Fearless - Organisation XIII

Chapter One - Welcome to the Black Parade

"Jacob! Hurry up, Dad's waiting!" I giggle, running around the house, hunting for my twin brother. My dad waits for us in the car, like he used to for mum when they'd go out on dates. I miss her, so much. 

"Shut up, Evie! I don't even want to go!" He cries out and I suddenly realise he's crying. I creep into his room, not bothering to knock which I know deep down will annoy him even more. 

"Jacob, what's wrong?" I ask, him letting out an involuntary sniff. "Is it because you miss mum?" He nods slightly, looking up at me with his big blue eyes. It's not often I see my brother cry. Even if we are the same age, he's usually much tougher than me and very protective, he never lets me see him hurt. I crouch down and hug him close. "It'll be okay. I miss her too, lots. But that's why we have to go today. Dad says that this is important because if we lose him too, we need to know what to do. We have to carry on without them. It's what all the damned have to do."

Jacob lets out a big sigh before standing up timidly. He grabs his hoodie and puts it on, the black making the white symbol on the back stand out more. I wear a matching one, and my dad wears what that's different as he's a higher tier than us both. We have a hierarchy, the people like us. As me and Jacob are the youngest, we're only on tier 2. We've lost one parent, but we haven't lost the other. When Dad dies, we'll move up a tier. Then when we turn 18, we'll move up again. Depending on what we do with our lives, we'll move up another and then when we die, we'll move up once again and continue to do so in the afterlife.

I walk down the stairs and out the front door, watching Jacob lock up before the pair of us join our father in the car. The engine starts and the journey begins. Usually, our father forces us to sit in silence for the duration of it but this time, he speaks. This is the first thing I've heard my father say since mum died. "Kids, this day is probably the most important day of your lives. You're a part of the society, yes, but you don't truly know how it works. Today you'll meet the leaders, learn about the tiers in more depth, and discover what it's truly like to be one of the world's unknowns. One of the nobodies. You may even learn the secret of the keyblade, but that's highly uncertain as one hasn't been seen for centuries."

I think over and over what he's said. I know that'll be it, no more talking from him, probably until he's dead. It's expected, however, as it happens to most when their somebody dies. The only nobody that's actually a somebody to one person in the world, or so we think. We don't know any different and for me and Jacob, we don't even know this reality.

We park up and dad leads us towards the town centre. I've never been here before, but I've seen a few newspaper articles about it. This place has been abandoned for more than 60 years. The sign is rusted, the windows of the once lively shop windows are smashed, and all that populates it's cobbled street is a clash of black hoodies. Dad throws up his hood, hiding his face, as he enters the centre. Instinctively, me and Jacob do the same thing but he can sense I'm nervous, terrified even. Upon doing so, he grabs my hand and rubs his thumb over it. I do the same to him and then we enter.

As we take our place, dependent on our families position in the hierarchy as we must never mix with another family of our kind until the afterlife, the band begins to play. A formation of nobodies arise from the back of the centre, the black parade, hoods up and weapons out marching down the centre as the drummers play them a beat to follow. I see my dad shuffle forward, forcing my brother to sit next to him and for me to be left on our families front row by myself "Son, when you grow up, I'll grow up, will you be the savour of the broken, the beatened, and the damned?" I'm puzzled for a moment, thinking what he means. I think back to become mum died, what she taught me, but I can't think. "One day, I'll leave you and I'll just be a phantom, joined by the leaders and forever climbing the tiers as I do work for them. But not to worry, I shall lead you into the summer but promise me one thing, you'll join the black parade. That's these people right here, all of them organised and coordinated into a routine that makes them unbeatable and the savours. If you ever have anything you're worried about and I'm no longer around, go to them." It clicks. We're the broken. We're the beatened. We're all damned. That's why were joined together at one. This is our society, and they are our savours.

I feel a cold hand on my shoulder and I look at it, the hand cracked from the cold and his dark hood hiding his face, alike to everyone else. "Evie?" I hear him ask, and I immediately recognise the voice although I can't remember where from. "It's Blake. Can you come with me?" I nod, instantly realising that it was probably a bad idea to go with him and that he probably couldn't see me do so anyway. I stand up, taking his hand as he leads me through the crowd. If anywhere else, a man whispering to an 11 year-old before being taken away by him, it would look suspicious and there'd be police on it straight away. Not here, though. We trust one another, unwillingly. It comes in our nature. So we ignore the threats and the possibility of danger and go with what is happening in the moment, only pondering over it after the event has occurred. 

I get lead out of the centre and I'm starting to panic. The deserted car park is filled with cars, all black and identical to one another. Blake leads me to his car, my train of thought wondering for a moment how he could possibly recognise it as his own, but it's soon interrupted by me being placed in the backseat and Blake sitting beside me. He reaches forward, taking down my hood slowly and hesitantly. As a reflex, I wince away slightly as the fear becomes overwhelming. "Thank god, I worried for a second I would've got your brother instead." Blake flips down his hood and I instantly remember who he is. He's my brother. He was kicked out of our family by our dad as soon as mum died. Blamed for her dead before getting humiliated by him before his entire college. Blake and dad couldn't live with each other anymore and so Blake was the one who had to leave. Jacob is dad's nobody. Both myself and Blake were mum's. But I guess dad had to keep at least a part of mum and so that had to be me.

"No chance of that. I had to sit on a row alone. All dad cares about is Jacob, not me. I'm the only person left to sit on mum's row." I look down, a stray tear dropping onto my hoodie.

"Evie, it's okay, honest. I know I have to be solitary and yes, it does get pretty lonely being alone, but I get used to it. I've been desperate to find you. I spoke to one of the saviours. I couldn't take it anymore. He said to come find you, to remake the bond and try to rebuild our family but I knew we'd never truly lost anything, you and I." He smiles slightly, nervous as if unsure what he said was the truth. I smile and jump into his lap, hugging him closely as he cradles me. Quietly, he begins to sing me song after a while of us sitting in silence; too much of it reminds him of the bad days of dad straight after mum died. "Sometimes I get the feelings she's watching over me, and other times I feel like I should go," I lift my head up to have his forehead pushed against mine. More tears roll down my face, remembering what mum used to sing to the two of us when it was just us three at home. He comes close to my ear and whispers another part to the song, reminding me what we need to do. "We'll carry on."

I nod and look at him as he kisses the top of my forehead softly.  "We need to make sure her memory is lived on, Blake. I don't want her to be forgotten." I look down and he hugs me even closer. "We need the world to hear her anthem."

A bang echoes through the car as we both jump, facing the window. There stands my dad, looking annoyed as ever. He slams open the car door and grabs me, prying me away from Blake. "No! Dad, get off of her! Leave her alone!" Blake argues back, cuddling me closer as he cries harder into my neck. I cling onto him as tight as I can but it's no use, dad won't give up.

"Dad, please. You're scaring her." Jacob speaks up, taking dad's arms as he lowers them down. I look through my tearful eyes and Blake's hair to see them both. "You hurt her when you do that, dad."

"She deserves it! She's not mine! I couldn't care less if-" 

"You're hurting mum, dad." Jacob says, his eyes full of anger and pain as his fists clench. Dad looks slightly ashamed and taken back at this sudden power from his 11 year-old son. "You're broken and defeated, just give it a rest."

Dad's attention is back at me, actually showing a hint of sympathy but I can't believe it. I refuse to. He's hurt me enough times. He's hurt Blake. "The world will never take my heart.." he mutters, reminding himself of mum's words; her anthem.

"Dad," I whisper, scared to interrupt him. He doesn't look at me, although I know deep down he's listening to what I want to say. "Can we all go home, please? You don't need to see us. We'll stay up in our bedroom, leave you downstairs alone like you always want. Please don't take Blake away from me again."

He looks up, but Blake doesn't show his face. He keeps it hidden in my neck as he continues to sob. Dad sighs, moving out of the way so that we can get out of the car. I wipe Blake's tears as I force his face out of my neck and we walk to the car. Jacob jogs a little to get by my side.

"Thank you." I whisper to him, and he nods in return.