Gone Isn't Forever

Chapter 2

Now your Nightmare comes to Life

We arrived back at the small trailer we'd rented for the summer. It was completely dark now, and the comforting feeling was still there. It had become normal to me already. Almost like if it were gone I'd be devastated without it, and I know I would be. No one said a word as we made our way back inside. Opening the door, I almost slipped on one of Maggy's drum sticks. Picking it up, I didn't recognize it to be Maggy's.

“Hey... Mags? Is this yours?” I asked her confused.

“Uhhh... Nope!” she answered after taking it and giving it a once over. Maggy rolled the drum stick in her hand and all of us stared down at it. I heard the door slam shut. The wind must have gotten it. But wait.. there was no wind tonight. I let it go and turned my attention back to the drums stick mystery. I noticed now that the drum stick looked pretty old, definitely not Maggy's. It also looked like the letters J.O.S had been carved into it along with the word foREVer. That, however, was not uncommon. We, being gigantic Avenged Sevenfold fans, had foREVer scribbled all over pretty much everything.

“Soooo... if its not yours then...” Harper began then trailed off.

“Well! Its mine now!” Maggy gripped the drum stick and threw it into her drumstick canister near her drum set. Yes. We also started a band. And yes, we do practice in our living room. Gotta use what's available to you, right? What else were we supposed to do? The dang trailer didn't have a frickin' garage!

“Oh! Score!” Maggy pumped a fist in the air to insinuate her victory. I felt chilled once more and a shiver crept down my spine out of no where. What the hell? Was this Jeepers Creepers or something? Apparently not, since I felt so calm. Ugh! I needed frozen grapes, my comfort food. I strode over to the fridge and opened the freezer on the left side. We had one of those cool refrigerators that was split down the middle with an ice machine and everything. Only the ice dispenser was broken and everything. I shifted through frozen crud in the freezer only to find the vine of the grapes... with all but the grapes attached to it.

“Who the hell ate all the damn grapes!?” I called out to the rest of my band mates as they hooked up guitar hero.

“Are they in the bucket?” Maggy called back surprisingly not being a smart ass. However, Jo, Harper, and Kirsten were not so merciful.

“Oh shit, what's in the bucket. What's in the bucket of, bucket of shit. Bucket of grapes, grapes in the mouth. Grapes in mouth make you happy down south. Make ya get a big boner, what'cha gonna do?!” They all sang out in unison almost simultaneously. Then, no shocker, they burst out in fits of laughter. Jo's laugh stood out the most, being the most high pitched, just like Zacky V. of Avenged Sevenfold.

We would always call her our own Zacky Vengeance, but in reality, Harper was the one who played rhythm guitar for our band. Jo stuck with what she had always grown to know as her natural abilities. Singing, instead of learning an instrument because Jo often didn't have the patience to learn an instrument. Her heart was in singing, and I didn't think she could ever let that go.
While we're randomly discussing this matter of who plays what in the band, obviously Maggy plays the drums. Kirsten plays bass and I play lead guitar. Yes, we are a metal band full of chicks! I know, its crazy and extremely rare, but here we were.

“I checked but they're all gone. Who left the empty vine in the grape bucket?” I questioned them as I heard the Beast and the Harlot intro start up from the living room. It was funny, because even though I'm the lead guitarist, I initially sucked big donkey balls at guitar hero! Yet Kirsten and Maggy are wizzes at it. Hmph! Go figure.

“Dude, come on guys, you know not to leave empty grape vines in the allah grape grail!” Kirsten stated as a few snickers were voiced.

“Wasn't me.” Harper piped in.

“Wasn't me.” Jo stated as she concentrated on the corresponding buttons and colors displayed on the big screen.

“Well I didn't do it.” Maggy made clear.

“Hey don't look at me.” Kirsten threw her hands up to demonstrate surrender.

“Whatever, doesn't really matter.” I said as I pulled out a quart of sherbert instead. I kicked the freezer shut with my foot, thanking God for karate skills, and shoved a spoon between my teeth form the silverware drawer. The comforting feeling was still following me. It glued itself to me as I plopped down on the red and black poca dotted sofa, joining my friends and observing Jo's gaming skills, comparing the battle with Harper on base mode. I laughed out loud when I realized that Jo was on beginner.

“Shut up Melinda! I'll call Brian Haner on you!” Jo complained, referring to either Synyster Gates of A7x or Papa Gates, his father Brian Haner Senior. I just grinned and rolled my eyes. Maggy's loud cackle make me jump.

“AHHHHHH HAHA HA HA HAAAA!!! Look! The drummer! Look at him! He looks like the frickin' Rev!”

“Oh...my god!” I heard various accusations of this phrase rise up among the five of us, along with a few “holy sh-'s.” But myself, I felt strange staring at this animated drummer of Jimmy. It was one of those horrid scenarios where you want to look away but you can't peal your eyes away from whatever it is you really don't want to see. It was like the animated Jimmy's eyes were staring at me. Maybe I was just being paranoid. I'd been shaken ever since we'd left the cemetery. Perhaps I just needed to sleep it off, whatever 'it' was.

“Mmmm...Maybe I'll go to bed.” I said slowly but surely as I put the lid back on the sherbert and stood up. “I don't exactly enjoy having my soul pierced by a cartoon dude.” I added. My friends just sated at me.

“Whaaa?” Jo and Harper exclaimed.

“Okaaay... Are you sure you're all right there Mell?” Maggy asked me.

“Yeah, you've been acting kind of... off tonight.” Kirsten said bluntly.

“Guys, I'm fine. I'm just tired. See you guys in the morning. Don't stay up all night either (cough) 'Jo', because we've got a day full of musicianship tomorrow.” I told them. They all just either nodded or said “Kay.” in a mono toned voice, their attention clearly not focused on me anymore. I rolled my eyes. My band mates! And these are the people I hang out with? I made my way to my room and closed the door, dropping the sherbert off in the kitchen on the way.

I remade my bed and jumped into it. The covers felt pinkly smooth on my freshly shaven legs. I rolled over after switching my blue lava lamp off, closed my hazel green tint eyes, and tried to fall asleep, the soothing sensation snuggled up to me all the while. A few minutes passed and I was almost dead asleep until the sound of my guitar woke me out of my pre-slumber. How the hell?! What in the world? How the frick is my guitar playing frickin Fiction... without a guitarist playing the frickin notes?!!

I bolted up and switched my lava lamp on to peer into the dark side of the room. Perhaps one of my band mates knew I was shaken and decided to be a little bitch and freak the frickin' freaky freak out of me. Little shitheads! But when I gazed across the contours of my half empty room in the direction of my baby, it was still sitting there, completely undisturbed. Okaaay...Thinking I had officially hit the shitfaced wall, though I had consumed no alcohol, I clicked my lamp off and rolled back over. A few minutes later and the soothing feeling, whom I had decided would be called 'Jimmy' (because I named EVERYTHING Jimmy) had caressed me into a restful slumber.

The Rev, not only haunting my life, was also in my dream. But so was the rest of Avenged Sevenfold. It had always been our dream to meet Avenged Sevenfold but apparently the dream Gods took it a bit too literal.

I found myself being led up to a large beach house by an invisible force. I couldn't see what or who it was. I could only feel its grasp gently encasing my hand. It led me up a long walkway to the front, then it changed directions and led me to the back door.

Placing my hand on the door knob of the french double doors, the door swung open only to reveal four men. Two of them were wearing frickin black too-toos, the other two in pink ones. It sort of amused me when I realized that these four men just so happened to be M. Shadows, Synyster Gates, Zacky Vengeance, and Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold. I looked around, my eyes searching for the missing member. My gaze flashed back to the other four when they all simultaneously lifted their arms over their heads, imitating the pose of a ballerina as they lifted and pointed their right foot and sang “Blahhh!”

My eyes got wide and my thought refrained back to “what the fuck?!” This was just way too messed up for me. I spun around and was about to bolt out of there until I ran into a brick wall...or so I thought. Gazing up at the hard object I had run into, I was startled once I recognized the man staring down at me with piercing blue eyes so familiar. His bight orange kimono stuck out and the hat of grapes he wore upon his head was predominate. I watched as my heart caught in my throat. It couldn't be. Jimmy was... the Rev was... dare I say it, dead, wasn't he?
But there he was. Right in front of me.

He reached up and plucked a grape off the grape vine form his hat and bit off half of the grape then shoved it into my hand. He leaned down, his lips beside my quivering ear and whispered to me.

“Welcome to the family.” was the last thing I heard before I bolted up in my bed and gasped for air.

“Nightmare!!” I yelled at he top of my lungs, hoping to catch the attention of one of my band mates who might happen to be awake still. I heard a faint singing voice call out from the living room.

“And your nightmare comes to life!” I could tell it came from Jo. Smartass. But the charade was wasn't over with yet. Maggy soon popped her head into my room and of course had to add,

“Dragged you down below!” She sang.

“Down to the devil's show.” Harper poked her head in as well.

“To be his guest foREVer!” They both joined in and harmonized perfectly together.

“Peace of mind is less than never!!” Kirsten had to add in her part, of course. Oy vay!

“Guys! I'm not kidding! This isn't a spontaneous outburst of the Nightmare album this time. I really did have an actual nightmare!” I explained and griped at them. Their expressions fell from glee to confusion. They twisted their heads and tilted them to the side, just like my dog Bugsy used to do. R.I.P boy!

“Hate to twist your mind,”

“But God ain't on your side!”

“An old acquaintance severed!” They ignored what I said and began exchanging lyrics between one another. I sighed and gave up. Rolling out of my bed, I pushed past Maggy and Harper who were still just outside my door. I needed more comfort food.

I heard the sound of my bare feet pad across the cool tiled floor. I made my way to the kitchen and pulled open the freezer door, forgetting that my precious grapes were gone form my world for the time being. I peered into the grape bucket and felt like a retard staring down at the empty grape vine.

But wait...what was that at the bottom? I peered into the bucket, my eyes becoming small sli8ts as I squinted, striving to determine what it was. It looked like a funning severed grape! I reached into the bucket and picked the single lonely grape out. I was about to eat it until I examined it and found something that overwhelmingly shocked and disturbed my soul.

Resting there in my left palm, plump and purple, was a plentiful grape...with half of it bitten off by faint human teeth. My nightmare hit me just as hard as it had when I was out cold.