Come Back to Me

15

"Just tell us what you can, Miss Stevens," Officer Samurais nudged. "Take your time and start when you're ready."

Vanessa dug her nails into the skin of her arm, trying not to break down for the hundredth time that day. She wanted to just be done with it all and just go home.

Without him...

A small pain in her chest started at the thought of having to go home without Dead. He had been arrested while she was being examined. She figured that's what was going to happen given everything that happened, but some part of her still hoped that they would let him go since he had acted in her defense. Maybe they would let him go after they got the full story, maybe they just took him in for questioning and he would be home when she got there.

Wishful thinking indeed.

Her eyes moved up, taking note of the man in front of her. She could see burn scars across his neck, most likely going down his back to some degree, but somewhat covered by his long hair. Not Nearly as long as Dead's, but still fairly long for someone in his line of work. His blue-green eyes held her's, a look of sympathy and understanding behind them as he waited for her to start. This man wasn't like his partner at all.

Officer Davis stood behind her partner with arms folded and an almost cold expression on her face. Her hair was jet black and pixie-cut, showing a small scar just beside her left ear. Her dark brown eyes were fixed on her in an almost accusing way, waiting for her to speak again only to lash out at whatever she tried to say. Vanessa had hoped that the woman would be the one to help her through this, to be the one she could talk to, but she had been wrong. The woman before her, clearly either in the wrong field of work or simply just angry at her, was not about to be on her side anytime soon.

"Dead had gone out for a walk," she started.

"His actual name please," snapped Davis. "I understand you folks like to use your nicknames for each other, but this is a police report."

"Krista!" Samurais snapped back.

Vanessa shook her head. "It's fine. She's right. Per had gone out for a walk, he said he had a bad dream and that he needed to clear his mind. I'm not sure if it really was a bad dream or he just got wrapped up in his own thoughts again. I couldn't sleep after he left so I stayed up to wait for him. He was probably gone fifteen minutes when Eur...Øystein, started banging on the door."

Her throat tightened as she fought back another wave of tears.

Samurais nodded. "What happened next?"

"He practically pushed me back into the house the second I opened the door. He kept telling me to call Dead...Per, and get him to come back as soon as possible. He never answered my call, his phone was probably on vibrate and he just never felt it go off. Øystein tried telling me that Varg had been planning something, was angry about everything that was supposed to happen but didn't..."

Her voice trailed off as the night replayed in her mind once again. The sound of Varg's voice echoing in her head.

"He tried to hold him off..." she continued.

"What happened when you got into the room?"

Her eyes clamped shut. "I could hear the stomping, both of them trying to be the first one up the stairs. I froze, I couldn't shut the door fast enough and before I knew it he was right there! Øystein jumped on his back and they fought for a minute. The next thing I saw was Varg grabbing one of the fire pokers and hitting him in the head."

Samurais nodded. "Well now we know what knocked him out. What happened after he hit your friend?"

She couldn't stop the sob that left her mouth. "He said...he said that he'll make sure I remember him. That I'll know the true meaning of fear and know what it's like to have everything stripped away. That Dead wouldn't ever be able to look at me or touch me again without seeing his face and knowing he wasn't there to stop him. After that..."

"I understand. Let's skip to when Mister Ohlin came back. What do you remember?"

She thought for a moment, trying to hold herself together. "I was screaming when he came into the house. The door was broken off and all I remember was the rage on his face. I've never seen him so angry before. I didn't even try to stop him. I knew what was about to happen but I don't think I could have stopped him if I wanted to."

The room was silent a moment before Vanessa continued.

"The doctor said that after what happened and what was done the chances of me ever having children is slim to none," she whispered.

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing," Davis remarked. "Your life, just yours, is full of people who right now don't like you because of your little stunt. On top of that, your rockstar boyfriend is probably one of the biggest druggies around and let's not forget the self-mutilation just for kicks! You're still a child yourself who thinks she's ready to be an adult. You aren't ready for that yet. If you brought a kid into this world that would be a pretty selfish thing to do on your end."

"Davis!" hollered Samurais. "I've had enough of this! You don't get to come in here and act like this! We are dealing with a survivor of a tragic incident and your continuous outbursts aren't helping anyone! At this point, I'm telling you to go home right now and reconsider this line of work. You have until seven tomorrow morning to change your attitude or it will be your badge. Do I make myself clear?"

Her scowl deepened. "Crystal, sir."

The door slammed shut behind her, leaving Vanessa alone with the man. Her heart raced as her mind replayed what just happened. Maybe she wasn't completely wrong. To bring a child into their lives when everything was so full of chaos would be completely irresponsible. But that didn't mean her heart wasn't heavy with the knowledge that she and Dead would probably never have a family of their own.

"Miss Stevens," Samurais started.

Her eyes met his. "Can I see Øystein please?"

His gaze held her own for a moment before nodding once. "I'll ask one of the nurses to take you to him. I've been told he's awake."

The walk to his room felt like it had taken forever. A million thoughts clashing together in her mind as she wondered how she was going to ask Euronymous how he had known what was going to happen.

You already know that answer.

Her eyes fell to the floor. If her thoughts were right, Euronymous had some part in all of it or had at least been told about it. Yet she couldn't find it in her to be angry with him. Despite everything they had been through before and the anger he felt towards her now, he still tried to protect her from Varg. Clearly there was some part of him that didn't completely hate her.

"You have a visitor, Mister Aarseth," said the nurse as they walked in.

His eyes lifted, one of them completely blackened. "Vanessa?"

The nurse smiled. "I'll leave you two to talk. Call if you need anything."

Making her way over to the bed, Vanessa looked down at him with teary eyes.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. I don't know what happened and I don't remember much. I let my anger get the best of me and almost made a horrible mistake. I don't expect you to forgive me, hell I sure wouldn't."

Sitting on the bed beside him, Vanessa shook her head. "I forgive you. You tried to stop him, you came and warned me, you put yourself in danger to try and save me."

Both looked at each other as the tears fell freely down their faces. The anger and frustration Euronymous felt towards Varg grew with every breath.

"When I see that mother fucker again I'll kill him for this," he ground out.

Vanessa shook her head. "He's dead."

"What? How?"

"Dead killed him," her voice began to crack. "He's been arrested for Varg's murder. I haven't seen him or been able to talk to him in the last two days."

Falling next to him, Vanessa sobbed into his chest, a small wave of comfort washing over her as she felt his arms tighten around her. He didn't say a word, just held her as she cried. There was nothing that either of them could say to make any of it better, nothing would release Dead and nothing could undo any of this. All they could do now is wait...Wait and hope that Dead would be released and that hope that one day things would go back to normal...