Musicians of the Night

“Hey, Zacky boy, are you feeling okay?”

Zachary James Baker, who used the stage name of Zacky Vengeance, turned around - as he started into the concerned brown eyes of Matthew Charles Sanders, who had opted for the stage name of M Shadows.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Zacky replied, quite weakly. “It’s just that, well… Our band doesn’t seem to be doing too hot, and both of my parents are gone. I just dunno if we’ll…”

“Well, I’m happy that my two cousins who live here showed up,” M Shadz commented, softly. “They and their two best buds seemed to enjoy our show - so that’s something, at least. Also, that mysterious young black man who showed up also seemed to like our show. We’ll have to see if we can track him down. He seemed a tad bit older, and… something about him seemed familiar to me, but I can’t… quite place my finger on it.”

“Well, guys, here’s our van,” Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan called out. “Zacky does seem a tad frail, but maybe he just needs a good rest. In fact, we should all call it a night.”

Zacky felt himself being lifted up by The Rev, who was the tallest and strongest member of Avenged Sevenfold - the name that the band had chosen from the first book in the Bible, and they had a few demo tracks under their belt. Zacky was so tired, he fell asleep in The Rev’s arms even before the band reached their van.

*****

Zacky stretched out his arms, as the sounds of some soft tapping woke him up. He looked up, and saw that it was the same black man who had attended their concert.

“Hello?” Zacky asked, groggily.

“Well, what brings you here in the middle of the night?” M Shadz asked, sounding significantly more alert but very polite.

“Well, I just had a sense that you fellas needed some assistance,” the black man replied, very warmly. “I really liked your show a lot. I reckon that more people ought to hear about you. By the way, you guys can call me ‘Jimmy’. One of you seems a tad bit sickly.”

With that, Jimmy reached out to stroke Zacky’s face - and Jimmy’s face became very pensive.“You seem significantly more pale than any vampire I’ve encountered,” Jimmy added, softly. Turning to the other band members, he added, “Is it okay if I take this frail young boy along and assist to him? I think I know just the thing he needs.”

“Jimmy… Jimmy Reed,” M Shadz muttered, softly. “You look just like Jimmy Reed, the blues singer. I have some of his albums… even on vinyl, in fact.”

“I am Jimmy Reed, the blues singer,” Jimmy affirmed, flashing M Shadz and the rest of the band a warm crooked smile.

“But how is that possible?” M Shadz asked, confused. “I mean, you do look just like Jimmy Reed from his album covers - but shouldn’t you be… a lot… older?”

“Somehow, I think he’s… telling the truth,” Zacky added, weakly.

“Do you want me to sing to you?” Jimmy asked, warmly. Beginning to sing, he continued, “Big boss man, can’t you hear me when I call? Big boss man, can’t you hear me when I call? Well, you ain’t so big. You just tall, that’s all.”

“You do sound just like him,” M Shadz commented, impressed.

“What might your name be?” Jimmy asked, as he lifted up Zacky Vengeance with ease - despite him not being that much bigger than Zacky.

“Zacky,” he replied, weakly. “Zachary James Baker.”

“Well, Zacky, ‘tis a great pleasure to meet you,” Jimmy commented, softly - as he leaned over to kiss Zacky’s forehead. Turning to the rest of the band, he added, “We should be back in about twelve hours, and Zacky should be about as good as new.”

Zacky, once again, fell asleep - as Jimmy Reed was carrying him away from the band’s van.

Notes