It didn't need to be said that, when daylight began to slowly creep and peak out from below the horizon, Matt and Jimmy had never been more relieved in their lives. It was their one beacon of hope, one they could rely on, one that would guide them to safety with glorious golden light.

The night had been considerably rough for them both. Tormented by countless cold, crashing waves threatening to tear the pair apart from the ring keeping them afloat, alive. Matt wasn't even sure how much of the seawater he'd spat out after it forcibly flooded his mouth. Jimmy had no idea how he'd managed to keep his grip on the ring, with barely any energy to spare. Not only that, but the pair's lack of sleep had certainly not been of assistance, their eyes struggling and desperately fighting to stay open, moments where they'd drift off only to be shaken awake by the other.

Now though, the waters were just as gentle as Matt remembered them as they watched from the boat. There were no mammoth waves now that roared and threatened to smother them both. The water gently lapped over them now. They'd been given another chance, it seemed..

Matt glanced over at the soaked drummer, who's black graphic tee clung tightly to his slim frame, his hair glued to the side of his face by the water, dark circles around his eyes. Jimmy only returned the brief look, noting Matt's shirt hugging his body in a similar fashion to his. While his eyes weren't as dark, it was the yawning that gave it away.

"Shads, how much longer are we gonna be out here for..?" Jimmy asked quietly, his voice hoarse.

"Hopefully not long now, buddy.. Just need to see where to go from here.. How are you holdin' up?"

"I'm cold, I'm tired, I'm weak... I dunno how much longer I'm gonna last.."

The vocalist frowned. He turned and extended his free arm to rub at the drummer's back. "You're gonna be okay, Jimbo. We're gonna make it though this. I know it's tough, but promise me you'll try?" Matt spoke, giving encouraging words to his best friend.

"..I promise. I'll try." Jimmy replied after a moment. Matt managed a smile.

"Alright, that's good. If you can, keep a look out for anything that might be an island or a boat, okay?"

"So, basically anything above the water?"

"Yep. Even birds. If there's birds, there's land."

For the next two hours, the pair would do nothing but search, swim, search, swim and sigh as they found wonderful, fantastic nothingness. Nothing but water. Water everywhere. Matt was growing frustrated, tired and hopeless., as was Jimmy. They were growing weary, their arms and legs not wanting to work, their heads throbbing, eyes straining.

"Matt, which way did the boat go again..?"

"Oh- I've got no idea... Why didn't we just follow the damn boat? ...Fuck's sake." Matt groaned, hitting his head on the ring with a thud. "Why didn't we just follow the boat..?"

"Sorry... I should've said earlier. We don't stand a chance now..." Jimmy frowned. "I'm sorry Matt..."

"No, no, it's not your fault... We had already lost it and those fuckin' waves weren't helpin' at all... Even if you had brought it up, we still wouldn't have known which way to go.." Matt explained, raising his head from the ring to scan the surroundings for what felt like the millionth time.

"Wait, what about a compass direction? What way was the boat goin'?" Jimmy suggested.

Matt paused for a moment, staring out into space while he desperately tried to remember what Synyster had told them.

"Wait, so where's these islands again, Gates?"

"They're quite a while away, at least if we take our boat because it's not really fast, unfortunately.. I'd say it'll take a week to get there."

"Yeah, but which way are we goin'? South, I'm guessin'?" Wait... What had Brian said? Sure, it was definitely south, but Matt knew there was something he was missing...

"Uhh... I think it was South West.. I can't remember exactly what Brian said.." Matt admitted.

"Sounds about right to me. Now, goin' by the position of the sun... This way!" Jimmy suddenly called, tugging on the ring to alert Matt. The vocalist cocked his head in surprise, for he certainly wasn't expecting the drummer's sudden burst of energy and excitement.

"Wha-?"

"No time to explain, Sandy. Let's go, let's go, let's go!" The drummer yelled over the top of him. "Start swimmin', buddy!"

Well, Matt thought, Jimmy must really be onto something here. Sure, he was an energetic guy, everyone knew that. It was just the fact that literally only moments ago, he'd been completely drained. Oh well, Matt thought, let's just go with it.

You'd have thought the pair were swimming in an Olympic race against each other, the way they were going. They relentlessly fought the water as they forced themselves forward through the ocean. Whatever hope Jimmy had, it was certainly driving the team.

"Keep... Keep goin' Matt!" He called over to the vocalist. "You're doin' great!"

"I don't see it... I don't think we're goin'... the right way!" Matt responded though heavy breathing.

The drummer just looked at the vocalist. "You think we're goin' the wrong way?"

"Well, we haven't found anythin'..."

"So what's that?" The Rev asked, pointing in the distance to his right. Wait, what? Matt had definitely not seen that.

"Uh... I retract my previous two statements..?"

Jimmy chuckled and lightly slapped his best friend's back, shaking his head with a grin. "Thought so. C'mon, Mr. We're-So-Hopeless, let's get a move on!"

Matt didn't need to be told twice. Tapping into whatever energy and willpower he had left, he swam alongside Jimmy towards the distant thing, because they weren't too sure it was an island. At one point, the drummer beside him could feel his arms going numb, eyes growing heavier and heavier, his legs barely able to move. Matt himself was experiencing a few similar issues, and for a moment, neither of them thought they would make it to the thing without collapsing.


And then, after almost half an hour later, they made it.

The thing was indeed an island, luckily for the pair. An island protected by a considerably rocky coastline. Beyond the rocks laid golden sands that decorated the perimeter of the island. A few trees were dotted around here and there, providing some shade for whatever (if anything lived there. Finally, beyond the sand, a thick, dense forest stood tall into the skies. The island itself was actually much larger than it seemed at first glance, however, it was certainly tiny compared to the islands they were supposed to be heading to.

But that didn't matter. It was land.

The pair made their way over to the rocks and carefully clambered on top of one of them, panting heavily as they rested. The ring was placed beside Matt, who kept it tightly in his grasp just in case.

"Well..." Jimmy breathed after a while.

"We're alive, Jimmy... Against all odds, we're alive..." Matt spoke, and a weak smile cracked upon his face. "We're alive."

"If you didn't grab that ring, we would both be dead right now... You fuckin' saved us both."

"Hey, don't give me credit.. Thank whoever put it on there in the first place." The vocalist chuckled, looking down at their lifesaver.

"Well, whatever. I'm still sayin' you saved us anyway." Jimmy smiled at his best friend before running his hand through his dripping, sticking hair.

"How about we head to the shore? We can settle down there, get some rest and see what this bag has?" Matt then suggested, pointing over to the beach.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go, dude."

---

"What do you mean 'They're gone'? Val, they can't have gone anywhere."

"Brian, I'm telling you the truth! Matt and Jimmy have disappeared completely!"


This was the last thing a hungover Synyster Gates wanted.

He was sat up in his comfy king-sized bed alongside his girlfriend, who was quite happy snuggled up in his tattooed arms. It was late afternoon and everyone had enjoyed a nice long lie-in, especially the band members who were recovering from last night's drinking session. Syn, since waking up, had pretty much dealt with the worse bit, having downed two bottles of water and a can of Rockstar, hoping it would aid his recovery. After that, he decided just to stay in bed all day until they arrived at the main islands. He wasn't expecting Val to come bursting into the room in a panic because Matt and Jimmy had supposedly gone missing.

The guitarist groaned and rubbed his eyes, then propped himself up into a sitting position, looking at the woman in front of him. Panic was written all over her face, those wide eyes darting left and right, her hands fidgeting, not knowing what to do. It seemed odd for her to be acting this way if this was some sort of elaborate prank... But if Jimmy was involved, it was completely plausible.

"Look Val, he and Jimmy wouldn't go anywhere. I bet they're just bein' dicks and hidin' somewhere..." He assured. "You know what mischief those two will get up to."

"B-But Brian, I've searched every bit of the boat! They're n-nowhere to be found!" Val stammered. "None of the guys have seen them either!"

"They must've hidden pretty well then-"

"Brian!" Barked Mich, Syn's beloved girlfriend. "This is potentially a serious problem!"

"But baby-"

"No. Those are your best friends! What if they've fallen off of the boat?!"

"They're not that stupid..." Syn muttered under his breath.

"Who said they did it willingly?" She questioned.

Damnit, Brian thought to himself, she had a pretty good point there. The guitarist sighed, rubbed his face and reluctantly rose to his feet. "Sorry Val... I'll help you look.."

It wasn't what Val hoped for, but it was better than nothing. She knew that, until he saw they were nowhere to be seen, he would never take her seriously. They left the compartment and started by asking everyone for the second time, trying to get whatever information they could. Nothing. Nothing apart from what they already knew - That Matt and Jimmy had spent a lot of time outside watching the ocean together.

They checked all the other rooms too - The bathroom, the spare rooms, under each and every bed, the cabin, the main area, outside on the deck, everywhere. At this point, they were only an hour away from arrival, and if they couldn't find the pair, they'd have to go on without them.

"Shit... I guess you were right. They really have vanished..." Brian admitted, biting at his lip and scratching at his neck.

"I'm so glad you've finally realised that." Val spoke, "But whatever, you've seen my point. They're not on the boat."

"So they must've fallen off, just like Mich suggested.."

The idea brought a tear to Val's eye. She had felt the boat rocking underneath her as the waves lashed out last night. If they had fallen into that... Surely they would've drowned. And Brian knew it too. The guitarist lowered his head, eyes glued to the floor. He couldn't help but feel utterly awful for even considering the whole thing to be a joke. His best friends were probably dead.

"I-I'm really sorry, Val..." He apologised, voice trembling ever so slightly. Val sniffled softly and slowly nodded. "Uh... Do we tell the others..?"

"I-I think we should..."

They both made their way back inside. Brian called for everyone to meet him in the main area and watched as Johnny, Zacky, Meag, Mich and Lacey gathered before them. Mich instantly knew something was wrong. She could read Brian and Val's expressions like a book.

"Uh... So... We asked you guys to come here because... Um.." Syn started, struggling to find the words to express the situation.

"Brian, what's goin' on? Did you find them? Is this a trick?" Johnny asked, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly and raising his dark eyebrows.

"No, we didn't find them, and this isn't a joke... And I seriously wish I'd taken this more seriously when Val told me but whatever..." The guitarist sighed. "Uhm..."

Val decided to help Brian out and take over the tragic announcement. "Basically.. We searched the boat but couldn't find them anywhere... We came to the conclusion that.. They must've fallen off of the boat last night..."

No one could believe a word they had just heard, with the exception of Mich, who had been expecting something following those lines. She got up and hurried to Brian, pulling him into her comforting arms. At that instant, he broke down, burrowing his face into her shoulder to muffle his whimpers, to hide his tears.

"W-Wait... So.. You mean-"

"Zacky.. There's a very good chance that t-they're dead.." Val spoke softly, and with that, she disappeared into her compartment, shutting herself away from everything and everyone.



What a wonderful start to their holiday.

Notes