FicWad

A/N: Sorry for the wait, new semester just started and they're already giving us 6 assignments per class. Coding is a bitch. Here's a special chapter as a reward.

31. Humiliation

A weary Mikey Way stepped outside of his apartment to fumble around for the mailbox lid. He could barely stand. He had gotten so drunk the night before, he only had vague memories of it. Just like every night for the past month or so.

He finally managed to extract the pile of envelopes from the metal box and began his journey of attempting to stumble back inside. He was almost there, but he ended up crashing to the floor instead. It took him a moment to realize he had slipped on something.

"The fuck?" he mumbled under his breath.

He felt around and found another envelope, secluded away from the others near the hinges of the door. It felt thick, like something more than paper was inside it. He pulled the envelope closer to him, still not bothering to get up. He inspected it and saw that it was unmarked. A sense of nervousness washed over him as he realized what this could be.

“Mikey, babe, why are you on the floor again?” Alicia sighed as she walked into the main room still in her pajamas, staring down at her pitiful looking husband.

Mikey did not answer but continued to stare at the envelope. Alicia saw his bewilderment with it and bent down to take it. She inspected it for a moment as well before carefully opening the sealed package.

“It’s a tape.” she informed as she pulled out a small black box appropriate for an old video camera.

Mikey at this point had managed to stand himself up, and they both looked at each other. Alicia could see the twinkle of fear in Mikey’s eyes. She was slightly glad for it, it was the first sign of life she had seen in Mikey’s eyes since the third month Gerard had been missing -- when he had seemed to finally given up hope.

“Let’s call the others.” She suggested, knowing that everyone else would want to know of this too.

~

They all gathered around, although not with the usual merriment that came whenever the “My Chemical Romance families” met. No, on this day they gathered in Mikey Way’s living room with a sense of anxiety and worry. Each Jamia, Alicia, and Christa stayed close to their husbands out of both fear and readiness to comfort them if they needed it. All of course, except Lindsay, who stood alone with no one to put her mind at ease. For obvious reasons, the children had been left at home with hired sitters.

All the girls still made it a point to throw Lindsay a sympathetic look every now and then, which she wished they would not do. Each look felt strangely unsettling, like they were just waiting for her to break down and cry.

Finally, Ray set up the tape for them to watch. There was a long pause of total silence and hesitation before they hit play. Christa had to take the remote from him and do it herself.

As soon as the tape started, audible gasps echoed throughout the room. A naked Gerard was the first thing they saw on the screen, yet it did not look like Gerard. Faded hair dye, baggy eyes, and almost all of his bones showing through marred skin --- this looked more like Gerard Way if he ever became a member of the living dead. His body was black and blue all over, except in parts where he had been burned and disfigured. The word ‘SLUT’ clearly etched upon his waist. He was sitting on a sheet-less bed, his head bowed. His locks had grown much longer, and they covered his face.

Even though Mikey had mentally prepared for the worst, bracing himself had done nothing. At the shock of the sight, he instantly vomited into the flower pot next to him, and he was sure it was not from the hangover. Alicia rubbed his back soothingly, her eyes unmoving from the screen.

The tape continued to play. Soon, other people came into the frame. 3 creepy looking men in black outfits, gloves, and ski masks hovered around Gerard. They just stood there for long time, their heads slightly bowed, as though they were about to preform some sort of ritual. The dark, grainy quality of the video added to the eeriness of the scene.

One of the men, who was directly on the left side of the bed, muttered something inaudible. He brought out a black rod with a glowing red tip,that indicated it had been heated. Meanwhile, the man directly across from him brought out a similar rod.

The man on the left then swung his heated rod at Gerard, smacking him violently in the chest with the hot point. Jamia screamed loudly, making everyone jump.

On the screen, Gerard yelped simultaneous with Jamia's scream. Almost instantly, another blow was delivered to the same area. Gerard cried out again. The motions were repeated, and then became gradually faster in pace.

The audio was low and muffled, as though something had been wrapped around the microphone. They could not hear anything the men said, but they could hear that Gerard was screaming heart breakingly clear.

He had fallen over on his back, twitching and convulsing as he shrieked loudly. The position exposed his entire body, being used like a drum for the burning metal sticks. They beat him with them rapidly, allowing him no breaks to recover.

Christa had already left the room at this point. Mikey was loudly sobbing. Frank was stoic, but those seated next to him could feel the fury that seemed to radiate from his being, causing Jamia to tense.

Gerard continued to thrash on the bed, screaming like a wild animal in pain. They were merciless. Whenever he would be burned by one rod, he would inch himself away from the direction in which it had struck him, only to be met with another blow from that side.

Finally, he actually began to breakdown and cry. Gerard’s sobs only emphasized the sad state of what he had been reduced to.

The camera moved, and they realized for the first time that someone had been holding it. The cameraman came closer to the bed, and held out a gloved hand. The other two men who had been beating Gerard stopped, and stood aside to allow the cameraman to be closer to him. As the cameraman came closer, so did the camera.

The damage that had been done by the rods were much more visible, although it was a little hard to distinguish the fresh wounds from the older ones. The only thing that set them apart was the redness of the patches, and its shades. He was covered from head to toe in darker patches of red that looked to be dried blood from little cuts and nicks. There were also older burns before, and it was easy to guess that this was not the first time he had been subjected to this.

The cameraman did a good pan of Gerard’s body, seeming to want to show the viewer the damage they had done. Boasting of their tortures. They were forced to take in the frail skeleton that he was, obviously due to starvation.

All the while, all Ray could think is: Why? Why would anyone do this to an innocent human being? The thought itself puzzled him. How could one person do this to another person? While he had read about it in books or seen it in movies, it never occurred to him that someone could really treat their fellow man like some sort of vile creature. It was too cruel to comprehend.

“Whats wrong, boy?” the cameraman asked as he hovered over Gerard’s trembling, naked form.

The question was again muffled, and Mikey figured it was probable that they had done this on purpose. Still, they were able to hear it with the straining of their ears.

The camera focused on Gerard’s face, which was covered in tears and snot. His lip quivering, and his mouth letting out small, pitiful whimpers. He did not look at any of them, his eyes wandering everywhere they were not. In them, Alicia could see the same dead look that Mikey had carried with him for months now.

“We’re videotaping this, you know.” They could hear the man tell him as he stroked Gerard’s hair mockingly. Frank growled at the screen, disgusted at seeing any of these people touch him that way. How dare they? These men were scum. Scum that did not deserve to fucking breathe, that did not deserve to share the same world they did. These men needed to die.

The man continued on, “We’ll be sending it to your family. I’m sure your daughter will be so proud to know her daddy died a whimpering coward.”

It was then that Gerard actually spoke for the first time. Mind, it was no profound statement. He simply began to beg, whispering the words “No, please… no… no, no….” shaking his head back and forth. He began to cry harder at the sentiment, while someone in the background emitted a laugh.

One man came forward then and turned Gerard over to lie on his stomach. The injuries of his back were revealed, and Jamia was the next person to leave. “I can’t do this…” she whispered as she stormed out before Frank could stop her.

Alicia looked at Lindsay, who was leaning against the wall, in a corner of the room. She figured Lindsay had not wanted to be with the others for a reason, so she had not called her over. Looking at her then, the reason was a bit more transparent.

Tears were sliding down her face, and her hands were cupping her mouth. Try as Lindsay might to hide it, Alicia knew she was more devastated than the rest of them, perhaps only comparable to Mikey. Lindsay had always been a proud woman, and no one was surprised when she turned silent after Gerard’s disappearance. She did not want to express her sadness, yet she would never be able to deny it either. Lindsay caught her eye for a moment, and Alicia quickly turned away. While she always did consider Lindsay a good friend, Alicia was unsure as to how to react to her at the time. Obviously the answer was to be a source of comfort, but how do you comfort someone after witnessing a horror such as this?

Alicia’s train of thought was disrupted by a loud wailing noise that came from Mikey. She looked up at the screen, and came close to screaming herself.

One of the men was now taking one of the metal rods from earlier and inserting the hot tip of it inbetween Gerard’s buttocks. They were pushing it in slowly, rotating it now and then. Gerard screamed and shrieked as it went further into his anus, and eventually, he himself began to split…

“STOP!”

Everyone turned to see that it was Frank who had screamed the word. His stoic state had broken, and he himself was now in tears. His shoulders shook and his face contorted. Gerard associated himself with similar people, and it was also a rare sight to see Frank Iero cry. A few of them had never seen the sight at all.

“Stop… stop the tape.” Frank blubbered out, “Let’s just take it to the police. There’s no point in us watching this, please. I don’t – I can’t watch this anymore.”

Alicia squeezed Frank’s shoulder and got up to take out the tape, knowing Mikey himself was too much of a wreck to do anything. She glanced at Ray as she passed, who had his face buried in his hands, unmoving and quiet.

She pulled the tape, and suddenly the room was silent. Gerard’s screams that had plagued them for the past few minutes were suddenly gone, but no one was sure whether it was better or worse without them. At least when they heard his screaming, they had some sense of connection.

Now there was nothing. No real indication he was even alive. They had no way of knowing how old this tape was. Could he have died since? Are they hurting him right now? Many more questions were now raised, but no answers.

Only silence, and the sounds of their own sorrow and desperation.

It was agreed that they would go to the police with the tape in the morning. Alicia offered dinner to all those who had come over, yet it was needless to say that nobody was hungry.

No one stayed for very long afterwards. Lindsay had left without a word to anyone. Frank however, convinced Mikey to give him the tape for the night. He did live closer to the police station, and Mikey agreed under the conditions that he take it first thing in the morning.

That night, Frank did not sleep a wink. He sat in their living room, watching the tape. It was quite unbearable at first, but he felt as though he had to do it. It took a few tries, but he did manage to get through most of it. He inspected every inch of the screen for any clues that might help him figure out where Gerard was.

At some point, Frank paused the tape. The image that became frozen on the screen was during the part where the camera had zoomed in on Gerard’s face. It had stopped at a point where Gerard seemed to be looking directly at Frank. His wide hazel eyes telling him one thing: help.

“Don’t you worry, Gerard.” Frank muttered, slightly deluded from lack of sleep, “I won’t let this be the end of you.”

~

Next chapter: “And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams --- is there anyone out there? ‘Cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe...”