Chapter 2 - The Color inside your Head
Darren opened the door to his hotel room with Daniel stumbling behind him. The singer flopped down on his bed and chuckled as Daniel tried to do the same and almost missed.
"Jonesy, don't go falling out the window now, you piss-drunk bastard!" Darren called, still laughing. Daniel turned his head towards Darren and gave him a crooked smile.
"'m fine. Great party, eh mate?" he slurred. Darren's smirk softened and he nodded.
The whole band had jumped him in the hotel lobby , dragging him off to a meeting room. It had been filled with friends, food and a huge cake. A Star Wars cake. His parents had called to wish him a happy birthday and Colby had called , and his siblings had called. It was the best possible party he could ever want without being able to go home.
After a moment, Darren sat up and reached for the remote to the TV. He idly flipped through the channels, trying to see if 'Friends' was on, perhaps.
Suddenly, a shriek shattered the evening quiet. Darren and Daniel looked at each other, then scrambled up and out of their room. In the hallway, they found Nicole and Anna slamming the door to their room while still screaming.
"What's the matter?!?" Daniel shouted. The two girls whirled around, suddenly realizing they had an audience. They both stopped screaming and flushed with embarrassment.
"Um, there seem to be some big, black birds in our room. On our bed." Nicole mumbled after a moment. Daniel and Darren exchanged another look and then Darren started forward.
Big, black birds? Darren thought, feeling slightly worried. The last big, black bird Darren had seen had stared at him with its strange blue eyes, then left him an odd rose. A rose like the one that had grown on the mic stand last night.
The singer slowly eased the door open and carefully peered in, reluctant to see if they were the same sort of bird. For some reason, the thought made Darren nervous. Then he heaved a sigh of relief as he saw it was a flock of crows sitting on the bed. Crows with normal, black, beady eyes. Nothing strange about them at all. Darren felt a slight breeze coming from the direction off the window.
"No wonder you have birds in your room, ladies," Darren called over shoulder "you left the window open!" The dark-haired one ran towards the birds, waving his arms to scare them away. That elicited a chorus of grating caws from the birds, who merely flapped their wings half-heartedly before settling again.
"Good job Darren. You sure showed 'em." Daniel said teasingly, grinning at the singer. Darren rolled his eyes and gestured towards the surly flock.
"You try then, if you think you're so clever." he shot back, but in a friendly voice. Daniel thought for a second, then reached out and grabbed Anna's umbrella with a fairly steady hand. He crept forward slowly, then he suddenly ran towards the bed and opened the umbrella with a foosh! This time the crows half took-off while cawing protests, giving Darren a chance to see something else on the bed.
"Looks like they're eating something off the bed." he remarked as the crows settled again.
"My sticky bun!!" Nicole wailed. Daniel and Darren turned and laughed, with Daniel shaking his head. Nicole pretended to pout.
"I was saving that!" she whined.
"On your bed?" Daniel inquired innocently, grinning. Nicole ignored him. Everyone turned their attention back to the bird problem.
"There's got to be some way we can make them leave." Darren muttered, then raised is voice "Hey you crows! Shoo! Go away!" he half-heartedly waved his arms again. But, to his surprise, the crows stopped and looked at him. Then they took off out the window, without making a sound, leaving only a few floating feathers behind.
There was complete silence for a moment, then everyone broke into laughter. Daniel came over and clapped Darren on the shoulder.
"Well done mate!" he congratulated. Darren smiled weakly, trying to ignore an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Aw, it wasn't that hard. Look, they were done eating the sticky bun." Darren replied.
"Yes, and look at the mess they made! Sticky bun everywhere!" Nicole yelled. Darren and Daniel chuckled and started to leave, now that the crisis was over.
"And look at these footprints! What were these crows standing in?? What sort of bird leaves violet footprints?!?" Nicole ranted.
Darren paused for a moment, feeling an icy shiver run down his spine.
What sort of bird leaves violet footprints?