Stay With Me

36

"I can't make it without you," his voice cracking as he continued to talk through the blood.

Her voice came as barely a whisper as she called out to him. "I promise I'll be with you soon."

His hand fell to his side as he fell to the floor, the blood going in every direction like someone spilling a glass of water. Her heart broke, a scream leaving her lips that would have scared even the bravest of souls. He was dying and there was nothing she could do to help him.

"I won't give up on you," she cried. "I promise. Please don't give up on me. I love you, Pelle."

"Dont..."

Unable to speak, choking on his own words, Dead laid helplessly on the bed as he waited for the darkness to consume him. The taunts of the voices still raged within his mind, telling him he was better off dead; that his death was meant to happen.

A happy ending? That was never something I was meant to have. Never was in the cards for me. No one could have saved me from myself...

There was no light, no magical creature to carry his torn soul into Heaven or down to the pits of Hell. Nothing but the wind rustling through the trees and the faint sound of something tapping on the window. His breathing slowed, eyes slowly closing. His whole body felt heavy with exhaustion.

Goodnight, Vanessa.

Picturing her face beside him once more, Dead allowed the darkness to finally consume him. He had nearly died once before and had since longed to be free of this world, to finally feel that same sense of peace he had all those years ago.

Euronymous growled in frustration as he stood outside the house. He had been calling for Dead to open the door for almost ten minutes without even so much of an answer from the vocalist. The cold air stung his face as he moved toward the side of the house. Thankfully they kept a ladder around just in case they needed to do some small repair.

"I'm gonna kill him," Euronymous grumbled as he set the ladder against Dead's window.

His eyes narrowed as he climbed up the ladder, pushing his feet down harder than necessary with each move. He hoped for Dead's sake that the vocalist had just gone out for another walk and just wasn't home to open the door for him.

I really need to get another set of fucking keys.

The mental note had been on his list of things to do since they had moved into the house but it was never anything more than that. Euronymous could only blame himself for not bothering to get another set made, but that wasn't something the guitarist was willing to admit to.

"Dead!" he hollered, lifting the window open. "What the..."

His mouth hung open at the sight in front of him.

"Shit."

Running his fingers through his hair Euronymous began to pace the room, his breathing growing steadily more frantic as he examined the still body in front of him. Sure, he had never been completely nice to Dead in the past, but that didn't mean he wanted him...

"Dead?" he whispered.

Wait... He's still breathing!

It wasn't normal, but enough to let Euronymous know he was still clinging to life.

"Hang on, Pelle. I'm gonna call for help."

This is what Vanessa was talking about... Pelle's death...

"The picture."

Is it really worth it? I mean, as long as I call for help first then take it...

The thought, however wrong, never once left his mind. Even as he called the ambulance to come and get Dead he found himself grabbing his camera before going back up to the room where he friend lay in his own blood. The sight made him want to throw up on the spot, knowing everything Vanessa had told them only making it worse.

Are our deaths inevitable? Is this what I'm supposed to do right now?

Raising the camera, Euronymous snapped several pictures from where he stood before going over to adjust Dead's position. He could hear Dead let out a small whimper as his arm was moved but closed his eyes once more to let Euronymous take several more pictures.

"I'm sorry, Pelle," he cried out. "I'm sorry for taking these, but if what she said is true then..."

Then what?

Standing in the middle of the room, Euronymous could hear the sirens in the distance, coming closer with each passing second.

"You're gonna be alright," he whispered, not sure if he was trying to convince Dead or himself.

Setting the camera down on the desk beside him, Euronymous made his way outside to meet the ambulance. There was going to be a lot of explaining to do with Necro and Hellhammer. About why he had taken any pictures of their friend in such a state, why he hadn't called them after calling the ambulance, why he did anything the way he did today. Even if they did get angry with him, he knew Dead would have his back. Without the pictures they wouldn't have gotten to where they were. Dead would see it as his way back to Vanessa, but Euronymous was sure Necro and Hellhammer would feel completely different.

The ambulance pulled in just in front of the door, only asking which room Dead was in before taking a stretcher up with them.

"Can you tell me what happened?" questioned one of the paramedics.

Euronymous struggled to find his words, the reality finally setting in. "I...I found him...I thought...thought he was dead and then I heard him breathe."

"Was there any indication that your friend was feeling suicidal?"

Euronymous wasn't sure how to answer that. "He's a dark person. We didn't think he'd actually...He's gonna make it, right?"

The man sighed, his partners walking past them with Dead's motionless body.

"We're gonna do everything we can."

For the first time since Vera's death, Euronymous was terrified. As much as he wanted people to believe he was some kind of hardcore person who could have cared less, Dead was still one of his closest friends; he wasn't ready to lose anyone else before their time.

He's a fighter, he'll make it.

Watching the ambulance fade into the distance, Euronymous let a tear fall. "What if he's tired of fighting?"

"Pelle!"

Waking up in a cold sweat, Vanessa looked around the room. Everything was the same since she had gone to bed, yet the nightmare she had left her feeling out of place. The nightmare wasn't strange to her, it was almost exactly like the one she used to have before meeting Dead. Why was she all of a sudden having it again?

Something's wrong.

Sitting on the side of the bed, she tried to focus her thoughts on what the dream could have meant. Was it just another nightmare brought on by the stress of everything? Grabbing her phone she did another search of the band just to be sure. Thankfully nothing had changed and Dead was still very much alive. Still, her stomach twisted and turned with worry. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the tour dates once again. It was only a few days before they came, every other show was almost a nine or twelve hour drive at the most.

Pelle...

"Damn it," she snarled.

Pulling herself fully out of bed Vanessa began to get dressed, her heart racing as she pulled her clothes on. Maybe the dream meant nothing, maybe it was just stress, but there wasn't anything that was going to stop her this time. She couldn't wait anymore. The drive would be hell, and would leave her completely exhausted by the time she finally found him, but it would be worth it all just to be able to collapse in his arms again.

I'll be there soon, Pelle. I promise.