Chapter 12

A week later, the band and Tiffany sat down at a makeshift conference table in the barn. The house had plenty of room and was more comfortable, but Tiffany thought it was best to keep the conversation far away from her husband lest any of the discussions fall upon his ears. Billy started the meeting.

“We are here to discuss our musical future. I originally thought Oceanborn might take a performing hiatus until the summer and work on new material but Carl and Doortje want to keep going. Karina has also indicated she would like to continue performing, too. Having said that, there are some things I personally will not bend on: Oceanborn only performs as long as everyone in this room takes part. That doesn’t mean we can’t add people, but nobody gets left behind.”

Everyone nodded their approval.

“If someone asks you to perform with them ... and I’m talking about just an appearance, not permanently, it’s OK, but please give us a heads up before it happens.”

Again, everyone nodded their approval.

Janneke spoke out. “I think I’d like to transition to less of a main role and more of a support person. It would give me a chance to hang out with you guys, enjoy music and skulk in the shadows.” Billy did not try to hide his surprise and Tiffany gasped, but remained quiet.

Doortje’s head popped up. “Skulk? In the shadows? What are you, a Nosferatu?”

Everyone laughed at her joke.

“No, really...” Janneke replied, “I’m fine with it. Lassie the Wonder Viking over there can sing in my place. <Pointing at Karina> I’m OK with it”.

A frown briefly passed over Karina’s face but she got her annoyance under control.

“That’s all well and good, but what about our fans? They’d be too confused and rumors would start which could work against us.”

Carl injected his opinion: “What if we asked someone to make an appearance with us? Like, maybe Annaliese from The Tomboys? She can play keyboards and sing. Nowhere good as cavewoman Beth over there, but we’re not looking for a singer.”

Billy smiled. “And she’s a fox, right?”

Carl’s lips got tight in a big smile. “Maybe...”

“And you have a crush on her...?”

“Maybe...”

“And you like to spend some more time around her?”

“Maybe...” Carl looked like the cat who got the canary.

Beth faked anger and spoke in a British accent: “I can’t believe you already found someone to replace me ... and a blonde crumpet to boot!”

Carl got tongue tied. “I ... But ... well...”

“But nothing, mister!” she said dropping the fake accent, “I’m hurt you’d want to replace me with a novice, an amateur, a breathing human being! Where do you get off doing that? There’s not a speck of cavewoman blood in her!” Her eyes looked like they were on fire and Carl started to recoil until Beth couldn’t keep her charade up anymore and began laughing. Carl looked around with a confused look on his face.

“I’m OK with it, maybe we’ll become friends? I was just messing’ with ya.”

Carl exhaled as if he’d dodged a bullet and slumped into his seat while muttering to himself... “Is working with females really worth it?”

Doortje leaned in and whispered: “Yes. We are.”

“OK, Carl. Give her a call and see if she’s interested but remember, it’s only for a time or two.”

“Check, Mister Boss-man” he replied.

Karina leaned in and said “If she were to join us permanently, we could call our band Gates of Atlantis! ... OW!” Her head turned towards Janneke. “Why’d you kick me?”

Beth countered “Probably because you had a cramp.”

Doortje clasped her hands together in a schoolgirl-like manner, “Oooooh, that’s a perfect band name!”

Tiffany was elected full-time manager of the band and was able to land a paying gig, a Battle of the Bands in both Miami and Gainesville which was billed as The Best of the Best. Well, if you placed in the top three, there was prize money. She was a stickler that any monies earned would go to paying for travel and then ten percent would go towards the band itself and then anything left would be personal money for the members. She took $1 per gig to make everything was above board legally. In no uncertain terms would they try to save money by only getting a single hotel room and if any girls were caught unchaperoned in the boy’s room, a certain male anatomy part would be forcibly removed with prejudice. Janneke asked if those rules applied to the girls and she got cut down by Tiffany’s withering stare. “I’m barely old enough to be a mother much less a grandmother” she shot back. The kids tried to laugh it off but it was one of those forced, uneasy laughters because everyone knew Tiffany meant business in this manner.

The Miami contest was on July 4th and it was in the Orange Bowl! Talk about nerves, the band started slow and came close to faltering before hitting their stride and finished strongly. For multiple reasons, Janneke had a shadow at all times and everyone did their best to keep her mind off of how big the audience was beforehand. It helped that they wouldn’t perform until after dark so she would not get a good look at the crowd other than the ambient light of the stage. The lighting director was asked to keep all lights on the audience off until the end of the set in an attempt to help with Janneke’s fear. Tiffany was backstage with the band since they wouldn’t let her in the sound booth. All she could do was leave some notes as to what needed to happen and pray it all worked out. Karina assigned herself the duty of making sure Janneke made her appearance onstage and nowhere else. Surprisingly, the band finished second which was well received by the band considering some of the sound and light issues they had. Apparently, the people running the contest did not have much interest in anything other than hitting an “On button”.

Gainesville turned out to be a big Greek party. Sure, it was summer but the venue was packed with college kids you’d think would’ve gone home for the summer, but didn’t. Two things of note happened here, Janneke finally got to sing ‘Kill That Bitch’ which was well received by the drunken crowd who collapsed the stage in a rush as the band walked off.

In the beginning, Billy worked with Janneke on how to work a crowd, but the other girls were eventually brought into the lessons so everyone was on the same page. You never know when someone might have to step up and become the lead vocalist, either by choice or by necessity. “Every band has their own personality, so while you can use bits and pieces of other bands, always make sure you are yourself” is the quote Janneke remembered the most. The band had expanded their repertoire by a few songs in order to fit the ever expanding time slots they were receiving. New songs would be rotated into the setlist from time to time to keep things fresh.

After finishing the second song at the Gainesville gig, Janneke stepped out the edge of the stage with mic in hand and yelled: “Let’s hear if from all the girls!” and extended the mic out towards the crowd and got a hearty roar. “How many of you girls have your eyes set on a guy?” She got a slightly louder response. “How many of you girls have a BITCH in the way?” The crowd, somewhat surprised at her words went wild. “This next song is dedicated to you!” She had spent many hours working on the little schoolgirl persona needed when doing the talking parts of the song and was ready to show it off. Val-speak hadn’t yet made it to the mainstream, so this crowd was going to get their first taste of the coming future.

“Kill That Bitch” was a large reason why the crowd got whipped into such a hectic frenzy and they kept up the pressure until a near riot nearly broke out during the last song of the set. Needless to say, they won the contest hands down with a large part of the credit going to how Janneke handled the crowd between songs.

When the band came off the stage, Tiffany looked at Billy and said “I can’t believe you guys sang that song. I thought you said you’d never do it!”

Janneke’s face turned red as she made herself scarce but Billy stood his ground knowing Tiffany was half irked and half amused. He smiled real big and replied: “Several reasons: One - we were far enough away from home that nobody we know would hear, Two - these are a bunch of drunken college students so we didn’t have to worry about insulting families. Well, if any families were there, they have no leg to stand on ... taking kids to a keg party of a concert.”

Tiffany shrugged her shoulders. “Well, it was quite amusing watching the whole thing unfold, but please make sure you use good judgement as to when and where to sing it.”

“Sure, mom, so I guess ‘Gold-digging Whore’ (Steel Panther) is off limits?” he replied a smirk.

“Gold-digging what?” she replied somewhat surprised trying to decide if she heard what she thought she heard.

“It’s nothing, mom” he said while giving her a quick hug.

She wagged her finger at him: “You behave!”

A week after returning from Gainesville, the band found themselves having another last minute meeting. “Who called this thing, anyway?” asked Carl trying to be funny while everyone sat around a table looking at each other. Billy just shrugged his shoulders, “I guess Tiffany had some news for us”. About that time, Tiffany entered the barn with a big smile on her face.

“How would you kids like to go see a baseball game?”

Carl looked at Billy who looked at Karina and each had a confused expression on their face.

“Uh, I don’t want to be a party pooper, but going to baseball games isn’t my cup of tea” announced Billy in a diplomatic voice.

“It’s not so bad” Carl followed up, “I guess it’s up to who, what, when and how hot the weather will be.”

Billy couldn’t help himself, “You know, we still don’t know who’s on first.”

Doortje smacked her hand against her forehead in mock frustration.

Carl caught on real fast, “I don’t know!”

Doortje sprung up from her seat in mock exasperation and shook a finger at Billy, “If you as much even try to finish that thought currently rattling around in your brain, I’m gonna ... I’m gonna ... I’m gonna butter your bread!!!”

Carl choked on his laugher as he slapped the table and Billy spit out the swig of water he’d just taken. Even Tiffany couldn’t control her response while the other three girls looked on without an ounce of understanding of what just happened.

Doortje looked around at everyone, “What’s so funny??”

It took a good ten minutes before the Carl, Tiffany and Billy could get themselves under control enough to explain it while Doortje sat there and scowled at them.

Finally, Karina got them back on track, “We don’t know anything about baseball” and her sisters all nodded in agreement.

“Oh. So then you don’t want to sing the National Anthem at a Braves game and throw out the first pitch? I guess, I’ll tell them you aren’t interested” replied Tiffany.

“Let’s not be too hasty now, Mrs. Rivers” Carl replied without trying to sound overly excited. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint our fans.”

Billy laughed, “and just what fans do we have in Atlanta?”

Carl scratched his chin while the wheels in his head were turning, “Well, uhh, surely someone up there has heard of us!”

Tiffany smiled and turned to look at Billy. “Ask the girls” he said. “They’re the singers, I’m just a groupie with a guitar who likes to hang around beautiful women.”

Karina pinched her nose and made a gagging sound while Doortje kicked him lightly in the shin. Billy laughed, “I think they are interested if you interpret their body language!”

“And what would you constitute as a ‘No’?” replied Karina.

“The letters N O.”

“What about nee or nei?”

“Well, she did kick me in the knee ... perhaps I misinterpreted?”

“Perhaps I oughtta bust you one!” teased Karina while waving her fist at Billy.

“That’s what I like about you, Karina. Always willing to resort directly to violence as a first option!”

“Good,” replied Tiffany, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. Since we’re gonna be in Atlanta anyway, I figured it would give you guys something to do to stay out of trouble. Besides, we wouldn’t want to disappoint the one fan we have up there!”

The band members looked at each other with the same confused looks they had before.

“And we will be there ... why??” asked Billy.

Tiffany giggled. “You’re opening for UFO on Labor Day, September 3rd in Atlanta. If all goes well, they’ll pick you up on the Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami dates as well.”

Janneke asked “Who or what is UFO? We gonna play in a flying saucer to little green men?”

It got so quiet you could hear pin drop. Everyone looked at Janneke thinking she was trying to be funny, but a few moments later, it became obvious she was deadly serious so Doortje tried to help deflect the subject. Suspecting it had to be a band, she asked,

“I’m not familiar with that band, are they any good?”

Carl shrugged his shoulders. “I think I’ve heard a song or two on the radio but that’s it, Billy?”

Billy sat up straight, “In the big scheme of things, they haven’t been a big commercial success here. The songs you heard on the radio were probably “Doctor, Doctor” or “Rock Bottom”. I’d have to say Michael Schenker was the biggest name associated with them, but he is back with the Scorpions right now. I think. Opening for them is definitely a step in the right direction. This can be a building block to work up to opening for bigger bands. It will definitely look good on our resume.”

“Good,” Tiffany said. “I figured you guys would be up for it so I already accepted the gig. You’ll have a forty five minute set and several weeks to prepare for it. Enjoy” Tiffany responded before turning towards the exit on her heels with a smirk on her face.

“Hey MOM!’ Billy barked out. She stopped and turned around.

“Yes?”

“How did this come about, anyways?”

“Their promoter, who happens to be a U of F alumni just happened to be passing through Gainesville and saw you guys play. He gave me his card and said he’d be in contact.”

“Well, what did he think?”

Tiffany took a moment to gather her words. “The musicianship was top notch, the songs were catchy despite being vastly different than anything currently making the rounds and that you guys need a little more seasoning and experience with your stage presence. The fact you kids accomplished as much as you have in only a handful of appearances really impressed him. The girls have the edgy-wholesome vibe going on which he really liked.”

“Edgy-wholesome?” Billy asked.

Tiffany giggled. “I thought that was a cute description, too. Joan Jett represents rebellion and sexual promiscuity whereas Janneke and her sisters come off as the girls next door whom you suspect as having a wild side yet can’t really prove. Put them on the big screen at a stadium and the fans will all cheer, put Joan Jett up there and half the crowd will cringe and the other half will start drooling.”

Beth’s hands shot to her hips as she replied “We’re not drool worthy? I’m offended!”

Everyone’s heads snapped her way and she could no longer hold her seriousness and began to laugh.

Carl added: “If it will make you happy, I’ll drool at you while we’re on stage.”

Beth said: “You drool anyways, it’s a miracle one of us hasn’t been brained by a drumstick slipping out of those drool-infested hands.”

Doortje deadpanned: “We’ll have to wear tennis shoes to keep from slipping if you guys are going to be drooling at us. The boots we wear have virtually no traction, we’ll definitely need some kind of bodily protection from Caveman over there.”

“That’s Mr. Caveman to you, missy!” replied Carl indignantly.

Janneke looked at her sister, “I’m good with that. I mean, at least we’ll be getting drooled at, right? Isn’t that every girls’ dream? ... To be drooled over?”

“Is there a different between being drooled on or over?” asked Doortje.

“Not in my book” Karina flippantly replied.

Billy turned towards Tiffany: “Hey mom, make sure we have extra towels on stage, will ya?”

Tiffany scoffed in mock anger as she stomped out. “You kids are incorrigible!”

Carl kept repeating “drool infested?” to himself over and over in a low tone as if he had a riddle to solve.

Janneke mumbled “Most people that drool at you do so because you’ve knocked them senseless” just a little too loud and Karina shot her the evil eye.

The remaining part of the summer was dedicated to getting performing experience, especially for Karina as she was worked more heavily into the singing rotation. They booked the local amphitheater for the next several Friday nights to work the kinks out. They had their stage in The Studio, but you can’t simulate a real live crowd. Any thoughts of having or being a guest with another band were put on hold due to the unexpected success of Oceanborn. When Karina wasn’t singing, she was starting to play the guitar which allowed more diversity in song selection. It would allow them to play ballads which had both acoustic and electric sounds. In addition to crowd management, an added emphasis to stage setup and lighting was increased. Billy loved the elaborate stage setups Iron Maiden had back in the mid 80’s and wanted to work towards that as a goal, if only a much scaled back version. Opening bands rarely had any type of thematic stage setup.

New songs were added to the repertoire and it was during the screening of a new song that everything changed.

Cindy was sitting in a booth by herself at a burger joint in a nearby city when her seedy associate walked in, looked around and casually walked her way. He took a quick scan around before plopping down across from her.

“How’s it going with ‘you know who’?” she asked in a hushed tone as the waitress approached them.

“I’ll have double cheeseburger with everything on it, fries and a large chocolate shake” said the guy as he looked at Cindy out of the corner of his eye. When the waitress left, Cindy hissed, “We were just supposed to meet here, not order half the menu!”

“Hey, corrupting the youth is hungry work. I gotta eat to keep up my energy” he replied with a cavalier attitude.

“Well?” she hissed again. “What’s up? How’d it go that night after I left?”

He replied: “She smoked some more weed and went a few more rounds with me and the guys. That girl is insatiable! I thought I had her hooked for good, but I’ve come up dry recently. She apparently is back on the wagon.”

“Well,...” Cindy was interrupted by the waitress delivering the milk shake before she leaned in really close. “Get her back off the wagon. Do whatever you gotta do and ... oh! Are the incriminating photos ready?”

“Funny you should ask” he said tossing a few photos on the table.

Cindy’s eyes nearly popped out. “Damn, you went all out on this, didn’t you?”

“Hey, what’s the use of doing a job if it isn’t done properly” Barney said while puffing out his chest.

“I’m taking these, thanks” Cindy said as she scooped the pictures into her hands.

His eyes narrowed and he leaned forward in a hushed manner “What are you going to do with those?”

“Figure it out” Cindy replied just as the food arrived. She looked at the waitress and dropped a $5 bill on the table. “This ought to cover everything, keep the change” and then strutted out of the diner.

Billy was in a testy mood due to Janneke’s inability to get the song right and snapped at her out of frustration. Without thinking, she replied “You think I’m stupid? I know this song inside and out, you’re just having me do it wrong, Adam.” Karina gasped audibly and the other two sisters looked at her with quizzical expressions.

Caught up in the moment, Billy replied: “OK, sing it your way!” and she did. By the time she got to the middle of the chorus, Billy’s brain caught up with what was going on so he grabbed her wrists which brought the song to a halt, “How could you know that song and did you just call me Adam?”

At that moment, Tiffany walked in with an envelope in her hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but this just came and the person delivering it said it was urgent.”

Janneke’s eyes were big as watermelons as she realized what just happened when Karina stepped forward and gently put her hands on Billy’s forearms and cooed at him “It’s OK, Billy. There are some things we need to talk about, let her go. We’ll talk about this later, in private. Let’s see what Tiffany has that is so important.”

Tiffany handed a manilla envelope over to Billy and he examined the handwriting as he sat down. There was no postage stamp or formal address, just his name. He tore it open and a piece of paper with a handwritten note fell out.

“Dear Billy,

I thought you might want to know what has been going on behind your back over the last several months. I was shocked as no doubt you will be, too. Please go easy on her. My sources say there is a good chance there are more like these out there circulating in public.

Your Friend,

Cindy”

Billy looked at Karina and the other band members with a confused look, but didn’t notice the frown on Janneke’s face. He pulled out a small stack of Polaroids. “Oh, look, some photo-” and then went silent. Karina gasped from behind Billy and Carl started asking questions from behind his trap set. Billy’s hand shook harder and harder as he thumbed his way through the photo’s showing Janneke shooting up drugs, various stages of undress and finally engaging in sexual acts with multiple people. The faces had been marked out to protect the guilty parties. He finally dropped the photos onto the stage and looked up at Janneke with tears in his eyes.

“What are these?”

Beth’s face was buried in her hands and Doortje had tears running down her face as well.

“You wouldn’t understand” she screeched and then ran out of the barn.

Karina scooted up next to Billy from behind and wrapped her arms around him. “It will be OK, Billy. You have to believe that. I’ll handle this, you take some rest and I’ll be in touch.”

Doortje picked up the photos and put them back into the manilla folder when Carl approached. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Someone took some unwanted photo’s of Janneke. They are not flattering” replied Doortje.

Carl put two and two together decided to stop asking questions. “I can see our session is complete for today so I’ll be running along.” He stopped and patted Billy’s back a few times and finally gave him a ‘bro hug’ before heading off.

Beth and Doortje gave Billy a hug before leaving while reminding him they would handle it, so he went inside to let Tiffany know what was going on, or maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe a bottle of whiskey might be a better option, at least it wouldn’t ask a bunch of questions.

Later that night, Cindy was sitting on her bed while talking on the phone to one of her sycophants when the family dog started barking. Moments later it let out a loud yipe that ended unnaturally quick followed by silence. A thud near her window caught her attention but the shadow of a human form was into her room and on her before she could react or make a sound.

The phone line was yanked out of the wall and the unknown assailant had Cindy by the throat in such a way that she could not make a sound.

“OK, Who is he and where does he live? I’m going to let you speak, but if you try to scream, I’ll snap your neck in such a way it will leave you a quadriplegic. Death would be too easy for you” a female voice hissed into Cindy’s ear.

An acrid odor wafted through the air causing her attacker to sniff a few times. “I see you wet yourself, I’m sure all your friends would love to hear about this.”

Cindy’s eyes were wide with fear and she could barely speak coherently. “I ... I, I, don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The attacker squeezed in such a manner that Cindy’s legs went numb. “Your friend who gave Janneke the drugs. Where might I find him and what is his name?”

Cindy gasped a moment before answering, “He, he, his name is Barney and hangs out down by the warehouses near the docks. I don’t know where he lives.”

The voice rasped at her, “If I find out you’re lying, I’ll come back and finish the job.” With a flick of a wrist, there was an audible pop and Cindy’s legs went limp before being thrown onto the bed like a rag doll.

“Your kind makes me sick. Just to make sure it ends here, I am going to render you barren to prevent any monsters from your seed from being brought into this world. Yes, unless mom and dad are able to spring forth any more offspring in their later years, the family line will end with you.” She placed a hand over each ovary and began chanting in an ancient tongue. Her hands started to glow as the energy accumulated in her palms and then she shoved her hands hard into Cindy’s abdomen to channel the energy into her ovaries. Cindy was unable to able to feel anything due to the damage to her spinal cord so she had no idea her reproductive system had just been fried.

“Zoete dromen, jij vieze teef” the shadow figure said before slipping back out the window.

Cindy lay on her bed gripping the comforter underneath her while gasping for breath. A faint whiff of burnt flesh wafted about as she was afraid to make any noise lest her attacker come back and finish the job. As she lay wondering what just happened, she had no idea the loss of feeling was permanent or of the third degree burns in the shape of a human hand on her lower abdomen.

Janneke arrived at Barney’s place and began rapping loudly on the door in anger until he let her in. She immediately launched herself at him screaming in her native tongue. He had trouble withstanding her enhanced strength and was lucky four of his buddies were there to come to his aid. Her rage had given her tunnel vision and she didn’t check to see if anyone else was there until it was too late. Four hands grabbed her arms and pulled her off Barney as she felt the sting of a needle in her neck. It wasn’t long before her vision got blurry and then fell onto the ground in a heap.

When she came to, she was naked and tied up in a compromising position. Barney stood over her as she started struggling.

“I’ve had enough of you. In my hand is a lethal dose of heroin, just enough to make it look an accident and then we’ll dump your body in a nearby lake for the gators to finish you off. Before we do that, my buddies and I are gonna have some fun, you know, something to remember us by. I seem to recall you couldn’t get enough of us the last time.”

Janneke struggled harder with her bonds, but her mind was addled to the point she was unable to conjure any magic, not that it would help in her current mental state. At her level of expertise, she required a great deal of concentration to use it. In a burst of frustration and anger, she screamed and then fell silent. She heard the guys arguing about who would go first when the room went dark.

There was a mix of cursing and shuffling followed by a brief scuffle and an audible snap. Seconds later the sound of a body hitting the floor echoed throughout the room. A few random gunshots went off briefly illuminating the room but it was too brief for anyone to see anything but not the attacker. Janneke felt herself jarred as a body ran into her and then there was painful prick in her upper arm as the vial of poison was jabbed into her flesh. Knowing her time was limited, she screamed out for help but a sudden blow to the to the side of her head made things go fuzzy.

A clicking sound from the direction of the main breaker had the lights back on where Karina found herself between Barney standing next to Janneke with a syringe stuck in her arm and the only remaining gang member at the breaker box.

“Make a move, bitch and your sister is dead” menaced Barney. The only thing Karina had to her advantage was Barney being in the line of fire so his crony couldn’t take an immediate shot.

Barney looked her up and down. “My my, what do we have here? This bitch is a stone cold fox. Primo. I’ll bet you’d be twice as fun as your sister here. Why don’t you two trade places? It’s the only way to save her.”

Karina quickly considered her options and decided on a plan of attack. The second guy moved to get a clear shot which forced her hand. In a lightning move, she was on him before he could pull the trigger. She grabbed his shooting forearm and slammed it down on her knee causing his radius and ulna to snap in half like twigs and then she twisted and pulled as hard as she could. Not only did the tendons and ligaments tear, but the skin ripped apart as well causing Barney to stand there in shock as Karina threw the guys lower arm to the ground. The act had been so quick and violent the gun was still in the hand of the severed arm. This was not her first rodeo and she knew the shock and awe of her attack had neutralized the gang member, but she was not done. Her anger and bloodlust had been unleashed and people would pay. Karina turned her back to her victim, wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled with all her supernatural strength as if she were executing a judo flip over her shoulder. The angle combined with the amount of force used cause part of his spinal column to detach above his shoulders. Barney looked on with horror as he saw Karina standing there covered in blood holding a head and six inches of spine sticking out like a tail. He wasn’t sure but he thought he saw the head blink its eyes a few times before the they became lifeless.