Welcome To Hell

Strange Happenings (Edited)

They two bands were always at Dead's house to practice.  Each and every day when they weren't playing Kirsten was getting to know Euronymous better.  They hadn't been talking a lot lately and they both still had things to learn about each other.

Benedikte had been talking to Dead an awful lot and she even made time for Necrobutcher and Hellhammer.  Gry and Alva would mostly gravitate to Dead and Benediktes' conversations.  They were always the most interesting ones to listen to.

Benedikte had finally made her conclusions about Dead.  She sensed a depression in him that she could only describe as 'spooky'.  He felt that he was actually dead, not meant for this earth.  He hadn't opened up enough for her to actually know why he thought the way he did.

***

By the time the year 1990 had gotten there everything seemed to be going smooth.  The guys were looking for a small house that we could all share together instead of driving all the way to Dead's house.  They had enough demo tapes of new material for new records, and this was the longest Mayhem had gone without changing members.  A bit of bad luck did come their way.  They had lost a lot of money by not touring and constantly playing music that the electricity was cut.  It sucked because they were living from house to house and rehearsing anywhere that would let them.

After weeks and weeks of trying to find places to practice, a small chance came their way.  A small club that was known for promoting black metal within the community.  Most bands were smaller ones, but they heard about Mayhem and the Queens ov Hell and wanted them to play there.  It was the first big gig with Dead, but they wouldn't play any new songs because they weren't close to being done completely.  The day before the concert gave a small glimpse of what Dead did before a gig.

It was a cold February day and Dead was walking out of the friend's house they were staying at.  Benedikte saw him walk to the door from her spot on the couch.

"Hey Pelle where are you going," she asked eyeing him suspiciously?

She was mostly asking because he had a backpack with him.  That was not something he usually does.

"I was going into the forest for something that I like to do before a gig."  He answered mysteriously.

"Can I come?"  Benedikte asked happily.

He turned to her and gave her a weird look.  His eyebrow lifted and his face scrunched up a bit.  "Really?" he questioned.

"Yeah if it's okay with you, I mean we've become friends, well at least I think we are; I'm just a little curious."  His face went back to normal at the mention of friends.

"Yeah we're friends.  Come on."  He beckoned.

They grabbed their coats and headed outside to trek to the forest.

When they got there in Benedikte's beat up pickup truck, Dead pulled out a shovel that was in the bed of the truck.

"Dead why are you digging a hole for," She asked stepping out of the truck.

"Well remember when I told you that I feel like I'm dead.  Well I like to have the smell of death when I perform on stage.  I dig a hole, make a marker to remember where it is, and then my clothes will have the death smell when I retrieve them."  He explained while digging.

Benedikte pondered for a while and then said, "Is that why you have that decaying raven in that bag."

Benedikte remembered when he brought that bird home.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dead come into the house.  When Benedikte asked him, he simply replied, "a raven".  He then ran up to his room and she didn't see him until the next day.