Welcome To the Black Parade

“Hey Bob, I’m going to be late getting there. Tell everyone I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Gerard said when Bob answered.

“What’s going on?” Bob asked, shocked by Gerard’s panicked voice.

“I can’t tell you everything, but something just came up. I have to go.” Gerard said, hanging up his phone. At the apartment Bob looked at the phone in his hand confused just as Mikey walked into the apartment.

“Something’s going on with your brother.” Bob said, laying the phone on the table.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Mikey muttered, collapsing on the couch. “I seen him coming from the woods where those people disappeared to and he said he was hiking. Then he started ranting about how great it was to be alive.”

“He just called me saying he would be late tonight because something came up, but he couldn’t tell me what it was.” Mikey stared at Bob before standing up and running out of the apartment, Bob right on his heels.

“Aren’t we…” Ray started to say on the steps leading to the apartment, but Mikey and Bob grabbed his arms and pulled him along with them. They raced to the cemetery, where they seen Gerard’s car parked off to the side of the road, Gerard no where to be seen.

“You don’t think,” Mikey said, looking at Ray and Bob. They opened the car doors and stepped out of the car.

“Where would he go?” Bob asked, looking around.

“He came from over here.” Mikey said, pointing to a small opening between the trees. They ran toward the woods just as Gerard emerged from the trees, looking back at something. He lifted his head and seen the three of them standing there, staring at him.

“Damn it.” they heard him shouted. “What are you doing here?” he asked them.

“Looking for you.” Ray said, confused.

“Well, unfind me now.” Gerard said, leaning against a tree.

“What the hell’s going on Gerard?” Mikey asked, walking toward his brother. Something clicked in the trees, and there was a flash of light.

“Fuck, no don’t.” Gerard muttered to Frank. “It’s Mikey, Ray and Bob.” he said. He looked down at Crystal, who was sweating and breathing even more heavily then she was when he first got to them.

“We need to get her help.” Frank said, still pointing the gun.

“Just drop the damn thing. You’re not gonna shoot them. They’re just going to have to learn the truth.” Gerard said.

“They’ll ask thousands of questions and we don’t have time for it Gerard.” Frank snapped.

“They won’t when they see she’s in trouble Frankie.” Gerard practically shouted.

“What the fuck Gerard? Frankie?” Mikey shouted, hearing his brother. Gerard uttered a string of curses before grabbing the gun from Frank and pushing him into the sight of the others. Gerard bent to pick up Crystal just as he heard someone hit the floor. He didn’t pay attention to who it was.

“Frankie.” Crystal gasped, holding her arm.

“I’m here honey.” He said, walking back toward her.

“Open the door.” Gerard snapped to Ray and Bob. Mikey was on the ground, about to pass out. “Get a grip Mikey.”

“Don’t tell me to get a grip.” Mikey shouted, looking up at Gerard. He seen Crystal in Gerard’s arms and swore. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked, standing up and running to her. He seen blood on her arm.

“She was bit by a snake.” Gerard explained. “We have to get her to a hospital now.” Gerard placed her into the backseat of his car, Frank jumping in on the other side.

“Tell no one of this.” Gerard said sharply. “Don’t even discuss it until I get back.” he got into the driver’s seat and took off, leaving Ray, Bob and Mikey staring after the car in shock. They couldn’t form a single sentence.

~Scene Change: Hospital~

“Ms. Way will be perfectly fine.” the doctor informed Gerard. Frank was in the bathroom, waiting until the doctor left the room. “Your sister was very lucky.”

“Thank you.” Gerard said, shaking the doctor’s hand. The doctor walked out, and Gerard knocked on the bathroom door, telling Frank it was safe to come out.

“Thanks.” Frank said, sitting next to Crystal.

“No problem.” Gerard replied. “Will you be okay here? I need to go explain things to the others.”

“No need, we’re here.” Ray’s voice said, walking into the room. He was followed by Mikey and Bob, who shut the door and closed the curtain.

“Here’s not the place.” Gerard said, looking down at Frank.

“Better place than any.” Bob said, sitting in the extra chair beside Frank. Mikey leaned against a wall and Ray leaned against the bathroom door. Gerard looked at Frank again, who was staring at Crystal.

“You’re alive?” Mikey asked Frank, folding his arms over his chest. Frank let out his breath is a gush of wind and stood, facing everyone.

“Yes, okay. Crystal and I are alive, but before you start bitching at me, don’t. It hasn’t exactly been easy on the two of us these past two years.”

“Easy on you?” Bob spoke up. “What about us? Your band mates, your friends. Crystal’s brother!”

“Shh, Bob.” Gerard said, looking around the curtain, making sure no one entered while they were talking.

“It was to protect us.” Gerard said, shutting the curtain back. “To keep Marvin from coming after us.”

“Are you siding with him?” Mikey asked Gerard.

“Absolutely.” Gerard said without hesitation. “Guys, you didn’t see what I seen. You haven’t seen where they’ve been these past two years.”

“And you have?” Ray asked, looking dubious.

“I told you three before the woman we seen looked just like Crystal. When I went for the drive I followed the path until I came to a cabin. Their cabin.” Gerard said, turning to face Ray. “You didn’t believe me, but I know this girl anywhere. I know Frank anywhere. If it was the same with any of you, I’d know you all anywhere, but you didn’t believe me, so I just decided to find out on my own, which I did.”

“Look, guys.” Frank said, glancing toward Crystal. “It wasn’t our idea to fake our deaths. It was the detective tracking Marvin.”

“And Marvin’s been captured, so why are you still hiding?” Bob asked, furiously.

“Fuck Bob think about it!” Frank said in a loud whisper. “We’re dead two years and we just suddenly appear before your eyes. What did you think when Gerard told you he seen her, or when he was talking to me in the woods?”

“We thought he was losing his mind.” Mikey muttered honestly.

“We couldn’t just fall back into our original lives. When we agreed to do this, we both knew we’d be giving up our lives.” Frank said. “All Crystal wanted was to see all of you again, especially Brian. It’s all I really wanted as well, but we had to protect ourselves. If it wasn’t for Gerard talking to me in the woods, one of you would be in here dying, and where would that have put me?”

“You was going to shoot us?” Ray asked, shocked.

“I didn’t know it was you.” Frank defended himself with. “I didn’t know it was you, so yeah I could of if it wasn’t for Gerard telling me who it was.”

“How long have you known Gerard?” Mikey asked his brother.

“Only a couple hours.” Gerard answered. “When you seen me coming out of the woods, I was coming back after finding them.”

“He really was guys.” Frank said.

“Why Frank,” Bob asked suddenly. “Why did you two do it. Do you know what happened to us after you left?”

“Mikey had a break down, Gerard went back to drinking. I’m not sure about you and Ray or Avenged though.” Frank said. “My Chem broke up and made a tribute album with Avenged Sevenfold.”

“You’ve been in hiding, but you know all of that?” Ray asked.

“We’re not cut out of the world completely.” Frank said. “Just limited communications. Very limited. It was only lucky that Gerard had the same number I remembered because we only have one contact and I couldn’t get a hold of him.”

“The detective.” Mikey said. Frank nodded. A groaning made them turn to face Crystal.

“Crys?” Frank said, grabbing her hand.

“W-where are we?” she asked, looking around her.

“The hospital honey. Don’t worry, Gerard took care of everything.”

“Gee? He’s here?” She asked, letting her eyes open a fraction of an inch.

“Yeah, I’m here Crys. You’re fine. The snake venom didn’t go to deep.” Gerard said, patting her leg. She smiled and opened her eyes more fully, letting out a shriek when she seen Mikey, Ray and Bob standing in the room as well.

“Damn it.” she muttered, pulling the blanket over her face.

“We were explaining honey.” Frank said, kissing her hand. Gerard noticed Mikey’s look of surprise from the corner of his eye. He looked at Mikey and smirked, pointing with his eyes to Frank and Crystal’s hands. Mikey gave him a questioning look, and Gerard nodded. Mikey just rolled his eyes, smiling.

“Look, you need to hear everything.” Frank said, turning to Ray, Mikey and Bob. “Gerard doesn’t even know some of what we’re going to tell you.” Gerard sat on a counter with a heat register connected to it. Mikey sat next to him.

“We’re stuck at the factory you found us in.” Frank began. “Marvin had us tied up. I didn’t know where Crystal was at first, but she somehow got herself untied and jumped him. Well of course she was no match for him, so he got her back on the ground in no time at all, but not before a gunshot was blasted.”

“Gunshot?” Mikey interrupted, shocked. “She didn’t get hit?”

“Thankfully no.” Frank said. “He tied her back up, but by that time the police was on their way. They received a call about the gun shot, and they thought maybe it was us from your missing persons report. Well, they get there, and Marvin ends up running. The detective runs in and asks which way he went. We told him and he chased after him as other officers untied us. When the detective came back, he said Marvin was long gone. He asked what was going on.” Frank’s eyes became distant and glassy as he recalled the horrid day two years ago. “Crys was to shocked to say anything, so I had to do all the talking. I told him everything I knew about what was going on between them. I didn’t even finish when he started talking about putting us in protective custody.”

“By that time I was able to talk, so I told them I couldn’t do that.” Crystal spoke up, staring at her folded hands on the blanket. “I told them he’ll go after you all if he thinks we’re alive, and he’ll torture you or probably kill you to try to find me, us. So he asked if he would give up the search if he thinks we’re dead. I knew he would, because that’s all he wanted. Me gone from the earth.”

“So Armstrong made this plan to fake our deaths. He fabricated the crime scene. Since there wasn’t enough time to make the dummies, he had me and Crystal lay on the floor covered in fake blood for you to identify us.”

“That was actually you?” Gerard asked, shocked. Frank nodded, as did Crystal. There was a knock at the door. Frank quickly stood and ran to the bathroom, shutting the door just as the other one opened.

“Hey,” a voice they didn’t expect said. Brian.