The Kropp Princes (Prequel to Warhol)

Chapter 5: Fade Away

Sebastian's POV

After the attempt to try a new style of music was shot down by our father, Remington was in a bit of a depressive state for a long time. He does a good job of hiding it when we're performing live, but me and Emerson know he's not okay. We want to be involved,  but he says we shouldn't worry so much and continue on making our fans happy. If it were up to us, we would be experimenting with this cool style of music and see if we can be good at it. I didn't tell anyone, but I had my eyes set on the most beautiful guitar I had ever seen in my life. It was left-handed which was perfect for me since I'm a lefty, and it was being created by a German guitar carver named Friedrich Gretsch. He said if I played it and played the music that makes me happy, I would be making a legacy with it. I was honored, and promised to play the music that created happiness for me.

A few weeks later, we were scheduled to perform at a New Year's Eve banquet, and everyone of all classes would attend. It made us happy we had such a large and diverse audience, and maybe more people can make more friends within the different social classes. After we performed, I decided to mingle a little with some party guests so they'd feel more welcome. I was about to get a drink when I accidentally bumped into a girl and spilled her drink. "Oh, shit!" I exclaimed, "I'm so sorry. Here, let me get you another drink." "Forget it, asshole!" At her smart remark, I finally looked up at her face, and I wasn't prepared for what I witnessed before me. She was stunning with large, chocolate-colored eyes, beautiful red lips, and short blond hair that fell a little over her shoulders. I was in such awe that I couldn't respond. "I don't give a shit if you're in a boy band," she kept speaking, "you should know to at least look where you're watching." She then pushed me out of the way, and I just kept looking at her. If her beauty wasn't enough to capture my attention, her spunk and strong will just captured my heart. I thought about going after her, but then someone asked me for my autograph, and I had to let her go to give them one. After I gave them my autograph, they smiled and thanked me and went back to the party.

Then out of nowhere, I felt someone tap my shoulder and when I turned to look, it was the beautiful girl I just bumped into. She looked guilty and looked at the ground before looking up at me. "Hey, I'm sorry for being so bitchy," she said to me with a more calm tone, "I honestly am not in such a partying mood, but that shouldn't give me an excuse to be rude and nasty with you." I smiled and stated, "Oh, don't worry about it, it was mostly my fault." "No, it was mine", she argued. "But if you still feel guilty, you can buy me that drink", she said with a sweet smile. "I'm Larisa", she introduced herself, and then I responded, "I'm Sebastian". As I bought her a drink and wrapped my jacket around her, she stated, "what a gentlemen," with such a sweet smile that may have confirmed I was in love with this girl.

Remington's POV

The vocal teachers were starting to get more and more annoying every day since the Black Crowes concert. I couldn't help if my voice was evolving because I was growing or I wanted it to be unique. They kept telling me to keep it clean and stay appropriate for our audience if we wanted to keep performing. I knew this was my father talking through these assholes,  and it just made me want to punch them so bad. I got so upset that it even affected my performance in school, but I wasn't so concerned about it like I should be. My friends were worried, but I told them that it's personal and they don't have to worry. The one time I felt a little good in such a shitty situation was this person named Alexandria gave me a gift that was a chain necklace with a padlock. It was the coolest fucking thing ever, and I gave them the best hug. It was so cute how they fangirled as they walked away.

That day, when I walked back home, I was working on homework and was silently jamming to the Black Crowes in my head. Not long after, I was singing the ending of the song in my own unique filtered voice.

Says she talks to angels.
Says they call her out by her name.
Oh yeah, angels
Call her out by her name
Oh angel,
They call her out by her name
Oh she talks to angels,
They call her out, yeah yeah
Call her out,  
Don't you know that they call her out by her name

When I finished, the servants and maids were looking at me like they've seen a ghost. I was beginning to worry if the way I was singing it was bad, but then they started applauding and telling me my voice is amazing and I should sing like that all the time. It made me feel good and proud of myself. That is, until one of Father's vocal coaches warned me never to sing like that again, and that's when I had about enough of the bullshit. "You know what?" I stated, "this is my voice, and I happen to like it. I won't hide this anymore, and I don't care if you tell my father about this. So, do me a favor, shut the hell up, and let me be me." That shut him up and I left to my room where I'd be working on perfecting my voice.

Trigger warning: Emerson's part here deals with drug use, so if you're sensitive to that, just skip this part and finish the chapter. Triggering part ends at ***.

Emerson's POV

The anger and bitterness inside of me seemed to get worse, and I wasn't sure what to do. Then, these two snob teens offered me some kind of weird substance that they said would help me forget about my problems. I wasn't sure what they meant, and I put it off for the longest time. Then, curiosity got the best of me and I tried it. At first it felt strange and weird, then I didn't understand it but I needed more. It was like anything I was upset at or was worried about wasn't the sole focus anymore or they weren't real. Soon enough, my body demanded more and I had a serious problem.

To make it worse, I became obsessed with other great musicians named Jim Morrison and Sid Barrett, who were rock n' roll artists. I wanted to adopt the same persona as them and hopefully be remembered, not like this though, but I couldn't stop it. My brothers tried to ask what was wrong, but I was so scared that I ended up pushing them away. I was afraid this was gonna destroy me, and I needed to stop but I didn't know how. The only thing that was able to stop me was tragic, though. My mother stepped in, and I told her I was busy, but then the next few words she spoke were in a grave tone.

"Its Grandmother."

***

😱😱😱 Sorry this took a while to write, I wasn't sure about writing Emerson's part here, and also some slight writer's block. I hope you still enjoy this story and you stick around to see it finish. Thank you and I love you all so much!!! 🤗🤗🤗