FicWad

Chapter two! I'm being really hard on myself about this, I don't know if it came out well.
This one required a good amount of revamping on my part, and is a bit longer than the other chapters will be. Again, if you've read this story somewhere else before, you'll find it's quite a bit different this time around. But I'll let you see for yourself. Remember to tell me what you think at the end!




Bella


Bella Way had always hated being backstage at concerts. It reeked of sweat, piss, and alcohol, and the chaos of everybody running around and giving orders was, to be perfectly honest, irritating. Over the past few years, she had unfortunately been at quite a few of these.
She set a graceful hand on her full lip and sighed, twirling a bit of red hair between her pampered fingers as she chewed her strawberry gum, the metal heel of her high fashion boots clacking against the linoleum floor as she waited impatiently. She didn't understand why everybody was still in such a hurry; the show had long since been over.

Finally, after what seemd like an hour, her husband emerged from his dressing room. Even after all this time, and everything they had been through, a bit of her heart still softened when she saw him. His dark hair was matted with sweat and sticking up at odd angles, his face still flushed from the excitment of his performance. He had ditched his stage costume, changing into a Misfits tee and dark jeans. She bit her full lip as he pulled on his jean jacket and stopped in front of her, pulling her into his arms for a sort of half hug.

She pet his shoulder and pulled back, watching as he jerked his head towards the back exit. "Let's take a walk." Bella nodded and turned, ignoring the knowing stares from his band mates as they filed out of the back and watched them leave. Of course they knew what was about to happen. They all knew it was coming sooner or later. But as the couple stepped out into the cold rain and made their way away from the venue, she couldn't help but wonder which she would have preffered - sooner, or later?

They walked slowly for about three minutes, completely silent. Bella was freezing, and growing annoyed. She glanced to her right and rolled her eyes. Gerard's head was tilted back, his eyes closed, enjoying the rain washing over his face. He was such a hopeless romantic. She groaned as he suddenly stopped, coming to a halt a foot away from him. If they had to be in the rain, couldn't they keep moving? "Bella..."

"Gerard." He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair and kicking his boot at the ground.

"I don't want this to turn into a fight, Bella." She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, looking away from him. No, God forbid they fight. God forbid any sort of passion form out of this long-since doomed relationship. She remained silent. What was there to say? "Can you just tell me one thing?" She turned her eyes back to him, her brows raised. How did a request suddenly come out of this? Gerard chewed his lip and looked back at her, his stomach twisting nervously. "The baby...it isn't mine, is it?" She sighed, pulling at her own hair and stepping closer to him. She gently laid a hand on his chest and looked into his eyes - eyes that for her, had once met anything. She had once lived for the looks he would give her.

"You know it's not, Gerard." He set her forehead against hers and wrapped his arms around her, willing the burn in his eyes to go away.

"How could we let it come to this?"

"I don't know..." She sighed again and pulled away from him, turning and walking some more. She couldn't stand still. After it all, it still hurt far too much. She felt Gerard by her side once more, and was grateful that he took up the conversation.

"Why didn't you just tell me you were unhappy? Why couldn't we have broken this off sooner?" Bella's eyes widened and she slowed down, a sharp laugh bursting out of her throat as she swiveled slightly around, suddenly angry.

"What, Gerard, like how you told me? Did you come to me and tell me you were unhappy before you ran to Lindsey's arms?!"


And even after it all, she really wished that the last thing she had said to him...had been more pleasant.

Bella Way...no, Bella Salvicci, stood next to a rumbling old Volkswagen Jetta, a pile of chains pooled around her shaking ankles. The rain had let up, now a cool mist amongst the moaning wind in the small clearing. Ten feet ahead of her, the world dropped away.

Ten feet ahead of her, she had watched a good friend disappear.

Ten feet ahead of her, she was pretty sure what was left of her sanity had disappeared too.

Ten feet ahead of her, was a very convinient way out.

One foot away from her was the better decision. And, until recently, Bella had always been known for her good decisions. Slowly coming to her senses, the young woman stumbled away, her feet catching on the cold chains of the ground, and made her way around the car. She moved bent forward, using the wet hood as support as her knees shook and her body trembled in the cold.

It took an achingly long time, with her desinger boots slipping in the mud and her body unwilling to cooperate, but Bella finally pulled herself into the driver's seat of the car. She shivered violently, disgusted at whom had sat in the seat before her. But she couldn't dwell on it. Determined, she leant across the console and pulled the passenger door closed, sighing as the sound of the wind died down in the confines of the vehicle. Her eyes fell on a glowing little screen in the dashboard's center...God was looking over her after all. The stalker had a GPS.

Bella slowly punched in the name of the concert venue, her hand shaking and her teeth chattering. She was a mess. After the satellite registered her request and located her on its map, she sat there, staring at the small screen with her hands resting on the wheel. She wondered if she'd be able to control her feet enough to maneuver the car back to the venue. As she sat there, gathering her courage and calming her throbbing heart, her eyes wandered to the rearview mirror, twisted to train on the backseat. Her stomach plummeted and her mouth hung open, devasted. The bright moon had made it's way past the clouds, and it illuminated the grey seats perfectly.

They were soaked in blood.

Choking an a harsh cry, Bella tore her eyes away and threw the car into reverse, whipping away from her hell and on to another one.



~*~


Go away. Go away go away go away. Bella bit her lip as she rocked gently, wrenching her eyes closed to try and keep back the tears. Why wouldn't these stupid people leave her alone? She just needed quiet. Peace. Warmth. She needed him... A violent sob of guilt shook her body and she threw her hands over her mouth, trying to shove it back down. No, no crying. Not in front of them.

"Mrs. Way?" She cringed at the name and turned her head to the side, angered at the cops' heartlessness. Oh, but then again...the cops didn't know yet, did they? They didn't know a damn thing. How could they possibly? Bella slowly turned her eyes to the officer that stood before her. His face twisted and he took a small step back, uncomfortable with the misery in her eyes. He continued anyway. "Ma'am, I need you to tell me what happened tonight. We won't be able to find your husband unless you tell us!"

"Don't you want us to find your husband, Mrs. Way?" She jumped to her feet as the second officer put in his two cents. Her face was contorted with rage, her mouth open in a silent scream. Of course she wanted them to find him! What kind of person did they think...? But again, she reminded herself, they didn't know. She slowly turned her focus to her right, where Mikey and Frank looked on, both of them levelling her with suspicious stares. They knew.
At least, they knew a part of it. But why were they looking at her like that? She opened her mouth again to demand an answer of them, jabbing a perfect nail in their direction. Her eyes widened as a pathetic scraping of air escaped her mouth. No sound.

Must he take everything from her?

Bella crumpled to the ground and let the tears come, too weak to fight them anymore. In the background, she heard one of the cops request that the two boys give them a moment alone. Their footsteps moved away from her, and loss pulled tighter at her chest.
He was gone. He was dead, and she still was only thinking of herself. They were all right, she didn't deserve him. Before her closed eyes she saw the heartache of millions; fans, family, friends...Mikey. The poor man would probably be shaken to his very core. And, like everybody else...he would hate her. Bella pressed her face against the grimy brown carpet of the bus as she sobbed, thinking about the long road ahead of her, no voice to explain herself, everyone against her. Misery was her keeper; she didn't have it in her to fight free. She was so tired of fighting.

The two cops watched on in a sort of detached interest as the young woman swung through a variety of emotions. She could be any number of things; her reactions said little to them. Most of their hunches pinned to the fact that Gerard Way was very much dead, and the girl in front of them was aware of it. But how did he die? Did she kill him? Was she now regretting it? Was it an accident, or was it the well thought out plan of someone who was steadily losing their mind?
Or was this man still alive?

Officer Hardt hoped to hell it was the last one. His own teenage daughter, Hayden, was a devoted fan of the band My Chemical Romance. Gerard Way's name was one he heard often - hell, he could probably rattle off the guy's life story right then and there. But he was okay with that, because in a way... Gerard was his hero, too.

Hayden had faced such severe depression about five years previously. Her words and actions had had him and his wife thinking about getting her committed to a home for suicidal teens; they thought it had been all they could do to keep her from doing the extreme. And then, this band. She had seen one of their music videos on some teenage music channel, and he could still remember walking into the room as she sat, completely entranced, staring at the TV. They had won her over with one song, and pulled her onto her feet more and more with each she heard. Her heart started lifting...because of that band. She began watching more and more videos and interviews... they bought her the CDs, the posters, the t-shirts... and she began to smile again. To laugh, dance...she was herself again. Hardt couldn't help but wonder just what she would do if she found out one of her heroes was dead. The thought twisted his own gut, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Bella is your name, correct?" The young model looked up at him with startled eyes, and nodded slowly. He crouched down in front of her, his face genuinely sad. "You can't talk, can you?" Her lower lip trembled, and soon her entire body was as well...but she shook her head, another stream of tears leaking from her eyes. "Can you maybe just lead us to the last place you saw your- uh, him?" She gave him a grateful smile for refraining from the 'H' word - a word she never wanted associated with her again - and slowly rose to her feet. The two cops watched as she walked to the front of the bus, climbed into the driver's seat, and started the engine. Shrugging, officer Hardt joined her in the driver's cabby and situated himself in the passenger seat as the bus pulled onto the road.

Frank and Mikey stumbled out of the back room along with Jamia and Alicia, startled by the bus's sudden movement. They joined Bella and the officers at the front of the bus, looking around with confused faces. The second cop, officer Slade, leant up against the cabby's back wall and shrugged. "Apparently Mrs. Way is going to show us where she last saw her husband." Hardt shot him an unhappy look, then set a comforting hand on Bella's tense shoulder. She violently jerked away, causing them to momentarily shift into the wrong lane.

"Is it really so smart to let Bella drive right now? She's very emotionally tired, and..." Alicia trailed off at the determined expression on Bella's face.

"Well it seems that she can't speak. This is the only way we'll know." He huffed a little as Mikey pushed past him and knelt at Bella's side, for lack of another seat. He rested his head on her knee, gripping her boot-clad calf with his own shaking hand and offering her a weak truce. His sister-in-law reached down and gently ran her hand through his hair, hoping to provide some sort of comfort. What he would see next would rip him apart.

~*~

Bella stopped the bus, leaving the headlights on as she climbed down the stairs. She ignored the group following her, moving on rubber legs towards the edge of the very cliff she'd seen the man who had promised her forever disappear over. The rain had stopped, leaving the ground muddy and pocked with puddles and the prints of who she guessed were the only three people who had visited that night. She could see where Gerard and his killer had stood on the edge of the cliff... and she could see where their feet had slipped. A bone chilling breeze swept against her numb body, daring her to move closer to the edge.

"Bella?" She turned, startled, to find Mikey three feet away from her. He looked quite odd with the headlights from the bus glowing behind him - the edges of his face and body were illuminated, leaving the rest in uneasy shadow. But even without seeing it, she knew what his face looked like. Panicky, pale, and breaking. Just like hers had been. "Where's Gee, Bella?"

All was silent for two solid minutes as the pair looked at each other, unmoving. Frank, Alicia, Jamia, and the two cops watched on quietly, giving them space. Slowly, Bella raised her arm and swung it behind her, pointing over the cliff with a steady hand. Her body had shaken itself still. Mikey gasped at the direction her finger pointed and stumbled back. She meant they had climbed down, right? There was a trail somewhere, right?! His unsteady steps backward landed him on his ass, making him cry out at the odd sensation of thick, cold mud coating his jeans. Frank rushed to help him up, unsure of what was going on.

Mikey rose, shivering as the wind pressed against the cool mud. He looked at Frank with worried eyes, squinting at the bright light coming from his left. The headlights were casting an eerie glow over everything... he wished somebody would turn them off... "What's going on, Mikey?" Frank gripped Mikey's shoulders and continued to look him in the eye, determined to get to keep them focused and get answers.

"She says he's down there," Mikey gestured towards the cliff, trying to sound calm. "We just have to find the path they took down." Bella's face fell further, and she looked at the ground, slowly shaking her head. Frank watched her quietly, his throat growing dry.

"I don't think there's a trail, Mikey." He whispered, feeling himself grow weak. Bella looked up, her eyes clouded, and nodded. Frank choked and looked away. Mikey frowned and stomped his foot like a child, glaring at Bella.

"How did he get down there then? Huh? And where the hell do you think you're going?!" He followed after Bella, who was now skirting the edge of the cliff, moving towards the woods on the side. The mud gave way under his feet, slowing him down and protesting at his violent steps as he charged after her. She picked up her pace, unwilling for his confrontation. Mikey growled impatiently pulling at his hair with frustration as Frank touched his shoulder comfortingly.

"I think she's going to find a way down." Frank pointed out, jogging ahead of Mikey to walk at Bella's side. She slowed up, allowing him to keep pace with her.

He was afraid of what they were going to find down there. Should Mikey really be coming with them? But how could they ever get rid of him if he thought his brother was in danger? Would he ever really be able to convince a Way brother to stop looking for their lost counterpart? No, but he could try. "Hey Mikey, you know how to drive the bus, don't you?" Mikey frowned and nodded, not sure he liked the direction this was going. "You should go and get Bob, Ray, and Brian. They'll be wondering where we all went..."

"Don't try to get rid of me, Frank." Mikey's voice was quiet and hollow, his eyes on the ground.

"No whispering, please!" Officer Slade wheezed as he struggled to keep up with them. The group was making a fast progression through the woods; the ground sloped down, sharply at some points and barely noticeable at others. With every steep slope, Frank's heart seemed to drop more. They were going a long way down. And if there hadn't been a trail... there was only one other way he could think of that Gerard would have gotten down that cliff.

~~ A few minutes later ~~

Under other conditions, the lake they found at the bottom might have been beautiful. The silvery glow of the moon lit upon the dark, still water, illuminating everything on its surface and nothing beneath. But they didn't need to see below the top to notice the rather large floating object twenty feet from shore. Frank chucked his cell phone out of his pocket and ripped off his sneakers, quickly wading in towards it. The water pushed up against him in protest of his speed, trying to hold him back; to keep him away. Bella backed up against the cliff, unwilling to see this again.

Frank was forced to swim by the time he reached his target, propped on the water's surface by a half-submerged tree. His heart hammered and his stomach felt like twisting metal as he reached a spastic hand out in front of him. It was a body...a body he knew well. Frank cried out and wrapped his arms around Gerard, sobbing into a soaked and lifeless shoulder. It was an awkward position in the water, and he slowly was able to collect himself enough to start pulling the body back to shore. He struggled out of the water, leaving Gerard half in the water on the bank as he shuffled forward, falling on his hands and knees, crying from the very bottom of his stomach.

This couldn't be happening.



Hey, do me a favor? If you've read this, whether you liked it or not, could you please leave a review? Big or small, I'd just love to hear from you :)
xoKJ