You discovered what Gerard was capable of the day aunt Marie was buried.

Grey clouds hung low over the cemetery and all around the crowd gathered around the grave. Black clothes, heartbroken faces, tears. You stood between them. You were the girl with the clumsily buttoned cardigan, knee-length dress and pinned-back hair. Your face was skewed in pain, but not because this was a funeral - pain because your shoes were much too tight.

Your mom clamped a hand on your shoulder. Stand still, (Y/N)! her eyes scolded. You grit your teeth.

Looking back at the coffin, you noticed that it was so nearby that if you extended your arm, you would be able to touch it. A bunch of white flowers sat on the middle of the coffin top. The petals looked ashy in the cloudy light.

Your eyes scanned over the people. Their shoulders were slumped forward. Handkerchiefs pressed to their eyes.

Uncle Howard stood across from you. It was his wife that was dead. He looked defeated. Despite the fact that you referred to them as 'uncle' and 'aunt', they weren't relatives of yours; they were well-loved in the community, and everyone referred to them as such.

But they were relatives of Gerard Way.

He stood in front of his parents, next to his little brother. Feet together and pale skin the colour of milk. There were dark rings around his eyes. He was around the same age as you, but exponentially more creepy. You had only seen him once before. Today was the second time.

"...our beloved Marie Helena Way..." the preacher conducted his address.

You weren't listening. You looked past the preacher at Gerard, trying to decipher exactly what it was that make him so creepy. And then you realised - it was those muddy, dark eyes of his. They could look so deep, deep into your soul, as if they were searching for the secrets you buried in your head.

When the first raindrops fell, there were shifts in the crowd. But Gerard stood dead still in front of his parents. His face was bleak and his lips blue, bloodless from the sudden cold.

Suddenly, he looked right at you. You startled. Those muddy eyes were searching for something inside of you. You looked away quickly.

"Stop!" someone cut off the preacher's voice.

It was Gerard. His previously tightly pressed lips were now open. Everyone looked at him. A frown was plastered on his forehead. It was quiet, except the rain that had picked up and was hitting the coffin and umbrellas harshly.

"Gerard?" whispered his mother.

His shoulders shuddered, shuddered. His eyes grew darker. He wasn't blinking, and was staring directly at uncle Howard.

"Aunt Marie isn't dead," he spoke with a clear voice.

"Son?" his mother whispered again.

"Look," Gerard insisted, still staring at his uncle, "she's standing behind you..."

✧✧✧

Weeks after the time, you were still thinking of that day. How the crowd's breathing stopped. Some moved away from uncle Howard. Some screamed out: "Evil!"

But Gerard just stood there, the frown still planted on his forehead. In a softer voice, he said: "Can you not see her? She's standing there. She's smiling."

Everyone knew that aunt Marie could not have been standing behind her husband. She was in the coffin. The coffin which was now sunken into the deep grave. Where the mud was covering the beautiful wood.

Your parents never spoke about that day after it had transpired. Nor did they speak about Gerard. But you kept wondering about him. You even dreamed about him. Once or twice, you woke up drenched in sweat from a nightmare. In your head, a dream was still brewing. It was as if Gerard was watching your dreams. As if he was in your dreams, or even standing in your room - feet together, skin as pale as milk. And he was staring at you.

Whenever you got the chance, you would speak to your cousins about Gerard. They would always write it off as him being a weirdo. You knew that. But everyone is a weirdo in someone else's eyes. This was different.

What was this thing that Gerard could do? What was brewing inside of him? Why did he say that he could see his dead aunt?

You never spoke to Gerard. His parents never came to visit yours. Maybe it was better like that, just in case it triggered more dreams.

✧✧✧

A few months later, you were fortunate enough that Gerard had drifted out of your mind. Of course, it was at that time that he had made another appearance.

It was a messy time. Things at school were not good. Tons of assignments, a new headmaster that was straight from hell. Your bike was broken; the chain had snapped in the middle of one of your rides, and the brakes weren't working like they were meant to.

And so, on a rainy day - the accident.

If you closed your eyes, you could still see the car approaching. You could feel your bike slide out from underneath you and onto the road. You could hear the metal cracking. Bones that snapped. You could smell the wet tar.

There were sirens. And people's voices, somewhere far away.

✧✧✧

The third time that you saw Gerard, you were at another funeral, shortly after the 'messy time'. You couldn't properly remember how you got there; your memory had been a bit hazy since the accident.

The familiar faces from the last funeral were there again. But there were others, too. Your home room teacher and the school principal, of all people. Also a few of your school friends. You figured that you probably came with them.

In front of you, suspended on the green bands over the grave, was the coffin. It wasn't as big as aunt Marie's, but it was nicer.

You listened to the preacher's voice. It sounded like he was speaking from underneath the grave. Sticking a finger in your ear, you wiggled it back and forth, hoping it would better your hearing.

Your eyes scanned over the people around the grave. Heartbreak was all around. Why were your friends crying like that?

Then you saw Gerard standing there. Feet together, hands by his sides. His skin shone like a ghost's outline. His eyes were deep and dark. His shoulders began to shudder, shudder, and a frown formed on his forehead. And then he said...

"But (Y/N) isn't dead... look, she's standing there."

_______________________________

Thank you for reading x