"Please don't leave me alone," he begged.
The pale arm reached out for her once again and it truly felt as though she would finally be able to feel his touch this time. To rescue him before it was too late. The blond mess of hair framed his face as tears cascaded down the sides of his face, his icy blue eyes looking into her own. As hard as she tried, she couldn't move from the spot she was standing, as if a piece of glass separated them.
"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 come back for you. Don't give up on me."
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 leave you," she cried. "I promise."
Her eyes snapped open as she shot up in the bed, taking in the familiar surroundings of her bedroom. The nightmare was getting worse. Looking down at her phone, it was still too early to go anywhere, but early enough to take a shower and clear her mind. If it wasn't the nightmares keeping her from sleeping, work was. Vanessa scolded herself over and over for ever mentioning what she had been working on, now her bosses wanted full reports as well as tests done. She debated on just telling them that she was going to scrap the project altogether just so so she could focus on her own goals; but if she were to do that they would just take it for themselves.
It was no coincidence to her that the nightmares were getting worse. They hadn't even started until she started her work. If her theory proved to be correct, the man in her dreams knew exactly what she was attempting to do and knew exactly who she was. The only problem now was getting the damn thing to work properly without starting another house fire.
Deciding to worry about it later, Vanessa stepped into the shower and turned the heat as high as it would go. The familiar sting of the water against her skin caused her to shrink back slightly before stepping back into the water; the pain almost pleasurable to her.
"Help..."
Vanessa quickly turned around half expecting to see someone standing behind her. Her heart felt as though it were lodged in her throat when she saw that she was the only one in the room. The voice had sounded so close, yet at the same time so far away.
This was new.
Shaking it off, Vanessa quickly turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack beside her.
"Maybe I'm going insane," she mumbled to herself, wiping the water from her face.
The familiar feeling of dread and excitement flooded her all at once as she slid down the wall onto the bathroom floor. None of this had gone the way she had hoped it would. She should have had it figured out by now...should have saved him by now. Yet here she was. Her heart felt heavy as she thought of the blond man begging her to help him; of what she would do once that thin veil of glass was finally lifted from in front of them. She could hear his voice as clear as if he were beside her. A side effect from her project no doubt.
Her brow furrowed, determination replacing the pitiful expression she knew she had been wearing. If they wanted results so badly they would have to test it, but not before she tested it herself. As far as her bosses knew, the machine was due to be completed for another two months at the earliest without any error. Much to her satisfaction, she had worked out the bugs weeks ago. Pushing herself up off the floor, her mind made up, she pulled on the clothes she would be needing to make it all work properly.
Getting the tight leather pants on seemed to be her biggest challenge since she was still wet from the shower, along with the matching cut-off top. Her goal was to blend in as best she could with the people, to make sure she didn't make a bigger spectacle of herself than was already about to happen. There was no guarantee where she would end up when she walked through the door, or if she would even be close to where she wanted to be.
Tying up the laces on her combat boots, Vanessa quickly put on her makeup before tossing the items in the small backpack she kept on the floor beside the bathroom sink. This wasn't something she hadn't thought of plenty of times before, but today needed to be the day she left while she had the chance. If she proved successful in her own mission, she would willingly hand over the device to her bosses once she returned. If all went as it was intended, no one would even know she was gone. Just to be on the safe side, Vanessa went to her desk and wrote down a small note to whoever would find it if things happen to go wrong. Slinging the bag onto her shoulder she made her way to the basement, her determination growing stronger with every step she took.
Things seemed to move slowly as she approached the basement door, the anticipation growing deep inside her as she turned the handle. Her breathing became heavy, shaky, as she made her way down the stairs, the large black door coming into view. Her hand instantly reached for the watch on her left wrist, making sure it was securely in place. With the flip of a switch the lights came on revealing the computer beside the door.
"Here goes nothing," she murmured as she turned the computer on.
The sounds of the machine coming to life were almost deafening. It never ceased to amaze her that the neighbours never once called the police for a noise complaint. Taking a minute to go over the machine one last time before testing it, Vanessa took one final deep breath as she typed in the date of her destination and the location she hoped she would end up at. Worse case scenario was being placed a few miles from her destination leaving her to find it herself. The door opened, the wall behind it replaced with a dark void. Taking one last look around her, Vanessa said her silent goodbyes to her home, hoping that the years of work she put into this would pay off. If by some chance she didn't return but ended up succeeding in her mission, she could at least be thankful for that.
"I promise," she whispered as she stepped up to the door. "I won't leave you this time."
~
He stared at the ceiling with wide eyes as he tried to comprehend the dreams he had been having lately of his own death. Normally thoughts of death were what kept him as sane as he could possibly be, but for some reason, these dreams made the subject unsettling for the vocalist. The woman in his dreams didn't help the matter either. She was in every dream he had been having these past months and it was beginning to drive him insane no knowing who she was or why he was seeing her. Yet, he found her presence almost comforting. Although he could hardly hear her voice when he saw her, he could never forget the way her emerald eyes pierced his blue ones with grave concern and love.
Yes, love.
Real or not, he could feel the love she had for him even without knowing his name. Her pale hand always reaching for him when the nightmare began to get worse, always so close yet so far from his reach. It always ended the same. He would beg her to stay, to save him, and she would promise every time that she would save him. The nightmares had him questioning his remaining sanity. His friends tried to tell him that it was only a dream but he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. Things were changing in his world, and it was a change Dead wasn't sure he could handle.
"Hey!" called Euronymous from outside the door. "We have practice in an hour. You still alive in there, Pelle?"
Dead managed to yell back. "Be down in a minute."
Euronymous said nothing after that. He didn't need to. Dead enjoyed his privacy almost as much as Euronymous enjoyed a nice, cold Cola. Their next show was in two days and they had pretty much covered everything that needed to be gone over; but Euronymous wasn't one to let mistakes happen. His hand slid off his chest to the wooden floor beneath him, using it to push himself up off the mattress. He took a look around the room before his eyes landed on one of his faded pentagram shirts. Once practice was over he would venture out into town for some air and some more snus.
Pulling the shirton, he groaned as he left the comfort of his room. "I'll be seeing you tonight."
He knew she couldn't hear him. There was no possible way of it; yet somehow it made the vocalist feel closer to the mysterious red haired woman.
"Bout time you woke up," joked Hellhammer as Dead entered the living room.
Dead forced a smile over at the drummer. "Couldn't really sleep well last night."
Hellhammer punched his shoulder. "You see your dream girlfriend again?"
Dead nodded. "I see her every night. The dreams are always the same."
Euronymous rolled his eyes. "Maybe it's time for you to get an actual girlfriend, Pelle. Have you ever thought that maybe that's what the dream is telling you?"
Dead shook his head, his expression serious. "I know that's not what they mean. I know she's real, Euronymous, I just have to find her."
As much as Euronymous enjoyed teasing the Swede, he couldn't help but feel slightly worried at the same time.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," continued Dead. "I know what I feel and I know what you all think, so maybe we shouldn't talk about it anymore."
Hellhammer nodded in agreement. "Whatever you say, Pelle. If you think she's real then who are we to say otherwise?"
"Realistic," snickered Euronymous.
"So where are we doing the show?" Dead questioned desperate to change the subject.
"Someplace downtown I think," answered Necrobutcher. "I think the guy said it was someplace called The Veil."
Dead thought for a moment, trying to recall if he had ever heard of the place before. He could have sworn he had heard of it before yet nothing came to mind.
"I won't leave you this time..."
The cup in his hand crashed to the floor, shattering across the floor. His heart pounded against his chest as he tried to steady his breathing; trying to rationalize why he was hearing her voice while he was awake. He could hear Euronymous yelling about the broken glass, yet it sounded as though Dead were hearing him underwater. Hellhammer and Necrobutcher joined in with Euronymous in trying to get his attention, but got no response.
"Dead!" hollard Hellhammer as he shook the vocalist. "Dead, are you okay?"
Shaking his head violently Dead managed to nod at the drummer. "Yeah, I'm alright."
Euronymous wasn't convinced. "What the hell was that? You went completely white, more so than usual, and just completely left the planet."
"I...I don't know what happened. I thought..."
"You thought what, Pelle?" questioned Necro.
"I need to get some air. I'll be back in a little while. Do we need anything from town?"
Shaking their heads, Dead walked out the door without another word. His mind racing as he tried to replay her voice in his head again. He was sure that he wasn't dreaming. Pinching himself on his neck, he groaned in frustration at the small sting that came from it. He certainly wasn't dreaming; and if he was it was the most realistic dream he had ever experienced.
"Where are you?" he asked to no one in particular.
They were wrong. Euronymous would never understand what he felt for her even if he couldn't see her outside his dreams. Something told him that she was in fact real, that she knew who he was, and that she cared about him. He knew why Euronymous gave him such a hard time over it. It wasn't normal for someone to be so obsessed with a person in a dream, but when did he ever claim to be even remotely normal? He buried his stage clothes for crying out loud. He didn't want to be normal like the rest of them if it meant he had to give her up.
Dead shuddered as a cool breeze swept across his face, kicking himself for not grabbing his jacket when he left. The scent of fall lingered in the air, the leaves around him already beginning to change their colors. Picking up a fallen leaf he twirled it around in his fingers, examining the vibrant red and orange colors that decorated it. Closing his fingers, he sighed as he heard the crunch of the leaf. The small bits of it falling out of his hand as he released them back into the wind. He could see the town come into view, the people walking in and out of shops while cars passed by them.
For one reason or another, it often hurt his head when he thought of what the people he saw were doing. To think that their lives were probably as complicated as his own, or less, or that each one had their own life beyond what he saw was enough to make his head spin with wonder. At times he had often thought of the world as a movie, people only coming and going when he was around. A silly thought, but one that kept his mind wandering. His thoughts drifted back to his dream woman. He tried to imagine what she would be like if she were there with him. Would she think he was crazy too? Maybe he was.
"Afternoon," greeted one of the men at the counter as he entered the corner store.
Dead nodded in their direction, not wanting to talk to anyone else today, and headed to the back of the store to grab some snacks. Any other day he wouldn't really care about eating or not, it was no secret that he would rather go without eating, but the walk down had made him hungry. Grabbing a few packs of Nerds candy and a bag of Doritos he made his way back up to the register, keeping his eyes glued to the floor to avoid conversation with anyone.
"Have a nice day, son," the man smiled at him.
Dead forced a smile back, waving goodbye as he walked out of the store.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath. "Completely forgot my snus. Whatever."
Shaking it off, Dead began his walk back to the house.
"Pelle!"
He stopped in his tracks, turning to face whoever had called him. His eyes grew wide, the bag he was holding slipping through his fingers onto the ground. Try as he might, Dead couldn't speak. His throat had become as dry as the desert, his heart pounding so hard against his chest he thought it would explode. There she was. Standing in front of him dressed in tight black leather with dark black makeup around her eyes. Her long mahogany hair was tied up into a high ponytail with just a few loose strands beside her pale face.
Finally, he found his voice. "Are you real?"
Reaching out, she took his hand as she answered him, a small smile on her red lips.
"Yes."