankfully, this seemed to be a good night for a ballad.

Hello there again, dear. You seemed to take off quickly yesterday after YOU STEPPED ON ME! Blest could’ve been yelling in my ear right now. I smiled softly, patting the wooden sides of the instrument.

I heard a creak from the corner. My eyes scanned every possible nook, but saw nothing. It might just be mice. Sometimes a bird even got stuck in here!

“Sorry about that, Blest. I know you took a beating, but I’ll make it better.” I cooed softly to the instrument.

Good! You owe me for that! Blest stood silently, patient as I propped open the piano lid and started to work on the hammers tucked into the insides.

“Well I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord. But you don’t really care for music, do you?” I softly started to sing the words. This song always got my emotions in turmoil and I could belt it out, feeling every emotion strike the words raw. As I finished up the first verse and patted the hammers back into place, I sat down at the bench, giving a quick glance around at the sound of another squeak of a board.

I kept singing, no one there.

Yesterday had put me on high alert.

“Well it goes like this: The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, and the major lift….” My fingers slid over the keys, starting to relax into the position they were meant to be in. The notes were repetitive, but could calm even the angriest beast. The lyrics seemed to just echo the world’s pain, the world’s love, and the world’s confusion.

“Hallelujah, Hallelujah…” I belted out on the first sets of this powerful word, but faltered a little with the dynamic of my voice at the sound of something else.

Someone was here.

Someone was singing with me.

I didn’t panic on the outside. My hood was up, my face ducked towards the keys. I glanced the rim of black framing my face to see if I could spot someone.

No one was there.

“You’re faith was strong but you needed proof. You saw her bathing on the roof…” I started the second verse, still curious as to if anyone was here. The voice had faded off.

As soon as I started the second sets of Hallelujahs, the voice came back in. In the third verse, I stopped my own vocals. It was definitely a man’s strong tone. It spoke to me of emotions hidden behind a thin smile.

It mesmerized me.

We kept switching off back and forth between who sang and who listened, but we would both join together for the Hallelujahs. The two voices combined made a perfect sound that I never expected.

All through my head, I could think, how does someone stand my singing for so long?!

It took all my will as I finished to not screw up the notes, not to scare away this magical, mysterious person. So the last notes faded into silence.

No one spoke.

I reverted back to an old classic that was a finger stretch, but had a flowing piano part and fun vocals to put my heart to. I only wondered if the voice knew this. I started to sing Millennia by Crown the Empire.

At that moment, I didn’t care who heard me or not. I was in my little piece of heaven. Everything started to fade into darkness. All I had was the piano, the lyrics, and the moon to watch me. My fear melted away, the terror started to roll off my body with each key stroke.

“I’ve been gone from this world for what seems like millennia…” I heard the voice join with me, softer this time than before. So this voice had good taste in music!

If I wasn’t supposed to be a “ghost”, I would gladly want to befriend the person behind the vocals.

The last note rolled of my fingers as I struck it. When I opened my eyes and closed my mouth, the church pews stood before me. Everything in here was abandoned, an outcast, a Throw-Away.

“Really, you do have a beautiful voice.” A soft sentence pierced the veil of silence behind me. All muscles tensed up and my stomach turned into knots. I could almost hear the breathing of the man only a few feet behind me. The brain stuck in my skull sped into hyper drive and shrieked for me to run! Run far and fast!

“Honestly, that was some amazing piano playing…” The voice trailed off. Although I had never seen the face, the sounds seemed familiar to me. The words were spoken confidently, like the man actually knew a thing or two about music.

“What do you know about a ghost like me?” I asked bitterly and stood up. By the sharp intake of breath, I could tell the man was shocked I actually spoke. It was obvious he figured out I wasn’t the ghost I claimed to be, but it seemed to surprise him that I could talk.

“Well, I know that I’ve never heard someone as talented as you.” He explained happily. I stepped away from Blest. I stood in a patch of warm moonlight. The silver light glinted happily on the cracked and squeaky boards. Casting my eyes down, I made sure the black hood covered my face. If he didn’t see my face, I might have a slim chance to escape without too much embarrassment.

Jay’s words echoed in my head, mingling and distorting all rational.

“No, I’m not talented. Please, don’t lie.” I whispered, thinking about the bullies at school, the teasing from people who seemed harmless.

They all thought the words were just plastic bullets used to leave a bruise, but that mark would disappear.

No, those words for the past two years had been full on steel bullets that hit every time. They buried in my heart and planted seeds of doubt. At first, I thought that they were all just kidding about it. As the months wore on, I believed every word.

I still believe them.

So how could this man say I was good?

RUN, FOOl!!! Blest screamed from the middle of the floor. As the man attempted to step closer, I shifted my position so that our paths were blocked by the piano.

“No, really! You’re voice must’ve been professionally trained and what the towns says it true! You’re a prodigy with the piano!” The man’s familiar voice begged me to believe him. I shook my head out, feeling his empty compliments falter.

He was just lying to make me feel better.

“Please, I can’t do this. I can’t play for you.” I whispered more to myself than the man. We kept side stepping. The man tried to get closer and I avoided him at each movement. Eventually, we stopped so that he was blocking my only emergency exit and I would only be able to turn to the isle and sprint out the front door.

Who knew if others outside were waiting for me?

“Will you at least look at me?” His soft voice cooed like a mother coaxing her child out of hiding. My eyes flickered around to the piano. Should I really do this?

That’s when I spotted my drawstring bag by the feet of the man. My breath hitched. He didn’t seem to notice it yet. Although the bag was half hidden under the instrument, I didn’t know what to do. There was a chance that I could leave it there and pick it up in a few minutes after the man left. All it had was my tool kit, an extra water bottle, and my notebook. Oh no, not my notebook!

That would be my only hope.

“Please?” He asked again. This time, I looked straight up at him, not moving to remove my hood. As I glanced to the man showered in the light of the orb in the sky, my eyes widened.

Austin. Carlile.

Austin Carlile was standing in front of me.

He smiled slowly in recognition. He was tall and must’ve been the man I saw yesterday. I could only guess the other two were fellow band members. Austin must’ve saw me tense up and my eyes widen because he tilted his head curiously.

“There. See? That’s not so bad.” He softly spoke once again. If he was here…

Where were the others?!

Now a normal person might think right about now that Austin Carlile, the man who had been my hero for what seemed like forever, had just complimented me on my playing! A normal person might think, Wow! You’re so lucky! He must think you’re really talented and want you to play for him!

But I wasn’t a normal person with a boring past.

All I thought was AUSTIN CARLILE IS STANDING IN FRONT OF ME! FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING MUSICAL PLEASE DON’T ASK ME TO PLAY AGAIN! See, my brain instantly went into shut down mode.

It was the same mode I went into at the funeral.

Playing for Austin equals sudden choke ups, break downs, and repeats of a messy history. This was equivalent to more teasing and shame, a forever that I needed to hide my face from.

That meant a big NOPE to playing the piano now that I knew who my listener was.

“I heard you playing the You’re Not Alone last night. That was definitely better than I could’ve done!” Austin laughed quietly. I glanced back down to my feet again.

“No, nothings better than the original.” I murmured into the tense air. The singer tilted his head with a growing smile.

“So you’re a fan?” He asked.

WAS I A FAN?! No, it’s not like I knew basically every song note by note. It’s not like I kept up on the band’s constant updates with the rest of my friends. It’s not like I only had adored every. Single. Member. It’s not like they had helped me through every rough patch in my life.

Nope, definitely not a fan.

I rolled my eyes mentally, but bobbed my head to affirm it. Normally, I would’ve loved to talk to Austin for a longer period of time, but I really just wanted to escape this situation.

“C-can you play it for me again?” Austin coaxed. My eyes shot up to his and I slowly backed down the steps. This was my cue to leave before anything bad happened.

“I-I’m s-s-sorry, but I can’t.” I stuttered nervously before backing up down the aisle. He just looked at me with both curiosity and sadness.

“But you’re amazing!” He laughed. I turned around and started to speed up my pace.

“Please, I really can’t do it.” I just wished I could pour out my story to the man. I wished with all my heart that I could tell him why. I wished I could make him understand that he meant a lot to me and I didn’t want to embarrass myself.

“Oh. Okay.” He sighed sadly. His bus must be nearby. I would have to avoid it coming out of the church. Before I pushed open the doors, I turned around to the man, still staring at me from the front of the sanctuary.

“Please, don’t tell anyone about this.” I asked. All I saw was a brief nod.

Did I just miss my biggest chance to become the new keyboardist for the band I loved?

Or did I just miss a chance to make an even bigger idiot of myself?

Either way, I pushed open the door and sprinted through the night to my house.

Notes

OOOOOOHH What will happen next?!?!?

Keep reading to find out! Will Austin chase after this piano player or let her go???

(P.S. Still doing one shots, so please, please, please don't hesitate to ask for one!)

Stay beautiful!