“Um, I need a room. A big room.” I told the clerk at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Yeah, we were in Phoenix.

“Okay, sir, we have the perfect room for you and your...friends. It’s the Esplanade Suite.”

“Alright, how much does that run for?”

“For you, here...$380 nightly.” He said, smiling pleasantly.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, feeling slightly sick. “Alright, fine. If we live through this, I’m moving to Italy to become a beggar.” I muttered as I pulled out my credit card. I got the room key and we all piled into the elevator. The ride up to the fourteenth floor was awkwardly silent, only broken by Hunter whispering things to keep Zacky calm. He was holding his shirt to the cut on his cheek, but a few trickles of blood still showed on his neck. It had to be hurting like hell. We got off the elevator and quickly went to our room; we were in for an awkward night.

We sat around with the TV on some weird horror movie. No one was talking and the only real movement was whenever Johnny would roll over in his sleep (sleeping was his way of dealing with the pain) or when someone would get up to use the bathroom or something. The movie was some cheesy film about a bunch of teenagers stuck in a haunted house. One by one, they were abducted or fell in a trap or some shit. The only person really intimidated by it was Hunter; she was clinging tightly to my hand and eventually hid her face in my shirt. I wrapped my arm around her and patted her shoulder gently. I looked over her and caught Zacky sending me a death glare. Oh, shit. I cleared my throat.

“Um, Zack, can I talk to you?” I asked uncertainly. He rolled his eyes and got up. I pulled him toward the bedroom and I distinctly heard Jimmy whisper ‘Synacky’ to Hunter. “Fuck off!” I shouted at him before slamming the door. “Okay, Zacky, if looks could kill, I’d be dead ten times over. what’s your problem?” I asked.

“No problem, I just wanna know why you’re feeling up my sister.” He growled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

“I wasn’t feeling her up,” I defended, “she was scared and wanted to be held.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Listen, Zacky, I like your sister, I’m not gonna lie, but I respect her enough not to take advantage of her.” I said stubbornly.

“Do you respect me?” Zacky asked, making me mad.

“No, not at all.” I growled, glaring at him.

“Good.” He stated, pushing me onto the bed. Before I knew it, he was straddling me and his lips were attached to mine. My arms instinctively went around his neck and I quietly moaned into the kiss. It took a minute before my senses returned.

“Zacky, stop.” I muttered, pushing me off. His cheeks were flushed and he looked ashamed of himself.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He said, looking away guiltily.

“It’s, um, okay. Just...don’t tell anyone about that.” I said, getting up and rushing out of the room. I slowly sank onto the couch, staring blankly at the TV.

“Are you okay?” Hunter whispered, laying her hand on my arm.

“That was the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me.” I mumbled, still staring at the TV with an expression of horror. Just as Zacky walked out, there was a pounding on the door. We all looked up, staring at the door as all became silent. Then we heard the sound of a gun cocking. I silently waved everyone to the window. They climbed out, onto the fire escape. I quickly closed the curtains and window behind us.

“Fuck. Of all the hotel rooms we could’ve got, we got the one with the out-of-service fire escape.” Matt groaned. I looked and, sure enough, the ladder was hanging off its hinges. Hunter rolled her eyes and grabbed onto the other ladder, climbing toward the roof. We were all quick to follow her.

“Well, great, now we’re stuck on the roof.” Johnny grimaced.

“At least the guy will be searching our room for awhile.” I said, sticking up for Hunter’s idea...even though Johnny was right. We all sat under the roof’s little water tower thing, just talking about old times.

“Those were the good old days.” Matt sighed.

“Yup,” Jimmy agreed, adding, “the days before Matt was a criminal.”

“The days before The Rev was an alcoholic.” Johnny said.

“The days before Jonny slept constantly.” I chimed in.

“The days when Syn wasn’t in love with my sister.” Zacky sighed. All eyes turned to him, mine and Hunter’s being panicked. “Whoops, was that a secret?”

“You love me?” Hunter asked, looking at me.

“I...yes. Yes, I love you. Hunter, will you marry me?” I asked in all seriousness.

“What the fuck? You’re just gonna propose?” She asked.

“Yup. We’re all going to hell, anyway.” I said. “Why not enjoy the ride?”

“Okay, then yes. I’ll marry you, Synyster Gates.” She giggled. Her face went blank for a second. “Wait, will that make me Mrs. Haner...or Mrs. Gates?” Everyone laughed at the silliness of the question.

“See, now this is like old times.” I sighed. “What happened to these days, guys?”

“The days when guys chased us and murdered our families?” Jimmy asked sarcastically.

“No, the days when we just talked and laughed and had fun doing stupid shit.”

“Those were great, Syn, but we had to focus more on music and less on fun.”

“Guys, that’s the entire point. The music business isn’t fun if everyone’s all work and no play. We should make time for both.”

“Well, we-” We all stopped as we heard laughter. I instantly felt Hunter leave my side and dash off to hide. We all looked out and saw Jackson ascending the stairs.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the big band, Avenged Satanfold. Killed any other good people recently?”

“Jackson, just back off. No one here-”

“Quiet, Sanders. I was talking to Haner here.” He glowered.

“Me? Why?” I asked, confused. Then it clicked. I was the one who went to jail, I was the one declared to have murdered Mia. He thought I was the one to get revenge on. “Oh, no, you’ve-”

“Shut up.” Jackson sneered. “The only thing I wanna hear from you is a confession. Admit it. You killed my sister because you wanted to act out your stupid song.”

“What? You’ve seriously lost me.” I said. All the guys nodded in agreement.

“You fags want your band to be popular, so you’re acting out your fucking ‘Little Piece of Heaven’ song. You’re probably raping her dead corpse every night.”

“Whoa, now, you’ve really got the wrong idea.”

“Stop lying!” He shouted, shooting the ground at my feet. I jumped back, bumping into Matt. He cocked the gun and aimed it (at Zacky). “Since you don’t care about people dying, I’m gonna kill all your little friends.” Just as his finger strayed to the trigger, I heard Hunter let loose a cry as she threw herself at him. He stumbled and his footing moved dangerously close to the edge. Hunter was on his back, her legs around his waist and arms around his head. He was shooting in all directions, trying to rip her off himself. He was moving closer and closer to the edge. I ran forward, still dodging the bullets flying from his gun. Then, it all stopped. Jackson’s foot had touched the edge, slipping and sending them off the side of the building. I felt a scream building in my throat as I ran to the edge. Hunter was a few feet down, clinging to a window ledge with tears pouring down her face. Once the guys helped me pull her up, we looked over the edge, seeing Jackson’s broken body fifteen stories below. The nightmare was finally over.