Falling Stars

Chapter One

Surrounded
by darkness and the familiar stagnant smell, I curled into the proverbial fetal
position and tried to block out his screams and her cries. My hands covering my
ears couldn't drown out the horror. I sobbed until hands made me scream out.

"Shh…it's
okay, baby." She tried to be convincing, but her swollen eyes and blood-streaked
mouth told a different truth.

Ringing
and vibrating pulled me out of the darkness of my nightmare. When my cell
landed on the floor with a thud, I opened my eyes to blinding daylight, immediately
shutting them again. I was partly annoyed and partly thankful for the
interruption in my nightly rerun. I leaned over my bed and grabbed the phone
from the floor.

"Hello,"
I must have been screaming again; my voice was raspy.

"Christopher,
I need you to be at the record label in an hour. Can you make it on time?"

I
pulled the phone away from my ear at the loudness of Nicholas' voice then
quickly turned the volume down.

"Why?"

Pulling
myself up, I sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed the stiffness out of my neck.
Movement behind me—a hand sliding up my back—caused me to turn around. The
blonde who’d been with me last night laid next to me, her upper half-naked. I
covered the phone with my hand.

"You
can go now."

In
fact, she should have already been gone. I hated when they tried to cling on in
the last moments.

"I
don't know why I even waste time with someone who only cares about him-self and
keeps me up all damn night with the moaning and shouting." She huffed and
rustled around behind me.

I
knew I’d dreamed the inevitable last night. However, I hadn't known I had been
vocal. That wasn't a good sign. I needed to make a call to my personal
pharmacist.

"Christopher,
did you hear me?"

Shit!

"Sorry,
still trying to wake up. What were you saying?"

"Another
morning distraction, I'm guessing?" The annoyance in his tone was
familiar.

"Gee,
Dad
, you gonna ground me?"

Ignoring
my remark, Nicolas Shaw—bio-Dad and manager—stayed on topic. "The label
has some news they want to share with the band. The meeting's at nine."

"Yeah,
yeah, I'll tell Jackson. You can track down Elliott and Jimmy." I yawned.
My bedroom door slammed and I flinched as my head protested the noise.

"They
aren't home?"

"If
they were, do you think I would be asking about it?" My sarcasm matched by
the annoyance in my voice.

"Yes,
I will call them to let them know. See you in an hour and, Christopher…"

"Yeah?"
I prompted him to continue during my walk to the bathroom.

"Lose
the attitude." Nicholas hung up. With a snort, I tossed my phone onto the
bathroom counter.

While
pissing, I heard my phone vibrate against the tile counter before it alerted me
to the text message.

"Don't
be late." It was Nicholas. Rolling my eyes, I tossed the phone back onto
the counter and walked into the shower.

The
shower washed away the sweat and aftermath of my night. For a moment, I
remembered how much alcohol and pills it took me to sleep the few hours I had
got without a nightly episode. When my mind started to drift toward things I did
not want to remember, I turned the silver shower knob and let the cold water
blast me. After dressing, I woke up Jackson and told him to get ready.

Walking
down the hall of our shared house, while Jackson got ready, I tried to take my
mind in any direction other than my past. I thought about Jackson, my stepbrother,
whom I met when I was about twelve. Nicholas, my father and manager, had
married Jackson’s mother Gwen before I came to live with them.

I
stopped in front of one of the many framed discs lining the hallway. There was
a picture of Jackson, Elliott, Jimmy, and myself above one of the discs. That
was the day
The Forgotten
had first gone platinum.

The
band lived together on the outskirts of Seattle in a house kept under heavy
surveillance. With our personal guards and cameras, there were no way the
paparazzi or crazed fans could get closer than the locked iron gate of our long
driveway. Not that there hasn't been some extremely well planned attempts.

With
a quick glance at the other two doors in the hallway, I remembered Jackson and
I were the only ones to come home last night. Jimmy had disappeared into a
crowd of short-skirt girls early on. Elliott, on the other hand, had taken up a
booth with twins. He’d departed about an hour before Jackson helped me and the
blonde out to the car. Our assigned bodyguards, Darius and Gerald had been
waiting for us, while Stan and Vince had split up to chaperone Elliot and
Jimmy.

I
could hear Darius and Gerald downstairs talking and watching television. Darius
had gotten the unfortunate task of monitoring me. I often made it my goal to
disappear on him, an act he rarely found amusing, but could do nothing.

I
chuckled at the thought.

Once
Jackson was finished and downstairs, Darius and Gerald escorted us to the
waiting black car. We headed to Nobil Records in downtown Seattle. Upon arrival,
Tonya greeted us very warmly and looped elbows with us as she guided both of us
to the conference room on the second floor. Jackson slowly pulled his arm out
of hers, as if he had to stretch. Neither one of us would go near Tonya again
once we’d learned she had been screwing both of us.

"They
have been waiting on you," she smirked slyly. "Are you being a bad
boy again, Chrissie?" Her body molded against mine. I chuckled and shook
my head at her desperate attempts.

Before
she headed back to her desk she leaned over, placed her hand on my chest, and
whispered. "When are we going to see each other again, Chrissie?"

I
grimaced at the nickname she used, and then glared at Jackson when he snorted
at her words. Ignoring her question, I walked into the conference room.

Taking
the available seat in front of me, Jackson on my left, we slouched into the
leather. I looked across the table at Elliott. He had his head down on his
folded arms. Jimmy was next to him with his head tossed back on the chair, the
dark sucker bite on his neck on display for everyone.

"You're
late." I looked up at the sound of Nicholas's disappointment.

I
shrugged. He scowled at me, but before he could begin his lecture, the door
opened.

"Okay,
everyone is now here?" Richard entered the room, flanked by Una. He saw
that we all were at the table. "Good. Let's get this meeting started."

Una
stood at his side. Just like her father, her face held the same half-tilted
smile Richard wore when he was excited.  It worried me. 
What were Richard
and his second in command up to?

"We
have great news for you gentlemen." As Richard spoke, I looked over and
saw Nicholas's unease. My suspicions immediately ramped up.  I pulled my
attention away from Nicholas when Richard continued with his speech. "So
it's time to take the new CD on tour, wouldn't you agree?" He smiled
largely.

"Hell
yeah!" Elliott eagerly agreed and pounded his fist to the table.

We
all knew what tours were about and enjoyed them. I got away from the day-to-day
bullshit and got to go on the road. It did wonders for my songwriting. We all
sat up, everyone wore a concentrated look on their face.

"Great
to know that you are all on board." Richard turned to Una and motioned for
her to begin.

"Okay,
fellas,
The Forgotten
will be starting the tour in a month and will be
traveling for ten months, unless we pick up more dates." She handed out
some folders to all of us. "You're going to have some flying to do, but we
will be able to do a lot with the tour buses since we've planned this out
precisely." Una returned to her place next to Richard.

Nicholas
stepped forward and began to go over some of the details. We listened while
going through the tentative schedules and tour dates. After finishing with the specifics,
Richard came around and shook our hands. We all thought the meeting was over,
but Una stood center stage with Richard at her side.