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"Gerard was my best friend," Ray began, allowing himself a pause before continuing. "He always had a tendency of hurting himself. Whether it was the people he associated with or the choices he'd made."

"Like choosing to murder a bunch of women?" Bob muttered under his breath.

"I helped him get through it. I mean I guess I felt sorry for him and I really was concerned about him," Ray sighed. "He was suicidal for awhile. I talked him out of it once. Then Bianca came along and suddenly he was in love all over again."

"Bianca, the bride?" Shirley asked.

"I don't believe that he was ever truly in love with her. I think he was just in love with the concept of being in love. He really wanted to marry her. The last thing he wanted was to die alone," Ray explained.

"So what happened between them?" Bob questioned.

"I was there that day," Ray reminisced. "We were on our way to the ceremony. Gerard forgot his wallet and when he went back to get it, I heard something coming from Bianca's room. She was talking to someone and Gerard heard it, too. So I went inside and I found her in bed with Mikey."

"Mikey?" Bob and Shirley asked simultaneously.

"His brother."

"His brother?!" Bob exclaimed. "So that explains..."

"His murder," Shirley finished. "And Bianca's murder."

"Wait....but what about your-," Bob stopped himself.

"I don't know why he killed Carla," Ray whispered. "She had nothing to do with him."

"He's killing all these brides because he got cheated on?!" Shirley said in disgust. "This kind of shit happens all the time, but no one else is going on homicidal rampages. Especially toward innocent women!"

"Gerard was never like anyone else," Ray said softly. "Bianca wasn't the first to hurt him. He's had his string of bad girlfriends. Girls who used him because he always gave in to their every need. Bianca was just the last straw."

"It still doesn't give him the right to end lives," Bob scoffed.

"And he killed his own brother," Shirley added.

"I wish I knew where he's keeping her," Ray sighed.

"I hope she's okay," Bob said, worriedly.

"He hasn't killed her," Ray assured him. "If he did, we would've found her by now."

*

Scarlett's stomach grumbled loudly in protest to her stubbornness. Her cheeks were wet with food as she shook her head in refusal to Gerard's attempt to feed her. Still, he pushed the spoon only to be blocked by the sides of her head.

"You're gonna give in sooner or later," Gerard stated matter-of-factly.

Scarlett hated the way he spoke. Who was he to tell her what she would or wouldn't do? Her arms shook in hunger and the smell of food was stronger than ever, but she swore she wouldn't eat the Devil's food. She was no Persephone.

Finally, Gerard gave up and set the meal aside. He looked at her up and down with his acid green eyes and grinned. He chuckled to himself and muttered, "You're nothing like your sister."

"And what could you possibly know about my sister?!" Scarlett snapped.

"I know that she wasn't half as stubborn as you are," Gerard replied. "She went quietly without a fight."

"Fuck you," Scarlett cursed, narrowing her eyes at her target.

"I've never seen anything like it," Gerard went on, unaffected. "You think anyone would be fighting for their life, but she just stood there like she wanted it. Like a deer in headlights."

Scarlett had never hated anyone so much in her life. But the truth was that Annie wasn't a fighter. Scarlett could imagine her sister frozen in fear, doing nothing to resist the knife in Gerard's hand. Maybe she thought it was her time or maybe she wanted to know if death was everything she ever dreamed about.

"You don't deserve to talk about her," Scarlett warned Gerard. "If you're not going to kill me, I'm just going have to kill you. There's no saving you, Gerard. You're going to die."

"And exactly how are you gonna do that?" Gerard asked, staring proudly at Scarlett's struggles. "Kill me through your eyes?"

"If I could, you'd be in Hell by now," Scarlett hissed.

"Cute," Gerard said with a laugh. "So...who shot you?"

"What?" Scarlett blurted, her cheeks burning.

"Hurts doesn't it?" Gerard said sympathetically.

He lifted his shirt slightly to reveal a scar on the side of his body. It was almost in the same place as her own. She lowered her eyes to find her dirty secret shining in the moonlight. She always hid that scar and most of her friends and family never even knew it existed. Scarlett blinked away her tears, hoping Gerard had not seen. But it was apparent that he had. She wished her hands were free to cover it up.

"Don't talk to me," Scarlett whispered, turning away from his eyes.

Scarlett promised herself that she would never let a guy touch her, again. There used to be a time when she was just as in love as Annie and Frank. When her world felt perfect and when she actually pictured herself in a wedding dress. Brent was her everything. He was her knight in shining armor. But she couldn't see through the painted silver.

She could've blamed Brent for her addictions. She could've blamed him for her for ruining her life. But she didn't. She blamed herself for letting him in. Scarlett was always supposed to be strong under all circumstances. She couldn't crumble underneath a man. Yet, the bruises still felt fresh underneath her skin as if he had just beat her hours ago. She could almost feel her cuts rising up again. How many different excuses did she have for each one?

And when he pulled out that gun, it was almost as if she was watching herself in a theater. Nothing felt real about it. Not his sadistic eyes, not the sound of the blast, not even the sharp pain of penetrating metal. He didn't even believe in her enough to think she would live through it. She saw him place the gun on his temple for fear of being arrested. He loved his reputation much more than he could ever love her. She heard his skull crack underneath the floor as his blood flowed freely from his head. As she laid in her own scarlet pool, she swore that if she lived through it she would never give her whole self to another man again. It would be the only vow she would ever make concerning love. Not even a man like Ray Toro could bring her to show him that scar.

She felt so exposed. Gerard had seen what she wouldn't even show the people she cared about. All the more reasons to have him killed.

*

Shirley was back in the office, searching through the files for more information on Gerard Way. She was hacking into the detective's computer to find anything concerning the murders on his wedding date. She was never assigned to help investigate that case so she knew very few details. She knew that when Gerard was assumed dead, the detective just completely ignored his file.

"Got it," Shirley announced, after rushed minutes of typing.

Ray and Bob stood nearby, relieved that she had made it. They kept watch for anyone coming in and so far, the coast was still clear. Shirley read through the information as quickly as she could, trying to sort out the important clues. It didn't say much and it told them nothing they already didn't know.

"Hold on...I think I've got something," Shirley whispered, rereading the entry.

"Someone's coming," Bob warned. "I can hear footsteps."

"Shit," Shirley cursed under her breath.

They held still until the footsteps became louder. Silently, they prayed the sound would pass by. Shirley wrote down a few things on a notepad while trying to keep her breathing still. Then the footsteps stopped. Everyone in the room stared expectantly at the door. There was a jingle of keys and a turn of a knob. Shirley shut off the computer and stuffed the notepad into her pocket.

"Richard! Someone wants to see you up front!"

A policeman called over the detective from the front desk. There were three sighs of relief as they heard the footsteps retreat.

"Let's get outta here," Shirley said triumphantly.

*

"I don't wanna kill you," Gerard told Scarlett, brushing her cheek with his hand.

"Oh but I want to kill you," Scarlett scowled against his touch.

"We have more in common than you think," Gerard replied. "You may be the only person who would understand why I do the things I do."

"I don't understand you, Gerard," Scarlett sneered. "And I never will."

"You don't know the whole story yet," Gerard began.

"I don't want to know your fucking story! I just want to get the fuck out of here and get you out of my life!" Scarlett spat.

"I don't wanna kill you," Gerard repeated. "But if I have to, I will"

"I dare you," Scarlett said boldly.

*

"What did you find?" Bob asked as Shirley pulled out of the parking lot.

"Gerard was shot that night, too," Shirley revealed. "Bianca, Mikey, and Gerard were all shot, but he was the only one who lived through it."

"That's right...," Ray said, his memories finally catching up with him.

After Carla's death, he tried not to relive every detail of what happened before her murder. It was only when Shirley mentioned it, that he started to remember more clearly.

"I thought he was missing," Bob looked to Shirley for an explanation.

"He was," Shirley confirmed. "After he escaped from the hospital."

It was the missing piece of the puzzle. Shirley knew that the groom was missing, but she didn't know it was after he was found at the scene of the crime. If only she was working on that case that night, then they would've known sooner. But it didn't matter anymore because they were getting so close to cracking the case.

"I went to the hospital to visit him," Ray added. "First they said he was still unconscious. Then they came back and said he was missing."

"That's why they assumed he was dead!" Shirley proclaimed. "He was still recovering and he didn't have much of a chance surviving on his own like that."

"But he did," Ray replied. "He came by my house the other day and I told him to get out. He knew about Scarlett."

"What does he want with her?" Bob asked.

"I don't know," Ray sighed, dejectedly.

"Did Gerard really kill Bianca and Mikey?" Shirley asked. "They were all shot. Anything could've happened."

Ray wished he had chased after Gerard when he fled after they found Bianca with Mikey. He let him go, thinking he just needed to get away. Instead, he delivered the news to the wedding guests that the wedding had to be cancelled. He gave no details and left it all for Bianca to explain. Whatever lie she told, everyone seemed to understand. He never saw Gerard again that day. He heard about a shooting involving the three of them, but it was unclear as to who shot who. All three of their fingerprints were found on the gun, but it was predominantly Gerard's prints. But, then again, it was his gun to begin with. It was the same gun Ray had talked him out of using to kill himself. Suddenly, he didn't know what to believe anymore. Shirley's words echoed through their minds.

Anything could've happened.