Chapter 6

—Holly Wainright—

As I walked alone through the abandoned town, I became conscious of someone around. Curiously, I jogged around in the labyrinth of old buildings until I saw a figure huddled in the alleyway. I could hear him moaning in pain, and quickly I rushed to his aid.

When he picked his head up, I realized with a jolt that it was Tom. "Holly…help me…"

"Tom…you're alive!" I knelt down next to him, excited to get back to the bus and show Bill.

But the guitarist continued to glare at me with extreme fear in his eyes. "Not for long; I need help!"

"With what?" I asked. But before he could answer, I woke up.

My eyes flew open, and I found myself lying in Bill's bed, the singer asleep beside me. I was hit by a wave of sadness—it was just a dream. Tom was really dead.

I felt Bill stir, and together we exited his room and walked to the kitchen. I noticed the G's were already awake, and Christie was talking to them a mile a minute. I smirked, amused at my friend's tireless energy, and she seemed even more hyper now that she was with her favorite band.

Bill followed me a little ways toward the kitchen, but as soon as Dimitri came into view, he practically ran into the living room. I gave him a funny look, but decided not to pursue him. I had an idea as to why he was so hostile toward Tom's impersonator; he didn't owe me an explanation.

Christie noticed Bill's hasty exit and turned to me. "What was that about?"

"Bill hasn't been feeling himself lately," I reminded her. When I sat at the table, I decided to change the subject. "So, what are you guys doing today?"

"We might stop somewhere to go shopping," Georg explained. "I need some new shoes, and Bill needs more black hair dye."

"And more makeup," Gustav laughed.

I looked over at Christie, who was staring longingly toward the living room. "You know Holly, when I first came here, I expected to get to hang out with Bill. He is my favorite, you know." A shy smile tugged on her mouth.

"I do know, Christie," I replied. "And I will do everything I can to cheer him up enough to at least talk to you. Who knows? Maybe you can help me comfort him through these tough times."

My friend turned to me, her eyes alive with excitement. "Really?" But then she suddenly grew uncertain. "Do you think he'll like me?"

"Why wouldn't he?" I asked. "You have such a sweet personality."

"And you're friends with Holly," Georg added. "Any friend of Holly's is a friend of ours."

Christie looked like she was about to shed tears of joy. "Awesome!" She turned to Tom's lookalike. "What are you doing today, Dimitri?"

"I might just hang around here," he replied. "David specifically told me not to be seen with the band outside of concerts because I don't look enough like Tom up close; the fans will know I'm a fluke."

Christie raised an eyebrow. "David?"

"Our manager," Gustav answered.

Christie nodded in understanding, but there was something that bothered me. "How long do you plan to do this? Eventually people will find out the truth; they'll know that Tom is dead and that Dimitri is a fake."

Georg shrugged. "We'll just keep leading people on until we're caught. It wasn't our idea, mind you; it was David's. He was the one who hired Dimitri to stand in for Tom." The brunette man sighed. "Our manager is a nice man, but sometimes he loses reason and does crazy things to keep Tokio Hotel together."

I raised an eyebrow. "He's trying to keep you together? But that's my job!"

Gustav laughed. "David was just buying us time, I guess. But now that you're here, you can perform miracles like you did last time and bring the band together once again. You even brought backup!" He held his arm out, gesturing to Christie.

Christie started bouncing in her seat. "Oh my god! You mean I get to help Tokio Hotel? This is the greatest thing that's ever happened!" She threw her arms around me. "Thank you, Holly! Thank you, thank you!"

I gently nudged my friend away when I heard noises coming from the living room. Peering around the corner, I saw a TV flickering in the corner and a sickly-looking Bill glowering at it. I strained my eyes at the television and heard what sounded like a German reality show, but when I took a closer look I realized that the characters were younger versions of the band.

"He's watching episodes of Tokio Hotel TV," Christie whispered from behind me.

"He's been doing that a lot lately," Georg explained. "I think he seeks comfort merely in seeing Tom's face on a TV screen."

I looked back at my singer. "He doesn't seem comforted; he looks kind of irritated if you ask me."

The bassist shrugged. "Well, he does it anyway. I guess watching our old documentaries is the closest he can get to Tom. You have to feel bad for him; he really misses his brother."

Christie tried desperately to change the subject. "So, you guys said something about shopping?"

...

"Georg, which one did you say Bill likes?" Christie asked as she weeded through bottles of hair dye.

"Here, let me see…" the brunette man answered as he made his way over to my friend.

My mind was in a haze as I plucked tubes of liquid eyeliner from the shelf. Ever since we left the tour bus, I couldn't stop thinking about Bill. Those beautiful eyes, that shining face…they have been destroyed since Tom's death. I wanted to do whatever possible to see him happy again.

"It's this one." The sound of Gustav's voice snapped me from my thoughts as he took a tube of eyeliner from my grasp. "We might want to get a few of these; most of the eyeliner he uses is wasted by his incessant crying."

I reached up toward the shelf for more makeup, but slowly I lowered my hand. My eyes fell to the floor, and I felt like every last trace of energy had been drained from my being.

"Holly, are you alright?" Gustav asked, concern in his voice.

I looked up at my blond friend. "Gustav, ever worry about Bill?"

"Constantly," he replied, rubbing my shoulder. "But he'll move on…eventually. He just needs time to heal."

I didn't know if it was just my imagination, but Gustav didn't sound like he believed his own statement. It led me to wonder if what Bill was going through was something he could actually recover from. Will he ever see the light of day?

—Bill Kaulitz—

I glared at the TV the whole time, my sour face growing more intense whenever I saw myself playing, laughing, goofing off with Tom. There was one scene in which we were fighting; I flinched every time I heard myself call Tom an idiot, whereas he merely pointed out that I had made a mistake and that it was my problem. How could I have been so immature? More tears came to my eyes, and I wished with all my heart that I could fight with Tom—at least he'd still be here.

"Bill, do you want some lunch?" Dimitri called from the kitchen.

I felt myself grow hot with seething rage at the sound of that wretched man's voice. "No!"

"Are you sure?" The mockery of my brother appeared in the doorway, and I could barely contain myself. "You haven't eaten in days, and you were skinny to begin with."

I turned around on the couch. "Leave me alone!"

Dimitri said nothing, but exited the room. I already had extreme nausea when Tom died, and the arrival of his lookalike only made things worse. He told me he felt bad for me, but how could he? He had my brother's job and was making a ton of money just by acting like my deceased twin. He was completely insensitive, and so was David for hiring him in the first place. No one can replace Tom; when will everyone see that?

After a while, my mind drifted back to Holly. She had done so much for me as well as my friends in the past, and now she was back. I didn't know how the brunette girl could help me through my depression, but I had a feeling she'd perform some miracle and make everything right again.

She's done it before.