A ragged guitar chord pierced the thick chatter of the crowd. It screamed through the place until its strength waned. Gothstomp's guitar player hit the strings again, sending a fresh flurry of notes into the crowds ears. More than a few people cheered and stood up to watch the show.

"Hell-o, Tennesee, you southern bunch-a shits!" the frontman, Scar, said into the microphone.

People seemed to really like being called shits, because they cheered so loud, Charlie would have bet her mom could hear them back over in Kentucky.

"Hell yeah!" Scar roared into the mic.

The band started up their newest song called Witchcraft. It was slow compared to metal's usual terms, but it was hard. Just the thing to warm up a crowd. The bass drum pounded. Vibrations crawled beneath the grass and into Charlie's legs. They worked on up until they found home somewhere in her chest. Now, pure energy, it spread to her limbs and just kept circulating. She felt could feel the notes in her fingers and the tips of her hair. It made her want to do uncharacteristically dramatic things, like shout or jump around the way some of the other concert goers were doing.

Something bumped her shoulder and she realized it was Shay. Tamera was nearby, acting as though her moment of absence had never passed. Shay didn't seem to mind how close Tamera was trying to stand to Jake. Shay was already carried away by the music, dancing a thrashing sort of dance. It looked fun to Charlie, so she joined. By the time Gothstomp played their last song, she was covered in sweat. The band began to take their equipment down.

"Pace yourselves," Tony warned them. "We'll be here all day."

The words flitted through their mind the way an excited kid at the park might fleetingly notice some butterflies. It was there but a moment later it was gone as they scanned the flier to see which band should be starting up at that very moment on stage two.

Meow Box. They were a newer, quickly rising band. This year, they had been all anyone could talk about. The band was different than most metal bands, because of the simple fact that its members were all female. They had pretty good music, but if Charlie were honest, they were a little too shrill for her tastes.

"Oh, my God! We can't miss them!" Shay cried. "Where's second stage?"

"Come on, we're just headed there," Jake said.

Panderghast was next on first stage. It would be a while before they got set up. They could probably listen to Meow Box's whole set before Panderghast even started, but Charlie had half a mind to just wait for them. On the other hand, she may never get a chance to see Meow Box again, and they're pretty cool. Not great, but cool. The majority of the group was already working through the crowd, the biggest, Dan, in the lead.

"Coming?" Shay and Demi asked, holding out their hands.

"I don't like them," Jonny said.

"Us either," Tony said, speaking for Marge and himself.

They sat on the grass, Marge in front. Her tanned arms propped up on Tony's knees. Jonny sat beside Tony.

"You girls be careful and stick together," Marge said.

"We will!" Charlie said, then they rushed off to catch up to Dan.

Dan was huge. He reminded Charlie of the Hulk in the old black and white television shows, not the Hulk that they have in theaters now. He wasn't green, and he didn't seem angry. His demeanor seemed as cheery as the other faces.

The outdoor stadium look had stopped near the stage. The strip between stage one and stage two was like a dark carnival of sorts. There were tattoo stands set up right outside. People walking around selling memorabilia, people setting at tables piled with band shirts, food stands, a place for piercings, and there was even a little tent lined with sprinklers you could walk through to cool off from the blaring sun.

Charlie and Shay were in awe.

"Ooh," said Tamera, "I wanna get my eyebrow pierced!" She hopped in the piercing line.

"We'll miss Meow Box," Demi complained.

"Go on, Jake will stay with me," she said with confidence.

Jake rolled his blue eyes. "We'll catch up."

Once out of earshot, Shay spoke up. "What's her deal anyway?"

"She's always trying to get his attention," Demi said. "She thinks if she does something she considers brave, like getting a piercing, that he'll like her."

Shay snorted. "Weak."

"Sad, more like," Demi said. "I guess he feels bad for her."

They heard the voice of Meow Box's singer amplified through the mic. "They said Metalfest wasn't the place for girls!" She shouted. "What'a ya say about that?"

The crowd at second stage was unbelievable. People were pressed against each other like sardines, but somehow Dan cut a path through them. When you're as big as him, people tend to want to give you room. Demi onto his shirt, and with her other hand, held Shay's hand. Shay also held Charlie's hand so they wouldn't be separated.

The crowd was screaming for Meow Box. The singer, a slim woman with big, bright pink dreads, spoke again. "We'll just have to show them what these girls can do! I want you all to raise hell!"

All the voices exploding at once drowned out any discernible reply, but she seemed to take it as positive, because the band started playing a sharp, viscous tune. Her voice deepened and then screeched with the rising tempo and the crowd was raising hell.

Before Charlie knew it, her fingers had disengaged from Shay's. The crowd had moved them apart with their jumping and pushing. With their squeezing and swaying. Not a familiar face was in sight. Just these others, white contacts, bald head, a green Mohawk, thick black, dramatically drawn eyebrows, leather, damp cotton, and complete chaos. Suddenly, Charlie felt lost and trapped in this sea of strangers.

Then she felt something hard slam into her jaw with enough force to make the world go black.