Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(57)

He stood with me in his arms and carried me to the open door of his truck. As he climbed in, I slid to the middle. I then laid my head on his shoulder, closed my eyes, and tried to sort through every agonizing memory that was chasing my thoughts. I wanted to believe that that was a victory, that I had saved him from the darkness – that Silas was just a dream. That both Draven and Britain would be safe from the tragic ending that I’d bring to them - but I was no fool. I knew if anything, I had just thrown a weak slap at the power I was fighting.

Draven put his arm around me and drove in silence. I didn’t bother to ask him where we were going. I didn’t care; I didn’t want to see another soul tonight.

I closed my eyes and didn’t open them again until I felt the Hummer stop. I sat up slowly to see the old high school in front of us. There were no other cars there; just construction equipment. It was easy to see that they had done a lot of work in just a short time. The old sign was down, sod was laid, and a new sidewalk had been poured and was drying.

Draven opened his door and climbed out, then held his hand out for me to take his. I took his hand as I looked around at what most people might call an eerie place, but the only thing eerie about it to me was how silent it was.

When we reached the entrance, he unlocked the deadbolt. Once he stepped in, he locked the door behind us. I took in the energy of the open hall in front of us. I could feel the energy of countless pasts there…in a way, I loved how old buildings felt, the signature of energy that they represented; what they once were was so commanding.

“I would give you a tour, but I only know how to work the power in one room,” Draven said as he took my hand and led me to the row of doorways on the other side of the hall.

When he opened the doors to the left, I saw a large auditorium, one that could hold well over two thousand people. The stage was full of amps, drums, and guitars.

“Dad isn’t sure if he wants to take these seats out. They’re still in good condition – I guess he’s waiting to see what kind of concerts we have first. There’s another one that’s smaller on the other side of the school we could use for plays and such, if we do remove them…he just wants all arts to have the largest stage possible,” Draven said with a hint of pride in what they had turned this abandoned building into.

I smiled slightly as I squeezed his hand. He pulled me forward down the aisle. There were a few stage lights that were left on, just enough to give a warm glow to the silent moment we found ourselves in.

When we reached the stage, he unfolded the white sheets he used to move his equipment in and threw them across the dark blue velvet stage curtains that had been taken down and piled off to the side.

He nodded, telling me to have a seat, but I ignored his request and walked over to the guitar stand.

“I want to play, at least for a moment,” I mumbled.

He smiled slightly, as if that was exactly what he wanted me to do. As I pulled the strap of his guitar around me, he adjusted the power to the amps.

“I want to hear that song you’ve been working on,” I said as he walked slowly to me.

His eyes cascaded across every inch of me as he circled behind me, then pulled me against him. He carefully reached to take control of the guitar. I felt my heart pound as I felt the heat of his body against mine and the hum of the guitar as he played through a few chords.

“I don’t want to play it right now…I don’t want to open that doorway - not after what we just went through.” His fingers began to dance across the strings. I recognized the song that was coming to life; it was the one he had given me a few days ago. It was beautiful, slow, yet commanding; I could feel the raw emotion behind every chord.

As he began to sing softly against the skin of my neck, I could just barely hear the words:

‘I know that time will only make me question everything

My mind is a battlefield

where the winner is my enemy…

So in my disposition I find myself missing the person I wish to be

But as long as there's hope left in this hole that's in my chest

I will continue to bleed’

The haunting sound of his velvet voice encircled me. I felt the battle within his soul…the promise to fight the demon that was calling him away from me.

“I love it,” I whispered.

“It’s your birthday present….still trying to make it as perfect as I can.”

“It’s perfect because you wrote it,” I promised.

I took control over the guitar and began to play one of the songs I was working on by myself. It wasn’t as sweet or moving as what he’d written, though; It was more like a call to battle, a sound that would fill you with energy and make you want to make an impact on whatever was around you. Halfway through the second riff, he stopped my hands.

“You don’t like it?” I asked, slightly embarrassed.

“It’s perfect…it’s what the other song is missing.”

My body tensed against his. “Show me.”

He backed away from me listlessly “I’m not going back there tonight - I’m still sore,” he mumbled as he walked over to the pile of curtains and sheets and collapsed in the center of them.

I stood stunned for a moment, then pulled the strap of the guitar off me and placed it in the stand. I turned the amp off as I walked by, knowing that playing was making the tension between us worse, not better, like it had in the past.