An Angel of Music: Apollo's Lyre By Dracona Dragillin This is part 4 of the An Angel of Music series. Gargoyles belongs to Disney. Please send feedback! An Angel of Music: Apollo's Lyre BBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP! Hannah fumbled around for the alarm clock. Bleary eyed she looked at the sunlight that filtered into the room. Ever since she met Eric, she had been sleeping during the day. Not that she minded. Hannah then turned pink. They had spent last night in bed. Eric's love just exhilirated her. Now all she had to do was find a bass player and someone for the drums. And, of course, they had to be open-minded. She quickly got dressed and ready. The chairs were set out and the coffee was made. Even with Eric's help, her apartment was still a mess. Granted it was large and cheap, but it was also deteriorating and crumbling. The heat almost never worked and the same was true of hot water. The plaster was disintegrating before her eyes. The floors were really beat up old hardwood that had given up the idea of ever shining again. It was also in upstate New York in the middle of nowhere. But it suited the both of them just fine. An hour later, she had five people in her living room. "I'll go first," said a honey blond woman with icy eyes. She then started to play the drum set that was already prearranged. She was talented but lacking a good mood. She bashed the sticks into the drum as if she were grouching about playing. "I'm also a lead singer," she added. Hannah smiled gently, "I'm the lead singer and guitarist in this group. But there will be plenty times that you will be able to do solos and backup work." "I am not a backup singer. I'm the lead. And if you're going to be in this group, you ought to dye your hair. It distracts others from natural blond tresses." Then Hannah blew up. "Excuse me, Madame Bleach Bottle, but this is my band! And I don't think that you'll fit in." Hannah then pushed her own white blond hair from her face. The woman turned to one of the guys. "Let's go," she hissed, "What a bunch of losers." She and the guy then left. "Who's next?" Hannah wryly said as she ignored the couple's loud departure. An Asian woman, whose raven hair was streaked with bright red dye, stood up and looked Hannah straight in the eye. "My name's Janelle Li." Janelle had a mischievous grin on her face as she picked up her bass. Janelle then launched into a instrumental version of "Another One Bites the Dust" She danced around as she played. Janelle's wild hair was swinging all over. Hannah saw that Janelle was having a lot of fun and she was very talented. There were several auditions after that: a college student who could only play three chords, and a bass player who was obviously a junkie. But last was a very shy drum player. He mumbled that his name was Darryl. Hannah had her doubt about the timid young man, then she heard him play. His sense was perfect. Hannah knew exactly what to do. As she showed the people out, she slipped both Janelle and Darryl a note. Both notes said the same thing: I love your playing and I would love to have you in my band. But there is one condition. You must be open minded. Come back a half an hour before sunset and DON'T BE LATE! Then I will reveal my secret. If you can't accept my secret then I will ask you never to tell anyone. If you don't think that you will be able to keep a secret, then don't come over. I hope that I'll see you tonight. Don't worry, you will be served dinner. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hannah, Janelle, and Darryl sat around the table. Janelle and Darryl were prompt and arrived a half an hour before sunset. Hannah took a deep breath and spoke, "I hope that you're here with an open mind. If you can't accept what's going to happen tonight, please keep it a secret. The secret is about our piano player. Eric is very special. Unfortunately he will not be able to join us in playing in public. For all public appearances, we will get a guest pianist. But, as you will see, Eric cannot appear in public. We will also have to record in secret." "I'm not trying to be rude," Janelle said, "But is he deformed or something?" "He's not deformed but most people would call him a monster. He's not. Eric is talented, gentle, kind, understanding..." "And you're in love with him," Janelle interrupted. "Yes. Eric isn't human. He's a gargoyle." "Isn't that some kind of statue?" Darryl asked. "Yes, gargoyles turn to stone during the day to sleep and humans have made statues that were inspired by sleeping gargoyles. Excuse me but I think Eric will be waking up soon." They all walked into the living room where Eric's statue stood. As the sun just disappeared, the statue cracked. It shattered, sending chips of stone flying all over the room. Eric stretched his wings and roared. Janelle and Darryl looked with total surprise at the army green gargoyle that stood before them. Only a little more shocking was when Hannah and Eric embraced and shyly kissed each other. "Well, you have heard us play. When are we going to hear you two play?" Janelle grinned. --------------------------------------------------------------------- After a few hours of jamming, they all ate dinner that Eric cooked. "My God Hannah! I'm so jealous! You have a guy that's talented musically, a fantastic cook and gives you private time during the day." Janelle then smiled and whispered to Hannah, "How is he in bed?" "Janelle! I'm changing the subject. What are we naming the band?" "Since our band has it's own mystery piano player, the name should have dark and mysterious connotations." Everyone was surprised that Darryl was slowly breaking out of his shell. In the past few hours, he had spoken much more. "I have an idea," Eric said, "Why don't we name it Apollo's Lyre?" "But that doesn't sound mysterious," Janelle objected. Hannah shook her head. "Actually it does. Apollo's Lyre is an allusion to the Phantom of the Opera. And having a unseen piano player and singer named Eric is another. The Phantom's name was Eric." "That rocks!" Janelle agreed. "Um...there is one more thing. We need someone we can trust to record the songs. I have this friend Calvin who's great with machines. He's done some technical work recording studios. If we tell him about Eric and our group, he'll keep the secret. I think he's trustworthy." Hannah gave a worried look. "I'd like to meet him first. I took a big risk inviting you guys here and I don't want anyone hurting Eric. But I'll give him a chance." They talked for several hours and finally the others left. Hannah and Eric sat down on the couch. "Are you happy, Eric? I know that gargoyles aren't usually musicians. I just hope that you aren't unhappy doing this and you're keeping quiet to make me happy." "Hannah, I love you and I do want to make you happy. But I do like making music. It's so much fun." Eric pulled Hannah close and started to kiss her. "But I know there are much more fun things that we can do." Hannah began to giggle. "Naughty boy! Well what are you waiting for?" The End