The Ghost From Our Past

It's been one year and a half since the last time I saw Shiloh. She's still on my mind, I just hope she's okay. Right now I am writing for the new Umbrella Academy, Hotel Oblivion did great in sales but that didn't really matter to me. A light knock came on my office door, "come in!"

"Hey Gee!" Without having to turn around I knew it was Mikey. He came up to my side and watched me doodle and write. "Is Bandit here?"

"No, Beezle is with Lynz this week but I get her next week." Lindsay and I ended up getting a divorce, I think it was coming a long time ago. We had started fighting before Shiloh came along. Bandit would spend two weeks with me, then two weeks with Lynz and we'd switch off like that. Major holidays were spent together, so we didn't have to be apart on them.

It was hard at first and if it wasn't for the guys I would have relapsed. Frank, Ray and Mikey all came to stay with me for awhile. It was like old times and I appreciated the time together. We watched horror movies, played video games, played music together and I even got them to play D&D.

Now I put all my concentration into comics and my new music. My first solo album was just released a couple months ago and it was a hit. I think most were My Chemical Romance fans seeing what I could do by myself and I'm proud of what I gave them. Mikey and Sarah were expecting their first child, her son was excited to finally have a sibling.

So everyone's life was going well, I've even heard from Becky a few times. Her mom passed away sadly but she was now dating a sweet guy who was taking care of her. Matthew was still in prison, last I heard he was getting psychiatric help.

However, his father and my good friend couldn't handle knowing what his son did. He was found dead in his house, gunshot to the head. I couldn't help but somehow blame myself for Henry's death but I guess you can't save everyone.

I had asked Shiloh to keep in touch if it was possible but there was never a word. The FBI had her hidden somewhere, and she was safe at least. Of course I tried to get information by calling them, I had my connections, but their lips were sealed. I was still on Twitter, a lot more lately and posting art and other pictures.

Mikey snapped his fingers in front of me, "earth to Gerard. Hello?"

"Sorry Mikes, I got lost in my thoughts again."

"Thinking about Shy?"

"Thinking about what's happened this past year. How's Sarah?"

"Bump's getting bigger, can't wait to have my little baby." They weren't going to see what the sex of the baby was, they wanted to be surprised. "Want to go get coffee? Get you out of the house."

Before I could say no to him, he pulled me to my feet and grabbed my coat. We drove to Starbucks, I ordered my usual and we sat by the window. I sighed deeply without knowing. "What's wrong? Shiloh?"

"I just wish I knew if she was okay. The only hope I have is this one Twitter account."

"Here we go again, the same one from before?" I took out my phone and went to the Twitter account.

"Mikey, there's little things that make me believe it's her. Her name is @DarkNitemares and Shiloh loved horror movies especially Nightmare on Elm Street. She replies to my tweets, her bio says she's not normal and an old soul."

Mikey grabs my phone and starts looking. He was concentrating and scrolling. "Gee, I know you're desperate to get any info about Shy but this isn't her. Look here's a picture of her." He handed me the phone again, a picture of a girl appeared. She had long blonde hair, bright green eyes and glasses.

"Her name is Emily, she has a boyfriend named Syn, and lives in California. Gee, she doesn't look anything like Shiloh." I scrolled through her pics, stopping of one of her and hi I assumed to be Syn. She was smiling and it reminded me of Shiloh's. The only other thing that resembled Shy was her body. It was the same when Shiloh first came into my life, maybe Mikey was right. I'm just trying to reach for any hope but this wasn't her.

"You're right, she's in witness protection. They wouldn't keep her in California, she's probably living in Nebraska or something." Mikey and I talked about other things including new music from Electric Century. I was so happy his band was doing so well, some were hesitant after him being in My Chem for twelve years.

We finished our conversation and drinks and went home. He left to get back to Sarah and I went for my office. The house was deadly quiet and it started to stress me out. I put on my music as loud as I could and went back to my comic. My phone buzzed with a new Twitter notification, Mikey tagged me in his tweet.

I got on and posted my own thing, that DarkNitemares replied and I faved it. My mind kept going back and forth with this, I went to her profile and in her bio she had her boyfriends twitter name. Then I thought of an idea, was it a smart idea? No, but I just had to do it or this would eat me up.

I went to Syn's profile, he followed me and I followed him back. Quickly I sent him a direct message. 'Hey so you and your girlfriend are fans of mine?' He must have been on because it didn't take long for him to reply.

'Holy shit it's really Gerard Way! Yeah Emily and I love you, big fans. Can't believe you're following me and messaging me.'

I had to smile, I could imagine his excitement. 'Do me a favor and don't tell her that you're talking to me. I have surprise for you two.'

'Its a good thing she's at work, I'm freaking out and she would have already known. What's the surprise?'

'Ive picked you and your girlfriend to have a meet and greet with me. She's always replying to my tweets and you both seem like amazing fans.'

'Have I died? No fucking way this is happening! I can't freaking wait! Em's going to flip!'
'Don't tell her, let it be a surprise. The look on her face will be priceless.'

'You're right! Thank you so much for this Gerard! You're going to make my girl's year. Can we bring a couple items to sign?'

I told him yes of course and finished the conversation with the details. We would meet in three days at the same restaurant I have taken Shiloh to twice. My heart and mind were racing, either I was meeting two die hard fans or I was going to see Shiloh again.

Notes