The Show Must Go On

Supernatural Stories | Aug 20, 2013 | 4 min read
16 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
Supernatural Stories

The Show Must Go On

Stephen sat with his head down, long black hair dangling, drenched in sweat. His leather boots had chaffed his shins again, and the blood was flowing freely down to his feet. He could hear the crowd screaming wanting more.
"Mother fuckers you always want more", he yelled to himself. There was a time when this life had been a dream and nothing was going to stop him from achieving it.
Now as he listened to his home town crowd chanting for another encore (wasn't two enough?) he tried to remember when it turned from a dream to nightmare.
Buzzsaw, as he was known on stage, was the latest in the shock rock genre to become a massive main stream star. Every night women and some men would line up for what seemed like forever. Wanting to fuck him, do drugs, talk music, or some combination of the three. Excess was not enough, it was never enough, and wouldn't they ever be fulfilled?
It all seemed surreal when it started ten years ago. "Downloadable Suicide", his band, the one he created had become almost a living entity. First it had been just a small bar band local scene nothing more, nothing less, a twenty-one year olds dream. Some nights they would play for a hundred bucks, sometimes for free beer. It was fun, Buzzsaw allowed a small smile to cross his face. Buzzsaw or Stephan did? He really didn't know where one started and the other began. It was perfect until he started showing up.
At first he would hide in the back of wherever they were playing, in the dark just watching. If it wasn't for the six foot plus frame and masculine features, he could be called a groupie. Every show, every town, he was there. The strange thing was he would just stand and stare right at Buzzsaw; he seemed to tune everything else out but the lead singer.
Show after show, it really started to freak Buzzsaw out. Even worse was that no one else in the band seemed to see him (it?), let alone notice during their sets. A chill ran down Buzzsaw's spine the thing was never around during the set breaks or before or after the show. Only there when they played, standing, watching barely moving if at all.
Then two years after he had formed the band, they placed second in a contest for a recording contract. They almost walked away then, Stephan would of, but Buzzsaw wouldn't. They kept playing the same places adding new songs, members would come and go, but he was always there. It's like he is standing guard, Buzzsaw thought more than once, but why?
It happened so fast the details were still blurry after all this time. It was after a six band showcase in Portland, they played fifth, and Buzzsaw was just getting out of his stage outfit. A cold wind blew over him, and there suddenly a man standing three feet in front of him.
"They don't appreciate you," he whispered. "They look at you as a failure you know that don't you?"
"What the fuck are you talking about," Buzzsaw questioned. "Did you not hear the reaction we got out there tonight?"
"You think I'm talking about your fans?" The man laugh hysterically "I am talking about the ones you care about, your family, the band, Jessica and your baby."
"Look man I have seen you at our shows," Stephan replied. "You want to criticize me go ahead, but leave my wife and child out of it. Or so help I'll kick your ass so hard you'll never find you teeth!"
"Oh did I touch a nerve," he said again with his sickening laugh. "What if I could make all your dreams come true?"
"How, are you with a record company?" Stephan whispered afraid the man would turn to smoke and disappear. "Can you get us signed?"
The man produced a thick contract and handed it to Stephan. The thing was probably a thousand pages long but weighed nothing at all. Buzzsaw looked it over and wanted to question it and talk to the band, but he knew this was a one-time offer.
"You got a pen?" Buzzsaw asked.
The band took off like a rocket every song was a number one hit, every album sold faster than they could be made. Women, drugs, fast living, never stopping. His wife had left four years ago and took their daughter with her. At that point Buzzsaw had taken over every aspect of Stephan's life. He stood like a statue as Jess drove away, then promptly went back inside and snort coke of the thigh of a porn star.
"But it came with a price didn't it", Buzzsaw cried aloud.
The crowd was still going crazy and the building was shaking, he knew he was going to have to go back out one more time. As he laced up his leather boots a cold breeze floated over him, and there he was again.
"Yes it came with a price," the man sneered. "You think this was all you, alone without help. Oh Buzzsaw you should read the fine print haven't you heard that before?"
Confusion swept over Buzzsaw like a cold, wet blanket. Did he read the fine print, hell had he even read the contract? Pushing the boundaries of his memory, he didn't know the answer to ether question.
"What do you want," he asked, fearful he knew the answer already.
"When you make a deal with my boss, it's kind of cut and dry what HE wants."
Buzzsaw nodded and dropped his head again. Before he knew it he was back out on stage. The crowd, his home town, friends, and family all there to cheer him on. Buzzsaw took a long slow look around, he felt like he could make out every face in the crowd. Stopping suddenly on Jessica and their daughter, tears started to roll down the left side of his face. He grabbed the microphone and started to talk.
"I have got to live my dream and could never ask for more than I have been given. Downloadable Suicide was a pipe dream ten years ago. Now I look out and I can see clearly."
The crowd was cheering and chanting Stephan knew it was time. It didn't matter if he could do it or not because Buzzsaw could. He vaguely wondered if he had walked out on stage with the gun or had it just appeared in his hand.
"This is for all of you who have taken advantage of me, and always coming around looking for a hand out. To you I grant a final FUCK YOU!"
Quickly the gun was in his mouth and the trigger was pulled. Buzzsaw dropped to the stage as mass hysteria exploded throughout the arena. Stephan opened his eyes numb, and confused. The man was knelling beside him but they were somewhere else. The man smiled.
"Welcome to hell Stephan."

The Show Must Go On
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