Welcome To The Black Doves

Chapter 2


Cherish finished her cigarette and crushed the filter under her boot. After the initial shock wore off, she was more in control of her emotions. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly.

She decided she had procrastinated for far to long and it was about time for her to do her job as a manager. She turned and opened the door. She made her way back in and frowned at the sight. The girl's were doing exactly what they needed to do, but her baby brother obviously still needed a babysitter.

She made her way to his side. He was too involved in a conversation with Deimeon to notice her approach. Not many people did until she made herself known. One of the few disadvantage's of being so damn short... or advantage depending on the situation.

She yanked the beer out of Drake's lax hand. Her other hand was resting on his hip and glared up at her immature brother.

“What the fuck?” He snapped as he looked down at her.

“Don't use that filth around me Drake O'Riley and you are not old enough to be drinking. And,” She raised her voice when he went to open his mouth. “You should be getting ready for your sound check.” She pointed over to Flare and Lily. “As for you Mr. Pop star.” She snapped pointing her finger at Deimeon, who was standing next to Drake holding the neck of a cold beer. “I don't care who you are. If you give another minor a beer, I'll turn you in to the authorities.” She placed her brother's beer to her lips and drained the half empty bottle before slamming it down on the table and storming off.

“Sorry about that, Man. She's under a lot of stress. She's not usually this uptight.” Drake explained, apologetically.

“Maybe she needs a beer.” Said Deimeon shrugging off the events. “Didn't realize you were underage. Not that it matters in this business. But I usually follow that rules... well... sometimes.” He smiled. “No harm done.”

“She's just being a bitch. She buys me beer all the time. Your manager has managed to crawl under her sophisticated skin and now she's taking it out on everyone.” Drake informed Deimeon.

Deimeon chuckled. “She's not the first one Haven has managed to piss off.”

“Yeah, will I'm sure he has never dealt with a five footed Irish tempered red head before.”

“Drake O'Riley get you ass over here before I kick the shit out of you!” Cherish yelled from across the stage.

“See what I mean. The scariest thing is that she can actually do it. She also damn good with any knife she gets her hands on.” Drake responded with a shutter as if he had experienced it first hand.

Deimeon was about to respond until Lyndon appeared to the left of him. Lyndon glanced at Drake. He couldn't help to think that Drake was really attractive. So Lyndon added a little extra sway to his hips and tried to carry himself with as much confidence as he could muster up. He hoped that Drake would notice him.

His main concern was Deimeon. It was always about Deimeon, the sex god that Lyndon couldn't help but chase after. Recently Lyndon noticed Deimeon hadn't excepted any sex offers from any of his lucky fans or his band mates. Deimeon was always having sex. Lyndon couldn't help but wonder what was going on in the gorgeous man's head.

“Deimeon are you okay?” Lyndon asked. “Why was Cherish yelling at you? Did you grab her ass?” Deimeon laughed which was a smooth melodious sound that melted Lyndon's heart instantly.

“Something tells me, if I did, I would be without a hand.” Deimeon joked. “No, it's okay Lyndon. Everything's fine.”

Relieved, Lyndon smiled at his tall and handsome friend and subconsciously tucked a stray piece of hair behind his ear. Drake studied the small man in silent contemplation. It was obvious that the man was into Deimeon. He vaguely wondered if they had some kind of thing going on. It would be a little surprising if the worldwide idol was gay.

“Yeah most likely. She's brutal.” Drake laughed, winking at Lyndon.

“God damn it Drake!” Cherish screamed.

“Shit. That's my last warning.” He turned away and headed toward the stage. “Better get over there.”

Drake made his way toward the stage. He glanced to the side and found himself staring at a tight little ass that was bent over the keyboard plugging in some cords. Dirty thoughts instantly swallowed him up as he licked his lips.

“Drake watch ou-” Lily called out, but didn't get it out fast enough.

He slammed into the table that was holding Lily's prized possession. Her expensive Laptop. He tried to grab it when he realized it was going off the edge. His fingertips touched the side right before it shattered against the hard floor.

“Oh god no!” Lily cried out when she saw it break apart upon impact.

Pieces laid scattered across the stage. Lily ran over sinking down to her knees in shock next to it. Her tears streaming down her cheeks as she bit her lower lip hard to stop from sobbing.

Cherish's face was red with outrage for her brother's idiocy. Flare, on the other hand, was taking huge steps toward Drake. There was a dark look festering in her amethyst eyes. Drake took a step back.

“Oh shit.” Drake muttered.

Flare's fist slammed into his cheek. He stumbled back from the impact. He was about to tell Flare to back off, but her knee connected with his stomach. He doubled over in pain as he gasped for breath.

“How dare you make Lily cry!” Flare growled menacingly.

“Knock your shit off this instant.” Cherish stated in a deathly calm voice.

Everyone froze, knowing that tone quite well. Cherish was on the verge of uncontrollable outrage. Flare glared one last time at Drake then spun away. She knelt down next to Lily who was picking up the pieces.

“I need a fucking cigarette.” Cherish hissed annoyed.

Deimeon, Lyndon, and Nolan offered their help to the sudden and unfortunate turn in events. Haven back into the building shortly after the commotion feeling comfortably cleansed. Only to be immediately aware of the chaos that erupted as he entered the backstage. Haven sighed.

“What the hell happened?” Haven inquired from Wes, who was wearing a shit eating grin. He was obviously amused by the events.

“The Suicide Angels are ruined.” He cackled a little. “The computer broke. Their precious background noise. Serves them right. A computer making noises isn't music. It's lazy and unauthentic. Looks like we'll need a replacement. They're not going to be able to recover from this. There's no way.” Wes giggled manically and continued watching as Haven walked on stage.

“What the hell?” He demanded of Cherish. “You guys mess up your sound system? Is it true you can't play?”

Cherish snapped ice blue eyes at the bum that called himself the manager of Black Doves. She was in no mood to try to tolerate his ethics. She crossed her arms over her chest in a defensive stance and narrowed her eyes.

“Not unless someone has a laptop and two hours so Lily can rewrite the programs.” Cherish took a huge drag of her cigarette and rubbed her temple.

“Sorry, no laptops.” Haven pulled out a cigarette from his pocket. He lit it as he looked over at a concerned looking Kitty. “Unless she can be of some help to you.”

Kitty moved over to Haven side and Cherish glanced at Lily. She was willing to do anything she could to help the girl smile again. She chewed her bottom lip as she studied Kitty.

“If you have sheet music, I can play the keyboard.” Kitty informed the other female.

“Not for a Keyboard.”

“I can use any sheet music. All I need is the notes and melody then I can add keyboard music too it. I can distort it if I need too.”

Cherish looked at the young girl surprised. Was she for real? She was skeptical but she needed to do something to save their asses or this would go bad on their reputation.

“Drake.” She snapped.

“Yeah?” He asked hesitantly.

“Get her your sheet music.” Drake did as he was told without his usual comeback. “I hope you're as good as you believe.”

“No, I'm better.” She answered confidently.

Nolan approached the pieces of the broken laptop and began picking them up in silence. He glanced ever so often at the girl in glasses still trying to recover from the trauma of losing something so precious to her. She must have put in a lot of work on it. Probably more work then Nolan could even imagine.

Nolan wanted to reach out to her. He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't ever muster an effort to comfort another he didn't know very well when he didn't even feel like he was human himself. His soul felt cold, and it was hard for him to get close to others.

He felt this way ever since he was young. His past had cursed him with an awkward disposition when meeting new people. Not to mention his strange 'gift'. The ability to see into the souls of others through their eyes. While unique, Nolan thought it more of a curse. Not only was it hard enough to get close to others, the feeling of Nolan's 'soul searching' often had the recipient scared or retreating away from him. It was part of the reason Nolan didn't even make any effort to get close to strangers.

But this girl... he wanted to help her. Something told Nolan to reach out to her despite his awkward first impressions. After sometime he looked at the pieces. He cleared his throat slightly.

“I can... probably fix it.” He told her softly.

Lily froze and glanced up at the boy in front of her. She hadn't even noticed Nolan or Deimeon come and help her. She smiled a weak smile. She fingered the bottom of her broken laptop, shyly.

“Thank you so much for the offer, but there's really no need. If I get a new laptop I can take the motherboard out and swap it with the new one... hopefully. It's just the shock of seeing something I hold so dear shatter before my eyes. I'll be okay, I promise.”

Lily's smile was sincere as she looked straight at the man in front of her. She couldn't see Nolan's eyes. It was kind of unnerving to not be able to see his expression, but she was still too shaken to dwell on it.

The man was stunning from what she could see and his seemed to keep drawing her eyes to them. His jaw was square and firm, full lips and a slightly long pointed nose. He made her feel comfortable around him which no man had ever been able to do in all her twenty one years.

“Thank you so much for your concern, Nolan. It means a lot to me.” Her voice was soft as she placed a warm hand on his arm.

Nolan only nodded in response. He gave her the computer parts back, avoiding eye contact with her and keeping his gaze on the ground. He walked away silently afraid she would attempt to speak to him again. He knew if she tried to make an effort to converse with him, it would risk her seeing his eyes and being frightened. It was better for everyone if he just stayed away from them.

Lily looked confused as she watched Nolan retreat. She didn't understand why he was suddenly so stand offish and it hurt her, but she was use to being written off by men. She was too much of a scrawny nerd for anyone to even give her a second glance. Plus she was awkward and shy.

“Lily.” Cherish called out to her.

“Yeah?” She pushed Nolan out of her mind, looking up to her manager.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yeah. I think.... I”m sorry.” Lily told her sheepishly.

“It's okay, but we need to do a quick rehearsal so Kitty can get a feel for your music.”

“O...Okay.” Lily put the broken computer into her bag and set it aside.

Cherish watched her and knew how hard it was for the girl to keep her composure. Cherish pushed the concern from her mind. She couldn't afford to get sentimental right now. She needed to maintain the professional manager.

“Okay girl.” She started turning to Kitty. “Show us what you can do.” Kitty flashed her a small smile.

“I wouldn't be a part of the Black Doves if I wasn't talented.”

Wes strolled onto the stage with his smug shit eating grin. It was almost as if he enjoyed the trauma to the young girl. Flare watched the man closely, curious as to why he had decided to enter the scene after all this time.

“Well, well, looks like you got lucky.” His voice was snide and sadist. “Better hope it works out or your careers gonna go to shit.” Deimeon shot him with a cold glare and curled his lip in irritation, revealing one of his enlarged canines.

Flare walked over to Wes and planted herself in front of him. She looked him over slowly from top to bottom and back up. She locked her eyes with his hard dark brown ones.

“I'm sorry you had a hard life, but no one here is going to judge you. So try being a little nicer or deal with the consequences. I'd really hate for something to happen to your bass.” Flare said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

“A hard life?” Wes laughed, mockingly at her. “You've no right to talk. You don't know anything about me. So back off little girl, unless your in the mood to get the shit kicked out of you. I'd really hare for the Suicide Angels to miss their drummer.” Wes snarled with all the snide sarcasm he could.

“You can try. I'm a lot stronger then I look asshole and I'm itching for a good fight since I can't beat the shit out of Drake.” Flare answered, nonchalantly like she was talking about the weather.

“Enough you two!” Cherish snapped. “Flare, your equipment needs you.”

Wes opened his mouth to snap back at the shorter woman when Deimeon yelled his name. Deimeon instantly regretted it. His anger got the better of him and the beast in him took advantage of it. His yelling came out almost like a snarl and the volume was at the level of a roar. The beast in him was stirring. He would need to eat soon.

“We have better things to do right now don't you think?” Deimeon continued trying to play it off.

Wes almost seemed shocked by Deimeon's outburst, but quickly hid any signs of it behind his usual angry and uncaring face. On the other hand, Flare was studying Deimeon closely trying to figure out if you had just heard that right.

“You're right Deimeon.” Wes said mouth curling to an almost evil smile. “I've got better things to do then dirty my hands with no talent low lifes.”

Wes shot a cocky grin at Flare as he left. Deimeon felt slightly uncomfortable after his outburst. Especially since Flare was still watching him even as she got ready. He stalked backstage with his hands in his trench coat. Kitty raised an eyebrow. She had been with the Black Doves for over a year now and she had never seen Deimeon like that. That was not natural. She glanced at the other band.

No one seemed to notice what happened from what she could tell. They all looked too caught up in trying to get ready for rehearsal. She nibbled on the tip of her finger, debating if she should follow Deimeon or not.

She decided to check on him. She slipped away from the unnoticed group and went behind stage. She didn't see Deimeon, but she heard Haven and his voice just inside the dressing room. She moved forward intending to knock on the slightly cracked door.

“It's not a good time right now D, you know that.” Haven stated and Deimeon seemed to growl in response. “We'll order you some steaks. You can-”

“No! I need to hunt!” Deimeon barked.

Haven gripped the bridge of his nose. “Ah, jeez. You are NOT doing this to me right now. D, our concert is hours away. Practice is in forty minutes. Can't you a least hold on till-”

“Shh,” Deimeon hissed. “Shut up.”

He smelt a familiar scent of Vanilla as his heart jumped in his chest. Kitty. Oh shit! How long was she standing there? He thought with fear.

“Kitty? Is that you?” Deimeon asked.

Kitty had frozen with her hand next to the door confused on what they were talking about. She was so lost in thought, that she actually squeaked in surprise at the sound of her name leaving Deimeon's lips.

How did he know I was standing here? She thought confused.

For some reason she felt the urge to run. After what she saw on stage and then hearing them talk, she was slightly uneasy. What did he mean by 'he needed to hunt'? She decided it was best to leave.

The issue really wasn't any of her business and she really didn't want to get caught up in anything bad if that's what they were discussing. On silent, but quick feet she headed back to the stage.
She turned the corner glancing over her shoulder and ran smack into Drake. She let out a small cry of surprise almost falling over backwards, because it was like running into a brick wall.

Drake wrapped an arm around her waist just before she lost her balance, saving her. She looked up at him surprised. He flashed her a very sexy and confident smile. Her breath caught at just how dashing he looked.

“You okay?” He inquired in a deep purr, making her blush.

“Yes. Sorry. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going.”

“It's all good, baby. I'm just glad I didn't hurt you. I came to give you the sheet music.” He held it out to her, his other arm still secure around her waist.

Kitty realized he had the most stunning baby blue eyes she had ever seen. They stood out vividly against his tan skin and styled cherry red hair. Tiny, barely noticeable freckles littered his nose and cheeks.

Kitty was surprised that she found him slightly attractive. Deimeon was the only man she had felt a sexual charge with, but she got it with Drake. Not as strong as she did with Deimeon, but it was there.

“Thank you.” She said softly, taking the music.

Deimeon left Haven alone. He quickly went after Kitty's retreating scent. Please don't run from me. He thought. For a moment his recurring hatred toward himself swarmed his thoughts again.

Kitty was the only girl he'd ever known that had stirred his lust since Ayli had died. His heart actually sped up when she was near. Her melodious voice gave him chills and her body made his mind swarm with thoughts of making love to her, tasting every inch of her body. His cock grew hard just thinking about it.

Ah, Ancients he had it bad.

And he thought it wasn't possible for him to love again. Was this love? What couldn't her be normal? She'd never except him after learning about his monstrous other half.

Turning the corner, he noticed Drake with his arm around Kitty. Deimeon didn't have to smell the lust to know it was there. He snarled to himself and felt his blood boil. He stormed over to the two. His canines enlarged in response to his rage. In the back of his mind, he knew his loss of self control was due to his hunger, but couldn't seem to do anything to stop himself.

Once he reached them, he tore Drake away from Kitty placing himself in front of her. He felt the rage building up so much that he started to feel 'the change'. His eyes flashed brightly for a split second as he tried everything to contain himself.

His nails slowly drew out into claws as he considered tearing at the human across his pretty face. Deimeon breathed in deeply trying to fight with the beast. He clenched his clawed hand into a fist, puncturing his palm as he restrained himself.

Before he could stop himself, he snarled, “She's mine!”

Kitty's mouth dropped open in shock. She was convinced that she was hearing things, but Drake's face was the same expression as her own with a little fear. He took a step back. He glanced to the side as if looking for the closest exit. He cast one more look at her before he high tailed it out of there.

Kitty shook her head to clear her surprise then turned angry green eyes on the back of Deimeon's blond hair. She crossed her arms over her chest. She tilted her head up in a defiant manner.

“Excuse me?” She demanded, restraining her anger.

No one owned her!

Her voice calmed him ever so slightly as his anger slowly receded. He immediately regretted what had happened and wished to the Ancients he had more control over himself.

He could feel the warmth of his blood dripping from his right palm. He hadn't even realized that he had dug his claws into his flesh until the pain surfaced to the front of his brain. He quickly put his hand into his trench coat pocket and turned to face Kitty with a smile. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck and offered the only excuse he could think of.

“Uh... I thought he was harassing you.”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “You thought he was harassing me? So that required you to go all medieval on his ass and claim me as your own? I will have you know, after what Micheal did to me I will not... And I repeat... Will not be owned by anybody else.”

She spun on her heel and stormed off to her dressing room. She was so emotionally unstable, especially irate. She wasn't sure what would happen if she had stayed in his presence much longer.

Lyndon watched Kitty storm away from Deimeon. Deimeon literally looked like his heart was broken. It almost seemed like he would cry. Lyndon knew that their lead singer liked her. He watched her with hungry eyes all the time and always put on his best behavior whenever she was around. He hadn't even had women in his room with him 'entertaining' him since she came into their lives. That also meant that Deimeon hadn't invited Lyndon either.

He knew that the nights they'd spent together in the past were just casual sex to Deimeon. Lyndon didn't feel that way. He had falling madly in love with the gorgeous man, but it was obvious that Deimeon was in love with another.

Lyndon became heartbroken when he realized it and lashed out at Kitty unintentionally. Lyndon found that he had gotten over Deimeon pretty quickly and he wondered if he had really loved the man.

Love or not, Lyndon cared about him and he didn't like to see fighting. He wanted to resolve this whole mess for them. He just didn't know how. It was in his nature to care for others. And poor Drake. He must be terrified.

Lyndon decided he would go to Drake first since he knew nothing about Deimeon's true form. He probably needed someone to console him after such an experience. Lyndon got up, but paused as the stage crew called everyone over.

Lyndon sighed. He hoped that everything worked out and that he could help out anyway he could. It wasn't good for everyone to start the tour off on the wrong foot. They were all going to be traveling around with each other for a long time.

With that final thought, Lyndon gathered his guitar equipment and happily reported to the designated area. No long after the practice had ended, they started to admit the fans that were camped outside. The rest of the night would fly by or at least he hoped it would.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“You guys did really well.” Cherish said with a satisfied smile.

“Thanks sis.”

They were standing outside the bus while the roadies efficiently loaded everything on to it. Cherish pulled her dress coat closer to her body to block the sudden chill. She was only wearing a white tank top underneath. The lace on the trim dipped low over her large breast, so it didn't provide much protection from the wind.

She brushed her bangs out of her face. She saw Haven exit the building followed by the rest of the Black Doves. She bit the inside of her lip to stop the sound of disgust. She prayed for patience. She knew she was going to need it.

Haven looked back once more at that gorgeous short woman. Without the coat you could see the perfect curves of her body and Haven couldn't help the dirty thoughts that crossed his mind or the overwhelming need to take another shower.

He hadn't cleaned himself solely for the purpose of impressing a woman in a very long time. But dammit, he wanted to look good, contrary to his nature. Which was 'I don't give a flying fuck what other people think of me'.

Haven noticed Deimeon wasn't looking good. Deimeon needed to go hunting. Raw steak weren't going to sate his hunger at the moment. He needed a fresh kill. Haven knew they had to leave soon if they were going to make the deadline, but Deimeon needed to go out tonight. He didn't have a choice.

Dammit.

Deimeon only glanced over to see the worry and debate written all over Haven's face as he inhaled the cigarette in his hand. Deimeon turned away from the bus and headed for the street, disappearing into the darkness. Haven sighed heavily and stepped into the bus.

“Start 'er up.” Said Haven to the bus driver.

“What about Deimeon?” Kitty asked from behind Haven.

She couldn't image that he was going to leave the lead singer and his best friend behind... was he? She was starting to wonder what exactly they had been referring to earlier that night about Deimeon 'hunting'.

“He's fine.” Haven answered nonchalantly. “He's gonna catch up with us later. He... uh... went to meet with a producer.”

Kitty raised an eyebrow in suspicion. She knew that Haven was lying, but she also knew he wouldn't tell her the truth if she asked for it. She decided to let it go and follow Nolan to the back of the bus.

He started up a video game and relaxed in a recliner. Kitty sat down on the back couch looking out into the night. Her mind raced with all the thoughts that Deimeon could be doing, but exhaustion soon won. She fell fast asleep.

Nolan looked over at Kitty seeing her asleep on the couch. He paused his game and rose to his feet. He went to the closet and pulled out the softest blanket in it. He moved to her side and laid the flannel blanket over her small frame.

She reminded him of Lily for some reason. Why his thoughts were going back to that girl, he didn't know. She was cute and her knowledge of computers was impressive. Nolan also found it strangely adorable.

He wished he could get to know her, but he was terrible at socializing. The only girls he'd been with he didn't even have to give his name. They were usually just some groupies who wanted to bed with fame.

“Hey limp dick, scoot over. I'm joining.” Wes declared, moving into Nolan's recliner.

Nolan, slightly irritated that Wes wasn't keeping his voice down for Kitty, nodded in acknowledgment. As Gears of War began, Nolan had the thought of trying to connect to the wireless and see if he could track down Lily, but he didn't even know if she gamed. Lily probably didn't have a PS3. She probably didn't bother with games. Connecting to the nearest server in the area, Nolan and Wes began there game.