"A Band of Demons"
"Okay, okay, just let me sing it one more time," Greyson said.
I groaned. "Seriously? You've been singing it for weeks."
"Yes," he said. "And I am singing it again."
I rolled my eyes as he burst into singing his favorite song, from his favorite metal band, Nocturnal Pandemonium. Soon his singing turned into a low growl, and then a high-pitched screech.
I liked metal, and I liked the band, but I hated the song after hearing it now, probably, about a hundred times in the past week. Living with Greyson was tiring at times, but I loved him.
I was tossed around foster home after foster home until I was fostered at Greyson's house. We were both twelve at the time, and we just clicked. His mom ended up adopting me, and I became his sister.
Now, 16, we were inseparable, but that had it's annoyances like now. But, I was here to support him.
"Hey, Ember, you think I got a chance?" He asked.
"Well, you look like you're already part of the band," I said.
His pale skin was smeared with black, and his eye were lined with smokey eye makeup that I had applied for him. He also wore an ensemble that I helped him sew, made of faux-leather.
He looked like everyone else from the band, except for his white blonde hair that went to his shoulders. The others had black hair, but since he was trying out to be their lead vocalist, he thought he'd try to stand out. After all, he was trying out to be the star after the previous Vocalist's untimely drug-induced demise.
The line moved forward, and we were the next to go in.
"I'm so excited!" He chirped.
"Really?" I asked, dripping with sarcasm.
But before Greyson could say anything, the bouncer opened the door and ushered us in.
It was a dingy dive bar with a stage, that we'd seen them play on countless times. The band was on stage, with their two guitarists, bassist, and drummer. There was a stand with a mic in the middle.
The whole band was wearing their usual leather outfits, and all had black hair in assorted wild haircuts. To finish the look they all had black makeup on, black paint smeared on their bodies, and most of them had piercings on their face.
In front of the stage were all the people that were in the line with us. I assumed that after they tried out that they stood in that crowd.
"Alright, who is the next," Asmodeous, the lead guitarist said, and then growled, "Victim?"
Each band member was named after a demon.
His eyes flickered over to us, and his eyes stopped at me.
"That'd be me!" Greyson shouted, and ran towards the side of the stage.
Asmodeous' eyes didn't waver, but were fixated on me, even as Greyson stepped in front of the mic. He finally broke the gaze, and turned to Greyson.
"What song?" Belezebub, the bassist, asked.
"Home Sweet Hell," Greyson said.
"Nice," Azazel, the drummer, said. "A classic, huh?"
Greyson nodded, and tapped his thigh as the band broke into the song. He sang and growled flawlessly. He sounded just like the old vocalist.
"Alright, thanks," Asmodeous said as soon as the song was over. "Now, join the others and we'll nakje our decision when we've heard everyone."
And suddenly his eyes were on me, again. I couldn't say I minded too much. I mean he was gorgeous. He had silky black hair that was choppily cut, and framed his face. He had wild black eye makeup around bright green eyes and a black lip piercing. He only wore a vest, and exposed a well-defined chest and abs, smeared with black paint.
(Asmodeous. Image Source.)
"What?" I muttered.
"Come on, get up here," he said.
"I'm not trying out--I'm just here for my brother!"
"So what? Get up here," he said.
"I don't even sing!"
"There's not a lot of singing involved, honestly," he said, and the rest of the band and the crowd laughed.
Greyson looked uncomfortable. I didn't want to steal his thunder.
Besides, I wasn't dressed up enough. I had on a pair of black skinny jeans with countless holes in them, and a black and white tanktop. Not to mention, my black hair was probably a tangled mess, and my eyeliner was likely smeared.
"Come on, come here," Asmodeous said, and I felt a strange pull as if I were on a string and he pulled me until I was in front of the mic and everyone in the crowd.
My heart thudded and I could hardly breathe. How was I supposed to sing? Let alone scream like a metal vocalist?
"What's your favorite song?" Asmodeous asked.
"Nocturnal Bloodlust," I said and suddenly the band was playing the song. It was time for me to scream and suddenly a gutteral cry came out of my throat. I sounded just like the old vocalist. I surprised myself, and the crowd seemed just as surprised that a girl could scream like that.
The chorus came up and I sang in a voice I didn't know I had. When the song was over, I stood in shock.
Asmodeous looked at me, and he walked over to the rest of the band. They looked like they were talking, but I didn't hear any voices. He turned around, and clapped his hands together, "Well, we have made our decision!"
"There's still people waiting outside," someone shouted.
"I don't care, we have our new vocalist: Ember," Asmodecous said.
I stumbled back. I never told him my name.
"After all, we need a demon for our band of demons," Asmodeous said and winked. His eyes had flames in them.
For a moment I looked at the band and they all have twisted black horns, claws, and red eyes. I stumbled back from them, and fell in front of a mirror.
To my horror found the same pair of horns, claws, and my eyes glowed bright red.
I was a demon, just like all of them.
"Welcome to the band, Lilith," Asmodecous said, and held a hand out to me. I grabbed it, and he pulled me up and into a kiss that tasted like campfires and burned like hot coals.
(Lilith AKA: Ember. Image Source)
Author's Note:I feel bad for Greyson though, he really wanted to be the new vocalist! But, it is a band of demons after all, and Ember, as it turns out, is actually a demon. And, not only a demon, but to clarify: she is probably the reincarnation of Lilith, the famous female demon!
I also want to clarify: the demons can appear as human, but other demons can see their demonic form. However, if they wanted to show their demonic form to humans, they can. This is similar to how the Rakshasa are in the Indian Epics that we've been reading.
This week I read Wilson's "Rama's Quest", and in section one it had a line of words that Insprited the entire story. It said that there was a "band of demons." Of course they meant a group of demons (Rakshasa,) but I thought how cool if they were an actual BAND of demons!
And of course I put my Young Adult spin on it, since I am a Young Adult author. I also snuck in a little bit of romance in there at the end, since I usually add that into my stories.
So, I made this another with a girl discovering that she is a demon, because that is one of my favorite sort of stories. I thought especially for this story that it would be a nice plot twist.
Additionally, I made these demons look more like our Western view of demons, and not quite like in the Ramayana.
