Nona hagapple's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Nona Hagapple wanted the opera house at the heart of Scary Applesville. Sold out. Her name on the marquee. But the haunted hall only booked full bands, and Nona's band had scattered years ago. Last night she stood alone in her kitchen and hit a G above high C, just to prove she still could. The note held. Her lineup did not. She had one yes. The guitarist laughed when she called, then asked what time rehearsal starts. One yes was not a band. One yes could not fill a stage. She needed a drummer, and every old bandmate she'd phoned had said no. So she drove to the purple club on the edge of town. Violet light bled from the broken windows. Inside, a man sat alone behind a set of drums carved with glowing runes. He played hard, sweat in his beard, like the empty room was packed. Dan GhostApple. She'd heard his old band died slow, him the last one still showing up. He stopped when he saw her. "We're closed," he said. "I just play when nobody's here." "I'm putting a band back together," Nona said. "For the opera house. The big one. I need a drummer." Dan wiped his face. "Heard of you. Heard you broke up messy." He set the sticks down. "Bands fall apart. People stop caring. I watched mine do it one quit at a time. I was the last idiot in the room." "My guitarist already said yes," Nona said. "I can hit notes people said I couldn't. I'm not here to quit halfway." "Everybody says that." Dan looked at her flat. "Then they don't show." Nona crossed the sticky floor. She stood over the drums. "Count me in. Any tempo. If I can't keep up, I'll walk out and you never see me again." Dan studied her a long moment. Then he picked up the sticks and hammered a fast, mean beat. Nona pulled breath from her gut and sang over it. She climbed. The runes on the drums flared brighter with every bar. She hit the high note and held it past where most voices crack. The glow pulsed. Dan's beat stumbled, then caught, matching her. He let the roll fade. For once he didn't look tired. "Fine," Dan said. "I'm in. But I want it as bad as you say you do. The second you don't, I'm gone first this time." "Deal," Nona said. She had a drummer. She had a guitarist. She had a rhythm section and a voice. Then Dan leaned back and killed it. "One problem," he said. "That opera house don't book acts off a phone call. There's a man who holds the stage. Nobody plays there unless he says yes. And last I heard, he hasn't said yes to anybody in years."