Trouble At Hero House

James Mercy was just a boy when he discovered his love for the guitar, but as he grows he discovers perhaps his skill isn't as normal as he pictured

James Mercy was fourteen years old when he bought his guitar. Working all summer doing tasks around his neighborhood, James finally managed to scrap together the one hundred and eleven dollars and twenty-nine cents he needed to buy an electric guitar from the local music store. It was a simple, monochrome thing, but James loved it. He had wanted to learn guitar ever since his found out his favorite hero, the Red Swallow, played.

The Red Swallow was legendary in Clearview City. There was no other super hero like her. With the ability to fly and strength matched by no one, she fought crime valiantly throughout the city. However, what made her truly admirable was her relationship to the public. She would often show up at fan events for her, and unlike elusive heroes like Iron Wing or Whitefire she participated in many interviews with the press. She wanted the city, and her fans, to know she cared.

James had no idea how to play the guitar, but he was a smart and dedicated boy. He spent hours reading and learning, playing until his fingers bled. By the time he was fifteen he could play the guitar better than anyone around, and he wasn’t shy about showing off his skills. Often, James could be seen wandering around the neighborhood or in the park, strumming away at songs he made up on the fly.

Music gave James confidence. Before his guitar, he had just been a scraggly boy with wild hair and shoddy social skills. But after feeling the music in his bones, and seeing the way he could reach people with it, he began to realize how easy talking is in comparison to playing. Words were nothing compared to the notes he could play to truly communicate to people.

As the years passed, he also grew quite handsome, and he knew it. His muscles filled out, and with a strong jaw and stunning eyes he had the face of a movie star. When he was nineteen he began to add streaks of red to his chestnut hair and spiked it, which drove the girls crazy.

James loved the attention, almost more than he loved his guitar. He was almost always seen around town with some pretty girl, but never the same ones. A locally famous musician by twenty-one, he was the drug that Clearview City couldn’t get enough of.

It was at a smaller concert of his, at his favorite dive bar Hero House, that he first discovered what he could do with the guitar was special. Feeling the music like never before, he slammed away at his guitar, filling the place with a sound like no other. Eyes closed with passion, he hadn’t even noticed something had happened until he realized his band had stopped playing and it was his guitar alone filling the small bar.

All around him, people were still as statues, as if time itself had frozen. It looked to James as if someone had just hit pause on a movie. The crowd was frozen in its excitement, his drummer’s stick hovered inches about the pad, and his lead singer was standing there, leaning passionately forward with her mouth wide open. James could even see a man by the bar, shirt soaked from beer that had fallen from his cup when he stopped mid drink.

It was stunning.

It was terrifying.

James sprinted out the door, guitar in hand.

The next morning, James woke up with a splitting headache and the unshakable need to puke. Unable to handle the shock of what he had seen, he had found a way to cope. His hope was that he would wake up the next day and realize it was all a dream. Unfortunately, all he woke up with was a killer hangover and seventeen missed calls, all from his lead singer.

After puking out his guts for a solid five minutes, he grabbed his phone and called her back.

It rang once before “What the f**k James!” pierced his skull.

He recoiled and dropped his phone on the bathroom floor. He gingerly picked it up. “Not so loud Jenny. I have a killer f*****g headache.”

“We were frozen James! For two hours we couldn’t move, and you just left us. What. The. F**k.”

James let his head rest on the cold porcelain seat as he spoke. “I thought I was crazy. Or that it was a dream or a bad trip or something. I didn’t think…” he trailed off. “Where are you?”

“We’re at the hospital.” Jenny sounded strained as she spoke. James knew she hated hospitals, and wouldn’t be there if she had any choice in the matter. “One of the first people who unfroze called the cops. They have us quarantined in case it was some sort of poison.”

There was tense silence on the line as James fought through the pounding in his head to find something to say. Suddenly, a thought hit him like a truck. “I think it was me.”

“What,” Jenny responded, confusion evident.

“I think it was me that caused everyone to freeze.”

“You’re insane.”

“Think about it! I’m the only one who wasn’t affected! That must mean something.” James was standing now, pacing in the small confines of his bathroom. “And something felt different about the music that night. I felt different playing.”

“So you think you have magic guitar powers?” Jenny scoffed. “Christ, you’re drunk aren’t you. You are something else James. But you better get your a*s down here as soon as you sober up. They want to question you, and you need to save me from this god forsaken place. So get your a*s down here.” Without even a goodbye, she hung up.

James slid down against the wall to the floor and let his head fall back. Jenny was going to kill him and he knew it.

With a deep sigh and a few Advil, James grabbed his keys and headed out to face his future.

Author's Note

First day of my personal challenge. This particular chapter will have a direct follow up, but not all the stories will be as related and the first few.

Reviews

[Joshua Haines]

This was a fun chapter to read XD really enjoyed it. Can't wait to read more XD