Rated: PG-13 ~ Warnings: mild horror, angst ~ Pairing: none ~ Notes: N/A "Have you ever noticed how many less people were at the signing today?" Rowen asked, mostly to himself. Lucas looked up from where he was busy tuning his guitar. "I did notice," he replied, looking back down at the guitar, strumming a soft note. "The noise level was moderately softer, too." Rowen nodded, staring up at the ceiling, watching the skylight pass quickly. "It's scary, almost," he mumbled. "Not that I don't appreciate the fans that came today, but..." He bit his lip, an odd look on his face; "something just seemed off. It looked as if some were terrified of being there." Lucas nodded, strumming another note before he started tuning it again. He was only paying half a mind to his twin, too focused on tuning to pay any real attention. "And not that I'm saying that the fans smell or anything, but whatever I smelt today was like walking into a cemetary of unburied and decaying bodies," Rowen said, his nose scrunching at the thought. "And how would you know what decaying bodies smell like?" Lucas asked, looking up at Rowen and raising a brow. "Decaying roadkill smells similar," Roewn replied, waving a hand airily. "Cemetaries have the smell of decay if you have a strong enough nose." A sudden crash from the front of the bus and a slight jerk to the left startled both Rowen and Lucas. They shared a look before standing simultaneously and walking to the front, curious as to what happened to make such noise. Making it to the front, Rowen slowly opened the door hiding them from the front, feeling a little unimpressed when nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The bus suddenly veered to the right, making an unnecessary sharp turn and causing Rowen to stumble into Lucas, who stumbled to the floor unceremoniously with Rowen landing on top of him. "What the hell?" Rowen muttered, holding tight to Lucas when the bus made another sharp turn, this time to the left. "Is the driver drunk or something?" "None of us had alcohol tonight, not even the driver," Lucas said from underneath Rowen. "I have no idea what the fuck he's thinking, but it's not funny." "We're on a freeway, damnit," Rowen said, frowning. "He shouldn't be veering like this." A more sharp turn to the right caused Rowen and Lucas to roll with it, limbs colliding with limbs and body parts colliding roughly with the cabinets and corners. The turn tapered off, but not without a few more turns to make the boys roll some more. Rowen untangled himself from Lucas, wincing as he felt bumps and bruises from Lucas' limbs and the bus alike. Standing cautiously, Rowen took a couple steps towards the front of the bus when the bus careened into a dangerous zig-zag motion, tossing Rowen this way and that before he lost his footing and fell to the floor...right on top of Lucas again. "Jesus." Lucas wrapped his body around Rowen's, feeling his brother do the same just as the zig-zagging motions became more like a fishtail-like motion. "I feel like I'm on a goddamned boat with all this swaying." "Oh, don't say that," Rowen moaned, clinging tightly to Lucas and burying his nose in Lucas' neck. "Thinking about it that way makes me want to vomit." They didn't say anymore and kept wishing the driver a very painful vengence for driving so oddly and seemingly having no care that they were on the bus as well. When the crazy seemed to have stopped, they waited a few minutes before trying anything. Untangling seemed a problem for the twins; between Lucas' silly oversized clothes and how much limb both boys had, it took them several minutes to untangle and stand slowly. "Think it's over?" Rowen asked in a stage whisper. "Dunno," Lucas whispered back, "but I do know that the driver is getting fired after this." Rowen nodded, grasping Lucas' hand as they slowly made their way up the bus, bracing themselves when they thought they'd be tossed around again. Many minutes passed without getting far and gaining more bruises on their bodies, the faintest smell of secretion filled their noses. Lucas didn't notice at first, but caught a hefty whiff when he opened the door blocking them from the driver. Recoiling at the suddeness, Lucas held a hand over his mouth and nose as he opened the door again. The smell was atrocious. It was like mixing an abandoned dirty bathroom with the smell of undergrowth, lightly accented by the faint scent of decay. Lucas' eyes watered by the potentcy of the smell and try as he'd like to see the driver, he couldn't. Backing out of the area, Lucas let the door shut and he walked away from the door until he and Rowen were a good distance from it before he let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. Air flowed into his lung gratefully as he wiped away the tears in his eyes. He glanced at Rowen, who looked more than green around the gills. Wordlessly, they went to the back of the bus, Rowen heading into the bathroom while Lucas headed into the bunk area. Sitting on his bed, Lucas heard retching coming from the bathroom and grimaced. He stood and made for the bathroom, grabbing a facecloth as he passed them. "Roe?" Lucas gently opened the door. "You ok?" Rowen moaned softly. "Do I sound ok?" he retorted, scowling up at Lucas. Lucas shrugged, wetting the facecloth in the sink before getting on his knees beside Rowen. He pulled his twin's hair out of his face and off his neck, applying the wet cloth to the back of Rowen's neck. He then took a wad of toilet paper and handed it to Rowen, waiting for him to take it before taking the wet one and rubbing it along Rowen's neck and face, knowing it would soothe and calm the other. Rowen wiped his mouth with the wad of paper and tossed it into the toilet, flushing it and his vomit away. He relaxed in Lucas' embrace, letting the soothing touches calm him before smacking his lips and making a face. "Get up, I need to brush my teeth," Rowen said, standing himself. Lucas stood silently, waiting for Rowen when the bus suddenly careened to the left, tossing he and Rowen into a pile of limbs on the floor. Both grunted at the pain and suddeness of it all and Rowen scowled darkly. "I am going to kill that driver myself if he keeps doing this." "You and me both," Lucas mumbled, wincing as he felt Rowen elbowing him in the side. "Elbow, Rowen. In my side." Rowen immediately removed his elbow from Lucas' side, wriggling around enough so he could brace himself on the floor to heft himself up. That done, Lucas followed suit and they both made quick work of getting back into their bunks. Just as they made it into the bunk area, the bus careened again, this time with the blaring sound of a truck horn. Rowen and Lucas shared a brief look, showing fear, confusion, and uncertainty just as the bus careened again and the truck horn blared again, louder this time. It was seconds later when the brakes were suddenly pressed upon, a sharp right turn was taken, and truck who's horn was blaring slammed into the bus side. The force of the hit combined with the sharp turn caused the bus to tilt at a sharp angle before falling on its side. Rowen and Lucas hadn't braced for the hit, therefore caused Lucas to slam into the wall behind him as if a mighty hand forced him there and Rowen to get jerked out of his bunk and thrown towards Lucas', missing by mere inches and colliding with the edge. The telltale crack of broken bones was heard when Rowen's body hit the edge, forcing a pained shout from his throat. It was by pure luck the boys had locked up the cabinets, closets, and doors, else they'd be faced with whatever was in them at the time. It wasn't much longer before several horns were heard and the telltale sign of metal crunching onto metal as they each crashed into the bus and truck without a try to avoid it and them. Time seemed to slow to a crawl then. Rowen picked up his head, wincing at the sharp shot of pain that centred around his nose. He gingerly lifted a hand, smiling briefly when he felt no pain from the movement, but the simple gesture caused a sharp pain to his nose and his face became neutral in order to feel less pain. At a painstakingly slow pace, Rowen tried to look at Lucas, but each movement brought forth another sharp pain, so he tried speaking to him. "Lucas?" There was no answer. Rowen tried again and still got no answer. It was then Rowen realised what had happened and the scent of burning fuel brought him back to reality. Eyes growing wide, Rowen bit his tongue and moved his body into a sitting position. By sitting up, Rowen could see Lucas and his eyes grew wider. The cracked window behind Lucas' head and the slowly bleeding blood was all Rowen needed to see to force him into forgetting the pains he was feeling and get to he and Lucas out of the bus before something went horribly wrong. Not once did Rowen ever think about calling someone to get help. His mind too clouded with both pain and panic, Rowen's only thoughts were to get out of the bus with Lucas. Rowen slowly dragged Lucas out of the bus, laying him down several feet from the scene. Rowen fell down carelessly beside his twin as he looked at the scene before his eyes. It looked like a junkyard; cars piled onto each other as if placed that way, the tour bus laying on its side as if it was supposed to be, and the truck that had crashed into them looked like some demented portrayl of a youngling feeding from its mother; the tour bus. Dragging his eyes away from the crash, Rowen let his gaze fall skyward, not hearing the sirens steadily coming closer and people rushing around until someone tried touching him. He jerked so suddenly, the pain previously unfelt came back with a vengence. He hissed, but managed to glare at the person. The person knelt down beside him, glancing between Rowen and Lucas, frowning when they looked at Lucas. "Are you alright?" The question didn't register with Rowen until it was repeated. With an eyebrow raised, he stared hard at the person. "Do I look alright to you?" he retorted. "You look better than the body laying next to you," the person commented. "I'm not even sure he's still living." "Of course he's still alive," Rowen said quickly, looking at Lucas. "I wouldn't be so sure..." The person bit their lip, glancing back at Rowen. "I should take a look at you, see how many injuries you have." Rowen was ready with a retort waiting on his lips when his vision suddenly blurred and darkened. His body going limp, it took Rowen a couple seconds to realise that he was loosing consciousness. He fought it, but soon gave it up when he limply rolled next to Lucas and grasped him tightly, letting the swirling darkness overcome his senses as he lost himself to his subconcious. ~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ "Don't know why they're not waking up...it's been three weeks...hardly a sign of life...another two weeks, that's all I can say." Lucas floated in and out of darkness for what seemed like an eternity, unaware of what was going on in the real world. Distorted voices came and went, sounding like a haunting record of dismemberment. He was in a constant state of chills, unfeeling any kind of warmth, unfeeling to anything; he was numb. He knew Rowen wasn't anywhere near him, not even in the room with him and the thought of being truly alone terrified him completely. Struggling with the darkness, the faintest traces of light filtered through as if it were sunlight peering through dense leaves. Vague traces of comprehensible noise filtered through the light, bringing with it, the subtle warmth of the blanket covering his body. Groaning softly, Lucas tried to move yet found he couldn't, thusly causing him to panic. The steady sound of an artificial heart became erratic, causing more panic to grip Lucas. Doors opened frantically and frantic voices soon followed. It was too much for Lucas to take in all at once and he slipped into darkness once more... ~-~ Time stretched into an endless abyss in the darkness shrouding Lucas' subconcious mind. He lost count of the times he tried to awaken, only to become terrified and panic and fall into darkness again. Voices and various sounds filtered in at a more steady pace, sounding less and less distorted as time snailed on. There was a time he opened his eyes, seeing only vague blobs and dulled colours before his sight faded into darkness once more. There were several times that the darkness faded into dreams and most of the dreams were that of a dying world. Bodies littered everywhere, just dead or rotting corpses torn apart by hungry animals. All was silent and it scared Lucas - to be thrown into such a world with a sudden deafness from the once bustling and busy cities... Terrifying. It would drive Lucas to insanity to all of a sudden be without the sounds his ears were so used to. To have it suddenly taken away is a thought Lucas hoped would never become reality. ~-~ The smell is just gut wrenching. Rotting flesh, fecal matter, soiled food, and a whole mixture of other equally disgusting scents invade my nose. It's almost an exact replica of what I smelled on the tour bus, but lesser...in a way. I hope that it's just another dream coming to haunt me; I'd hate to find out that such a nasty smell is real. It was bad enough when I smelled it on the bus. These dreams I have...they terrify me. I never thought I'd ever be scared of something - as Lucas Engel is scared of nothing, of course - but just the mere thought of being suddenly alone, without the sounds of traffic, people, walking, anything leading to human noise...to be without any of that so suddenly...scary. I try to ignore myself when these dreams appear, but knowing that I'm not hearing anything of human nature forces me into looking around in the street, looking for any sign of people. These dreams don't include much, just me standing in the middle of some road, in the middle of a city that's void of all noise. The only noise I hear in these dreams is the sound of the wind gently blowing and the sound of paper being disturbed by the winds. Nothing else is seen. It's just me, the wind, and the papers. There were a few dreams where I heard a noise sounding similar to someone in pain, so I took off in the direction the sound was coming from, overjoyed to hear a human noise. I was hoping to see a person, probably on the ground and holding their leg or something like that, but my eyes took in the sight of a person, holding their hands to a gaping wound in their chests, their heart still beating, blood flowing like a giant river at each erratic heartbeat. Their eyes were void of colour and emotion; staring blankly ahead with white eyes. They always reached out to me, their mouths opening to say something, but blood clogged their throats and they choked on their own blood - falling limply to the ground in a pool of their own blood, eyes still staring ahead at nothing, blood still flowing from the gaping wound long after the heart stopped beating. I wish I could wake up, just to stop these dreams from haunting me, but every time I try to fight my way into consciousness, I panic and fall back into the darkness where the dreams continue to haunt me. I've opened my eyes many times, but everything seems so dull and I can hardly see a thing; only blobs and blurs of dull colours. Maybe it's with how long I've been in the darkness that's causing my sight to fail - to which, I hope isn't the reason - but I've come to realise that every time I open my eyes, the blurs sharpen and the blobs gain more definition...but seeing more vibrant colours than the dull colours I have been seeing; I can't. It's time I wake up soon, I know this. I just don't know when... ~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~ "Has he woken up yet?" Rowen glances up at Scott, the worry and sadness clearly seen in his once vibrant eyes. He shakes his head slowly and rests his head on his hands, holding tight to one of Lucas' hand with his own. Two months. Two months since the car accident and two months since Lucas opened his eyes. The doctors had done all they could to keep Lucas alive, but doctors could only do so much. Of course, Rowen didn't know Lucas was comatose until he woke up three days later and demanded to see his twin. After being unable to wake Lucas himself and after not listening to what the doctor was telling him, Rowen panicked, thinking Lucas was dead and that they had kept him there for Rowen to see him a final time before having to bury him...until the doctor managed to calm him and told Rowen of Lucas' current condition. Still slightly panicked, Rowen refused to leave Lucas' side until he woke... Which leads us up to the now. Rowen still refused to leave Luca' side, only doing so to use the bathroom and shower, but otherwise made himself at home at Lucas' bedside. There were several moments when Lucas would blink open his eyes, glance around before shutting his eyes. Rowen never told anyone, unless they saw for themselves, but Lucas was opening his eyes more frequently, making Rowen think that Lucas was waking up soon. He hoped so, anyway. Scott grabbed another chair and sat himself beside Rowen. "He'll wake up," he said. "It's only a matter of time before then." Rowen nodded silently, staring at Lucas' face intently. On this day alone, the activity Lucas was showing was like a ray of sunshine pouring in on a gloomy day. Rowen knew he was going to wake soon and that thought alone had Rowen on the edge of his seat in anticipation. There was a sudden noise from outside, causing both Rowen and Scott to jump and avert their eyes to the closed door. The minutes they stared at the door, waiting for something else to happen, they didn't notice Lucas' eyes squeezing tightly shut and his nose scrunching up as if smelling something awful. The soft groan, however, had Rowen staring at Lucas again. He squeezed Lucas' hand, watching his twin intently. "Luc?" Lucas blinked his eyes open, staring at the ceiling for several seconds before glancing around. His eyes landed on Rowen and a small smile graced his lips. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a parched whine. Blinking at the odd sound that came from his throat, Lucas swallowed many times and tried again, this time, sounding a little better...but not much. Scowling, Lucas swallowed and tried again, failing each time he tried. Now pouting, Lucas huffed and gave up. Rowen laughed lightly, shaking his head. "You really shouldn't trying to talk now," Rowen whispered. "After all, your throat hasn't been used for two months." Lucas' eyes widened fractionally. He glanced around, scowling at everything his eyes landed on. Rowen noticed this and wondered why Lucas was doing it. He looked at Scott, smiling lightly. Scott returned the smile before he stood and left, presumably to get a nurse to check up on Lucas. ~-~ "Good news." The doctor smiled at Rowen and Luvas. "Your vitals are excellent, but with being comatose for two months, you're body has become unused and needs to regain its strength before I can say you're close to leaving here." "I've only been up a few hours and I'm already going crazy just sitting here," Lucas said, scowling. "You expect me to stay here, sitting on my arse as I regain muscle strength through physical therapy?" "I do expect so, yes," the doctor replied. Lucas' face scrunched up. "How long?" he asked. "Depending on how fast you're recovery," the doctor replied, glancing at the clipboard in his hand; "I'd say anywhere between three and twelve weeks." "Wonderful," Lucas muttered, rolling his head to the side. "Fun, fun, fun, in the jolly old fucking hospital." ~TBC~ |