Gently pt. 45

They all stared down at him. Like vultures, they were. Watching, waiting…all their faces…some which he had never even seen before…obviously they came after his departure…But of all of them, he only feared the clown. Only the clown could strip him of his power and bring him to his knees. He knew that from the beginning. If he could be all alone, wandering a land he couldn't recognize…finally he would have the upper hand. He kept it going for so long…and yet…he turned his back on him in favor of the one he envied. That was his only fault. That had to be…

…And here they all stood, all ready to fight to the death if they had to…all ready to seal this place for good. All ready to head back to Des Moines and live their lives in peace. They would leave him here…all alone…He'd see them from the other side, perhaps subliminally, watching them use half of Slipknot's very essence, while the very Slipknot name residing here only grows lonelier…and stronger…

…all this made his head spin…there was no easy way to tell them…

Anders lifted his arm to get attention, but was cut off.

"You have only yourself to blame," said Shawn. "We're going to leave you now. We're heading back to the temple and we'll get down to the real basement this time. To us you're nothing but a small barrier. You should've thought this through, Anders…"

Anders opened his mouth to speak.

"Y-You really don't understand, do you?" said Anders as he got to his feet. "Good job, you finally let your own bandmates know who's boss here. But there's something that even you don't know. It's the reason why you all deserve to die. I thought that if you're all dead, or at least completely unaware of the Umbra like we were, this could be stopped…"

Shawn let his nail-bat drop down to his side and glared, his vivid blue eyes staring down at him…but losing its haunting glow. "…What could be stopped?" he said in a low voice. "Your mistakes? Don't suddenly change on me and say you're sorry. Not after all this."

"You're right," said Anders. "I still hate all of you. You put me in the back and made me feel like I'd never make a name for myself. Now the world will never know Anders Colsefni and the songs he had written. You'll all move on…no one will remember what you and I have done together…so this is what it comes to. It's the Umbra or nothing. That's right, once I heard the news I wanted to stab someone. But I couldn't…so I crawled through that seam into this world so I could give it some thought."

"I knew I shouldn't have left you alone," said Shawn. "All alone in the Umbra, thinking on your own hatred for this? Revenge, maybe? No wonder this place looks the way it does! I'm amazed the werewolf tribes still existed down in the temple. All dead now, but still."

"Let me TALK!"

"You wanted to KILL us!"

"That's right!" Anders shouted back as he pulled the blades from his loincloth and aimed both their jagged tips at Shawn's face. "I bet killing you is the only way to make this stop! It's the ONLY way now! Without Slipknot, there can't be an Umbra! No one can leave the Umbra unattended! It's an unstoppable force!"

Anders breathed rapidly, his face covered with sweat…

Shawn shook his head and held his nail-bat out in defense anyway. "I bet you did that," he said glumly. "We could leave the Umbra before…so now you're saying that since you entered it again, it's unstoppable?"

Anders nodded. "Yep, and I even enlisted those no longer in your little band to get in here and help me stop it."

"………Liar."

Josh tried to mouth something. His arms were flailing left and right, and yet no voice came out. Whatever he had to say, it seemed really important. He was no longer hanging off Jim's arm, but Sid was starting to get really nervous of his presence. For a moment Josh turned his head…he could hear someone coming…

And so did Anders…

"YOU!" Anders yelled.

Everyone turned around.

Greg stood where he was, completely unaware of his surroundings, for he was still blind and shook with each step. Somehow he knew where to point, though. He lifted his right hand and pointed straight at Anders and started marching across the grass…

"…You lied to me!" he yelled back. "You told me that we'd all reclaim our names! The Umbra would help us be who we once were, and the people of Des Moines would finally bow down to US! You said this yourself! And I believed you…I'm through with that belief anyway…but now you're saying you wanted us to STOP the Umbra?"

Anders squinted his eyes. "What in tarnation are you doing here?" he asked. "Didn't I send you outside?"

"I came back because it wasn't worth it," said Greg. "Maybe I'm still blind in here, but I didn't want to leave all the guys alone! If one of them died, I don't think I could sleep anymore!"

"Well, not like it matters anyway," said Anders. "I did say that the Umbra can't be left unattended anymore, AND I KNOW THAT IT'S MY DOING TO BEGIN WITH! But it's too late for all of you now. Even if all of you go down into the temple and seal the Umbra and make it all outside, that's not going to stop this place from reappearing somewhere else. This place is unstable now. It's a force much stronger than the dimension that holds it. Somewhere, someday, another seam will open elsewhere. And there's only one way to make sure that can't happen again."

"And that is?" said Shawn, lightly beating his nail-bat against his palm. "I'd love to hear what you'll say about this."

Anders chuckled nervously. "Well…it means someone will have to stay behind and watch this place. As long as one travels the Umbra, he is immortal. He can watch this place forever. He may never walk upon the real world again, but he will prevent the Umbra from ever reappearing."

"Okay then," said Shawn with a slight laugh in his voice. "Nice seeing you. Let's go…"

Anders shook his head. "No guys, now I want out…if you leave me here…I'll be forever living with my past mistakes…I have so much to live for, and I…didn't realize…not until I screwed with the Umbra's essence. It's something I wasn't expecting…but as it happened, my own hatred for you guys increased like magic…I crawled in and out of the Umbra to find more ways to sabotage you guys and I didn't even realize…"

"Oh shut up," said Shawn. "You're not worth fighting anymore. Let's just let you rot here in your misery…You've killed people all over Des Moines with this, you know. It's not like you'll be making a name for yourself if you do get out of here, anyway."

"…Then can one of the others do it?" said Anders. "Let me go, and let one of them stay!"

"You poisoned their minds, and now they're blind, helpless, and wanting to go home. You started this mess, and we're leaving you here."

"Guy's a nut job," Mick muttered as he crossed his arms. "You sure you want him to watch this place?"

"Does he still have that grudge?" Malcolm asked. "Um…if he still hates us, I think we should pick someone who's, you know…happy to be here?"

Shawn said absolutely nothing. He stood where he was like a statue, only moving to tighten the grip on his nail-bat. Both Mick and Malcolm backed away from him; didn't want to get their heads bitten off, or anything. The clown still scared them.

A long pause of silence followed. Anders looked all around, surveying the field around him, eyeing each member one by one. He even looked down at all the masked fans who gathered around them. It would be heartbreaking to separate one so young from the real world…they had so much more to live for. Anders himself knew that. He wanted desperately to change, anyway. In his mind, he guessed that it was the Umbra that poisoned his own mind from the beginning…he didn't want to stay here at all…

Suddenly he felt something grab his ankle and he came crashing to the ground. Shooting out from under the soil were three writhing and flailing angry creatures, human in form but beast-like in their anger. One bore a once-white suit; he bore a hatchet in one hand and floppy dreads on his rock-like head. Standing next to him was a shorter, stockier man wearing a red suit; he bore a giant red clown nose and fluffy orange hair. At his right was a pale-skinned woman wearing a white dress…

"…You left us here to die!" yelled the first as he swung at Anders with his weapon. "You…left…us…HERE! NOW we know what we are and why!"

"I should've never been born," said the clown. "And he…he should've never brought us. I think the only way to solve this is to make sure he never sees the light of day again."

The girl on the left said nothing. She was obviously filled with anger, as they could see a vivid burning color fill her pale face. Anders was punched, kicked, and hurled to the ground…

"…Why are they here?" said Joey.

"We wrote them into existence," Corey said with a shrug. "Just didn't expect Anders to bring them here."

"But I mean…why…"

Finally Jim felt his mind returning to him. Once again, he found himself right where he wanted to be; in the back and not talked to. He let everything around him get absorbed into his mind…

…That's right, we're still here, said his inner voice. Looks like Anders made some pretty bad moves…I wonder if we'll ever make it out of here now…

Shawn bit his thumbnail and backed away just a little. "I…I wasn't expecting these guys at all," he muttered. "W-When did Anders bring in these? W-Weren't these the tracks that we were putting on our album?"

Mick tapped Shawn on the shoulder rather nervously. "Uh, Shawn…Shawn…Shawn…what if these guys kill Anders? They look pretty angry and I think they might do it…"

With a heavy sigh, Shawn shook his head. "I don't know what to do anymore…Anders screwed up so much here…I guess…one of us might have to stay behind instead…I don't know…GUYS STOP IT!"

The three angry people backed away from Anders and glared. One of them hissed like a snake.

If one of us is staying behind, let it not be me, thought Jim. I have so many things I want to do…Even more than seeing Corey again, I want to see Sid's real face…I have to know he's real and not just my imagination…I hate it here.

Mick tapped Shawn on the shoulder again, and almost got his hand slapped. "I just wanted to ask a quick question," he said nervously. "If one of US stays behind…how do we seal the Umbra and get out of here?"

After a moment of nothing, Shawn merely shrugged.

Joey looked over at Corey and grabbed his arms and flung himself at him. The words must've hit him and scared him half to death. There was obviously no way either of them would be staying behind.

Shawn glanced over and them and sighed. "Well, someone's got to look after this band," he said in a miserable tone. "I founded it, and it's still my dream…I'm not looking back into the past. I'm done with this place."

"I really would stay behind myself," said Greg. "Poor Anders needs a break. He'll die if he stays here, I can tell. Even if you remove whatever just now happened to him, god, I wish I could see…I don't think he wants to live here. Get him out of here…I just wish I could replace him here. I can't see…"

Josh nodded in response. Next to Craig and Chris, Brandon shook his head and sighed.

"Someone's got to know about the Umbra well enough to stay here," said Anders, still lying on the ground. "Someone, anyone…anyone out there who'll do this?"

Jim suddenly felt a shove against his left shoulder. Joey felt it, and finally Shawn. He walked by all of them, hood obscuring half of his face, the remaining half revealing the dark, scratched face of a serial killer. At his side was his weapon of choice; the once-silver chainsaw now caked in dried blood. There was no sound uttered as he walked ahead of them, all of them, and faced down Anders…alone. Within moments he went from being the nicest, gentlest human being…to a vicious-looking beast. His heart raced and pounded against his chest, and he went cold inside; Jim suddenly couldn't look at him.

"…Paul?" said Shawn slowly. "W-Why would you…"

Paul looked down at the ground and sighed. "Because I wanted to know more about this place from the beginning," he said. "I wanted to know where you guys were one day…and then I saw those books lying out on the desk. You guys were reading about werewolves and vampires and…the Umbra…and I wanted to know more. And well…this whole place here is the result of whatever you were doing with them, right? If I stay here, I'll learn more about this place…and I'll help it stay this way as best as I can."

"You're leaving us?!" Joey cried. "Paul, you can't! You're still one of us!"

Paul looked back at them; through the bars in his mask they could see a smile…

"Guys, what's more important?" he said. "Having all nine of us together, or the dream we had? It's not over. Look, guys…our message has to spread through the people like a plague…it's what we're still hoping for, right? If one guy leaves, the dream still stands…right?"

"You're forgetting one trivial detail," said Shawn. "Paul, if you stay here, we can't get out! There's a giant nonagram down in the bottom of the temple, and one of the points still has your name on it! Don't get all insane on us now!"

Anders slowly got up to his feet and brushed some of the dirt off. He wasn't attacked again afterward. He sighed with relief. "You can still do it," he said. "Paul can come down there with you…he has a choice of whether or not he wants to follow you out when the Umbra starts to split open."

The others looked at each other and shrugged…

"I don't know, is he telling the truth?" asked Candy, tugging on Shawn's arm.

"We have to believe him," said Shawn. "Even I have no idea what else to think anymore…We'll just go down there, and whatever happens, happens…even if I'm the only one who makes it out alive, I'm not quitting this band…I just wish…it didn't need to happen…like this…"

Shawn buried his face in his rugged hands and became tense. This was the first time any of them had ever seen him look this way. Mick was still standing right next to him, and wished he would be anywhere but here…Seeing the dark, mysterious clown sob quietly was just too awkward…

"I guess…there's nothing left to do but go down in there," said Corey, his crackling beam sword still humming at his side. "Whatever happens, happens…so are you really cooperating with us, Anders?"

Anders turned away and shrugged. "I guess…I don't know if I'll ever be over the fact that you sent me to the back like that…but this place has really poisoned me…I gotta get out of here…"

In a flash, Jim felt his left arm being grabbed again. Yep, and his right one, too. Somehow he just knew he was some kind of security blanket to someone…But he didn't expect Josh to be hanging off his other arm, too…