Devil Music

Chapter 4

The front door led into a foyer and Andy"s mouth dropped the moment he was inside. As he looked up, he could see the ceiling, which had to be at least fifty feet above them. Two balconies looked down on the entryway from the second and third floors. Based on the foyer alone, Andy judged the interior of the house to be better maintained than the outside. If you were to show him pictures of both, he would have a hard time believing they were the same house.

After removing their shoes, the group moved into the living room, which was larger than Andy"s apartment. The original furniture remained and, from what he could tell, was still in immaculate condition. Near the center of the room, two wide curved staircases connected to the second floor, which were handy for moving the gear up, as they could move several pieces at a time without getting in one another’s way but Andy wondered why there was a need for two staircases other than for aesthetic reasons.

“Did I tell you or did I tell you?” Shane asked. Even though he had been here previously to look at the house before agreeing to rent it, he looked as though he was seeing it for the first time, his eyes full of wonder. “This is going to be great.”

There was a fireplace on one side of the room. A real fireplace. One that required burning wood instead of gas or electricity. Andy assumed, though it would be nice during the fall weather, it would go unused during their stay, as Andy couldn’t see any of them chopping firewood.

Shane checked his watch. They had spent most of the day traveling, and since it was late autumn, the sun was already setting. “Okay, guys,” he addressed the entire group. “I know you’re tired, but we still need to get the gear to the studio. Once that’s done, you’re free for the rest of the evening.”

“Where’s the studio?” Andy asked.

“Third floor.”

A collective groan sounded throughout the group, but Shane ignored it and continued. “Don, Andy, Kurt, and I will take care of the equipment. Simone and Tanya, if you ladies could put the food away, that’d be great.”

Andy expected Simone to make a sarcastic comment about being assigned kitchen work, but she said nothing, happy not to have to help with the heavy lifting.

Before starting with the heavy loads, Laura showed each of them their rooms so they could bring up their luggage. Andy, Kurt, Don, Laura, and Becky would stay in bedrooms on the second floor. Simone, Emma, Shane, and Tanya would occupy the three on the third floor. The cleanliness of the rooms impressed Andy, considering the house had been unoccupied for over two decades. Either Laura had come in to clean the place top to bottom or she had hired someone.

He couldn’t find a speck of dust anywhere in the house and his room smelled as if someone had sprayed it with a few gallons of deodorizer. He didn’t bother to unpack yet as he wanted to get started on the heavy lifting to get it out of the way. They brought everything to the living room and left it at the bottom of the stairs. The heavier cases were on wheels, so it was just a matter of getting them up the stairs and they could roll them the rest of the way.

Don and Kurt paired up, as did Shane and Andy, who felt he had gotten the short end of the stick. Having played gigs with the man for years, Andy knew Shane liked to move fast. With him on the bottom and Andy at the top, Shane was pushing forward faster than the other could walk backward, causing the edge of the case to crash into his shins with every step. Shane either didn’t notice Andy wincing in pain or didn’t care. If Andy stopped to catch his breath or relieve the pain, Shane yelled, “Come on! Let’s go,” and kept pushing, forcing the other to keep going despite the pain and fatigue.

Andy wanted to protest, but he knew from experience it was futile. At least, once they reached the second floor, he could rest for a minute while Shane rolled the case to the staircase leading up to the third.

The second floor was four separate hallways forming a square. Three had doors on one side leading into the bedrooms and bathrooms, of which there were two. On the other side was a railing overlooking the living room. The fourth hall still overlooked the living room on the one side; the other was a balcony with a view of the foyer.

Both staircases leading to the third floor were narrower and enclosed, making it tougher for them to lug the equipment the rest of the way. The steps landed on either end of the floor, where there were three more bedrooms, another bathroom at the end of the hall, and the large room that was used as a studio at the other end.

“Hey, bring this down to the studio, would you?” Shane requested. “I gotta hit the head.” He walked into the washroom without waiting for an answer, leaving Andy to roll the large case down the hall.

The studio was larger than he thought it would be, and Dempsey had left some of his original recording equipment behind. Andy assumed Shane would clear it out or use it, even though he was certain it was outdated. Of course, Shane would know better than he—what Andy didn’t know about recording could fill several warehouses.

He pushed the case into the room, rolling it to the side to make sure Shane would have enough room to walk around when he set up everything. On his way to help Shane with the last case, he made it about a quarter of the way down the stairs when a burst of static exploded from upstairs. He was sure Shane was no longer on the third floor and he’d seen no one else there either.

Following the sound back to the studio, he found an old radio that had somehow turned on. Andy shrugged and switched it off before heading back down to the main floor.