A Tragic Affair

Yay, another chapter! I've been pretty busy so I'm glad I'm getting out as many as I am. I know it's not a ton but it's what I can do at this point. Anyway, enjoy. And also, leave a couple comments if you have the time, thanks guys!

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I don't know how we got to my house, I was crying so much that I couldn't walk without Mikey's help. The thing is, Stokes and Moth are like brothers to me. And if the legend was true, they were gone forever. When we got to the back porch I pulled away from Mikey and collapsed into one of the chairs. He followed suit, simply staring at me. I stared back, tears still trailing down my face. I had a thousand questions and no will to voice them. The only thing I could ask was, "Why are you here?"

He seemed surprised, like I'd just asked him who the president was. "I'm here to save my brother, it's why I wanted to see you." I gaped at him, floored. "You're going to have to elaborate because I'm really confused right now." Mikey rubbed at his eyes, sighing. "It's a long story... But I think we have time." I sat up a bit and wiped my nose on my sleeve (gross I know but I didn't have any tissues handy) and waited. I needed to know why he'd saved me and not my friends.

He seemed to be collecting his thoughts. Mikey nodded, then began. "It started months ago, when we began recording The Black Parade. Gerard was acting weird, or at least weird for him. He cut off his hair and bleached it, he started drinking again, pretty heavily. And what's worse, he withdrew from all of us. He'd play buddy buddy or be his old self in front of cameras or fans but in private, Gee just wasn't Gee anymore.

"Then I started hearing rumors. Rumors that he was sleeping around. When I asked his girlfriend about it she just broke down crying and said they'd broken up. I knew then that I had to talk to Gerard, find out what was going on because our friends, our family and our band mates didn't know him anymore. And half of them were ready to kill him.

"So one night I went over to his apartment. I knocked for nearly 20 minutes but there was no answer. The I remembered that before he'd turned all weird on us he'd given me the key to his place. I let myself in. I could hear strange muffled sounds coming from the back room, I thought they were groans. I panicked, I thought my brother had been hurt, maybe someone had even broken in!

"I ran to the bedroom, taking a short cut through the kitchen to grab a knife. When I got to the door I found it locked, and I don't know how I managed to do it but I kicked it in, running into the room. My blood froze at the sight in front of me and I had to blink to finally comprehend it. there was my brother, and there were two of him! One blond, the other dark haired like the Gerard we loved.

"The Blond Gerard was on top of the other, and as it registered that his pants were around his ankles it hit me that he was inside Dark Gerard. I gaped and dropped the knife, my brain essentially stopping. Then Blond Gerard looked up at me, a wicked grin on his face as he kissed the air in my direction. Dark Gerard looked up at me, dazed. 'Mikey?' He called softly.

"I moved closer, almost against my will. 'Gee... What's going on?' Then suddenly I was launched across the room, hitting the side wall hard. I couldn't really see, that's how hard I'd hit my head. Ropes from nowhere slithered around my body and limbs, and I was effectively tied to the wall. I watched, horrified as Blond Gerard grabbed the other's hips and laid into him. He was thrusting hard, making Dark Gerard cry out.

"He was the one naked, strapped to the bed and muscles straining. Blond Gerard was enjoying himself, fucking the other hard enough to make him scream. I felt sick, dizzy, I was sure I was about to vomit. What's worse, I wasn't sure which one was my real brother!

"Then, with a loud groan they both came, and I did vomit. I slammed my eyes closed as bile poured out of my throat, I did not want to add to the trauma by watching the seed hit both of their chests. This was just... Wrong! I don't remember Blond Gerard getting off the bed but I do remember his lips pressing to mine. My eyes snapped open and I struggled to get away from him, I screamed. At last he stopped. He gave me a smirk, then said, 'I'll bet you'd like to know what's going on, wouldn't you Mikey?'

"Dark Gerard was laying on the bed. He was too still, it looked like he wasn't breathing. But finally he turned he head and looked at me, then at Blond Gerard. 'Don.. Don't hurt him. Promised you wouldn't.' He groaned. 'Don't worry your pretty little head Gerard, he's safe.' Blond Gerard's fingers were tracing over my jaw, 'As a matter of fact, he's going to help me just like you are.' I looked at him, and things finally clicked. This wasn't my brother! 'Who are you?'

"He looked at me, then smiled. 'The Ringmaster, the real leader of the Black Parade. I"ll be taking Gerard's place until my plan is complete.' " Mikey stopped there, then looked up at me. His eyes were hollow, yet haunted. "You know the story?" I nodded, then took Mikey's hand in my own. "Do you want to stop?" He shook his head, then said, "No, no you need to know so you can help me."

He took a deep breath, then continued. "The Ringmaster found my brother last March, about ten miles from here. When he caught Gerard he knew what we were doing with the album. That's when the plan was hatched. The Parade is huge now, a thousand souls, and that's alot for only getting new people from one county. That faction in the cemetery is just the original members. They used to number 300 from what I was told, but they've been splicing people in.

"So The Ringmaster took Gerard's place. We didn't know it, but he's an ancestor of ours, and besides the hair he and Gerard look exactly alike. He can't change his hair color or length so that's why he looks that way now. The man you saw tonight is my real brother, he's the leader now and I know it looks like he's in control, but the Parade is controlling HIM. Especially The Ringmaster, he's convinced Gerard that they're in love. I don't know what his plan is exactly but I do know what he wants me to do.

"For his plan to succeed, he needed me to find a certain girl. He said he was going to destroy my brother if I didn't find her, but I'd get him back physically and mentally sound if I found her for him. But I wanted to make sure he'd hold up his end of the bargain. So when I found you in July, I didn't tell him." I stared at him and let go of his hand, surprised. "You were looking for me?" "He said he needed a descendant of Melissa Sylvaria from Carlyle, but he didn't say which one, only gave me a name and a town.

"When I did find you I played like I didn't. He's been getting insane about it. He said if I don't find you by next week it's all over. "Next week... Halloween?" "Yeah, it's weird though, it's like none of them have any concept of time or location. The Ringmaster says only that he knows the time is at hand." I bit my lip and looked over at Mikey. "What are they going to do to Moth and Stokes?" "Try to corrupt them, what else? When they're gone they'll take the place of two of the marchers."

I sighed, shaking my head. "How am I supposed to help?" "I was kind of hoping you knew, being the descendant of a witch and all." I stood and walked into the house, heading for the kitchen. Mikey followed as I poured myself a shot of whiskey.

"How do I know you're not going to turn me over?"

"I can't, I'd have to summon The Ringmaster for it and I don't know how to do that. If I did I'd have turned you over already. You saw Gerard tonight, he's running out of time and so am I."

"You want me to use magic to help you save your brother and hopefully save my friends?"

"That's about it."

"I'm not a real witch."

"I know."

Shaking my head, I downed the shot. "Tomorrow we hit the store," I told him, "we go through the books, we go through Melissa's journals, we check Moth's supplies. We find a way to save them." I then looked over at Mikey, adding, "Don't think I trust you, because I don't. I understand you'd do anything to save your brother because I'd do anything to save my friends. I get even a hint of a double cross I'll kill you myself." He seemed to consider this, then shrugged. "Fair enough."