Unchained Melody (32 page)

But this wasn’t that time. As a human girl, only one man on that stage completed Callie, could make her take risks, embrace life with two hands and eager lips and a rapidly pounding heart. Maybe Hunter hadn’t reached his full potential yet. But she’d reached her limits of how much she could hurt him, and had to go on blind faith that next time, he’d swing from a stronger branch and land on his feet with his hat of supremacy still firmly in place. Her work here was done, and it was time to leave Hunter, before she could give her heart to Ryan.

The song faded and this time, a new sound launched the next, the sound of fingers on keys. Of softened drums, more prominent bass and a thicker, headier energy; Melody.

Callie felt herself pixelate, like she was in danger of become dust. The people in the crowd were already swaying to the brilliant, classic beat, which reminded her of the greats like Bush and Live and Bon Jovi. She looked up at Hunter, who now bowed his head to pick out the simple guitar line, his shoulders sagging as though he were coming down from some great height and Callie’s chest ached for him. Poor Hunter. He’d produced something truly incredible and was going to be singing back-up when his vocal chords would have made love to the lyrics as passionately as he’d taken her, loved her.

‘What’s happening?’ Callie looked at Marnie, who had turned to her with a frown. ‘Is Ryan sick or something?’

‘What? No- why?’ Callie looked over at the centre of the stage and felt her stomach clench when she saw how Ryan had stepped back from the microphone and was now pressing one hand to his forehead, his brow creased in dismay. Just as the intro faded, prompting Ryan to begin the first verse, he bowed his head a little lower as though in pain and shook himself.

‘Is he supposed to be singing?’ Imogen asked sharply, equal measures pissed and curious.

‘He is.’ Calliope took another step forward elbowing a few people out of the way. Now that she’d realized that Hunter was going to find his destiny, she no longer wished for Ryan’s failure. In fact, she dreaded it. The band was repeating the intro, and it was drawing to an end again but instead of gripping the microphone, Ryan lifted his face to the lights above and dragged his fingers down his features, raking tear tracks down his face. There was a buzz forming in the crowd; maybe no one knew how long the intro was supposed to be, but it was plain that the lead singer was coming undone.

‘Oh no!’ She whispered before plunging forward into the crowd as the intro began a third time. The band members were looking at each other, and it seemed as though Nick was actually hissing something at Ryan over the top of his black Premiers, but Ryan’s eyes remained unfocused and mournful, brilliantly blue even from ten meters away. If he didn’t get his act together, he was going to get them laughed off the stage!

Callie launched herself at the protective barrier at the edge of the stage, turned to Hunter and yelled: ‘Hunter! Sing it!’ Hunter’s head swiveled from Ryan to her, and he seemed to freeze. ‘Sing it for him Hunter!’ Callie choked out, still moving along the barrier, shoving people out of the way. ‘Sing it for me!’

Hunter blinked, glanced at Ryan then back at Callie and smiled with trembling lips. As the intro began to fade for the third time, he stepped up to his own microphone and parted his lips on her alias:

‘Melody… Come to me… I live and breathe… Our chemistry…’

The crowd seemed to sigh with relief but Callie’s step faltered. She’d never heard Hunter sing his own stuff at such volume, not with such incredibly rich tone that his voice dripped down the back of her spine, making her shiver.

‘Melody…You never dream…’ Hunter’s eyes locked on hers and he winked. ‘You spend your sleeping hours, haunting me…’

Calliope had never felt quite so much like a groupie before in her life. Even being done up against the musty corridor at the back of the Blue Moose hadn’t made her feel so enslaved to someone as she did in that perfect moment of cadence. She felt those tears stinging the back of her eyes, not sad or happy tears but maudlin ones, the drops of music syphoned through her soul. Right then she knew that she could live for this. She could survive them both. She could go on to triple her influence on the world, to hunt down the greats who might replace Michael and Whitney, and Elvis and Barry Manilow… a new Elton. A new Diana Ross. In fact, Hunter was probably destined to replace two of them alone.

But she didn’t want to. The Muse of music realized then and there, that music would never know its own full glory again, if its Muse never experienced love worth dying for- if one more artist had to suffer for her, glory, when loving them was all the glory she’d ever need.

31.

‘You've never known your hold on me! You're the beat of drums, the stroke of chords, the pitch in Harmony…’

Calliope shivered, trying to shake off the distracting timbre of Hunter’s rapidly scaling voice as she rounded the corner of the stage and stepped onto the top concrete step.

‘Miss this is off limits.’ A security guard stepped in front of her, a burly black man but Callie looked around him, to Ryan, feeling herself begin to panic at his distraught expression.

‘That’s my friend! The lead singer, please…’ she motioned beyond him. ‘He needs help.’

Out of the corner of her eye, Calliope saw that she was now being shown on the screen to the right, begging the security guard to let her by. It was slightly mortifying, but she didn’t care; all that mattered was that Ry, her Ry, was on his knees, grasping the base of the microphone stand and breaking down in front of thousands of people, and that she was probably the only one who could make it better.

‘A guitar without strings, Is an angel without wings…’ Hunter’s gaze flitted to her, ‘and without you I will always be…’ he smiled sadly, ‘a sad unfinished love song…With no Melody.’

‘Rules are rules miss! Or I’d be flinging hundreds of kids off like Lemmings!’

‘Ask him-’ she pointed to Hunter, only a few feet in front of her as he played the short respite instrumental between the chorus and verse, and he followed her eyes to Ryan, cringed and then nodded slightly, beckoning her onstage, winking at the security guard.

There was a shout of approval from the audience as the security guard stepped out of Calliope’s way. Hunter watched her approach, his anxiety evident. She went behind him, not wanting to block his glory for even a moment, whipped his hat off his head, pulled it back down over her own hair and paused only long enough to whisper into his ear:

‘You are the most talented musician on the planet, Hunter Marks. In about five minutes you’re going to be covered in panties and in another life, one of those pairs are going to be mine.’

Hunter looked at her, startled, and then grinned a ridiculously stunning grin through shining, watery eyes and strummed again, raising his voice to be heard over the cheers of approval as Callie sashayed off in his hat towards Ryan.

‘Melody… come to me…’

Calliope’s heart was pounding as she crossed the stage, squinting in the lights, still trying to ignore the reproduction of herself on the screens beyond-bright red shirt, jet-black hair, faded pink hat and of course, her Docs, which she’d worn for old time’s sake.

‘If you choose him, I will… cease to breathe…’

‘Calliope!’ Imogen’s voice made Callie’s step falter. She whipped around to see Imogen at the front of the mosh pit, looking far too glamorous, like a Malibu Barbie dropped into a toy box full of Bratz dolls. Half of the audience was watching Callie, half were glancing from Hunter and Ryan. ‘What are you doing? Get out of the spotlight before you steal Hunter’s thunder!’

Calliope saw Ryan stiffen at Imogen’s cry, and begin to draw his hands away from his face. Calliope skittered towards the front of the stage and knelt before her sister.

‘Music doesn’t need a spotlight to exist Imogen. Or a band.’ She tapped her palm against her chest and smiled tearfully. ‘Or even a beat. And if the memory of music exists because of me, then hopefully, I’ll exist again because of it.’

Imogen’s face grew ashen. ‘Wait… what? Calliope no!’

‘It’s Callie, actually,’ Calliope winked at her and tipped her hat. ‘The twenty-first century re-mix of my former self… who just happens to be ridiculously in love, so thank you sister, for showing me how.’ Before Imogen could say another world, Calliope whirled away from the people, the screens, the echo of Hunter’s voice, and rested her eyes on Ryan. And when his watery blue eyes rose to meet hers, her heart skipped a beat. And then another. And then another. And with every step she took towards him, the rest of the world began to fade away into oblivion.

*

‘Melody… let me be…’ Hunter could not take his eyes off Callie as she walked away from him, stooped to whisper something to a hot blonde in the front row and then turned to face Ryan. He could see what was coming, knew that despite Callie’s touching praise, her promise that their time would come, she was about to break his fucking heart during the most incredible moment of his life in front of thousands of witnesses by choosing his best friend.

But the love in her eyes, the absolute concern for Ryan’s state of mind was so intense that Hunter felt ugly for having penned words without quite understanding their true meaning for Ryan. Did Ryan truly love her so much, that he actually could not sing a word about her? That was intense. In fact, it was the opposite of Hunter’s inclination. Callie made him want to sing until the world stopped turning. And that need had him in its grip and he was afraid that if he tugged himself free he would never be able to sing a note again. His music needed his heart, needed his all. So he forced the support breath to flow where it ought to, latched on to his feelings, worked them for their worth and expelled his love for her on a broken breath: ‘... your shelter from the storm, all you need.’

The crowd was receptive, and the way they swayed along with him reminded him of when he’d gone to his first Pearl Jam concert and Hunter wondered if that level of adoration could be his to keep and if it was, would it get him through Callie and Ryan’s love affair? Callie’s death? Maybe. Until he knew for sure, he’d just keep singing.

‘A guitar without strings, is an angel without wings… and without you I will always be…..!’ He ripped up the scales on the final chorus, and heard the crowd scream in appreciation. They didn’t know that tears were choking him- that he meant every word. He softened his voice, drawing out the last line. ‘A sad and broken love song... With no Melody….’

*

The most angelic voice in the world wrapped around Ryan and chased off the monsters lurking in the shadows. Chased off the absolute desolation. Warm arms slipped around his shoulders, and the gentlest lips were against his ear whispering soothing things to him.

‘Ryan, baby…’ hands were cupping his jaw. He blinked his eyes open when he caught the scent of cherry lip gloss, and there she was, his Callie. Her eyes swirled like harlequin sunsets and sparkled in an almost other-worldly way that made him fall even more deeply, threatened to rip his fingers from the branch he was only just holding onto if she didn’t save him this time. ‘Baby I’m here.’

Ryan tried to shake off his stupor but the tears were flowing from someplace deeper inside him than the darkest reaches of the gorge. But Callie pulled him up, her hands gripping him, her fingers brushing away his tears and then tilting his face to hers.

‘Cal?’ He wondered if he had hallucinated her. He could still hear the song that had torn him apart, could still feel the presence of thousands of people only feet away. Hunter was singing, and he sounded incredible, and for a moment, Ryan’s gaze drifted from Callie’s and settled on his best friend who was not so much in the limelight, but the source of all light.

‘The Dancer spins enchanted, eyes closed on pointed toe! She’ll spin until the end of time, my love she’ll never know…’

‘Yeah.’ Lips brushed against his. ‘I’m here sweetheart.’ Arms tightened around him, a cloud of black hair swirled against his arms, the brim of her hat pressed into his collarbone as she pressed her cheek to his chest and sighed. ‘Where I belong.’

‘Belong?’ Ryan looked down just as Callie looked up, and he felt his chest expand hopefully when he saw how focused her gaze was, how doting. She wasn’t looking at Hunter. She wasn’t running away. She was in his arms and beaming up at him.

‘Yeah,’ she whispered again. ‘Belong. I belong with you, Ryan Weaver. I was wrong to leave you the other night. Wrong tonight, to make you believe that I didn’t, that I couldn’t-’ She swallowed, tears streaming down her face. ‘Oh Ry…’ her brows knitted together. ‘I’m so sorry. I hope you can forgive me!’

‘Forgive you?’ He echoed. God if I’m dreaming this let me die in my sleep. Ryan thought, thawing as her warmth melted the ice in his veins. He lifted his hands, knocked her hat slightly up so he could see every inch of her face, pushing her hair behind her ears so that nothing obstructed her striking eyes. ‘What for?’

‘For being conflicted. For needing him. For running from you. For… for …’ tears streamed down her face and she reached up onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘What I’m about to do…’ she whispered, and then smiled forlornly. ‘I love you Ry. I don’t need a working heart to do that forever.’

‘Callie…’ Ryan groaned her name as his heart swelled beyond capacity and overflowed. How long had he wanted to hear those words? His parents had never said them. Marnie had never said them. Hunt, who he loved dearly- had never said them either. But if Callie meant them, then that was all he needed to believe that someone could. He pulled her towards him, tilted her face back and slanted his mouth across hers. Passion exploded within him as the crowd roared their approval. Her lips melded to his as perfectly as their bodies had intertwined in the rainforest and when she sighed blissfully, he moaned again, kissing her more deeply, their lips sliding over their salty tears and her cherry gloss, his hands sliding up from her waist to her back under her shirt, needing to feel her hot skin, needing to know that this was not a dream as he brought her to her feet. Absolute joy, concentrated sunlight seemed to blossom in his chest and he knew, without a doubt, that he would kiss her for the rest of their lives if he could and her returning passion told him that she felt the same. She felt the same. Those words in itself were a ballad she would play for him for eternity just by smiling at him now.

‘I love you Ryan!’ Callie whispered between fierce kisses, half-sobbing, half-laughing as he crushed her against him. ‘I love you, I love you, more than anything...’ she made a sweet noise in reaction to his emboldened kiss, melting heavily in his arms.

‘I love you too Callie,’ Ryan caught her, laughing. ‘Clearly.’ He tried to upright her, but her legs didn’t straighten. She was still in his arms, and her head was falling forward, her hat catching his shoulder and popping off her hair. It was like he had gone from holding a wild snake to a broken marionette.

‘Hey… Cal!’ Confused, still too intoxicated by her kisses to think clearly, Ryan knelt, cradling her shoulders, supporting her weight as he eased her onto the ground.

‘Melody…. I can’t breathe… Melody…. I can’t breathe….’ Hunter’s voice was fading as Ryan realized how limp Callie was. Her mane of hair had fallen over her face when she’d dipped forward and now, when Ryan brushed the silken lengths back, his heart contorted. Because although Callie’s cheeks were still flushed, her eyes were closed and her lips did not part for breath.

‘I can’t breathe…’ Hunter’s voice was fading with the outro. ‘I can’t breathe…without Melody...’

‘No!’ Ryan felt anguish begin to evaporate every other good feeling he’d collected in his life as he pressed his hand to the logo on Callie’s chest and felt her warmth dissolving like the lingering moments of heat after a sunset. ‘Callie no!’ Ryan leaned down, kissed her lips, and sobbed when she did not return the pressure, when he did not taste her breath.

Her heart had failed! Her life was gone! It couldn’t happen, and yet it had! The last note of Hunter’s guitar dropped out and though the crowd roared, the atmosphere seemed to die as quickly as it had ignited like the flame of a match shooting high then lapsing to blackened smoke. The applause waned, and for a moment, there was nothing but hushed silence.

The music had stopped, and Ryan knew that for him, it would never start again.

There was no music without Callie.

*

The silence was so heavy that Hunter’s eyes flew open as though he’d been asleep and was only now just waking from the most powerful kind of nightmare, wrapped in a dream. He’d turned away when he’d seen Callie face tilt to Ryan’s, closed his eyes, focused on the song, let his pain make it brighter, richer, more real. He was an artist after all, and pain was their greatest weapon. He’d never known it, until Callie had broken his heart and now that she’d given her own to Ryan, Hunter wasn’t sure if he’d ever know anything but heartache again.

He looked at the screen first, thinking that if he had to see Ryan and Callie stealing his thunder with a lip-lock from hell, he’d be better off pretending like it was just something happening on the T. V, to someone else.

But Callie and Ryan were not kissing. Instead, Callie was crumpled in Ryan’s trembling arms on the stage floor. Her shirt the brightest red, his hat the palest pink, Ryan’s grief the blackest of black as his silent tears shook loose from his face and onto Callie’s hair.

Hunter immediately knew that she was dead. He didn’t know how, but the silence hanging over the stadium did not belong to a world where Callie was alive. Yet despite the grief already closing over him he ripped the Schecter off his head and tossed it to the ground, hearing it crack like his heart as he raced towards his friends, hoping against all hope, that he could be Callie’s hero this time, the way she had always been his.

The feedback was deafening and the silence was not only broken by it but shattered. As he skidded to his knees on the ground beside Callie, he heard the shrieks become wails, cries of surprise, laughs like they’d just pulled the publicity stunt to end all. In his peripheral vision, he could see that the camera was still focused on them, and that the emergency medical people were racing in from backstage. The announcer was saying something but the words were garbled to Hunter. He pressed his ear to Callie’s chest and felt his own heartbeat cease in reflex to the silence and stillness beneath her breast.