The New Melody

The silence returned to the Green Room.

Jaxen stood up. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing bright arterial blood across his cheek like war paint.

He took a deep breath. His chest expanded. The shift receded, bones snapping back into place, the fur retracting, the handsome, brooding mask of the rock star sliding back over the monster.

He cleared his throat.

*Hmmmm.*

He hummed a note. It was low, resonant, and perfect. It didn't crack. It didn't waver. It held the power of a hurricane.

"Beautiful," he whispered to the corpse on the floor.

Mira lay twisted on the rug, her eyes open and glassy, staring at nothing. Her throat was a ruin.

Jaxen stepped over her legs. He walked to the mirror and inspected his reflection. He looked ten years younger. The lines around his eyes were gone. The blue was electric.

He picked up a towel and cleaned his face, careful not to smudge his eyeliner. He checked his teeth, picking a piece of gristle from his canine.

Then, he walked to the wall phone and dialed a familiar extension.

"Security," a voice crackled.

"Yeah, it's Jax," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "We got a situation in the Green Room. Another groupie. Looks like an overdose. Her heart just... gave out."

He paused, looking at Mira.

"Yeah, it's tragic. Get the cleanup crew down here. And make sure the press doesn't see the body."

He hung up.

Jaxen opened the door. The roar of the arena was still faint in the distance, the fans chanting his name, waiting for him to come out the back exit.

He began to hum a new melody as he walked down the hall. It was a sad, haunting tune—Mira’s tune. It was going to be a number one hit.