Inglise keeles läheb kõik kuidagi paremini.
Igatahes, juttu tuleb Avenged Sevenfoldist (kes ei tea, siis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenged_Sevenfold).
Loodan,et inglise keel ei häiri... Inglise keeles on lihtsalt nii palju parem kirjutada.
Natuke poolik tundub ka, äkki kunagi teen natuke ümber seda.
"More Than Needed" tuleb ka nüüd tööplaani tagasi.
Anyways, enjoy!
[Synysteri POV]
Recording our newest album was killer, although it was also a lot of fun. Still, it wasn't the same anymore – without Jimmy's tall, always smiling figure strolling around the place, the studio felt a lot emptier, a bit ghastly, even. And of course, the memory of our late brother floated about, which gave the recording process a more somber tone. But the wish to complete this record, to give it out in honour of The Rev, gave us the power and the strength to keep going. “Jimmy's keeping a close eye on us,” we used to say a bit jokingly.
Matt was recording some backup vocals that particular day. We were close to finishing recording, most of the vocals were done. I sat in the other room and listened to Matt, searching for the tiniest of mistakes. No one else was there – I had let them have their lunch. I wasn't in the mood to eat – my thoughts had been with Jimmy before, which always took my appetite.
So, I stared intently at Matt, when suddenly I thought I saw someone on the other side of the room, staring at me. Had someone finished already? I didn't turn my head, but my curiosity made me study the figure carefully. It was a tall man with black shaggy hair, an obviously desperate grimace on his face, a weak light like a halo around him, twirling drumsticks in his hands...
I gasped quietly and quickly turned my head, but no one was there. I sighed hid my face in my hands. Too much thinking... “I'm getting delusional,” I said to myself and concentrated on listening to Matt again. He hadn't seen any of it, because he had sung with his eyes shut, as usual. The incident creeped me out, but I thought it was better not to mention it. Talking about Jimmy always made everybody sad. And they wouldn't have believed me anyway. Jimmy was dead, as hard as it was to admit it, and it had been an illusion, nothing else. Right?
A few hours after that, Matt was working on another song. I was sitting next to Zacky with the lyrics of the piece in my hands, my eyes following the lyrics. The illusion was still in my head – for some reason it was stuck in there. I mouthed out the song's words quietly, when Matt missed a word. I raised my head to stop him, but a man – a familiar man – standing in my way, the same weak halo around him, made me stare in shock. “Another vision,” I thought, but kept my eyes on the figure. It didn't disappear. Jimmy was unhappy again – a thing you rarely saw when he was alive. He looked like he tried to say something, but didn't hear a thing.
“Brian?” Zacky asked and Jimmy vanished as soon as I turned my head. “What happened?” my fellow guitarist asked. I looked at him, then at the vocal booth at Matt. Both of them looked worried.
I contemplated for a few seconds. Then I decided to let my brothers know – maybe they knew what was wrong with me.
“I think I just saw... Jimmy,” I said and wrinkled my nose. Said like this, the words sounded absurd. And Matt's and Zacky's faces were full of pain all of a sudden. Zacky grabbed my hand and said quietly, his voice full of grief:
“Bri, he's gone. You know that. You have to let go, although it's hard.”
I sighed and nodded. I lay deeper in the sofa and closed my eyes. Something was definitely wrong.
Later, I was in the vocal booth, singing my backing vocals. I felt tired and sleepy, but I kept going... Jimmy was keeping a close eye on us, right? Right after finishing my vocals, I felt someone behind my back. I thought Johnny or Zacky had sneaked in, stopped singing and turned around quickly, to see nothing. Only two drumsticks, Jimmy's favourites, fell to the floor out of nowhere. I picked them up and stepped out of the booth.
“Where did you get these?” Matt asked, looking as tired as me.
“They... uh... fell to the floor a few seconds ago,” I asked, feeling stupid again. There was nothing in the booth to hold those sticks. No table, no shelf, no nothing. And most definitely, there had been no drumsticks in there when I had entered.
Matt's face was full of doubt. “These are Jimmy's,” he said quietly. “None of Jimmy's sticks were here.”
My breathing sped up. “I'm not hallucinating,” I realised, saying it too quietly for Matt to hear. Jimmy was really here, throwing his drumsticks all over the place...
How the fuck was that possible? He had been dead for over three months!
I shook my head. “Let's call it a day, okay?” I said. Matt nodded, a puzzled image on his face.
I lay on one of the couches, alone in the room. Everybody else was in the other room, probably already sleeping, but I just couldn't calm down. The day had been more than spooky and I still couldn't figure things out. What was going on? How was it possible? If the drumsticks hadn't appeared, I would have thought I'd gone crazy. But Jimmy's sticks were there, in the studio, on the table next to my bed.
I closed my eyes and tried counting numbers to calm myself. But when I had reached 37, a hoarse voice called my name. The voice wasn't Zacky's. Or Matt's. Or Johnny's. Fuck, I knew whose it was.
“Jimmy?” I whispered and felt idiotic. But the feeling vanished when my dead bandmate's voice said:
“
Oh man, I did it! You can actually hear me?”
“Y-y-yeah,” I said quietly and stood up. “Jimmy, bro, is that you?”
“
Yeah, Bri, it's really me. Damn it, I've missed you! ”
“Sorry, if this sounds rude, but how the hell are you here? You're supposed to be...” I couldn't say the word 'dead'.
Suddenly, Jimmy materialized in front of me and looked at me, smiling. The expression which looked so familiar on his pale face... He grabbed me in a tight bear hug – a thing I hadn't expected. I looked at him in disbelief and was about to ask how he had done it, but he was already talking.
“
Yeah, I know that. But Bri, remember the ghost stories we used to tell each other? The dead spirits have to stay on Earth until their uncompleted tasks are finished. My mission was to end this record here... But I couldn't even contact you guys. It wasn't necessary, actually, 'cause you're doig good, but I wanted to say my goodbyes to you. You and I have the strongest connection between our... souls or something... so I could appear to you finally. I've been keeping a close eye on you, just as you all joked, ” he said, looking me in the eye.
I stared at him in disbelief. Finally, having analyzed his words, I asked: “So... You're leaving when the record's out? That'll give us like.. a month or two.”
“
No,” Jimmy replied, his smile fading. “
I have to go when you're finished recording. Which is like...”
“Tomorrow,” we said at the same time. I wasn't sure what my face looked like, but I'm convinced that it matched Jimmy's mask of horror.
“Seriously? You're gonna go? Just like that? No! I just got you back!” I whispered quickly, almost panicking.
“
Dude, there's nothing I can do about it,” Jimmy replied sadly. “
I can't stay here forever. What's the point of death, then, if I could just keep hanging out with you? Death is final and irreversible. I have to make sure the record's done and then I'll go on to the... afterlife.” On the last word, a grin spread across his face. “
And being stuck between two worlds is... not painful, but seriously uncomfortable. I don't want to stay for much longer.”
I sighed, but when Jimmy's figure got shaky, I looked at him, startled.
“
Crap, I'm losing it,” Jimmy whispered. “
I'll be back tomorrow, don't worry,” he added and then slowly vanished.
A creak of the door made me jump. I turned to see Matt stepping in.
“It was him?” was all he asked, his tone timid, as he stepped to my couch. He knew I would understand. I nodded, although I was slightly surprised that he had started believing Jimmy was here. “He was keeping an eye on us – he can't go on to the afterlife...” A small smile appeared on my face, too, as I said the name of a song Jimmy had once written. “...before he's sure the record's a done deal. It was something he didn't complete when he was alive, so he's stuck on Earth until we've finished recording,” I explained our vocalist the situation. He listened to me quietly, but pain spread across his face.
“That means he's leaving tomorrow,” Matt whispered.
“We're gonna lose him again,” I said and sighed. Matt only nodded and stood up from his crouch.
“We should sleep on it and see what tomorrow brings,” he decided and stepped to the door.
“Good night, Matt,” I said quietly.
“Sleep tight,” he answered. But sleep came after several hours of twisting and turning on the couch. The next day would be even harder...
Jimmy was my first thought, when I woke up in the morning. And as soon as I'd opened my eyes, air before me shivered and my dead best friend materialized.
“Think of the devil...” I commented, making him snicker.
“
You're almost done with the record,” he said, sounding almost happy. “
Zacky finished his vocals an hour ago, Johnny is working on his as we speak.”
I groaned and sat up. Jimmy stood next to the bed, eyeing me carefully. “
I shouldn't have showed myself,” he finally sighed. “
But I missed you, guys. I couldn't leave without saying goodbye.” Once again, Jimmy looked seriously unhappy.
“No, Jimmy, don't think like that. I am happy, really happy that you came. But I'm not ready to lose you again... You're never coming back,” I answered quietly and grabbed his hand.
“
I have to go, Brian, you know that... ” Jimmy said. Suddenly, his face lit up. “
I know what I want to do before I go!” he said, excited.
“What, then?” I asked, not particularly interested in the answer.
“
Sing,” he simply answered. I looked at him, not completely getting his point.
“Well, sing, then,” I said.
“
You don't get it. I want my voice to be on the record,” he told me, hiding a sigh. I was acting like a little kid, being grumpy over the inevitable.
“Is it possible?” I asked, trying to brighten up. Jimmy gave it a thought.
“
Probably, if I'm strong enough,” he answered and without hesitation grabbed my phone. If it weren't for the knowing that he was dead and the halo which surrounded him, he seemed alive enough to record vocals.
Jimmy suddenly started singing. I recognized a song from our record, but the tune was different. He had studied the songs and made his own additions to it. He sang for about 30 seconds and then stopped. He pressed another button on the phone... And his voice filled the room. The same thing he had sung moments ago. Jimmy let out a victorious “
Wohoooo!” and let go of my hand. He recorded a different song now, but this time we heard nothing. He frowned and then looked at me. “
What did I do wrong?”
I thought for a while and then grabbed his hand again. He stared at me, but then pressed the recording button again. And after he had stopped singing, we both heard his voice from my phone.
“
You're my speaker,” he said, smiling. Then he got up. “
Can we do this? I really-really want to. Please?”
I smiled at his plea and got up. “Let's see what we can do.”
When we stepped in the studio, Johnny had just finished. Matt looked at me, worried, but when he saw the smile on my face, his expression became confused. I smiled and said: “Matt, I gotta talk to you.” Matt nodded and took a few steps forward, ignoring Zacky's weird gaze. Suddenly, Matt didn't look at me anymore. He stared at Jimmy, who stood next to me. I smiled victoriously and stepped out of the door again. Matt followed us and when the door was totally shut, he stared at Jimmy.
“I can't believe it, you're really here!” he answered, a grin slowly widening on his face. Jimmy nodded and gave Matt a surprise hug. Like I had been, Matt was amazed.”You look real.”
“
I am
real, sort of,” Jimmy said and smiled. “
Look, I know Brian told you about me, so I knew you wouldn't freak out when I materialized. I am getting stronger... Being close to Brian does that.” He looked at me, smiling. “
Anyway, there's something I'd like to do before I...” He didn't finish the sentence, but both I and Matt realised what he meant. He carried on: “
I had this idea... I'd like to sing on the album. With Brian here, my voice can be recorded.” He played back the latest recording. Matt stared at him, his eyebrow raised, contemplating. Finally, he smiled and said: “Let's do it!”
We stepped in the studio again. Matt arranged a quick band meeting, while Jimmy sat next to me and concentrated deeply. When only us five were there, Matt said:
“Okay, so, I've got some news.” He was silent for a while and looked at Jimmy. Zacky and Johnny looked confused, so they probably didn't see Jimmy yet.
“Jimmy's here,” Matt said and right after that Jimmy smiled and said, “
Hey, midgets.”
Zacky and Johnny were absolutely still for a few seconds, their eyes bulging out of their skulls. “I'm not a midget,” Zacky finally said, laughed and stared at Jimmy. “How's this possible?”
Jimmy explained them his mission again, this time adding the recording part. Both of them liked Jimmy's plan, so we got to work immediately. We could handle the basics, so it was just the band in the studio. Jimmy stepped into the booth and grabbed his headphones. I followed, holding his hand. The others looked confused, but didn't ask questions. Matt motioned Jimmy to start singing.
Oh, how he sang. He hit every note perfectly, recording every song with one or two tries. I was pretty sleepy when we finished. “
I stole your energy,” Jimmy said, frowning a bit, but then let go of my hand and went completely serious. “
It's time,” he suddenly said. I understood immediately and jumped up. We stormed out of the booth. “
I gotta go,” Jimmy told the others. Their faces also fell as they stood up.
“We don't want you to go,” Johnny said quietly.
“
I know, but there's no second chances. Afterlife awaits,” Jimmy replied and pulled us all into a deep hug. As tears started streaming on our faces, Jimmy said:
“
I'm sorry that it ends this way, but at least I can give you my goodbyes. I love you all, you know that. And I'll try my best to keep an eye on you. Keep on rockin', okay?
I am unbroken; I’m choking on this ecstasy,
Unbreak me, unchain me, I need another chance to live...”
Singing the lyrics of “Afterlife”, he slowly disappeared. And the four of us started crying again. We had lost our brother for the second time and it had been even more painful...
*a bit later*
We were standing in a record store, staring at our CD. The cover had a drawing of all of us on it, the dead drummer in the middle and the rest of us in the back. Even Mike Portnoy, our replacement drummer, was on it. The store played our album just then and we could all hear a quiet back vocal singing a perfect tune. Our brother... We all smiled and turned to leave. Jimmy's mission was thoroughly complete.
Pealkiri: Jimmy's Mission (inglise keeles) 
5/3/2010, 20:01
