Angel Face.




Chapter 1



  I leaned forward in my chair and buried my head into my hands, my elbows resting on the desk top next to the recording equipment.  My fingers separated my long dark hair into chunks.  I closed my eyes and let out a long deflated sigh.  I opened my eyes and looked at my watch.  It was nearly eight o’clock at night and the finishing touches were only just being made to the new album.  I had lost count as to how many times I had heard the same piece of music.  I was extremely tired.  Stress had kept me up the majority of the night, and an early start meant that I had little sleep.  That lack of sleep had left me grouchy for the majority of the day.  Karl, the recording technician, had had to take me from the studio for a cool-off.  I had sat on the curb outside with a cigarette and just let the cool air hit me in the face, sweeping through my hair.

  Then finally, the words I had been waiting for months to hear sounded, and I looked up and straightened.
  “  It’s finished.”

  The door clicked open and Karl’s figure left first, closely followed by Quinn, the guitarist.  Karl threw himself into a seat and tossed a CD over to me.  I caught it and looked at it.  The band name, Earth’s Candlelight, had been scrawled across the disk in black permanent marker.  Underneath was the album name, ‘ Shores of Passion’.  Karl pulled his hands through his shaggy ginger hair and smiled.  Quinn leaned against the desk and folded his arms across his chest.  He too was smiling.  And I finally found myself able to smile.
  “  Well, what do you think?” asked Karl.  I handed the CD to him and he opened the CD player.  He carefully dropped the disk onto the tray and closed it.  He pressed play.  I was automatically blown away by the first few seconds of the song.  The sounds of the orchestra, the guitars, the bass, the drums and the powerful operatics hit me straight in the heart like a jolt of lightning.  Then the lyrics broke in and tears stung my eyes.  I wrote this.  I can’t believe I wrote this…

  I reached over and pressed the pause button before I burst into tears.  I wiped away the tears that had already managed to fight their way out of the corners of my eyes.  I sniffed and let out a deep breath.  Karl looked at me with a concerned expression.
  “  Trin?  You okay?”  I looked at him with my eyebrows raised and nodded.
  “  Yeah.  Why wouldn’t I be?”  Karl shrugged.  I glanced down at the tattoo down the inside of my arm that read Sunkmanitutanka Nagi- The Shadow Wolf.  
  “  By the way, Trin, someone called for you to today when you were out.”  I glanced up at Quinn.
  “  Who?”
  “  Well, she said her name was Hope Chapman.  She wanted to speak to you about something.  She said she’d call back later.”  I nodded.
  “  Well, I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but I’m going to go home, have a shower and then get some sleep.  We’ll have a proper listen to it tomorrow.”  I came to my feet and pulled my black leather jacket on over my maroon shirt. I flicked my hair out from inside the jacket.  I gave Karl and Quinn a wave as I left.  I climbed into the car and paused for a moment before I closed the door.  I turned on the engine, and started out of the car park.

  I slipped my shoes off at the front door and closed the door behind me.  It felt so good to be home at last.  I took off my jacket and threw it over the arm of my sofa.  I hurried upstairs and stepped into my room.  The red walls and the Lord of the Rings memorabilia on the shelves made me feel at ease.  I tugged my shirt off over my head and disappeared into the bathroom.  I turned on the shower and pulled off my jeans.

  When I climbed out of the shower with my whole body shivering from the cold, I discovered my mobile phone bleeping.  I dried a hand on the towel I held around my waist and picked up my phone.  Two missed calls.  I pressed the call back button and held it to my ear.  It rang for a while, then eventually someone answered.
  “  Hello?  Chapman, speaking.”  It was a woman’s voice.
  “  Hello.  I’m Trinity Winters.  You’ve been trying to call me?”
  “  Oh, hi, Trinity.  It’s Hope.”
  “  I heard you wanted to speak to me?”
  “  Yes.  You see…  It’s my son, Shaun.  He really admires your band, you know.  Your music is what’s keeping him alive.”  My mouth dropped, “  Are you still there?”
  “  Yes, sorry.  Go on.”
  “  He refused to come out of his room.  He was diagnosed with a Fibromellar Hepatocellular Carcinoma.  It’s a rare form of liver cancer.  It’s one of his last wishes to meet you.  He's dying.  Would-”  I stopped her in her tracks before she could continue.
  “  Give me a week to get this demo out.  I’ll arrange a flight to- where?”  I hunted for a scrap of paper and a pen. Eventually I found one.
  “  I live in San Diego.”
  “  Right.  I’ll arrange the next flight to LA.  If you can arrange me a lift from the airport to San Diego.”
  “  Thank you, Trinity.  You don’t know how much this means to me.”
  “  My pleasure.  See you soon.”
  “  Bye.”  I hung up and dropped my phone onto my bed.  She sounded so desperate.  I rubbed my chin and ran my fingers down my neatly trimmed goatee.  I’d have to call Ross, the manager, in the morning.  I dried myself and my hair off with the towel, then pulled on some clean underwear and the t-shirt from the night before.  I climbed under the blanket and pulled it up to my chest.  I turned onto my side and rested my left hand on the pillow, and my right hand underneath.  I stared blankly at the wall.  
  
  Here I was to have a yet another sleepless night.