As Laz walked back up on stage, he glanced over at the girls again to find them both giggling. He had to wonder if he was being punished in so way. After all, going up with them was one thing, all n get dragged to do stuff they don't want to do with their girlfriends, but this was sothing else.
Just as Laz was accepting his fate, Leo and the band ended up getting back on stage, surprising him. For just a mont, he thought he was saved.
"Damn, I didn't know you could sing. And guess what?" Leo said to Laz as he got in front of another mic.
"Uh?"
"This is one of the songs we warm up. So feel free to lead it and I'll support you."
"Yeah, uh... that's not really..." Of course Leo had stopped listening and was checking to see if everyone was ready. Seeing that he didn't have a choice, Laz just hoped for the best. It then occurred to him that he didn't even know what he was singing.
Looking over at the display though, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least it was a song he knew pretty well.
As the heavy guitar cords hit and the lights went down, Laz looked at the display briefly before closing his eyes. When he opened them, they had a soft red glow to them. Unlike those tis when he would let strong emotions rule his mind, this was a far more mild response. For the audience, it looked like a semi strange lighting effect, but sothing that could be explained. For Leona and Ruby though, they felt different.
"Is he ok? What song did you pick?" Leona turned over to Ruby and asked.
"I don't know. I just kind of pointed one out. But isn't it aweso that the band is going to play with him too? Let's record this..." Ruby said rather excitedly while pulling out her phone.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea..." Leona responded back while also pulling out her phone.
"It's fine. Besides, I know you want to!" Ruby said while sticking out her tongue. Leona might be a bit more reserved that she was, but Ruby found that they both had similar likes and tastes, aning that normally, when she enjoyed sothing, Leona did as well.
Just then, Laz started singing with Leo joining him on the chorus.
Hold now I need to feel relief
Like I never wanted anything
I suppose I'll let this go and find a reason I'll hold on to
I'm so ashad of defeat
And I'm out of reason to believe in
I'm out of trying to get by
I'm so afraid of the gift you give
I don't belong here and I'm not well.
I'm so ashad of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all
I can't face myself when I wake up
And look inside a mirror
I'm so ashad of that thing
I suppose I'll let it go
Until I have sothing more to say for
I'm so afraid of defeat
And I'm out of reason to believe in
I'm out of trying to defy
I'm so afraid of the gift you give
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashad of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all
Hold now I need to feel complete
Like I matter to the one I need
I'm so afraid of the gift you give
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashad of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all
Now I'm ashad of this
I am so ashad of this
Now I'm so ashad of this
I am so ashad of
As Laz rather powerful voice echoed across the room and the song finally ended, the audience wasn't making a sound. Even Leo was rather stunned by how powerful Laz's voice was and how well their voices mixed during the chorus. Although Leo could sing, he had been told before that his voice lacked the proper emotion for the music he enjoyed singing. Although Laz didn't sound like the original singer, his voice sohow contained the sa gritty resonance that made the original band who sang the song popular.
Ruby and Leona were stunned. First off, they only sort of recognized the song, but the feelings that Laz put into it were real. Secondly, unlike the rest of the crowd, they already had a feeling that Laz would be a wonderful singer so they weren't stunned by that, but since they were infected, they could feel the waves of power coming off him. That was what stunned them. Neither had any idea that you could use your energy this way, to basically affect an entire crowd with just your voice. It had locked down their senses and movents just from the energy waves he transmitted with his voice. Laz probably didn't even realize he had done that.
As Laz finally got himself out of the mont and started moving, the whole place erupted into cheers, he felt a bit stunned. He then noticed a hand on his shoulder that belonged to Leo. Turning over, Leo held out his hand which Laz then grabbed, initiating a g lock handshake. The other mbers of the band also shook hands with Laz before he got off stage and returned to his seat next to the girls.
Leo and his band then sank into another song while the girls both slide closer to Laz, wanting to ask him so things.
"How did you do that?" Ruby started off.
"Do what?" Laz replied back, looking at her.
"That... like... sound skill? I guess?" Leona didn't know how to describe it any better that Ruby did so she just used the first words that ca to mind.
"Sound skill?" Laz was confused.
"Yeah. You basically locked down the entire crowd. Even we were unable to move..." Ruby followed up to clarify.
"Uh.. Really?" Thinking about it, Laz realized that what they said made sense. He didn't do it intentionally, but when certain thoughts entered into his head, his energy was stirred.
"So how did you do it?" Leona pressed. It really was an interesting way to use energy. For her who enjoyed singing, she was amazed that such a skill for using your voice existed.
"I was... thinking about sothing and it just kind of happened..."
"Thinking about sothing?"
"Uh. Yeah... How do I begin to explain..."
"Is it hard?" Thinking about the words in the song, Ruby was wondering just what had happened to cause him to use his energy without even knowing about it.
"It's... a story from before... from before my grandpa was arrested..." Leona had already told Ruby the different stories that Laz had told her from their last date, so she knew as much of his history as Leona did.
Laz started explaining everything about Kat. How they t, how they beca entangled, how she had taught him how to fight, how she was there for him when he had found himself alone. Listening to the story, Leona had tears in her eyes while Ruby kept turning away to wipe her noise. The way he was talking about Kat showed that sothing had obviously happened. When he finally got to the night when he was forced to watch her die, they both broke down crying while hugging him.
Laz wasn't trying to be depressing, nor was he trying to get their sympathy. The wound had healed quite a bit since it had happened, but it was impossible to remove the feelings from his voice.
Laz just sat there quietly while both girls held on to him and let their tears run. Laz didn't tell this story before, to anyone except Vivi, but she was a different story. It was a while before either of them was able to sit up and look him in the eyes. Laz didn't shed any tears this ti since he had already cried out every tear he had from back then.
Just as Leona and Ruby were able to stop the waterworks thanks to Laz's comforting, Leona ended up getting a text ssage from Reggie. She read it absentmindedly while staring at her phone before she shot up off her seat.
"I have to go..."
"What happened?" Ruby asked, alard.
"It's my mom... Reg just texted to tell she was taken to the hospital."
"What happened? Can we help?" Laz asked.
"I just need a ride back so I can pick up her car and Reg and head to the hospital."
"Sure. Let's go!" Ruby said, getting up while grabbing her purse. She then grabbed Leona's hand and led her for the door. Laz got up as well and passing by the stage, he noticed Leo had just finished a set. Leo saw him leaving and reached forward to grab his hand again, a gesture which Laz returned.
"You ok?"
"Yeah. Sothing happened to my girl's mom so we have to go check it out."
"Ok. Hit up if you need sothing brother. I've got you!"
"Of course."
Watching Laz leave, Leo couldn't help but frown and wonder why he had a bad feeling. Laz wasn't exactly the best employee, but he was a strong ally. Even Leo had heard a few things about what took place at the gang's warehouse and he couldn't help but think that Laz was involved. And that wasn't a level of firepower he could hire. Yet Laz never complained. Thinking about what he had first heard from the ho office, Leo turned his head towards the middle aged man who was standing alone in a corner with a drink in his hand and made a gesture with his head, indicating the way Laz just went. The old man simply nodded and disappeared behind so curtains, taking his drink with him.
As Ruby sped down the road, Leona was constantly checking her phone, but she didn't hear back from Reggie. Just as they were about to get to her house, she got a text back saying that he was waiting inside for her.
She jumped out of the car as soon as it parked and gave Laz a quick kiss and Ruby a quick hug before she took off inside. Seeing her run inside, Ruby and Laz got back in the car. While they were driving, they had decided they would wait at Laz's place until they heard from her since it wasn't far. They had offered to go originally, but Leona told them it would be alright and she would let them know as soon as she found out what had happened.
As they began driving though, Laz couldn't shake having a bad feeling. It took him a while, but he finally figured out what it was.
"Go back!" Even before they had entered the park where he lived, he told Ruby to turn around.
"Why?"
"Because, I didn't check the house..." Laz couldn't help feeling regretful for his oversight. He had been worried for Leona and stuck in his own thoughts so he had forgotten to do sothing as basic and check his surroundings when they dropped her off.
Ruby quickly understood as she had made the sa mistake and sped off back towards Leona's house. Arriving not five minutes later, they noticed that all the lights were still on as before but the car was still in the driveway. Laz quickly took out his phone and tried getting a hold of Reggie, only to find his phone was off.
Using his spiritual sense, he confird that the house was empty. He told Ruby he couldn't get a hold of Reggie and she pulled out her phone, quickly dialing Dee.
After a quick bit of back and forth texting, Ruby's face had darkened.
"What?"
"Reggie's phone wouldn't connect all night. He's with Dee and just figured it was a network problem and he was going to take care of it tomorrow."
"All night? So that ans..."
"It wasn't Reggie who texted Leona earlier..."
"GOD DAMN IT!" Laz said while stomping the ground, causing cracks to spread out from the imprint he left of his foot on the concrete.
"Is there anything...?"
"Go back to my place and get Vivi.."
"Your wolf dog?"
"Yeah. Tell her what's happening and bring her here," Laz ordered as he walked up to the door. Without much effort, he forced open the lock and went inside, quickly noticing that a fight had broken out. Stuff was overturned and destroyed. Bending over, he found several empty cartridges... except these didn't look like normal bullets.
'The hell... where have I seen these...' Laz thought as he examined it.
'Looks like... injection rounds...' Thinking back to when he had seen Bill shoot a bear with these things, he quickly understood. She had been drugged and knocked out.
'But... this stuff is used on animals, why would they bring sothing like that for a per...' The answer quickly appeared in his head.
"THAT FUCKING BASTARD."
Black flas uncontrollably rolled out from Laz's body as he roared towards the sky.
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