Disclaimer- Yeah, ok, like you can't guess what I'm going to say next.

A/N- The lyrics in this fic are from Even in Death by Evanescence. They're the bits in *s.

Continuation

*Give me a reason to believe that you're gone,
I see your shadow so I know they're all wrong,
Moonlight on the soft brown earth,
It leads me to where you lay,
They took you away from me but now I'm taking you home*


A mischievous breeze jumped playfully through the trees, shaking the branches just enough to scare the leaves and make the young birds jump. Fluffy clouds born of a child's daydream played tag in the blue ocean wilderness of the sky, and small birds indulged in an impromptu game of hide and seek among their white friends. Small children ran in the park, bright splashes against the green they ran through, laughing joyfully as the breeze tried to catch their ball. Everywhere you cared to look you saw a fantastic summer day.

Drivers wound down their windows, inviting the sun to warm their faces. Jackets were left open, flapping like the wings of a captive bird and sleeves were short, allowing the skin so long hidden to look upon the world. Windows were thrown open and lungs so long full of stuffy air greedily drank deeply of the fresh air they found. A quick glance around would tell you good feeling was ruling today,

But a quick glance never reveals what lies beneath the surface.

Up in his room, far removed from the joy that had been brought by the sun, a young man sat, deep in thought. A year ago, on a day so similar, he had been left alone. A year ago, a day he just couldn't seem to leave.


*I will stay forever here with you,
My love,
The softly spoken words you gave me,
Even in death our loves goes on*


His eyes were fixed on the street below his window, but he didn't see any of the people walking below. Cars passed along the road, radios clear through the open windows, but he didn't hear. All he saw was himself, alone. A solitary light in the darkness that was his world. No shield, no guard, no way of stopping the shadows from snuffing him out.

He had always been afraid of the dark. For as long as he could remember, he had lain awake in his bed, terrified of what would emerge from the night if he were ever to cease his virgil. Then, everything had changed, and the fear had left him. A kind voice had been there, to guide him back from the brink of his terror. Warm hands had been there, to hold him, safe out of reach of the minions of his nightmares.

But now it had all changed again. The monsters he had so nearly forgotten crept up to him, their breathing tormenting him, their hands teasing him. He screamed in the night, and no-one answered. His desperate pleas for help went unanswered. He fell over the edge of fear, his hands clawing the air, frantically searching for, but never finding, a lifeline back to safety.

One year ago, on a warm summers day, bright with sun and alive with happy voices, the only safety he had ever known had been torn away from him. He had been left to search for what he had lost. To be tormented by glimpses of what he sought. To be left crying by echoes of the memories he had.


*Some say I'm crazy for my love, Oh my love,
But no bonds can hold me from your side, Oh my love,
They don't know you can't leave me,
They don't hear you singing to me*


He had lost himself in the memories and dreams. He had thrown himself in to reality. He had tried everything to forget. But still red eyes haunted his dreams. His attention was constantly wandering to a photo. The memory of the day it was taken weighed heavily on his mind, as heavily as the golden pyramid that had once hung around his neck.

Laughter. Such light, happy laughter. A gentle smile directed towards him. A hand holding his, tender, loving. A burst of blindingly bright light. A brief groan of pain, lost in a scream of terror that echoed it. And then, black. The end of the world. A darkness so deep, he had thought nothing could penetrate it.

Now he knew nothing would.

His eyes slid again to the picture. A moment in time captured forever. Just a moment before time ended, and then, there was no living, no life, there was nothing. Only him, and he alone, was not one. He alone, was only half. His whole was gone, torn from him, a year ago today, on a day he couldn't leave. He couldn't move on, couldn't risk forgetting.


*I will stay forever here with you,
My love,
The softly spoken words you gave me,
Even in death our love goes on*


*And I can't love you, any more than I do*