A Gift or A Curse

Arin still hung and frozen at the sight of his childhood heroes in front of him. The way Kirk patted his back and assured that he’s actually a great drummer, whispered; better than Lars; made him felt glee and blissful inside. For having to easily referred as ‘a kid’, that compliment really meant a lot to him. But it can’t be compared with Jimmy’s words, not ever.

He finally decided to tell the guys about the recording but he can’t find a right time. Since he woke up he’d been busy with sound checking, full rehearsals, pep talk and basically they were surrounded by outsiders.

“So what do you guys say if after this show we go grab a drink and maybe you can introduce me to that groupie of yours over there. She looks innocent, I didn’t know you guys would go for a type of girl like that.”

It was none other than Lars Ulrich who was saying those words. His preference in groupies was well known by the Avenged boys, especially Brian but this time Zacky went flustered and unknowingly landed his palm on Lars’ chest.

“Hey, man. She’s not a groupie okay? She’s a friend.”

Lars raised his eyebrow and looked down to Zacky’s hand. “Chill dude. What’s with you?”
Brian felt the need to separate them after he scanned his view over to his wife who sat together with Blake and Valerie, deep in conversation.

“Zack, we gotta go.”

Zacky withdrew his hand away and leaned back, fidgeting with his 6661 headstock before turning his glance to Blake who accidentally looked at him and smiled. He smiled back sincerely, getting his pure energy just from that.

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“So, before we move on to the next song, we wanna thank the great and legendary Metallica for inviting us here, both headlining this Vegas Metal Show Festival.”

The crowd applauded like crazy when Matthew mentioned the legendary band’s name. He knew right then that Metallica’s fans took more than half of this indoor space which embodied around 10000 people.

“And for the next song, I just wanna take a break and hang with Arin at the back. What do you say if I let Johnny fucking Christ here to sing instead?”

“WOOOOHHHH!!!”

“JOHNNY! JOHNNY!”

The crowd started to chant Johnny’s name and he smiled shyly, making his way towards the microphone.

“Wow look at them Christ! I’m worried you might replace me someday.”

“Haha, I’m replacing you right now.”

Johnny was fumbling with the microphone stand and made everybody in the room laughed watching him.

“You okay there Johnny? You need me to lift you up or something?” Brian suddenly spoke to his microphone, making everyone burst laughing again.

“Fuck off Gates.” Johnny glared at him and was done adjusting the mic stand so that it would suit his height. Matthew walked towards Arin and saw that the kid was dozing off over something.

“Hey kid, you’re okay?” he called. Arin looked startled and quickly nodded his head, getting ready to drum away.

“Relax, it’s only Seize The Day.”


“This song goes out to a special person out there, I know you’re in the crowd, just know that I am truly sorry for what happen and I love you to death.”

The crowd screamed in a unity of jealousy and wonder for what Johnny had said into the microphone and they twisted and turned to search for the one that Johnny was looking for.

“Seize the day or die regretting the time you lost, it’s empty and cold without you here, too many people to ache over.”

Johnny sounded out of tune, as usual but his heart was poured into the song fully and it became the most heartwarming performance from them ever. Even Matthew waved from behind him and swung his arm over his shoulder, giving him support during the song.

“I see my vision burned, I feel my memories fade with time, but I’m too young to worry. A melody, a memory or just one picture.”

Matthew helped him out by singing the part of the higher voice when they reached the chorus part.

“Lacey, I know you’re out there. Come up on the stage, baby.” Johnny announced when Brian was working his magic with the solo.

The crowd buzzed, looking for Lacey but no one really made a move to the stage.

“Lacey, I’m helpless here. Please, baby.” Johnny begged again, with the background high pitched vocal from Matt singing the part “so what if I never hold you..”

“LACEY! LACEY! LACEY! LACEY!” The crowd chanted and Johnny felt his adrenaline rushed like hell. He crossed his fingers, hoping that Lacey won’t be so stubborn anymore and just come up on the stage. Suddenly two security guards rushed over to the side of the crowd, quite far from the stage and the spotlight beamed exactly on them. Johnny can already see her shining red hair and his eyes sparkled watching her being escorted to the stage.

When Lacey stood directly in front of Johnny, with her eyes teary, Johnny yanked away his guitar strap and put it aside, making everyone yelled and screamed.

“Please tell me what we have is real.”

He wasn’t singing that part, he spoke into the microphone and his eyes locked on hers. It was quite a movie-like scene where his band mates were playing the background song for him and he was staring into Lacey’s eyes for a while.

“It’s real. I love you Johnny.”

Johnny grinned widely and pulled her into a kiss, erecting chaos from the crowd’s perimeter to the backstage behind. Even Valarie and Michelle were screaming watching him reunited with Lacey finally.



Blake finally got to listen to that song fully. She only heard Jimmy sang a few and he was bad at it. She’d never thought that someone as tuneless as Johnny can make the song came out beautifully and warmed her heart until her tears flowing down like a river. She sobbed hard, looking for a surface to sit down and cry.

“Blake! What’s wrong? Don’t cry!”

Blake looked up to Michelle who was running towards her with Valerie. With glassy eyes she can’t tell them apart.

“Jimmy always sang that song for me.”

“Oh Blake.” Michelle and Valerie pulled her into a tight hug and she sobbed in their arms.

“Let’s go around Vegas after this, you need to cheer up, doll.”

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Metallica was performing on stage and the guys were heading towards the backstage to the girls. Brian reached for Michelle’s lips first even before he would pull off his Schecter.

“So, did you like us?” Zacky came over to Blake who was watching them from the couch.

“Oh yes, you guys are amazing. Johnny, especially.” She nodded to Johnny who just came and stood next to Zacky with Lacey in his arms. Zacky turned to his side.

“You’re serious? This guy can’t even sing!” Zacky commented while jerking a sneer at Johnny.

“At least I got my girlfriend back. Where’s yours?”

Zacky narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw. He glanced once at Lacey and she gave him a stink eye for leaving her best friend.

“Hi Lacey, is it? I’m Blake. I’m sorry for what happened. I can’t tell you the details but-”

“It’s okay. I know, and I believe him.” She smiled at Johnny and he gave her a peck on the lips.

Blake felt relieved instantly. When Johnny and Lacey walked away, Zacky wrapped his arm around her shoulders all of a sudden, making her flinched a little.

“So what are your plans after this? Do you want me to show you Vegas?”

“I don’t know. The twins said they wanted to bring me out but I don’t feel like it.”

Zacky pursed his lips and thought deeply for a moment.

“Let’s get out of here.”

He dragged Blake’s hand and just didn’t care about the others. They ran out of the venue discreetly and when they reached the curb side of the street, Zacky whistled for a cab.

“Where – where are we going?”

“Somewhere they couldn’t find us.”

Notes