It Took The Death of Hope

Chapter 0 - Introduction.

Los Angeles;

Corey Taylor...

We had been in LA for over a month. The writing process was long and tedious but necessary to ensure that we produced the best music that we could as a band. Slipknot is a brand - as much as I hate that word, it doesn't make it less true. We had done something that had shook the metal scene back in 1995 and we wanted to always ensure that we kept doing that.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that we have been doing this for over 20 years now. I wasn't the first vocalist, but I am the vocalist now and I wouldn't change any of what had happened to get us to where we are now. I can't help but smile at the thoughts we had of just releasing one album and then disappearing - making people wonder, what the fuck was that? Realistically it had been a stupid idea but one that we had all had liked to entertain.

Sitting at the table in the dining room of the house we had rented for the writing process, my mind kept thinking of the past and all that we had faced as a band. All the awards, all the laughs and all the heartbreak. For better or worse we were brothers. A brotherhood that had saved me countless times. That isn't something that I take lightly.

The ringing of my phone pierced my thoughts. A Des Moines number flashed on the screen, "hello?"

"May I speak with Corey Taylor?" the woman asked.

"This is Corey, how can I help you?" I asked cautiously - it wouldn't have been the first time that a fan had managed to get their hands on my number.

"Do you know a Miss. Ashlee Gray?" the lady asked.

Ashlee. Paul's little sister.

"I do..."

"Mr. Taylor my name is Nurse Adams..."

"Nurse? What's happened?" I asked jumping up from my chair and heading for the back door, a feeling that I was going to need a cigarette settled in my bones.

"I'm afraid that Miss. Gray has been attacked. We don't have any contact information for next of kin and your number is the first in her phone..."

"What happened?" I pressed a little more forcefully as I lit a cigarette.

"Miss. Gray was attacked in her home..."

"Attacked? By whom?" I was pacing before I was even aware of it.

"The police are working on that, but her injuries are extensive Mr. Taylor..."

"Corey, please!" I urged, "should I be there?"

"I think that would be wise. We have had to place her in a coma..."

Coma? Extensive injuries? What the hell did that mean? My mind goes into overdrive - the last phone-call I received regarding a Gray; it was to tell me that Paul died.

At my friend's funeral, I had promised him that I would look out for his sister, that I would make sure that she was always ok and safe. Fuck I had failed - I hadn't talked to the girl in over a year.

"...Corey, there is also evidence that Miss. Gray was sexually assaulted,"

"I will be home...I will be there as soon as I can get a flight. Until then I will ask my sister to come sit with her," my heart dropped - Ash had been...God I can't even think the damn word.

"Alright, I will leave a note at the desk to expect...forgive me, I need a name for security reasons?"

"Of course, my sisters name is Dylan Taylor,"