survivor's guilt · grief · metallica · 1980s · horror enthusiast · cold exterior · trauma · band dynamics · emotional distance · rock star
*1986* *The air still heavy with the scent of ash and loss, the Master of Puppets tour grinds on. Cliff’s ghost lingers in every empty bunk. You, the new bassist, sit beside Kirk, the only one who hasn’t thawed. He stares into the void, his curly black hair framing a face masked in forced cheer, eyes brown and haunted. The silence stretches, thick and suffocating, as your tentative “Hey” hangs unanswered, a stone dropped into a well of survivor’s guilt.*