Welcome to the Black Parade

"The coffee machine broke," Frank said, "He said he'll be back within ten minutes."

"Phew," Gerard said, relieved that one of his best friends in the entire world was alright and not hurt.

"Thank GOD!" Mikey exclaimed, "I was so worried about him. I'm SO GLAD he's alright!"

"I told him to call us when he's back. We can go shopping, until he's here."

"OK," Gerard said, "Cheyenne, you come with me. Mikey, you go with Frank."

"Alright," Cheyenne and Frank said.

All four of them left in their pairs. Cheyenne and Gerard went to a clothing store while Mike and Frankie ventured to the dollar store to find some cheap stuff.

"How ya doing, Cheyenne?" Gerard asked.

"I'm good. I'm very excited for tonight, but I'm also a bit nervous about being on that stage in front of everyone." Mikey would be in his casts, until school started for Cheyenne. He also had to wear contacts, until he could get himself a new pair of glasses.

Gerard was so relieved that Cheyenne was happy so far. "Know your notes?" he asked her.

"Yep. I'm just worried that I'll accidentally screw up. There will be a ton of people watching me."

"Don't worry so much about screwing up, kid. We're all just humans, and this is your first show. Humans are far from perfect. Once you get used to being on that stage, you'll never want to leave it again."

"Really?"

"Yeah. C'mon. Let's get some beautiful make-up for you t'night."

It'd been a half hour since they'd started to shop, and Ray still hadn't come back, yet. They all began to worry just a bit once again about Ray. Frank tried to call him once again but had forgotten that Ray had to call him from a pay-phone, because his cell-phone was still in the hotel room. The four of them assembled outside of the airport and planned to go back to the coffee shop Ray was at. Cheyenne bit her lip as the rest of them talked about what they were about to do.

"Frank and I will go back and see what's up," Gerard said to the group.

"Alright," Mikey said, "Call me as soon as you find him."

"Will do," Gerard said to his little brother.

Gerard hopped in Frank's car, and Frank started to ignition. They shut their doors, put the seat-belts on, and began their trek to the coffee shop.

"Do you think he's alright?" Gerard asked.

"I hope so."

Gerard then remembered they had to meet Bob at 3:30, and it was already 3 then. He hoped they wouldn't be late for him, but he was worried more about Ray.

Bob was on the flight to the airport Mikey and Cheyenne were at. He was only fifteen minutes away from it. He'd been listening to his iPod for the last five hours. His battery was nearly dead, now.

In ten minutes, Gerard and frank were at the coffee shop. Yellow police tape surrounded the building, and there were about ten cop cars at the entrance. Gerard's mouth dropped. "Nooo..." he said to himself. A policeman walked out with a strange man in hand-cuffs.

Frank and Gerard walked up to one of the police cars and asked what happened.

"There was a shooting of about ten people here," a female policewoman said to the boys.

"Do you know who was shot?"

"Not yet. I wasn't there, and the victims haven't been identified, yet."

"Alright," Frank said grimly. He then called Mikey to tell him about it.

"Just don't tell Cheyenne, yet," Cheyenne accidentally heard from Mikey's cell-phone. She was curious about what happened but was also afraid to ask.

"Alright." Then, Frank hung up.

"I guess all we can do is wait by the car," Gerard said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Frank began to frown and bit his lips and the same, exact time. He nearly started to cry.

Tears formed on Gerard's cheeks. He put his head on the dashboard and sobbed. His entire world had been blackened by that single moment.

Frank tried not to cry. He was usually the exuberant, hyper guy on the band. The moment had pierced him through his heart. Everything had happened so fast. He hadn't expected that Ray could've been MURDERED! A droplet slid down his cheeks. Then another. Then ANOTHER. Soon, he was crying worse than Gerard.

Gerard hadn't seen Ray anytime after he first met Cheyenne. He'd been longing to see Ray, one of his best friends in the whole universe. He missed him so much, and he might be DEAD!

Mikey wanted to go to the coffee shop SO BAD, but he was unable to drive with two broken arms and a sprained ankle. He nearly began to cry when Cheyenne asked, "What's wrong?"

"Aww, nothin'."

"Are you sure?"

There was a thirty-second pause. Then, Mikey said, "No I'm NOT SURE!" Mikey started to break down in tears, "Ray might be DEAD!"

"Uhh, why?"

"Frank didn't want me to say." Mikey was then on the floor in tears.

"PLEASE! TELL ME!" Cheyenne was now nearly crying.

Then, Bob noticed them. "What's wrong?" he asked.