"Invisible Kid" ~~Chapter 1~~

~~Chapter 1~~1

There she was-standing there anxiously as she waited in line but she wasn’t really in line. She waited until the very last fan had moved before getting into line. She bit her fingernails because of her anxiety. She didn’t want to be around all the other fans when she went up because she wanted to do this alone and by herself. 2

She’s been waiting ten years-ten long years for this moment to happen, since she was eight years old. Even though she knew who the person she was searching for, she hoped that the person recognized her and remembered. Or at least thought about her a few times. No one could take this moment away from her, not even her psychotic mother who lured her away to run away with her because her father wouldn’t marry her. 3

She was eighteen years old now and she practically grown into a young woman, forced to grow up during childhood too quickly because of her mother. Yes, her mother-the very woman who kept her daughter away from her father for ten, long years. Her mother had kicked her out of her house because she desperately tried to search for her father on her own against her mother’s wishes. But here she was-standing about four feet away from him. She thought that she would never see him again but she was wrong. It felt like a dream and this time…it was reality. 4

The one and only James Hetfield approached her first. He saw her and took one good look at her. He gave her a smile that she recognized. She didn’t mean to be rude to James but she looked past him and looked directly at her father. Kirk and Lars were engrossed in conversation. 5

“Hello, sweetheart,” James kindly said to her, shaking her out of her trance from looking at Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich.6

For a few seconds, she glanced up at James and gave him a quick, warm smile and then looked back at Kirk and Lars but she mainly looked at Kirk. James looked over his shoulder and saw who she was looking at. 7

“Kirk, Lars, I think you have a fan over here.” James called out to Kirk and Lars. 8

Kirk stopped talking and took a look over at where the eighteen year old girl and James were. He looked back over again and felt his heart ache and stop for a moment before it began racing again. Unaware that he wasn’t listening, Lars continued to talk away. Kirk yanked on Lars’ shirt and that stopped him. 9

“What!” Lars snapped annoyed. 10

Kirk gestured towards the girl with his head and Lars saw her. His mouth nearly fell open then he looked at Kirk with unbelieving eyes. 11

“Lana…it’s her!” Kirk fought back the tears that he had. As he said that to Lars, he was already walking towards her and it was as if his legs were on auto-pilot. He thought if he could get over to her without fainting and his knees feeling weak. He overcame his nerves somehow and he was now standing in front of Lana, the girl he hasn’t seen in ten, long years that went by so slowly. 12

Father and daughter now stood, staring at each other, the both of them speechless, and overwrought with so much emotion. What he was staring at wasn’t his little girl anymore but instead, she was now a beautiful young woman. 13

“Daddy…” She whispered, her soft voice filled with emotion with her arms stretched out. Kirk swept her up in his arms and they both sobbed. Lana was very petite and her short, skinny legs dangled as he held her.14

“What’s going on? Did I miss something?” James asked as he walked over to Lars. 15

Lars looked at him and said perturbed, “You don’t recognize her?”16

“No. Should I?” inquired James. 17

“That’s Lana, Kirk’s…” 18

“I know who Lana is, Lars! I just didn’t recognize her. After all this time, here she is.” James quietly said to Lars. “What is she-she must be like twenty or something now?”19

“Actually, she’s eighteen.” Lars replied to him. 20

“Wow. He thought that he would never see her again. He almost gave up on trying finding her.”21

“So did I.” 22

Ten years earlier, Lana’s mother had tried many schemes to get Kirk to marry her when she was born. Kirk was her biological father but that didn’t stop him from refusing to marry her mother. The two of them had broken up even before the mother knew that she was pregnant with Lana. So because of his refusal to marry her, she stole his precious little daughter away from him when she was eight and that was the worst possible punishment she could sentence him. The mother changed her and Lana’s names and even moved around a lot so he couldn’t find them. Kirk blamed himself and he found himself lost in depression for a while. 23

Lars took Lana’s disappearance harder than Kirk although Kirk was her father. It killed him to see one of his best friends suffer so much. Kirk was often good at hiding his emotions and being brave. But when they got together and commiserated over Lana, they both fell into an abyss of despair. Lars had become a second father to her. She could be very mischievous at times so she required a second dad. Lars indulged her terribly and Kirk was sensible and the loving Dad. She definitely took after her father! And she was also considered a daughter to James Hetfield as well. She was the first and only “Metallikd” as James would affectionately call her. She became attached to him and Jason Newstead as well and they to her. The only unhappy person about this was Lana’s wicked mother. 24

Immediately following Lana’s disappearance, Kirk would do nothing but sit around with Lars and drink until they passed out, sometimes for days on end to deaden the pain of their loss. Finally, Jason and James brainstormed a side project to keep them from drinking themselves to death-it ended up becoming their next album, Reload. It snapped them both out of the black hole they'd fallen into, but neither of them ever got over their loss.25

The emotional-filled reunion continued between Kirk and Lana. Kirk still held her in his arms, desperate to make up for the lost time, not wanting to let go. After a few more minutes, they calmed down and let go of each other and he put her back on the ground and took her beautiful face in his hands. 26

“Lana…” He lovingly whispered to her. 27

She broke down again, flinging her arms around his chest; she clung to him as if to insure no one could ever pry her away from her father again. Kirk stood there smiling-tears pouring down his face-running his fingers through her long, dark, curly hair-it was exactly like his...and just as unruly. That thought made him laugh.28

Everyone was thrilled to see Lana again but they decided to save their welcomes for tomorrow and let them be alone. 29