The Throw-Aways

The day of the concert. Oh man.

This.

Was.

Big.

Not only was it our first concert back in full swing, but it was mine with my new arm. Jake would be on stage with me-sleeping through the entire set as usual. It was our little trademark now, to have my dog on stage with us. It’s not like the pug would crowd surf or anything! All he did was lay by my keyboard and put his little nose between his paws.

As we sat on the bus before going out, I twiddled with the spinning disc on my arm. I used a little tool to tighten everything up and reconnect all the nerves. Enduring the pin pricks, I made sure everything was perfect, or as perfect as it could be. The bus seemed crowded and warm. My mind longed to be out on the stage in front of the thousands of people. The cool breeze would soothe my frazzled nerves.

“Are you almost ready, Raven?” Alan asked me. I nodded slowly.

There were so many challenges out there.

For one, a looming possibility of my arm bugging out and failing was dangling over my head. Doctor Lyons said that the Project Motion prototype might have a few bugs that would cause it to glitch out. This was one of the risks I took on with the prototype prosthetic. I only had two weeks to go before I could get the first official version of the fake limb. Those fourteen days, that morning of December twenty fourth, seemed like an eternity and a day away.

Not only was the possibility of mechanical failure possible, but the fact that Jay would be on stage right. Not only had she been plucked out of my nightmares, but she was dating Jack Barakat! She would use anything, stoop to any level, and play any dangerous game just to ruin my musical career.

Which was basically my life.

So she was trying to destroy me either way.

Focus, Raven! She was on side stage before, so don’t panic! I chanted to the rhythm of silent drums in my head. Austin had gladly given Jack and Alex side passes, even one for the “mysterious girlfriend” on the promise he would meet her.

I hoped that Austin would back me up when he met Jay.

“We’re on in five!” Tino called to us. I whistled and Jacked turned blind eyes towards me. I clipped on his leash and pulled him right against my side. His tawny curled tail wiggled in excitement as we left the bus.

Cheers rose up from the large crowd. It was a sea of sound we were swallowed in, even as we went back stage. A few stage hands raised curious eyebrows towards our dog, but nothing was spoken aloud.

We were Of Mice and Men and we could do whatever the hell we want.

Jack, Alex, and the Devil herself were nowhere to be seen. Oh well, we had to be up front in thirty seconds anyways. There was no time for idle chatter. Austin passed me a curious glance. My black hand gave him a robotic thumbs up. Cool gusts swept over us, quelling any nerves left.

With a shaky breath, our band was up.

Each of us tumbled onto the stage as the surrounding venue was enveloped with cheers and wailing cries of song lusting fans. As I stood behind Infernal, I didn’t dare glance to my right to witness Jack, Alex, or Jay.

Jake woofed, not even heard over the crowd. I circled his leash and tied it to Infernal, not even bothering to tighten it. Would a blind dog seriously want to wander off? I mean, Jake wasn’t all the bright some times, but he had more common sense than a doorknob….I think.

We started off with Ohioisonfire. I jumped and got pumped with the fans. It was like the songs had once again taken over my system and set of my brain on fire with the screams and guitar riffs.

“It just might be, out of line!” Aaron and Austin were grinning and jumping up and down together. We were all in sync. I passed a goofy smile to Tino and he just laughed. His already sweat soaked hair cracked through the air like a whip. The sun was shining, the fans were screaming….

Jay was in the corner, grinning devilishly.

Jack smiled to me and I arced an eyebrow in a silent hello, ignoring the devil beside him. His arm was wrapped over her shoulders and the evil girl soaked up every bit of attention.

Alex had no emotion to their sentiments.

As if I could shake my head clear, I went back to looking over the sea of fans as our first piece ended. I raised up my left arm in a silent cheer for everyone. They all went nuts.

“WHAT’S UP WYOMING?!” Austin shrieked into the mic.

“Woo!” Everyone screamed. It was the basic metal response that everyone knew. It was universal around all concerts. Oh man, this is what I lived for.

“We have quite a show for you today! First, R-Girl has a few words for all of you!” Austin yelled back. Everyone erupted into excitement. Austin and I had planned this out, every word of it.

“Hey, everyone!” I took Aus’s place. My right arm rested lightly against my hip and I twisted my left fingers nervously. If my arm could shake right now, it would be rolling off. Good thing I had tightened everything beforehand!

“So if you haven’t noticed anything new by now, I suggest you stop staring at the ground and open your eyes. But I couldn’t have gotten this thing by myself. I OWE IT TO ALL OF YOU TO GET ME THIS FAR!” I screamed into the mic to be heard over the crowd. It was like they wanted to overpower all of the universe in one large cry.

“SO A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE DONATORS OUT THERE, ALL THE SUPPORT ON TWITTER, AND TO ANYONE WHO HAS EVER LISTENED TO OUR MUSIC!” I finalized. They all cheered and clapped and even the random mosh pit in the middle calmed for a moment.

As I leapt back behind Infernal, we started on Would You Still Be There. It was a classic that the crowd always loved. Jake even wagged his tail a little as we started on the verse. I was energized and absorbed the happiness that the crowd gave me.

As we got through that song, I felt a little twitch in my arm. Oh, I got these everyone in a while. It might have just been an itch on Nubby the nub. Although it was an annoyance, it wasn’t anything serious.

Austin passed me a smile and I flexed the robotic fingers. The black glove that covered the mechanical parts flexed with the joints. I smiled, focusing back on the keyboard.

Farewell to Shady Glade started up. It was mostly guitar, so I didn’t have to worry about much other than a few chords here and there and a couple of nice right hand melodies.

“You were my collection, an addiction out of style!” Austin sang into the mic. Everyone jumped in with the words.

And that’s when I stopped.

I literally stopped.

My left arm bugged up. As I tried to concentrate my focus on moving my left hand, the entire arm went dead. Besides the fact that all the joints had literally frozen in place, I knew that something was wrong with the pinpricks of pain that shot into Nubby.

Redemption was malfunctioning in the middle of a song.

It was my worst nightmare come to life.

Don’t panic. Don’t look like something went wrong. I thought to myself calmly. Although it was hard to think through the increasing pain and the disorienting stares of the fans, I bobbed my head and smiled as if I wasn’t dying inside.

The nerves that had connected to the robotic nerves were flaring up with pain. The whole “communication system” that the robotic arm had synced up to was malfunctioning and going haywire.

The worst part?

It was in my body.

This wasn’t just the arm that had frozen up, but my communication system that sent messages from my brain to the metal parts had lit on fire. Everything was shutting down.

Alan passed me a glance as soon as he saw my left hand lazily sit on the keys, not moving an inch. I smiled and nodded my head, like I was okay. He just looked back to Austin. The singer was wrapped up in the moment to notice.

But Phil saw. Phil knew something was wrong.

Okay? He mouthed to me at the end of the piece.

I’ll be fine. I shot back, but my lips quavered. Not only had my left arm shut down and lock up, but the nub had as well. I was losing feeling in that side of the body.

Austin raised his fist and the crowd cheered. I saw a few wary glances from people at the barrier. They stared at me and I couldn’t meet their gaze.

From the corner of my eye, Jay just smirked, revealing dagger like teeth and malice.

Jack and Alex just threw me a concerning look.

The Storm was our next song. As we started, my right hand got bad twitches. I skipped notes, barely played the correct chord. I lowered my volume, holding out a chord with Infernal’s pedal.

Without my left hand, it was hard to turn on my laptop’s sound effects and play the right notes all in time.

By the middle of the song, the left side of my body had gone numb. I had control over my feet, but I had no dominance over Nubby, Redemption, or my shoulder. Now the nerves and “communication network” to the right side of my body was starting to buzz out.

My lips quavered and went numb. The right arm that was desperately trying to make up for the loss of the other side was trembling and twitching. My arm refused to rise any higher than my shoulder and even then, I was passing out. There was no reigning in this runaway train.

All the while, Jay smirked.

As soon as we had finished The Storm, Phil came over to my side, whispering a few things into the headset.

“What’s happening over there, R?” His soft voice spoke quickly. Austin passed me a look and I shook it off. I grinned as if it was the easiest thing in the world before I was forced to keep a straight face.

The part of my brain that sent out commands and natural movements out to each part of my body was going down.

Jake sniffed my leg, leaning up against me. It was if the obese dog could be my support.

I tried to reach up with my right hand, to press on the earpiece and let him know I was okay, but I couldn’t control my right hand. The crowd was giving us an odd look as Austin stalled with a little bit of speech in between.

Over on the side, Jack and Alex conversed in secretive talk. Occasionally worried looks passed between them.

Jay knew.

She knew everything that was going on.

If I could glare right now, I would’ve done so.

“Hey, what’s happening?” Phil rushed over to my side. He stood on my left and I forced my body to turn to him. Electric shocks shot up my left arm through my shoulder.

“I’m….fine….Keep….going…..” I gritted through my teeth. He didn’t believe me, so I just turned back to my keyboard. Fans looked concerned, but were soon distracted as Let Live began playing.

Alan looked at me suspiciously. I ignored his glances and went back to focusing on Infernal.

Jake leaned against my side the entire time. He never once sat back down or barked. We supported each other as my legs went numb. The feeling of nothingness spread all the way to my chest. Only the pads of my fingers retained any feeling any more.

Wow, when Austin ever sang, I cannot feel anything, anymore, I didn’t know he literally meant it.

Throughout each song, I kept getting worried glances from each of the members. Gritting my teeth with whatever strength I had left, I endured the agony from the haywire Redemption.

I had to get this arm off as soon as possible. I had to reconnect the nerves again.

Repeating Apologize was our last song. I nearly cried when it started. It was my favorite song….

And I couldn’t play.

Small tears leaked out of my eyes from the pain. I nearly collapsed to my knees. Jake licked my leg, but I only knew because I was looking down at him. I wouldn’t have otherwise felt it.

So this was the bugs that Lyons was talking about.

Within the third note, I had to drop both hands to my side. I was taken over. I could move my legs, but the numb gave me a weird sensation that was sort of painful. I could bob my head, but it felt stiff.

The thing was, I couldn’t control anything much.

If I focused, I could jump and bob my head to the song. I had to clench my teeth and repeat I will not lose control over and over in my head.

With extreme concentration, I could make myself move the right side of my body. So with that little bit of movement, I did an awkward half pulse type of motion to keep time. Both arms dropped to my side.

People were definitely staring now.

As soon as we ended, Phil rushed up to my side and looped an arm around my shoulders, helping me “walk” out of the stage. Alan untied Jake and brought him along with him. Phil was dragging me, Alan was leading Jake, Austin was trying to distract the crowd, and Tino was running up to my side, looping another arm around my shoulders. I winced in pain, the tears of agony still falling.

Alex and Jack rushed around to the exit of the stage, already running into our bus for the box that held all of my tool for the Project Motion arm.

All the while, Jay folded her arms across her skinny chest, shaking her head in false dismay.

It was probably the devil’s presence that had caused my arm to malfunction.

Is it still legal in society today to accuse someone of witchcraft?

Notes

Okay everyone, let's all grab our pitchforks and torches!