Splinters In Time

"So I'm thinking, we just need like... one new song, and then we play some of our old favourites and that should be okay for the Christmas concert."

They were practicing in Nikki's garage— they had wanted to practice in one of the Gray's barns, but Lawrence had asked that they didn't as one of the mares was expecting and they needed the extra space.

Lydia had plugged in her keyboard and was tapping out little melodies as they talked; Dan was putting together his drumkit and  Nikki was sitting in the corner, scribbling song lyrics in a notebook.

"Easy enough for you to say." Nikki laughed.

"In that case, can I rework some of our old stuff? There's some songs I think we could do much faster now Jess isn't the one singing." Dan finished screwing his set of cymbals together. "Also, we still need to decide on a name."

"We're not calling ourselves The Lab Rats or Dimension 20." Lydia insisted.

"I like The Lab Rats." Nikki said over the top of her notebook.

"And Dimension 20 was your idea." Said Dan.

"Well, I'm over it. I feel like we need something with a bit more... oomph. How's that song coming along, Nikki?"

Nikki held up the book. "Try that for a few bars, see what you come up with."

Taking the notebook over to her keyboard, Lydia played a few experimental notes. Her eyes scanned over the lyrics. "...Is this just our current Dungeons and Dragons campaign?"

"What else am I supposed to write about? I thought it had the makings of a classic— a proper ballad type. A brave adventurer goes into a parallel world, a dark reflection of our own, to do battle with an evil spider goddess."

Lydia snorted. "I'm pretty sure there were more people in our adventuring party than that when we actually played the game."

"I know. But I thought it seemed more epic this way. Edric has star quality."

Lydia laughed at Nikki's favouritism over her own character. "Alright, alright. How about something like... this?" She began to play a tune on the keyboard.

Dan nodded his head in time to the music. "That's good, I like that." Picking up his drumsticks, he joined in, striking up a beat.

They played for a while, jamming together, Nikki trying out lyrics and scribbling down changes, their fun only being interrupted by the sound of a door opening and Nikki's older sister sticking her head in. "What's all this pandemonium then? Keep it down or the neighbours will complain!"

"Sorry!" Dan called out.

"Yeah, right!" Nikki snarked. "It ain't even dark yet, nobody cares about the noise!"

"Keep it down! You're making a goddamn racket!" The door slammed closed behind her as Nikki's sister retreated back into the house.

"Bitch." Nikki muttered.

A strange look had come over Lydia's face. "What's all this... pandemonium? Who's making that pandemonium? Listen to that crowd, it's pandemonium. Please welcome to the stage... Pandemonium!" She made a dramatic motion with her hands. "With emphasis, of course, on the demon."

"What happened to something the school will sign off on?" Dan asked.

"We'll tone it down for the school. They'll never know. Come on, you have to admit, chaos and noise— it's very us."

"Pandemonium is also the capital of Hell in Paradise Lost. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yeah, but no one's gonna know that who isn't you, Dan!"

"They will when you put a demon on our logo." Dan teased.

"I wasn't gonna— she was going to be a demoness." Lydia admitted. "A Queen of Hell.  It was gonna look so cool." She clapped her hands together. "Right, shall we practice?"

***

The concert went really well. They didn't have very long onstage, because so many other students had wanted to get involved, but— despite the disapproval from some of their teachers at their choice in music style— the audience seemed to be having a great time.

Looking out across the crowd and the dancing lights, Lydia could see her parents, watching enormous smiles. Behind them stood Lili, close to the door, as if to bolt at any second.

Lydia caught up with her in the car park after the performance.

"Did you enjoy it? Did you like our new song?"

"I thought it was fantastic." Lili laughed, slinging her arm over her little sister's shoulders and steering her towards the car. "You're getting so good!"

Silence fell between them for a moment. "...When are you leaving?" Lydia asked.

"Tomorrow. I told you."

"When tomorrow?"

"First thing, I think."

"Do you have to go? Can't you stay a bit longer?"

"Lydia..." Lili warned. Pulling her sister closer, she shot her a smile. "How about we go for some ice cream?"

"The Ice Palace?" Lydia's smile didn't reach her eyes as she pulled open the car door.

"Of course, as usual."

A/N: Not entirely sure it doesn't drop off in quality at the end, but hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Don't forget to leave a like and a comment, I enjoy reading your thoughts!  Until next time then. Luv ya all!