I am alive. I think!

Hello fans. I have been gone a very long time, I know. I have not been out of the hospital for a long time now, and the scars of what I endured are both obvious, physically and mentally. It is hard for me to write on this blog, but I needed you all to know I am alive, I am home, in recovery. Although I must be honest and tell you I am not sure I will recover completely. I may be alive, but will never be the same.

The papers and media have already had a field day relaying their speculations on my ordeal. How much of what they said is true? We shall see. I am not yet ready to relay any details beyond what I have at present.

I am absolutely exhausted. I either sleep too much, in which the bad dreams come and wake me, preventing any real restful sleep, or I do not sleep at all.

I have to tell my female fans, out of respect, to please not come by my manor. I will not allow you inside. I really do need time alone. To myself.

I see the band has kept up on my blog and all they knew. There is a reason so many clues were missing in my disappearance. Those who took me left little behind. But, a clue I offer here; my heart was left behind. It no longer belongs to me and has perished along with the place in which I was held.

With this, I head off to bed. Oh, what I would not give for a dreamless night. But this is an impossibility!

Dane is BACK!!

This is Stephan again! I have written nothing in Dane's blog since December after he disappeared. The trail was so cold I was sure he was gone forever, no one ever knowing what had happened to him. We still do not know, and I have yet to see him, but he is back.

I moved home to my own house back in February. There was simply nothing left to look for and, although Edna is very nice, she was just too... accommodating for me. I guess she missed Dane quite a bit.

I guess I will leave the remainder of this blog to Dane, once he recovers and is out of the hospital. I am hopeful, though many express concern. He has not yet regained consciousness. The media has been all over this! Of course they have. This is big news--rock star found by housemaid, bloody and tortured, in torrential storm.  At least that is what one headline stated.

That gives a basic idea of what happened. I will not go on, as this is Dane's story to tell. Like I said, I am hopeful. At this writing, he is in the hospital in a coma. What he went through, what happened, and how they took him with leaving absolutely no trace, remains to be determined.

Here's a photo from a couple years ago...

Something strange happened today! A clue to Dane's disappearance?

Hello. This is Stephan Gale again. I am staying at Dane's mansion until there is some word of his whereabouts. His housekeeper Edna is here each day, doing her part, though I feel bad because Dane is not here to pay her. And so I offered to pay her wages until Dane returns. There have been no charges on his credit cards, nothing. The bank said he made no unusual withdrawals before he disappeared. If he had run away with this girl as the authorities claim, he would have needed money.

Anyway, it has been a cold and rainy day here in SC. I was lying in the den, watching television earlier today, when the dog started to bark. Dane's dog, Wolfe, is a very sweet Doberman with brain damage sustained as a puppy. He does not bark unless there's a real reason to.

Dane has these security cameras all over the place, so I started to check them. That's when I saw her--some girl was standing outside in the rain, outside the gate. It was dark, the reporters have all but left us alone by now. Who is this chick? I thought. I know Dane has women showing up at his house all the time. Usually he lets them in for sex, drinks and sometimes a smoke or two, but with him gone, I wasn't sure what to do. If she's a fan, she must know he is gone. As it happens, my curiosity got the best of me.

I didn't open the gate, but went out into the drizzle. I don't think she knew who I was, as I had on a jacket and hood. She must have thought I was Dane. Though she was wearing a long rain coat, her black hair was soaked and hung down her back. Her brown eyes grew really wide and she started ranting "Oh my God Oh my God... Dane... I am so sorry about last time we were together! Please give me another chance," she rambled. "I thought you were missing, but I knew you would be here. Please, let me in, let me explain..."

At that point I removed my hood, which freed my long red hair. You should have seen the look on her face when she realized I was not Dane. Her mouth dropped open and I thought she was going to collapse onto the wet pavement. She began to stutter, "Y-You... y-you're not... um...you're Stephan, aren't you... the bass guitarist for Dark Myst?"

I tried to remain calm and neutral. "I am. May I help you with something?"

"Um...I eh... I'm Dalia. I was here, um.... in December. Dane and I...we... well, we.... Is he back yet?"

Ohhh I got it. Another of Dane's conquests, back for more. Or so I thought at the time. "No, Dalia, he is not. I'm staying here for now."

"Oh, I see. Oh, I thought... I've been coming by. I saw the lights on, I mean... the lights have been on, but the reporters are gone now and it's night and I thought--"

"You thought wrong, Dalia. Dane is not back yet." I know I sounded defensive.

I thought she would leave at that, but she didn't. "I have something for him," she said as she pulled a wrinkled envelope from the small purse on her shoulder.

"What's that?" I asked.

"A gift... an apology, for last time."

Now I was intrigued. An apology? For what? Could this random fan not be so random? Could she have information on Dane's whereabouts and not even know it? I thought hard, then decided I needed to speak to her, question her. "Do you want to come in, Dalia?"

She nodded really fast.

Once in the house, Wolfe, Dane's Doberman, greeted her like an old friend. Not that that really meant anything. The dog loves everyone!! He's not much of a protector, he's a pet. Dalia patted him and called him by name. She said it was nice to see him again. She also seemed to know the house well, so she had definitely been here before. She walked into the parlor and looked around, not in the way people look when they are curious or browsing, but like she was looking for something. So, I decided to ask her.

"You lookin for something in particular?"

"Sort of, I guess. I should know better, after what happened." She kept looking around the room, the fireplace, the sofas, the piano, everywhere.

"What are you lookin for?" I asked.

"Well... I gave him a card last time I was here. I was hoping... I guess I was hoping he still had it."

Ah. What I didn't, and wouldn't, tell her was that Dane had a habit of collecting "trophies" as he called them, from women he slept with. If she had given him a card and it was not here, chances are she either stunk as a lay, or they never did it. "The maid probably threw it away," I told her. There were a few little trinkets about that I knew were Dane's "trophies" from past fans he had over and slept with, but they were less in the form of cards, and more in the form of silver or crystal knick knacks. Dane had expensive taste. If she had given him just a card and been a good lay, the card would have lasted a month at best. "When did you see Dane last?" I asked.

Dalia thought for a moment. "Uh, it was the 23rd, I think."

Hmmm. Bruce had mentioned to the police something about a fan Dane told him about, who had shown up that day (Dec. 23rd) with a gift, but he had not kept it. By that time, the card had been long gone and no one knew her name. And now, here she was and I felt it my duty to play detective. The police felt she was unimportant since Bruce and Caitlyn saw him after she did, and Dane was fine when they left. Something was missing, however. Something I could perhaps find out from this Dalia chick. Perhaps I could do what the police failed; find Dane!

"Tell me everything that happened that day," I said, feeling suddenly like a cop in a mystery novel.

"Why?" she asked.

People in mystery novels weren't supposed to ask why, they were supposed to just answer. "It might help find Dane," I said honestly.

"Um, ok..." she started. The envelope she held in her hand was spattered with rain, and she placed it on the top of the piano. I assumed it was another card for Dane. I looked at her expectantly, waiting for her story. "I came here to see Dane. Well, you know that. But, I gave him a card... a different card than this one," she motioned to the damp envelope. I nodded. C'mon, girl, get to something I can use here!  She continued, "We um... we... well, you know... started to get into it. But he stopped so suddenly. We were so close." She bit her lip and sat on the piano bench, her legs slightly parted. She was wearing a really short skirt!  I had to look away or else I would have finished wherever it was Dane left off!

"Okay," I said, unable for a moment to think. "Why did he stop?"

"I don't know!" she drawled (she was obviously from Georgia). "He was looking past me--towards that big mirror in his bedroom. I didn't see anything, but he just stopped, ya know. Then he said I had to go!" She shrugged. "I was fit to be tied, if ya get my meanin' but I left anyway. That was all. I went home."

Not much information to go on. I was very disappointed. But, I know Dane. We've been close friends for the past decade and I cannot imagine him stopping once he's started on one of his conquests, as he calls them. Not unless something major happened. She said he looked toward the mirror. And stopped. WTF??? I KNOW Dane has a problem with mirrors because he has said in the past that he sees funky things in them, but..... what could he have seen that would stop him from having sex????

I am just as lost now as I was before. No information to give police. I'll have to see if Bruce or Adrian have any information.

Anyway, I think Dalia saw my disappointment. She came over and actually SAT on my lap!! She said she felt bad about Dane and just started kissing me. What was I going to do, push her off? Let's just say I finished what Dane had started. haha.  Wonder if I should tell him when he returns? It is his velvet sofa after all. I guess I wont have to tell him. He will see this blog. I figure, if he is somewhere he can see this, he will get angry and contact me!!! Either way, it's a win win for me.

Hello Fans, it's Me -- Stephan. So Many Theories Behind Dane's Disappearance

Hello Dark Myst and Dane Bainbridge fans, readers of this blog. This is Stephan Gale. I have not written on this blog until now due to the fact that this has been very hard on me, as I see Bruce mentioned in an earlier post.

You see, though it seems stupid, I persuaded Dane to start this blog. For some strange reason, that's kept me from typing in it. Made me feel like I was stepping on Dane's personal space or something. But, my buddy has been missing over 3 weeks now, the police have given up the search because the trail is cold, as they said. They are convinced he up and left, but they don't know Dane as I do. He would never do that! Those of us who know him best are certain of it.

And I am certain we will see him again. I just feel it! I can't speculate on where he went. Dane has never said a word to me to indicate he would go anywhere. But here is what I do know... and this is not new news, as the police and detectives have questioned all of us on everything, especially me since Dane and I are closest personally rather than only professionally. The night of the concert in MN last month, Bruce said he saw someone in one of the mirrors onstage. I didn't see her, I was faced away and didn't look until I heard the squeal of the amps when Dane dropped his mic. By that time, I turned to see my friend disappear into the heavy smoke machine fog. I threw off my bass and ran over.

Bruce admitted he saw this girl in the mirror onstage! Police thought he was seeing someone from the audience but he insisted she was ONLY in the mirror! Detectives assume a crazed fan took Dane... or that he ran off with her. Bruce said something about thinking this girl may be behind Dane's disappearance in some way, but he wasn't sure Dane took off with her voluntarily. Apparently, Bruce told Dane after the concert that he saw this girl.

Like I said, I didn't see her, but Bruce said she just vanished. I guess there were people behind the mirrors but none of them looked like her and no one saw her. They all said they saw just the back of a big mirror. No one saw anyone go by, nothing. Especially not a woman dressed the way Bruce claimed. Our fans can at times have some interesting dress codes, but nothing like that. I would think she would have been noticed, and Bruce insists on it.

Personally, I think there's something about her that is behind Dane's disappearance. Is this some elaborate prank someone has played? I don't know. I would think nothing of the image in that mirror if it weren't for the fact Bruce saw her. Bruce makes up nothing! WTF??

Mostly, the detectives say they think he ran away with this girl. They all say because there's zero evidence of any foul play,  and because he's a rock star (which, by their terms means unstable), and by the amount of booze bottles found in his house they think he's an alcoholic or something, so they say he just decided to go on a wild trip somewhere. Um, no! Dane wouldn't just up and leave.

Somehow, I have to find this girl. Based on a description from Bruce, the police have come up with a sketch of her, though they have no leads on who she is or where she might be.  One of their theories is that Dane ran off with her. They apparently don't know him as I do.

Anyway, this is the sketch.

police sketch of the woman who Dane apparently ran away with! Yeah right!

Jesus, I have seen better sketches by 5 year olds! Not much to go on...

Anyway, it's "sketchy" what she looks like. Bruce (and apparently, Dane) saw her, but so far no one else has. The police are interviewing a LOT of people in this case. So far, Bruce is the only one admitting he saw her, but Dane obviously did too. Apparently, he was staring at her when he collapsed. What is this--some sort of fucking fantasy novel?? How can a woman be there, yet not exist? I wish I had seen her, I have a feeling it would give me more information. But I have none, and it is frustrating the crap out of me!

OMG Dane... where are you?

Some pics I found on Dane's computer....

Dane with a rescue cat. Not one of his. He's a cat guy.

Some party. I am not sure where this was taken.

Wasted at some party. What else is new?

Here's one of me I found on Dane's computer.

Please keep positive vibes going for Dane's safe return.
Thank you!
Stephan Gale
South Carolina, January 2015