Stay With Me

31

Euronymous listened as Necro and Hellhammer talked, voicing their own concerns with everything. From things like production costs to actually making a real name for themselves, both members were worried about how they were supposed to make a success of themselves without being able to ride on the fame that had started them off. Obviously, both Necro and Hellhammer didn't want Dead killing himself, but the cost of having a professional actually doing what they were asking was out of their price range for sure and although Melanie had somewhat decent skills, there was no possible way she could tackle the project on her own.

Maybe if Melanie supplied the makeup and supplies and they supplied the blood, whoever did the makeup could lower the price? But even that would still cost more than they had.

Maybe if he actually killed himself I'd have a chance with her.

Euronymous shuddered at the thought, hating himself for even thinking it to begin with. Sure, he still wished that someone like her had come back for him, but..

Wait. If what she said about traveling back in time is true...

"Vera," he spoke aloud.

Hellhammer paused, looking over at his friend with concern. "What's wrong?"

His eyes widened as he opened and shut his mouth before answering. "I can save her!"

Necro furrowed his brow, confused at the sudden outburst. "What are you talking about?"

"Vanessa, she said that this whole thing was normal where she's from! If...if we get there...if we get to where she is, then I can do what Vanessa did for Dead! I can go back and save her!"

The room went silent as the three men stared at the guitarist. His mouth twitched, smiling one moment before falling into a frown again. His eyes began to water just as he blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. He could never cry in front of these three. His pride was too great to let him appear weak. But in this moment, a small fraction of him didn't care if he seemed weak. He didn't care about putting on a brave face anymore. All he had to do was be patient a little longer and he could have everything he had ever wanted. He could have his life exactly the way he wanted. To have his cake and eat it too. In a perfect world, Vera would be waiting for him backstage at one of their shows, her lips on his the moment he walked back to her.

If I went back for her, would that change Vanessa coming back for Dead? Would he still be alive?

He wanted to be able to say he didn't care, that maybe him changing his past wouldn't affect Dead or Vanessa, but how was he supposed to be sure? Would he be willing to risk Dead and Vanessa's relationship just to be able to see Vera one last time? Was it even worth the risk?

It's not like you wouldn't still start Mayhem. She'd still come for him, I would just have Vera in the picture.

It made sense, after all, starting a band had always been his dream.

Necrobutcher broke the silence. "You could go back for her the same way Vanessa did for Dead."

The realization in his tone reflected on Hellhammer's face. "Oh shit! See! Now we have to figure out this damn album cover!"

Euronymous looked over at Dead, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know we all have our days when we could fucking kill each other, but, I need your help with this. We need to stick together and get to where we need to go and we can't do that without you. So, are you ready to get this show on the road?"

The blond locked eyes with the guitarist, searching for any hint of sarcasm or any alterior motive the man might have, but the look in his eyes told him nothing but the truth. Euronymous was being truthful, and if either of them wanted a happier ending then they would need to help each other.

Maybe if he has Vera again he won't come after Vanessa anymore.

Dead fought the urge to cringe at the thought. The nightmares he had of the two of them still lingered in the back of his mind. Looking out the corner of his eye at Necro and Hellhammer, Dead nodded in agreement.

"Alright," he whispered. "Let's figure it out."

Euronymous gave Dead's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Good! It's getting late though and we've all had a long fucking day. We need to get some rest. Any chance your parents would let us stay here for a day or two until we can get back home?"

Dead shrugged. "I suppose I could go see what we can do. I'll talk to them when they get home and see what they say."

"Even if it's just for a day so we can get some rest we can at least catch a train tomorrow evening."

"We could always put them in the basement," suggested Anders with a smirk. "We have those old couches down there they could sleep on and mor wouldn't even know since she doesn't like going down there."

"What's wrong with the basement?" questioned Euronymous.

Anders laughed, shaking his head. "Nothing is really wrong with it. It's just cold and creepy at times so mor doesn't like going down there. Most anything that would have been put down there got put in the attic."

Dead shrugged. "I guess it could work, but I know they're hungry too. I don't want to just let them starve. I'll talk to them when they get home. In the meantime, Anders, why don't you make some lunch or something."

"Whatever."

Maybe when this is all over we can all finally be happy.

Dead wanted to believe that they would get their fame, that their plan would work and the album cover would be real enough to skyrocket them to real fame. But would it work? Would a fake suicide photo really pass for a real death? Just from what Vanessa had told him about his death, it was a complete mess. From the bits he remembered about what happened to Euronymous, his death wasn't much better.

But stab wounds are easier to create than a blown off head.

Couldn't they just do that? Fake Euronymous getting stabbed and use that? Why did it have to be his death that started the whole thing?

Why does it matter? If it's my death that pushed us to fame then I need to suck it up. We won't get to her if I don't.

"I'll start making some phone calls when we get back," started Dead. "I'll see how much it'll all be if we supply the makeup and blood and we can get this shit started. And once we get to where we need to be, I don't care how long it takes, we're doing a full country tour of the states, not leaving any major city left out, until we find her. We'll do it every fucking year if we have to, but that's all I ask out of this."

Euronymous thought it over. "Alright. A full fifty state tour once we hit the year she told us she was from and doing it every year until we find her? I guess that can be worked out."

"It's settled then. We leave first thing tomorrow."