He Brought Us Here

New Orleans Louisiana. Sunday 30th October 2011

"Fuck! I'm beat!"

Frank Iero grumbled as he collapsed onto a ratty couch, backstage after their last performance at the three day Voodoo Music Experience.

It was hot and sticky despite it being the tail end of October, and even the thought of his birthday and Halloween tomorrow couldn't put a smile back on the guitarist's face.

"How is it still this fucking hot?"

Gerard Way moaned as he flopped ungracefully onto the grubby carpet, too tired to make it to the couch. He pushed his sweat soaked vest up around his ribs, letting his skin breath a little.

"Suck it up buttercup..."

Mikey Way, Gerard's younger brother smirked as he leaned against the doorframe. Gerard was too tired to reply, so he just flipped him off.

"Nice."

Mikey rolled his eyes as he pushed off of the wall, stepping over his brother to sit down next to Frank.

"Anyone seen my clean shirt?"

Ray Toro asked as he appeared in the doorway. He was naked from the waist up and was looking kind of like a drowned poodle right now, his damp curly hair hanging limply to his shoulders. Everyone shook their heads and he disappeared back out the door.

"I'm glad we've got a break til January..."

Frank murmured.

"I think it'll take that long to recover."

"Well if you didn't throw yourself around the stage like a madman..."

"Yeah yeah, whatever..."

Frank waved Mikey's argument away. He rested his head back against the sofa and sighed.

"What time's the flight tomorrow?"

"Uhh...not sure."

"Ten thirty I think."

Frank looked at Gerard with disgust.

"Ten thirty a.m!?"

"No doofus..."

Gerard laughed.

"P.m. Ten thirty at night."

Frank huffed.

"Well that's a stupid time to fly!"

Gerard pushed himself upright and sat crisis cross, looking at his best friend.

"Come on Frank. You know anything worth doing in this town happens after dark..."

He smirked, enjoying the shocked look that landed on his brother's face at that comment.

"Besides, it gives us the day to look around."

"I guess..."

Frank sighed.

"There's lots of old music halls and stuff that could be cool."

"That's the spirit!"

Gerard cheered, reaching over to a small refrigerator and grabbing three bottles of water. He handed one to Mikey and one to Frank, then opened his own and drank nearly half in one go, choking a little at the end.

"Hey guys?..."

Ray appeared at the door in a shirt that the others were pretty sure wasn't his.

"Some kid just handed me this."

He held out an envelope with "My Chemical Romance" written in flowing red ink on the front.

Gerard took the envelope and opened it. Inside were two pieces of paper. The first was a letter, and from the print on the back of the second, it appeared to be a cheque. Carefully he removed the letter and unfolded it, then began to read out loud.

"Dear My Chemical Romance. I would like to invite you to perform a small private show on the night of All Hallow's Eve. I have a select audience who would really like to see you play, and I have rented an old music hall in the French Quarter for the night.

Enclosed is a cheque for a hundred thousand dollars..."

Gerard's eyes went wide as he quickly fished the cheque out and turned it over.

"Holy fuck!..."

He turned it to show the others, who's mouths all fell open, comically. It really did say $100,000! Gerard looked back at the letter.

"There will be a car to collect you and your equipment from your hotel at sunset tomorrow. If you decide not to attend, the cheque will be cancelled..."

Gerard frowned.

"Weird. Yours, Mesye Tanbou. That's all it says."

He handed the letter over to Ray, who was now perched on the arm of the couch.

"What the Hell fuckin' time is sunset?! Why not give us an actual time?"

Frank grunted, leaning over Mikey to get a better look at the letter. Gerard shrugged.

"Damned if I know."

He pushed his damp red hair out of his face.

"Do we want to do this?...I mean, we were just saying how we're all happy for a break. Plus, our plane tickets. Not sure if they can be exchanged or not."

"It's a hundred thousand dollars Gee..."

Mikey pointed out.

"I don't think we can afford not to."

Gerard sighed.

"You're right Mikes..."

He looked at the others.

"You guys up for this?"

"Why not..."

Ray, always the calm and logical one shrugged.

"And if we can't change the tickets, at least we can afford to pay for new ones...Frank?"

Frank looked at everyone's expectant faces and sighed dramatically.

"Fiiiine..."

He moaned.

"But you all owe me a drink for this."

"WHY?"

The others all chorused. Frank smirked at them.

"Cause it's my birthday tomorrow...that's why"

They all laughed, then got ready to leave for their hotel.

They all agreed that tomorrow would be fun, but if they'd known what they were getting into, they probably would've been on the next plane out of there, instead of extending their stay in New Orleans.

*

The next morning, after showering cause it was so hot they’d all sweated through their bed sheets, the guys all headed out to check out the town. They watched street performers and listened to some pretty damn good music...then ate jambalaya for lunch before heading back to their hotel to rest before the show.

"I like this town..."

Frank mused, laying on his back on the floor with his feet up on the end of Gerard’s bed.

"Well, I would if it wasn’t so damn hot all the time."

Mikey chuckled from his seat by an open window, looking out on the still busy street below.

"I know what you mean. This place has spirit."

"Damn it!..."

Gerard cursed, kicking a small waste paper basket across the room.

"I knew there was something I wanted to do while we were here...and now we won’t have time."

Ray opened one eye from his spot on Mikey’s bed.

"What’s that?"

"A ghost tour..."

Gerard said with faded excitement.

"It would’ve been so cool. This town has so much history, and so many ghost stories and legends."

"What..."

Frank swung his legs down onto the ground and sat up to look at his friend.

"You want to go traipsing through catacombs and graveyards with some dude telling you ghost stories?...in this heat?...are you mad?"

Gerard frowned, looking down at his bare feet on the ugly grey carpet.

"It was just an idea..."

He mumbled quietly.

"Doesn’t matter."

"Aww, come on bro..."

Mikey moved to his side and slung one arm around Gerard’s shoulders.

"Maybe next time we come...yeah?.

Gerard shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. Would’ve been fun to do it on Halloween though."

Frank felt bad now. He looked at his watch.

"Hey Gee?...if you really want to, we could probably go now...and be back before sundown."

Gerard looked up with a growing smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not. Come on guys, if Gerard wants a ghost tour, then we'll go on a ghost tour."

Mikey and Ray didn’t take much persuading, and 5 minutes later they were all out the door.

*

"Oh man!..."

Gerard enthused as they all stumbled back into the brothers' hotel room.

"That was awesome!...thanks Frank..."

He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to the shorter man.

"And happy birthday."

Frank looked down at his hand and saw a small enamel pin of Frankenstein's monster. He grinned as he looked back up.

"Thanks Gee, I love it."

Ray and Frank then parted to their room, which happened to be right next door, and the four of them started to get ready for the mystery gig.

*

45 minutes later, they were all sat just outside the lobby, surrounded by their equipment as they waited for their ride.

"What time is sunset anyway?"

Frank said, taking a chug of water from the bottle that had been practically glued to his hand the past few days. The others all shrugged, then they all returned to silence.

*

32 minutes later, a long black limo with blacked out windows pulled up in front of them, and the back door opened. A tall black woman with flawless skin, perfect teeth and piercing blue eyes...that the guys presumed were contacts...got out of the car and stepped over to them. She was wearing a black leather cat-suit, and Frank couldn’t help but wonder how she wasn’t sweating right now. He, on the other hand, was sweating his balls off.

"My Chemical Romance?..."

She asked in a strong Creole accent, the band nodded, unable to think of anything to say right now.

"I am Madam Babette Moreau. I will be escorting you to the music hall this evening. Do you have everything you need?"

"Uh...yes. Sorry..."

Gerard stood up, offering his hand as the others rose behind him.

"I’m Gerard, this is my brother Mikey, that’s Frank, and that’s Ray..."

He pointed to each in turn, after dropping his hand when Madam Moreau didn’t take it.

"It’s nice to meet you. Are you our benefactor tonight?"

The woman smiled, though it barely reached her eyes. She shook her head.

"No..."

She held a hand out toward the car.

"Shall we?"

Sensing that they weren’t getting any answers from her, the band all nodded and started to quickly load their basic equipment inside. Once it was all securely in place, they climbed in and sat down. Madam Moreau followed and closed the door...then the car drove away.

*

After about half an hour's drive through narrow streets lined with increasingly old looking building, the car came to a stop outside what appeared to be an old church.

"We are here..."

Madam Moreau said as she opened the door and stepped out into the warm fragrant night air.

"I trust you can handle your equipment yourselves?"

"Yeah..."

Frank climbed out with his beloved acoustic guitar in his hand.

"We can."

No one was touching his guitar. He was followed out by the others, each with a piece of kit, as Madam Moreau disappeared inside the building without another word.

"This is weird..."

Mikey muttered as they got the rest of their gear out of the car. When no one answered, he turned to look at them, raising his voice a little.

"Don’t you think this is weird?"

"I guess..."

Ray said as he closed the door of the car.

"But whoever asked us here is clearly loaded, and you know that rich people are weird. Try not to think on it too much, 'k Mikey?"

Mikey chuckled.

"Sure, I’ll try."

The band picked up as much of their stuff each as they could, and carried it inside. They didn’t want to leave expensive equipment out on the street unattended. After just two trips, they had everything in and up on the small stage at the far end of the room...where they suspected the pulpit had once been. Now inside, they were even more convinced that this had been a church, though there were no crosses or religious icons of any sort in sight...the place just had that vibe.

"Welcome..."

A voice came from a door to the left of the stage that they hadn’t noticed before. They all turned and were met with the vision of a tall very pale man, with jet black hair, perfect teeth and the same blue eyes as Madam Moreau.

"I am Sebastian, and I am here on behalf of my master...Mesye Tanbou. He will be with us shortly, and he sends his apologies for not being here to greet you."

"Uh...that’s ok man, all good."

Frank said awkwardly as no one else seemed like they were going to answer. Sebastian bowed to them with a slight smile.

"If there is nothing you need?..."

The boy’s all shook their heads.

"Then I will leave you to prepare. My master expects the show to begin in 30 minutes."

Then he turned and left through the door he’d entered.

"Like I said..."

Mikey whispered.

"Weird."

The others were finding it harder and harder to disagree.

*

25 minutes later, the door Sebastian had appeared through opened again, and roughly 100 people passed through it into the room. The people were all sexes, all colours and seemingly all ages...but somehow they all looked alike. They were all dressed head to toe in black, they all had flawless skin and perfect teeth...and they all had those strange blue eyes...that were all now staring at the band, who suddenly wished they’d caught their flight out of there after all.

Gerard looked at each of his bandmate, seeing his own apprehension and growing unease mirrored back at him. He swallowed, then took a deep breath.

"I’m not ok?"

He suggested quietly.

"Seems appropriate."

Frank replied through gritted teeth. They all nodded and turned back to look at their weirdly silent audience. They didn’t see the man stood in the shadows at the back of the room, watching, and waiting. After a couple of breaths to calm themselves, the band began the song. The acoustic guitars sounded soft and sweet in the large room, then Gerard began to sing.

#"Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say

I never want to let you down or have you go, it's better off this way

For all the dirty looks

For photographs your boyfriend took

Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?"#

His eyes were scanning the crowd as he wondered why they were here.

#”I'm not okay

I'm not okay

I'm not okay

You wear me out.”#

He couldn’t see anyone singing along, swaying...or even smiling. They just stared.

#”What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems? (I'm not okay)

I told you time and time again you sing the words but don't know what it means

To be a joke and look

Another line without a hook

I held you close as we both shook for the last time

Take a good hard look.”#

He was getting really creepy vibes from this bunch, and one glance back at his band mates told him that they were feeling it too.

#”I'm not okay

I'm not okay

I'm not okay

You wear me out.”#

Frank moved in closer on his right side to share the microphone, and share a disturbed look.

#”Forget about the dirty looks

The photographs your boyfriend took?

You said you read me like a book, but the pages all are torn and frayed.”#

#”I'm okay

I'm okay

I'm okay, now

(I'm okay, now).”#

#”But you really need to listen to me

Because I'm telling you the truth

I mean this

I'm okay (trust me).”#

The rest of the band now joined in with the lyrics, moving toward each other as if they needed comfort.

#”I'm not okay

I'm not okay

Well, I'm not okay

I'm not o-fucking-kay

I'm not okay

I'm not okay (okay).”#

They finished the song and the room fell quiet. There was no clapping, no cheering...just that creepy as Hell staring.

"I think I want to go home."

Gerard whispered.

"I think we shouldn’t have come."

Mikey replied.

"I think I’m gonna piss my pants."

Frank whimpered.

Suddenly, the man in the shadows at the back stepped forward, into the dim candle light that flickered around the room. Gerard squinted, unsure what he was seeing.

"Is that...?"

"Can’t be."

"I think it is."

"Hello friends..."

The familiar voice sounded through the room.

"I was so glad you accepted my invitation."

Gerard’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open.

"Bob?!...it was you?!"

Bob Bryar laughed as he walked toward the stage.

"Of course it was me. I’ve been trying to get you down here for ages..."

He grinned, and Gerard noticed the same perfect teeth, and the same strange blue eyes. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?

"And now I have you here..."

Bob continued, grin fixed to his face like the Joker.

"You will never leave me again..."

Suddenly, every one of the statue still audience members seemed to come to life. Their blue eyes turned red and their perfect teeth grew to inch long fangs...and they flooded the stage.

Bob turned and walked away with a smile on his face and the sound of screaming in his ears.

"No..."

He said to Madam Moreau as he linked arms with her at the door and they headed out into the night.

"They will never, ever be able to leave me again."

~The End~

Notes

Hi there chipmunks, how’s you?

So, what did you think?...different huh? This was based on a dream I had 3 years ago, so I hope you liked it.

Until next time...peace out babies!

xxx