Strange Frequency

I wrote this story in one hour flat one random night for CF...hope it makes the cut.The title is STRANGE FREQUENCY, as the story is inspired from the HBO movie-series of that name.

Enjoy!

It was late, yet 15-year old Matt was wide awake. He kept looking at the calendar on his bedside table. The clock read 11:59 pm. In a minute, the next day would begin. That day would be December 8, 2007.The third death anniversary of Dimebag Darrell, one of the foremost metal and shred guitarists of his day. On that day 3 years ago, Dime was shot dead by a crazed fan, Nathan Gale along with three others during a concert in a club. The reason for the murder was, police gathered, that the killer loved Dime too much. Tragic.

The clock struck midnight, and Matt turned off the light.He tried to go to sleep, but couldn’t. He thought about his life. Matt was a seemingly normal kid, who liked his sports and rock-n-roll music. However, he kept his love for Dimebag and Pantera secret, at least from his conservative parents.It was a real pity, he thought, that he discovered Pantera long after they broke up and Dime was dead. And there was nothing he could do to change it. What he really wanted was to attend a Pantera concert, but that was not possible anymore.

In the morning, he got ready to go to school as always, but he had other plans for the day. Instead of taking the bus to school at the bus stand, he took a bus to an amphitheatre outside his town, to attend a Dimebag tribute concert, with a friend. The day went well. His friend, Andy wasn’t a real fan of Pantera, but he went with Matt as he was his friend, and because it seemed "cool".

"Damn good show, man”, Andy said at the end of the show.

"Yeah.I really liked the third band”, Matt said.

"So, do you wanna head back home, or wanna to make this a day to really remember?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that”, said Andy, pointing to a bar.

"No, man. You know i don’t drink or go to such places. My parents would kill me--"

"Your parents would kill you if they found out were here", said Andy. “C’mon, give it a try".

Andy was a kid with no scruples. He had tried everything, whatever seemed "cool" to him. Matt reluctantly agreed to go to the bar with him.

The bar was filled with dangerous looking people, bearded and long haired metalheads, and hot yet nasty looking chicks. They scared Matt, but he went in anyway. Andy ordered a couple of beers, and was looking around with surprise and awe. Matt fixed his gaze to the bar table, and waited for the drinks. The people around noticed his discomfort, and tried to put him at ease.

"How you doin, kid?"

"You alright?"

The men tried to start a conversation with him, and he obliged. Soon, they were talking on a variety of issues. The beer made him feel better, and he was enjoying himself. Then one of the men offered him his drink, and he took it. It was real strong stuff, and Matt felt his stomach heaving. But he finished the drink offered to him.

It was getting late, and time to go. Andy and him bade the guys’ farewell and got onto a bus. Soon Matt developed a splitting headache on the bus. It kept getting worse, and he started seeing things, like blurry visions.

The visions showed him in first-person view in an arena full of people.

However, it ended then, and all he was left with was a headache which he felt would split his head open. Andy was psyched out, seeing Matt writhe and groan in pain. However, Matt was fine once he reached home. In fact, it was like the pain thing never happened. To his parents, he had just returned from a normal school day.

One would be mistaken to think that Matt never touched alcohol again. On the contrary, he was hooked onto it. His school performance dipped, and he became somewhat of a recluse at school. He started attending more rock concerts and drinking heavily in the company of fans at pubs. His parents, however knew nothing of all this. On occasions, when he over-indulged himself with alcohol, the visions returned.

In them, he was in an arena full of people, and was moving towards the stage, his hand clutching something in his jacket-pocket, but he didn’t know what.

He didn’t want to find out, either. The only result of all this was that he started drinking more and more, and was taking Andy down this path with him too.

One day, after a particularly rambunctious concert, followed by copious amounts of drink, he was returning with Andy and some other friends back home in a jeep, when the headaches returned, worse than ever. He was moaning and writhing and squirming like a worm in pain. His friends were clueless and terrified. They didn’t know what to do and all they could do was watch. His visions were back.

He was in the arena moving towards the stage. He could now recognize the music. It was Damageplan playing. Then he, in the vision looks up and sees a banner which said ALROSA VILLA. In another banner it said DAMAGEPLAN LIVE IN CONCERT, COLUMBUS OHIO, 2004.

Then all he saw was blackness.

When he awoke, he was back in his room, in bed. His parents (who thought he had gone to see a baseball game) were by his bedside.

"Thank god you're alright."

"What happened, son? Did you get hurt really badly during the game? We checked you for injuries but couldn’t find any. So we didn’t call the doctor. We thought all you needed was rest. Andy and the others were really helpful. Do thank them for us, son."

"Thanks dad, I'm ok.I guess i was just tired."

Later, after his parents had left, Matt started thinking of his visions. Alrosa Villa, Columbus, Ohio. He had heard of the place somewhere, but couldn’t remember where. Then it hit him. Alrosa villa was where Dimebag was shot dead! He confirmed this fact soon afterwards. So he was seeing visions of Dimebag's death, through the eyes of someone present there. But this didn’t make sense to him. His idea of visions was that they predict the future, not show the past. So these were not ordinary visions. Then a thought crept into his head. He immediately dismissed it as crazy, but it persisted long enough to make him think about it.

What if, through the person he was in the vision, he could prevent the killer from carrying out the diabolical deed? He would change history then, for the better! He was excited about this idea, and did not consider the many loose ends in it. Heck, the whole idea was itself a loose end, a fantasy. But Matt did not care.

In order to get into the vision, he had to first get high on booze or something similar. Even the thought of the headache did not deter him. He then went to Andy's place and told him everything.

"Crazy, man! What’s happened to you? I liked the plain old you. Man, you're insane"

Matt had expected such a reaction. But he persisted.

"Andy, I need you to help me. I need to get high!"

After repeated requests he managed to get Andy on his side.

"I need to get really high to do what i plan to do. I need more than booze can offer. I need dope”, Matt said.

"Man, if we're caught we'll both be up to our heads in it".

"Don’t worry. We won’t be caught."

They headed to the house of one of their pals who lived in town. He was part of the group they traveled with to shows and concerts, and was at around 7-8 years older than them. They reached his house and knocked.

"Hey guys. What are you doin here?” he asked.

"Dude, I need your help. It may seem crazy to you, so I'll cut the story. I need dope”, Matt said.

The older friend was speechless for a while, and then he said, in a voice devoid of friendship.

"Cant do it. You’re too young. Is this a joke?"

"What if we pay for it? We're dead serious".

"The risks involved are too high"

"Please, man. Just a one-time favour".

The older friend finally gave in.He gave them some dope in a McDonald’s packet and let them out through the back door of his house.

"Now listen carefully”, he said. "Dont overdo it, and wait for the effect to hit you. It’s not instantaneous".

He then banged the door shut.

They then ran back to Matt's garage (the car wasn’t there as his parents were out).Matt then followed all the instructions given to him by the older friend and waited.

It then hit him like a hurricane uprooting a tree. The headache phase lasted only a few seconds, and he was in the vision, at the part where the last one ended.

It was clearer than before, like he was living in a movie. There’s no time to lose, he thought. I must act fast. He looked around in the heaving crowd, looking for someone who looked like the killer, Nathan Gale. He cursed himself for not finding out how he looked. He was frantic, and was sweating even though it was really cold. He then reached the stage without realizing it, and saw Dimebag on stage, playing one of his trademark guitar solos. Then, to his absolute shock, he took out a gun from his jacket pocket (so that was what he had been clutching all along), and points it at Dimebag. Each second seemed an hour, as he pumped him with five bullets straight in the head. He then turned and shot all those who came rushing up to him from the crowd, taking the lives of three others, and wounding two more. Then, in agonizing detail, he saw a police officer brandish his service shotgun and shoot at him. Two shells straight in the face.

The vision ended abruptly, and Matt was sweating as if it was midsummer. He could not cope with what he had just seen.

HE HAD SHOT DEAD DIMEBAG DARRELL!

Was such a thing possible? He was sure it wasn’t a dream, as there were details which he never knew, and which exactly matched the police investigation report of the shootout. Whatever it was one thing he was sure of. Life will never be the same again.

That was the last sane thought Matt Thompson ever had.

It was just as they had said - the killer loved Dimebag too much. Tragic.

Loonies in leather

Heres more stuff on eccentric metal band members...this post is long overdue...the inspiration for this post is Disaster Area, the loony rockers in the Doug Adams laugh riot H2G2.
These are little known bands with little known members...hence their antics are little known too.

The Boston based Grindcore band diecast recently "lost" its drummer; heres how:drummer Jason Costa snuck "off onto a bus in the middle of the night without explanation or warning". The reason was due to an argument with the other members over Brendan Fraser's acting skills.

In 1982, having repeatedly been thrown fake animals on stage by fans, Ozzy osborne bit into the head of a bat onstage, and was required to receive a series of rabies vaccination injections as a preventative measure against the disease. Ozzy said he thought that it was a rubber one thrown at him by a crowd member.

Back in 1982 Ozzy Osbourne was on tour in San Antonio. While there, he took the opportunity to don one of his wife's dresses, stumble over to the Alamo, and urinate on the side of it. Ever since then the number 666 has slowly been forming on the front of the building, gradually becoming more distinct.(woah!!)

Tankard is a speed/thrash-metal band from Frankfurt, Germany, founded in 1982. After losing their guitarist because of their image as a bunch of drunks, they moved on to issue their first record in 1986. From that point on, the band has continuously made songs and records in the same style they started out with - fast metal songs in honor of alcohol. Thus they claim to have invented a new genre called "alcoholic metal". Tankard are self-proclaimed "Kings of Beer".

Will put up more stuff as i come across it.
Stay heavy
Sid

Cold

brr....death by freezing is one of my greatest fears (the greatest one being spiders!)....it dosent seem so improbable now.

As Will Durant noted in his masterpiece "History of man", civilisation has always been an interlude between the Ice ages...looks like global warming may have arrived just in time to save us.

Prison break

Ahh! This is one show that i can go on and on about.The touching tale of looking out for your loved ones, your family and friends in this sordid world of evil government secret agents is sure to be a hit among audiences. It also helps that the show is jam packed with good ol' Hollywood style action, drama and suspense.
i think what the audiences will appreciate is the sacrifices the Burrows family makes to uncover the truth behind the framing of Lincoln.The side characters and accomplices too have an important part to play in the plot, and they are not treated as fillers or mere tools in the hands of the main protagonists.Their stories recsue the show from becoming a one-dimensional narrative and a one-man show.
The attention to detail is mesmerising.No loose ends in the story are left out.
The story itself is unique.The efoorts of one man to rescue his brother from the Death penalty by breaking him out of a high secuity prison is both unique in its own way and not too far out to be unreasonable or unrealistic. But the methods used by the man (Michael Scofield) are brilliant and gives the show an element of surprise and mystery....you're left guessing what he comes up with next.
Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield essays his role with a cool confidence that stands out in a show full of emotions running high....yes he has been criticised for looking like hes always scanning the surroundings...but thats what he does most of the time, at least in the first season.The others too fit their roles perfectly...my favourite being "t-bag", an easily dislikeable (yes, thats why hes a great actor) scumbag. And, i have to mention it, the actresses are very good (looking) too.
Theres too much to say here...so ill cut it short from now on.
One shouldnt get attached to the characters too much...one that seems likeable one episode might just show an unsavoury side of him/her the next episode, or just simply die! Yes, the show is full of good people dying(being killed, rather) suddenly by the bad guys.
the show also demonstrates the hardships of prison life (heck, no one expects it to be a picnic) and the intricacies in it.
Ok, ive said enough. But if i havent motiveted you enough to get the show by any means possible an start watching it pronto, ive not said enough.Or ive failed.

Sid

Angela!

The frontman of one of the best Swedish melodic death metal bands,Arch enemy, is a woman - Angela Gossow!
This chick reportedly swept the floor with the others who had auditioned for the position in the band.So all those who think Amy Lee is the face of females in rock music, think again. Gossow is one of the best vocalists in the business and a babe!
If you do get your hands on an Arch enemy Cd, go ahead and buy it-its definetly worth it. Yes, it will be hard to beleive that the harsh vocals are sung by a female, but let it pass.Just enjoy the music.
I didnt believe it too.But the moment it sunk in, i finally believed in the possibility of females being as capable as men....and so will you.

Stay heavy
Sid

Mayhem

Mayhem is probably THE weirdest band that ever existed....here are some reasons why...i just thought it would be interesting reading material; (all the stuff here is sourced from Wikipedia)

(Mayhem is an influential black metal band formed in 1981 in Oslo. Much controversy has followed the various murders,suicides and other forms of violence that have surrounded the band since its inception.
Mayhem's Classic Line-up had the metal titans (stage names:) Necrobutcher,Euronymous,Dead and Hellhammer.It maintained the usual death metal obsessions in gore and violence,and more sinister and nihilistic preoccupations.)

Euronymous owned a record label and wanted the outlet to look like "...like a black church in the future. We've thought about having total darkness inside, so that people would have to carry torches to be able to see the records."(hmm...occult)

Dead, as suggested by his stage name, was melancholic by nature and fascinated by death, decay, and darkness.According to some friend, "He (Dead) wasn't a guy you could know very well. I think even the other guys in Mayhem didn't know him very well. He was hard to get close to. I met him two weeks before he died. I'd met him maybe six to eight times, all in all. He had lots of weird ideas. I remember (Euronymous) was talking about him and said he did not have any humour. He did, but it was very obscure. Honestly, I don't think he was enjoying living in this world." (weird...)
Dead had, over time, carefully cultivated a notoriety for strange behavior; once burying a set of clothes underground for weeks so that he could later wear the decaying rags onstage. He had kept a rotting raven in a plastic bag so better to "inhale the scent of death" before going on stage. Such morbid fascinations and antics further developed Mayhem's progressing musical atmosphere, and by this point the band's lyrics had moved increasingly toward Satanism, darkness, depression and evil. A focal point of gigs at this time was the planting of pigs heads on stakes, center stage, and Dead cutting himself with a knife.(weirder....)
By April 1991, Dead was dead, aged 22, having suffered a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head and several lacerations to the wrists, inflicted by a hunting knife he had bought that day. Dead committed suicide in a house he was sharing in Kråkstad with the other members of the band, and left a note asking that they "Excuse all the blood, Cheers." although other members of the band claimed it was more extensive, it also said "the knife was too dull to finish the job so i had to use the shotgun" Euronymous was first to discover the body, and took a series of polaroids of the corpse, some of which were later used as cover art for their bootleg album.
According to Occultus, who briefly took position as vocalist after Dead's suicide: "He (Dead) didn't see himself as human; he saw himself as a creature from another world. He said he had many visions that his blood has frozen in his veins, that he was dead. That is the reason he took that name. He knew he would die.." (that takes the cake, if you ask me....)
Euronymous took pieces of Dead's brain and made a stew, in which he put ham, frozen vegetables, and pepper. "He'd always said he wanted to eat flesh, so he figured this was an easy way." Euronymous also claimed to have collected and forged fragments of Dead's skull into necklaces, sending pieces to those he felt 'worthy'.(ewww....)

Euronymous was next in line to die.He was brutally stabbed by the then bassist to whom he owed a lot a money.The autopsy revealed that Euronymous suffered twenty-three stab wounds: two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back. However, the bassist claimed that Euronymous fell onto pieces of broken glass from a lamp shade broken in the ruckus, which he says, attributed to the multiple puncture wounds. (you dont say?!)

They split in 1994...and reunited a few years later with the surviving members and some new ones...but its the 'classic' Mayhem that fans remember the most.

The new Mayhem was just as weird, though.
In 2004, Maniac(the vocalist) was forced out of the band. Stage fright had lead to both dependence on alcohol and reluctance to tour, which frustrated his bandmates. It is rumored that Necrobutcher signaled his departure from Mayhem by kicking him down a flight of stairs, after Maniac had gotten drunk before a gig and been unable to remember the lyrics.(tee hee)

By now most of you would have a fixed idea of what Mayhem's music sounds like...but I really enjoy it...ass kickin stuff \m/..do listen to it if you do get a chance to.

Stay heavy
sid

Holocaust

SACSAYHUAMAN,PERU,present day

A ruined city.No one from any of the ages known to us ever saw Sacsayhuaman when it was not in ruins.
A fantastic fortress bulit with monolithic rocks weighing more than 100 tons each and having terrace walls 1500 ft. long and 54 ft wide.
The mind boggles when one tries to comprehend these facts.But what will take one's breath away is a little distance away from the fortress.Here we are confronted with a block with an estimated weight of 20,000 tons.This single stone block is the size of a four-storey house and is impeccably dressed in the most craftmanslike way.To make the solution of the puzzle even more difficult the whole monstrous block stands on its head.
Who can imagine that human hands and human endeavour excavated, transported and dressed this block? What power overturned it? What titanic forces were at work here? Its a pity, one thinks, that the technology of these peoples is lost forever.

BUT IS IT?

What one dosent realise, or dosent want to realise is that this city was built, when humans everywhere else were still in caves, by the most advanced peoples the world will ever see, and with the aid of extra-terrestrial intelligence.They dealt with aliens like a nation today deals with another.They traded materials and exchanged technologies.In gratitude for their aid, the people of Sacsayhuaman regarded the aliens as gods.This is why archaeologists today find Sacsayhuaman and the neighbouring towns like Tiahuanaco filled with gigantic buildings inscribed with images of "gods" in flying chariots and dressed in what even a layman would describe as a space-suit.Its a pity these "archaeologists" chooses to close their mind to the truth.But mankind would pay dearly for their closed-mindedness.
The gods had built the first airfield in the history of the world for their use, not far from Sacsayhuaman.The airfield was located in the Palpa valley in the ancient city of Nazca, high in the Peruvian Andes.An aerial view of the valley shows gigantic lines, laid out geometrically,some of which run parallel and some of which intersect.
The archaeologists call them ancient roads.How preposterous!

But something went wrong in the ancient city of Sacsayhuaman.The gods stopped coming.The people's anxiety grew with each passing year that the gods did not show up.The temples were crowded and the priests called for greater piety and sacrifice from the people.But the gods still did not come.But what came was a message from them.It said that the "gods" would appear in exactly ten thousand years.The people were disheartened.They couldnt wait that long.And Sacsayhuaman fell into decay soon after.The sad people abandoned their glorious city and dispersed, and soon died out.

All but one, that is.A priest decided that it would be worth the wait to show his descendants the splendour of the gods.And belonging to the most empowered caste of the city, he had access to all the technology and knowledge of the gods.And he passed them on to his only son.
And so it continued, long after the rest of his peoples had died out.

Soon the rest of mankind emerged from its sleep and began to conquer the world.But it would never see the glories of Sacsayhuaman other than in a state of decay.

LIMA, PERU,present day

Pablo was one of the leading astronomers of Peru.He was also rich, way richer than one expect his job to make him.This perplexed the authorities, and they were dissatisfied with his his explanation that he had inherited his wealth.But it was true.
He owned an observatory high in the andes mountains above Cuzco, not far from Sacsayhuaman.It was equipped with the most advanced instruments money can buy.But money cant buy everything.The USA, and a few EU nations owned some highly advanced microwave radio satellite telescopes.These were not for sale,however, as they can be used for spying and related activities.Having unsuccesfully pleaded for their purchase through the Peruvian government, Pablo proceeded to visit these countries and plead personally for them.After visiting the capitals of all the countries owning them, he returned angrily to Peru.They had refused to sell it.

Immediately after his return, these cities were struck by the deadliest earthquakes ever known to strike.

Pablo's anxiety and frustration increased in the coming months.He scanned the heavens like a madman, without rest for days on end.
These months also saw a tremendous, unnatural increase in the number and intensity of natural disasters in the various parts of the world.

Then one fine day, he abandoned whatever he had been doing and went to Nazca.And there he waited patiently.
The day was a special one.It was the day the gods had promised the people of Sacsayhuaman that they would return.And Pablo, descendant of the high priest of Sacsayhuaman waited for them.

The gods never did come that day.And Pablo knew that it was futile to wait any longer, for the gods would never make a promise they couldnt keep unless something had gone horribly wrong in their scheme.The frustration of a countless generations enveloped him.All the hardships endured by his forefathers in preserving and propagating the power and technology of Sacsayhuaman had now gone in vain.
Because of his lineage, the ancient power that had moved the monoliths flowed through him.And when angry, he couldnt help using it.

Pablo was very angry now.He was so angry he wanted to end his life, and take as many other men with him as possible.
The earth shook and waves of energy radiated through the ground from where he stood.
Nothing ever grew in that place again, and a desert drier than the Atacama was born.