Wake Me Up Forgotten Faces

"Iiiittts Big Bear day!" Zach exclaimed waking Emily from a very deep, comfortable sleep.

She groaned as se slowly raised her head from the pillow; 8:30am. "Are you kidding me?!" She grumbled, gathering up some clothes and heading to the shower.

As the water cascaded over her skin she checked out all her past injuries - as she did everytime she was in the shower.

It was the zig zag lines running all down the right hand side of her stomach that always got her. Not only did it lower her self confidence everytime she saw them but sent a chill of fear up her spine - she remembered nothing about how those scars had come about and Alan had always refused to tell her when she dared to ask.

She hopped out of the shower and quickly dried and got dressed. Instead of giving her hair a proper dry - as her dryer and straighteners were already packed - she tied it up into a high ponytail.

She giggled once she entered the kitchen - after dumping her suitcase by the front door - the excited look on Zach's face was priceless.

"If only your fans could see you now," She yawned, just earning a shrug off the green eyed guitarist.

Gena raised her head from the breakfast bar, looking incredibly tired "Brian's riding with us," She informed her younger cousin before returning her head back to the counter.

"Zach your girlfriend's dead!" His smooth voice caught her attention as he called to his friend (who was currently on his way to load the car). Without lifting her head Gena raised her middle finger in his direction.

"Hey you," Brian smiled waiting - as usual - for Emily to make the first move.

"Hi," She grinned back taking a step towards him, earning an arm around her shoulders and a kiss on her temple.

"Fuck you Gates," Gena mumbled, her voice slightly muffled due to her face being buried in her arm.

"What have I done now!" Brian exclaimed which a chuckle.

"Existed."

He laughed again, allowing his arm to slip from Emily's shoulders to around her waist "So your cousin's not a morning person then no?"

*

"Are we nearly there yet?" Emily smirked from where she was sat in the backseat next to Brian.

"Fuck you!" Zach laughed, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice, she had been asking that the whole journey.

"I'm hungry," Emily sighed "I know!"

"No McDonalds!" Gena rolled her eyes - sounding like a parent rather than an older cousin.

"Why not?" Emily gasped, a hint of mischief in her eyes "You want one don't you Brian?"

"I could do with something to eat," He shrugged "And they do make a mean cheeseburger."

Emily grinned in victory as Zach pulled into the next McDonalds restaurant they came to.

"In and out okay?" Gena said as they got out of the car "Or we'll never get to the cabin."

"Hey! It's Zacky Vengeance!"

"And Synyster Gates!"

Emily smiled at her cousin innocently as she dodged the crowd of teenagers after the duo to order to order the meals she knew they all liked.

Maybe McDonalds had been a bad idea...

*

"Where have you guys be-nevermind!" Matt changed mid sentence when he saw the thunderous look on Gena's face "Let me, um, get them bags for you Gee," He smiled sheepishly as he dodged her tiny frame to get to the car.

"So, we're slightly late then?" Emily asked the lead singer as she watched her cousin storm into the huge cabin.

Matt snorted with laughter as he lifted Gena and Emily's cases out of Zach's car. "Well we got here two and a half hours ago," He smirked as the two guitarists grabbed their own bags "Where were you guys anyway?"

Brian shrugged "We got hungry and called for a McDonalds."

"It took you two and a half hours to get from the McDonalds which is half an hour away?" Matt asked in disbelief, his eyebrows raised.

"Well, there were a few fans there," Zach explained as the four made their way to the cabin.

"And word got out," Brian added, shrugging. Emily had to bite down on her bottom lip to contain her giggles.

Matt rolled his eyes, the look on his face told Emily that this type of thing happened to Zach and Brian a lot "Here," He said once they were stood at the bottom of the stairs. He handed Zach Gena's suitcase and Brian Emily's. "You're in your usual rooms and Emz you're next to Brian - he'll show you where."

Emily grinned at Matt as he left before turning to Zach and Brian "So this happens to you two a lot then?"

"Yeah," Zach sighed as they made their way up the stairs "We tend to go to the wrong places at the wrong times."

"And it's usually Matt, Gena or Val who have to bail us out," Brian added, both looking hurt as Emily laughed.

"And you made Gena two and a half hours late!" She giggled "She hates being late!"

"Don't I know it," Zach grumbled, causing Emily to laugh harder.

"You're gunna be so unpopular tonight!"

*

She woke up and stretched with a yawn, still giggling after the performance the night before - especially the stories that had been told about Zach and Brian being mobbed by fans.

She showered and dressed quickly, eager to see what her crazy new friends had in store for the day ahead. There had to be a reason they were so excited for this trip to Big Bear when they weren't even recording yet...

Humming to herself happily she swung the bathroom door open, pyjamas under her arm and hair still dripping wet.

"Hello Sunshine."

The voice made her jump - though it wasn't evident to the human eye.

Alan never liked it when showed she was scared.

"W-w-what are y-you doing here?" She asked the pasty skinned, sandy haired, angry looking man stood in front of her.

He slapped her, knocking her off her feet and to the floor "I'm here to take you home!" He spat aiming a kick at her side.

"Hey! What's going on?"

"NO!" She exclaimed in urgency, attempting to scrabble to her feet as Brian jogged towards them.

Alan kicked her once more, sending her back to the floor "Who's this eh babe?" He asked, his eyes trained on the guitarist.

"Leave...him..." Emily wheezed, unable to catch her breath due to Alan's kick, her fear for Brian and, less importantly, herself.

"Leave her alone!" Brian shouted as Alan bent down to drag Emily with him.

An evil smirk crossed his face "I though there'd be someone here trying to protect the little bitch," he mumbled reaching into his jacket pocket "So I brought along a friend."

Emily screamed as soon as she saw the gun in Alan's hand, hoping with all her heart it was her he'd be pointing it at.

It wasn't.

"You can't take her," Brian said calmly, almost like he didn't see the metal killing device in Alan's hand.

"Try and stop me."

Everything went into fast motion from there as Brian dived forward and Alan pulled the trigger.

Blood pooled down the corridor as Brian crumpled to the floor next to Emily, his hand clutching at his chest.

"Brian," She breathed using all of the energy she had left to crawl over to him and cup his face into her hands.

He smiled faintly. "Emily," He whispered before his last breath passed through his lips and his eyes closed.

"Touching," Alan tutted "shame really, he wasn't bad on guitar."

Emily let out a sob as she leant her forehead on Brian's.

"Get away from him!" Alan shouted aiming a shot at her - the bullet smashing into her knee-cap.

She screamed...