"You're all mediocre morons!" Anton shouted backstage, leaving his band behind. The words echoed through the hall as he stormed into his dressing room and slammed the door shut, locking it after himself in a fit of frustration.
He was furious.
All this work, all this effort, all this farce that his father had made him go through.
It was all of nothing.
And now it was gone.
He had to deal with the fact that they were going to lose their money.
His parents wouldn't pay his band's expenses anymore, he wasn't getting paid anymore.
All Anton ever wanted was to be someone in life, maybe his sister's idol like those stupid Monster Mash and now he was crying, his teeth clenched, staring at the floor.
It would all be over soon enough.
He didn't know when exactly, but there'd been something wrong from the very start, some kind of invisible fault line between him and his band.
Anton just wanted to be the leader that Zeth was, the much-loved king of the world.
He just wanted to impress his parents.
But it didn't feel like the universe favoured Anton.
The rest of the band was as frustrated as him, but they would never know how much this cost him.
This would mean years of being a family shame.
For years now, he'd had nightmares about this show.
He could already picture his parents walking up to him, disappointment on their faces.
They would kick him out for good.
They would keep on telling him he's not enough, never enough.
"My oh my," a voice said and Anton quickly turned to see this black-haired girl in a blue sweater dress, sitting on a chair, inspecting her nails.
"How did you get in here?" he asked, looking at her and the Monster Mash guys behind her, "How did you all get in here?!"
"I don't know," Draco scratched his head, "Either this place has really poor security, or the author is really lazy at explaining this kind of stuff."
"I'm calling security!" Anton yelled.
"And you think that's gonna be enough?" The girl in blue raised an eyebrow at him, then laughed and shook her head. She rose up from the chair elegantly, and took a step forward.
"Umm, Evie. Are you going to tell us why we broke into this idiot's dressing room?" Alex asked.
"Not yet," she replied.
"Evie," Everett growled, "I want to give this guy atomic wedgie."
"And I want to knock his teeth out," Alex said, his ears becoming pointed.
"And I want an apology for so much humiliation," Frank said, crossing his arms.
"And I want some cherry ice cream," Draco said, following a fly with his eyes.
"All of you, calm down and shut up!" Zeth shouted.
"I didn't say anything," Finn said.
"Evie, why are we here?" Zeth asked, and the girl raised a hand, walking straight towards Anton without any fear on her face, but rather with a mocking smile.
"You talk, or I talk," Evie told Anton.
"What do you mean by that?" Anton demanded, backing away slightly, with his back against the door.
"Oh please, you really want to play that game?" Evie rolled her eyes, "You and I know what I am talking about."
"I'm going to call my bodyguard to kick all of you out of my dressing room." Anton protested, but Evie held up one finger.
"First," she began, "Your bodyguard quit. And second, you're in no position to threaten me, boy."
"Evie, what is this all about?" Zeth asked, frowning, "What do you know?"
"So, you want me to tell them, Anton? Because I know everything I need to know," Evie winked.
"Meaning?"
"Paul. That's the point of this little meet and greet." She smiled.
"That fucking traitor!" Anton exclaimed and turned red, making all the Monster Mash boys cock their heads. "He ruined everything!"
Evie was not surprised to hear this, but she didn't say anything.
"Wait. Did Paul betray you?" Draco asked, looking at his bandmates, then back at Anton. "I thought he was on your side."
"In fact, there's something you should know," Evie said with a huge, huge mocking smile on her face. "Paul's in the band, but technically not in the band."
"What do you mean?" Alex half-shut his eyes.
"You say it or I do it, Anton. Last chance." Evie said with her arms crossed, "And just so you know, Paul is under my protection. It was me who had the idea to sabotage you, so if you want revenge, it's me you'll be fighting against."
"Evie, what did you do?" Finn looked worried.
"I ruined Fifth Octave's show," She said with her furious gaze fixed on Anton, "Paul is too good to do something like that. He was willing to do your dirty work, Anton. Paul would never betray anyone no matter how horribly they treated him. But you?" She gritted her teeth, "You are disgusting for abusing Portia's illness to blackmail Paul."
And then she lost it.
SLAP!
All the Monster Mash boys gasped in unison.
Anton rubbed his reddened cheek, staring at Evie with yellow eyes filled with terror.
"Damn!" Draco covered his mouth in shock, "Evie just slapped that bitch!"
"Remind me to never piss Evie off," Everett gulped.
"Why did you do that?" Anton looked genuinely terrified.
"Because you are despicable," Evie said, "Now talk!"
"Fine!" Anton raised his hands in surrender, "The truth is that my singing voice... It's not mine."
"Wait, what?" Finn cocked his head.
"Paul needed money to pay for his mum's cancer treatment," Evie explained, "Although at first he told Anton that the money was to buy a house for Mrs. Gheist."
"When my parents found out he sang pretty good, they asked him to dub my voice." Anton explained, "He would earn money for the vocals, and during live performances, he would make himself invisible to pretend that I was the one who sang. In exchange, my dad would give him the same salary as the rest of us."
"Paul turned himself invisible and sang throughout tonight's show and the rehearsal," said Evie. "I know because he told me so."
"But Paul's idea was my dad's! Even my mother didn't know!" Anton shouted.
"And was it your father's idea to blackmail Paul and hire a Hunter to ruin the Monster Mash show?" Evie asked.
"No. But this failure is Paul's fault." Anton shook his head, lowering his gaze.
"There was a saying in Guardian Fort," Zeth said with a sigh, "One that was passed down from generation to generation but it was first said by the missing Lord Commander Reefael Darktide... The only thing certain in this life is that you can't control other people's actions, only your own. Everything bad that has happened to your band and yourself is no one's fault but yours, Anton."
"Well. That explains why Anton hit every high note during the rehearsal but couldn't during the actual show!" Draco gasped.
"Zeth is right. I was the one behind everything and I even mistreated Paul and said horrible things to him." Anton replied and put his hands up to his face. "And I'm so sorry! I didn't know his mum was sick until I confronted him, and still, I was an asshole."
"And where is Paul?" Zeth asked, "I have the amulet in my travel suitcase, we can go heal his mother with it right away."
"Do you know where Paul is?" Alex asked Evie, a little too worried.
"I'm here," Paul's voice said, and out of thin air, he materialized behind Evie. "I never left."
"And he won't leave either," Evie said, looking Zeth straight in the eyes, "I proposed a home for him and his mother in Lyonfort, they're going through a crisis and..."
"Evie, you don't need to explain anything to me," Zeth said, raising a solemn hand, "I trust your judgment."
"We're going to help you, Paul," Frank said.
"And we are going to help you fulfil your dream of being a singer," Zeth said, walking over to Paul and putting a hand on his shoulder. "You already have the body, face, and voice, so leave it all to me."
"No way!" Paul widened his eyes, turning paler than he already was, "Are you... Are you serious right now?!"
"Absolutely. But first, we must go back to your mother," Zeth winked. "We're going to Hallow Woods right now. We have to save Mrs. Gheist and..."
"Thank you!" Paul gave Zeth a big hug, tears in his eyes, barely breathing, but hugging hard nonetheless, "You have no idea of how much this means to me! Thank you! Thank you for this opportunity!"
Zeth blinked. He couldn't believe Paul's reaction.
"Y-Yeah. Don't mention it," Zeth replied, patting Paul's back. "You are safe now, Paul. You understand?"
"And what about me?" Anton asked.
Paul stepped away from Zeth and wiped a tear, then nodded with his lips pursed.
"I forgive you, Anton. From the bottom of my heart, I forgive you." Paul said, turning to look at Evie, who despite her attempts to hide it, was smiling very proudly and with tears in her eyes, "And thank you, Evie. For everything."
She just nodded with her hands clasped together.
"Let's go back to Hallow Woods," Zeth said, looking at the Monster Mash boys.
"I'll go get Jade." Evie nodded, taking out her phone, "I told her to wait for me in my new car."
"Your new car?" Zeth raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you say the car was rented?"
"Now I own it, more or less," Evie replied, "Courtesy of an old friend."
"Well then. Take Jade to your saferoom, and escort everyone else to the hotel," Zeth said, and Evie looked annoyed, "I don't need you to babysit me while I take Paul to his house. I can handle any eventuality."
"But..."
"Evie," Zeth frowned.
"Sure, okay," she fumed inside, "You're the boss."