Metalocalypse: Impending Doom

Chapter Six: Tobias

Sunlight burned so harshly that it seemed to char Tobias's very bones. Yet he was cold, as wave after wave of nausea filled his throat, the screams of the damned and the undead swarming through his ears. He felt a chill down his spine before a skeletal hand with flesh falling off of it scraped against his bare feet. He took a step away to try and avoid it, but it hurt his body to move.

The only thing he could properly use was his hands, which were on his guitar. He was playing riffs he never remembered in any of the songs he'd ever played before, and in the distance, he could hear other instruments joining him.

Tobias squinted up into the sun, watching it flare brilliantly, as he played. It looked like it was getting closer, or maybe it was just swelling up and getting bigger, or even maybe it was a trick of the light. He didn't have time to think about it before the world fell into sudden black. He could no longer hear the undead's cries or see their twisted features, but he could still feel them, trying to climb up his body. Aside from touch, it felt like all of his senses had dulled or were being suppressed, or like he was being submerged in water.

Then there was light again... but a different kind of light. The moon stared at Tobias, bright and blood-red. He could see seven shadows looming far in the distance, and the sounds of a song so painfully out of tune, a song he had never heard of before that made Tobias drop to his knees with anguish, even though he was part of the cause for the song, since he never stopped playing. It just sounded so haunting and evil by nature.

The moon seemed to drop lower and lower to the Earth below until it felt like Tobias was so close to touching it, then seemed to dissolve into black matter; reappearing as a brand new silhouette in front of a growing light, that raised goosebumps for him. The last thing he remembered was hearing a man's laugh echo in his ears while the undead began to swarm once more...

Tobias's eyes slowly focused on the world around him, his 'dream' already long forgotten though it had happened merely seconds ago.

Everyone was talking and being loud. It made Tobias's budding migraine worse as he sat up slowly, trying to focus on his surroundings. He heard himself ask what had happened, his mind coming up blank. He couldn't even remember what he was doing before he had passed out, or why he was outside of his room, since he wasn't that much of a social person. The sunlight coming from the window in front of him caught his eye while blinding him temporarily, but his mind became distracted again when everyone began to bombard him with questions or complained about one thing or another.

He found himself shuffling back to his room, trying hard to insist to the others that he was fine and that there was no need to follow him or worry about him. He wasn't very comfortable with people fretting over him, because frankly he was pretty good at taking care of himself and in fact was so responsible, Abigail usually had him in charge despite Nathalia being the leader, because he had such an instinct of making sure everyone else was good, too. To be fretted over made him somewhat feel small, though he did in general appreciate the thought.

Eventually Tobias found himself on his bed and after a moment of staring into nothingness, his eyes finally focused and the fog in his head lifted. He looked up to see Nathalia, Ivy, and Raven staring back at him with a raised eyebrow; the medic and Klokateer must have left.

"You good?" Ivy asked again.

Tobias thought for a moment, feeling his headache disappear. "Yeah," he said. "I'm good."

Nathalia nodded. "Good." Of course, it was like her to take over on a conversation that she hadn't even started. "Ivy, Raven, can I talk to him privately for a sec?"

The two looked at each other, and Tobias noticed Ivy roll her eyes. They weren't often considered in group meetings by Nathalia, because Tobias knew that Nathalia had a thing for being attached and clingy to very few people and everyone else would always be at arm's length, never any closer. Though Tobias tried his best to include them himself, or Salem would try as well, however it seemed Ivy and Raven were usually past the point of caring and would normally decline these days. The two friends watched Ivy and Raven walk out quietly before Nathalia turned to Tobias with wild excitement in her eyes.