“Shit.” I glanced out at the entrance as everyone unloaded from the truck. “I didn’t realize how many people would be here. It’s only a local festival, there surely can’t be this many people here.” A sea of colorful festival-goers flooded every inch of the grounds, filling the air with laughter, chatter, and yelping.

Someone put their hand on my shoulder, slightly scaring me, causing me to jump. “Relax, Melz. Nothing’s gonna happen. You love overthinking.” I turned around to see Drea standing behind me. Her smile was warm, seemingly going to give me hope. She wanted to strip me of my worries.

I nodded to her, looking back out at the crowd of people. “It’s easier for you to say. You can just take your glasses off and see no one outside. We aren’t as lucky..” She shook her head, smirking at me.

“You don’t have to look out at the crowd. Just focus on your fingers and strumming. Listen to me sing if it helps.” Drea walked back to the truck, supposedly going to help get out the drum and equipment set.

—

A few hours later, everything was set up under a neat little tent. I tapped my foot behind the stage, waiting patiently for Drea to arrive. “Come on, come on!” A man in black clothing rushed her, and everyone smiled. “You’re a minute late! The show was supposed to start a minute ago. Go on!”

The man rushed us onto stage. I noticed my guitar sat on a stand, to which I meekly picked it up. “The first song we’ll be performing is a love ballad!” Drea said into the microphone. “It’s inspired by one of my dear friends.”

It was a song I knew well. ‘My Love Is Electrifying”, she called it. I shrugged, before strumming onto the guitar the notes I had memorized for it. She sang beautifully, as she always had.

My eyes wandered off, my hands subconsciously doing all the work for me. I noticed a small puddle of water beneath her, getting all of the microphone wires in it. One of the wires was slit open, which looked almost like a cat had chewed through it.

I decided to ignore it, before I saw a member from inside the audience randomly stand up in the middle of the song. He wore all black clothing, so I assumed he was apart of the stage crew like the man before. After all, he did go behind the stage.

“I will shock you.. My, lo-o-ove, is electrifying..”

The words she spoke followed the rhythm. And then Drea stopped. She stopped singing completely. Then, her body began to shake. The water below her began to splash violently, and she fell to the floor. Anxiety coursed through my veins as I witnessed her condition.

In front of her, the crowd began to scream. Cry. Run away. I dropped my guitar in an instant, rushing next to her. Her eyes looked diluted, her pupils becoming an off gray shade. “Cataracts..” I whispered out loud.

My hand moved to her neck- even her wrist. I didn’t feel a thing. “No-“ I shouted. “No!” I grabbed her body, running my hand into her hair. She didn’t look up at me. She couldn’t. The realization set into me slowly.

I screamed along with the crowd. The only thing that happened was my scream echoing with the microphone.