Vanilla Lace

Tom was the first one to come rushing into the room as soon as he got the call about the good news. "Bill!" he called, and he rushed to his brother's side. Bill was still asleep, but the doctor assured the family that Bill wasn't going anywhere soon because, miraculously, his heart had found the strength to go again. "Oh, God. Bill, can you hear me? Billa? You're going to be fine." He held his brother's hand in his against his lips.

Tom was extremely relieved. He was sure he was going to lose Bill forever, but now he couldn't stop thanking God about this. Tears were flowing freely from his eyes. It was Tom's most pathetic stage yet, and he didn't care about it. Bill was worth every tear he would ever produce.

"Tom," Simone said, and Tom moved slightly aside for his mother to embrace the sleeping Bill. "Oh, my little boy." She couldn't help but burst into tears again. It was a joyful moment as the Kaulitz-Trümpers celebrated Bill's survival. Gordon came in soon after, and so did Jorg. The family was entirely thankful. It really was a miracle.

Bill could feel voices around him and he moved slightly. Then, he heard more voices. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't picture the person. His eyes couldn't open. And then he felt fatigue take over once again and he just drifted into a dreamlike state. The boy started seeing visions.

A beautiful old church.
A young boy at a piano smiling back at me.
A black candle was set atop it as music started to play.

Bill realized he was seeing things from someone else's point of view. There was a slight frown on his head and the visions started to rush through his visual mind, and many different scenes lasted as long as half a second as they flashed through his brain. He couldn't take it anymore and he shot up awake, gasping.

"Bill!" came a voice from nowhere. Bill turned to see a boy in a cap with long dreadlocks and baggy attire. He studied the other person for a while. "Bill! Oh my God." And Tom threw his brother a hug, eyes reddening and welling up. It had been four hours since he got here. "You're awake! You're finally awake... I thought I'd never see you again, Bill!"

Bill frowned in confusion. His head throbbed as the visions started to slow down, and he was sorry he didn't recognize this person though he looked familiar. Despite the question running through his head, he didn't resist the embrace. Human contact was much needed since he felt pretty lifeless for a while. "Who... who are you?" he mumbled as he looked around.

Tom pulled back. He couldn't believe that Bill would ask such a question. "It's me, Billa. Tom. I'm... I'm your brother, Bill." He stared at his twin for a while. The bandaged head probably concealed a major concussion, and Tom was afraid that this was going to last. No, it couldn't. Bill couldn't forget their relationship, could he? There was silence from Bill, and Tom continued. "You... You don't remember?"

Bill stared at Tom and blinked once. "Tom?" he repeated. And in came Simone and Gordon.

"Bill!" Simone ran to her son's side and gave him a tear-filled hug. "Oh my God!" To see her son up and talking, she was extremely relieved. Gordon went to hug Bill as well, saying that this was really a miracle from God. The parents were very, very thankful. "I knew the doctors were wrong. I just knew it!"

The patient was bewildered. Who were all these people? And suddenly, he had some visions and he fell into a blur state.

The young boy was following me up some stairs.
We pushed the door open to see a bedroom with a mattress on the floor.

And Bill snapped out of it when he heard Simone's voice again. Holding his head, the boy looked at the woman questioningly. "Bill, are you hearing me?" she asked. "Do you know who I am?"

Bill blinked countless times, staring at the three people before him. "I... I'm sorry," he shook his head regrettably. "Is my name Bill?" he asked. And at that moment, Simone started to cry due to sadness and shock. Tom stared at Bill with bloodshot eyes, unable to produce tears. Bill was given life, but he was denied memory?

"I'm... I'm your mother, Bill. And yes, that's your name," Simone nodded, kissing her son's cheeks. Tom's grip on Bill's hand loosened. "This is Tom, he's your twin brother."

Tom looked at Bill. "Bill," he said softly, entirely disheartened. But he was glad at least Bill was still alive. It might take time for Bill to recall things, and Tom was sure his brother could do it. "I'll help you remember things, okay? This is Gordon. He's our stepfather."

Gordon nodded. "Bill," he smiled, rubbing his tears away before they fell. "Don't worry. Just be thankful you're alive. The doctor says you're a very lucky person indeed." Bill gave a sigh, his frown still evident upon his forehead. He couldn't understand what was happening. There was a certain soreness especially in his neck, and he rubbed it a bit.

Tom saw that Bill's neck had a certain red and purple bruise of sorts on his neck, and it looked vaguely like a blood clot beneath the skin. He frowned in confusion because he remembered that wasn't there before. He reached to touch it, the question of whether did it hurt replaying in his mind.

"It's just... It's just a bit sore," Bill muttered under his breath as he twisted his neck slightly, trying to loosen the bones after a long, long sleep.

Tom was confused. He didn't ask Bill that question out loud, and he wondered why Bill answered his thoughts. "Oh," he said softly. Bill looked up at Tom and he eyed Tom with a soft frown. So this was his twin brother. He got up and went to the bathroom, wanting to take a look at himself. Tom followed and saw that Bill was staring into the mirror. Pale skin, lifeless eyes, dull long black hair and an eyebrow piercing. He stuck out his tongue and there was a tongue piercing.

"You don't remember these things?" Tom asked, curious. Simone was there as well. She kept quiet and listened. "You don't remember how you look like?"

"Now I do," Bill said, giving a small sigh as he cocked his head at the mirror. He felt so weak but so strong. It was contradictory, but it was true. His body was strong but his mind was weak, and he couldn't manage a few steps without thinking about something or recalling a certain memory about him or his 'family'. He looked at Tom again, ignoring the loud heartbeats coming from his own self. He could hear the lightness from Tom's. Staring back at the mirror image, he asked, "What happened to me?"

Analiese fell asleep in the toilet on one of the quieter and less crowded hospital floors, and for the past few hours, she realized she had did a terrible thing to Bill. Now, he was going to start seeing things she never wanted anyone else to see, and he would know things no one else should know. Oh, the consequences of bringing a loved one back to life. In time, he would know everything that she ever kept a secret, and she wondered if Bill would be the one to make or break the rest of her life.

If someone found out her past, he would either help her get on with it or leave her to be finished by the others. It was complicated, and she couldn't even make up proper sentences in her mind regarding it. It wasn't something she was ever fond of speaking about. The girl remembered how her mother told her to always be on the move, but Analiese had been in Vienna for four months now and she realized she might be followed but she didn't really care because she had a reason to stay behind.

Bill was the reason, and now she gave him another reason to make her stay with him forever. He now held the key to her past, and she was afraid of what would happen when he started recalling things, both his own life and hers. A part of her was glad he was alive, and another hoped no one would ever find out that a vampire did all this miraculous healing. No one could know. She trusted Bill enough, but she hoped he wouldn't run away like he did the last time. She could only hope.

Analiese got up at about three in the morning, and she went out where most of the hospital was dark and quiet. She made her way stealthily to Bill's room but Bill wasn't there. She frowned, wondering where he was and then she spotted the night-shift nurse walking back to the counter with a cup of coffee. Quickly, the vampire slipped behind a corner and into the shadows as quietly as possible.

She turned around slowly to come face to face with a skinny someone much taller than her, long hair hanging in a lifeless way down the sides of his face. The little gasp she almost gave out was luckily concealed within her. She could only make out his figure, but she knew straightaway it was Bill when she read his thoughts. His smell was familiar as well. Afraid he would remember her, the girl decided to make a move. Covering her mouth in disbelief of the coincidence, she ran away behind him within five seconds of their untimely meeting. There wasn't a time when she thought about turning back.

Bill frowned, realizing how her aura was so familiar. And he couldn't hear her thoughts like he could the others so easily, but he could hear her heartbeat pounding hard. He was merely sneaking around because he felt more awake at night but his burning question was who was she, snooping around at a time like this? And what a face of shock when their gaze met in the dark. He knew she could see him as well as he could, and it bewildered him.