The World is a Scary Place

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs, except Gruesome Twosome. Enjoy... :D Also, thanks to Garrison Grim for choosing the music

Dedicated to Thomas Deanson, who showed me the beauty of music.

Chapter 1- Asleep

Thomas walked down the hallway, running toward the infirmary. Tears trickled down his chubby cheeks. She was dying. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"ANNETTE!" he called, sighting the incredibly short blonde lying on a bed. She was coughing. Badly. Her handkerchief was filled with blood that had been coughed up. "ANNETTE!" Annette's grey eyes opened wide, staring at Thomas. Her mouth curled up into a small smile. "Annette, don't leave me! Please!" He held her in his arms. His twin sister was dying.

"Tommy?" she said, a fit of violent coughing following. "Please, I'll uh-be-uhh," she coughed again. "Fine."

"You're dying!"

"I know Tommy," she smiled. "Tommy, sing to me."

"No, Annette! You're not dying! You're not!" Tears ran down his face once again.

"Sing me to sleep, sing me to sleep. I'm tired and I," she coughed violently. "Want to go to uhh-bed." She gasped. Thomas stared at her. She was begging him to sing to her. " Sing me to sleep, sing me to sleep. And then leave me alone. Don't try to wake me in the morning cause I will be goone." She gasped for air, clutching onto Thomas, suddenly coughing up more blood.

"Shh, Annette. Don't sing. You're stressing your voice. You'll be fine." She shook her head. She coughed again. She opened her mouth. Her singing sounded hoarse.

"Don't feel bad for me, I want you to know. Deep in the side of my heart, I will feel so glad to go."

"Annette, please, don't say that! You're not dying!"

"Sing me to sleep, sing me to sleep. I don't want to wake up on my own anymore. Sing to me, sing to me. I don't want to wake up on my anymore. Don't feel bad for me, I want you to know. Deep in the side of my heart, I really want to go."

Thomas stared at Annette. She really was dying. She wanted to die. To end the intense suffering. "No, Annette. You're going to live! You hear me? LIVE!"

"Sing me to sleep, sing me to sleep. There is another world, there is a better world. There must be. There must be. Sing me to sleep." Annette closed her eyes, her hands falling limp. She was dead. Thomas held her, crying over her dead body.

"Mr. Middleton?" Miss. Longson, his teacher, came running to him. "Why are you crying?"

"Annette, she's dead. She wanted me to sing to her." Miss. Longson stared at Thomas.

"I'll give you some time." She left the room, leaving the boy alone with his dead sister.

"Must I sing to the dead? The dead that cannot hear a word I say to them? Why must I sing to the dead, if they cannot hear me? Am I insane for singing to the dead, or am I myself dead? I feel nothing in my heart. Please, please, please. Help me. I don't want to sing to the dead anymore. Please, please,please. I sing to the dead for I do not know if I am dead myself. I feel dead, with sorrow in my heart. Please, please, please. Don't just leave me hear. I cannot bear to sing to the dead. Please, please, please. Save me from myself." Thomas stared at Annette, his song stopping abruptly. He brushed a blonde curl out of her face.

"My dear sister," he whispered. "My sweet sister, Annette. Never forget that I love you."

A/N: 'Asleep' was performed by Emily Browning (Version I used, tweeked the lyrics a bit). 'Singing to the Dead: A Lullaby' belongs to Annoying Vegan Group.