Gerard
I must have watched the video 12 or 13 times already. I couldn't make myself stop. It was awful, but I had to try to find some clue, some magical thing that would change what my own eyes didn't want to believe. I knew I had to make the phone call. It would be on the news soon, if it wasn't already. The thing had just been posted. Management called, said I needed to see this. It was the last thing I ever wanted to see. I took a deep breath and searched my desk for me phone. I was under a pile of papers. I quickly scrolled through my contacts and hit send. She was going to flip out. She was high-strung to begin with. I heaved a small sigh of relief when her voicemail picked up. I knew I'd have to talk to her sooner or later, but...My phone began to vibrate in my hand. Damn, it was her.
"Gerard?" I had to pull the phone away from my ear as the pitch of her voice was piercing.
"Hi," I began, unsure what to say.
"Have you seen the news? It's on CNN, our local news, everywhere. I've had three reporters call me in the last five minutes,"
"Yeah, I've seen it. Have you seen the video?"
"No. All it's showing right now is the police-chief in Texas and some FBI agents talking to the anchor."
"It's on the net, you know." I told her quietly.
"I know, but hasn't YouTube pulled it down? That's what the reporters are saying. This is bullshit, Gerard, she didn't do it," When I didn't respond right away, her voice took on the quality of a dog whistle. "You believe it too, don't you?"
"Come on, Julianne, calm down. I didn't say that. I just don't know what to think right now."
She sobbed heavily into the phone.
"This isn't fair. Someone is setting her up. No one fucking understands that October isn't like that. She isn't this monster everyone is trying to turn her into. Not only do they think she kidnapped him, but now she's torturing him."
"Julianne, calm down. Hysterics aren't going to do any good."
"Don't you fucking tell me..."
"You need to watch the video," I cut her off before my ass was chewed completely off. "Then you can draw your own conclusions. Do you really think I would have made this phone call if I fully believed what I saw?"
She was much quieter this time when she spoke. "How can I get a hold of it? If they pulled it down..."
"Seriously? YouTube might have been where it was first posted, but it's all over the place now. Just Google Frank's or October's names. You'll find it."
I could hear her clicking buttons on her computer. "Holy shit, Gerard..."
"What?"
"There are 513,000 entries for October Phelps,"
"I know, she's famous,"
"She never wanted to be this kind of famous," Julianne muttered. "Oh my God, these people are being so mean."
I knew what she was looking at. I'd seen the death threats from angry fans. Some of things posted weren't for the faint of heart. There were explicit explanations of ways to take October's life.
"Okay," She breathed. "I'm going to watch it now."
I turned back to my own computer and hit the play button again while Julianne did the same.
The title was: Frank Iero: How She Likes to Hurt Him. It was posted by Anonymous. That was actually the name of the author.
The screen was blank at first with muffled sounds in the background. A light suddenly flooded the room, and Frank came into frame. He was hanging by a rope from the ceiling. The video jumped a couple of times, and it made me wonder if something crucial had been edited out. I heard Julianne gasp. October came running into sight. She wrapped her arms around his legs and appeared to be lifting him up, but then said, "You're getting what you deserve."
"WHAT?" Julianne shrieked. "That was NOT October's fucking voice. It sounded like an old lady. That shit was overdubbed or something!"
October then let go of Frank's legs, looked around the room, and ran off. That was it. The screen went blank. I couldn't get Frank's eyes out of my head. His bulging, frightened eyes would give me nightmares.
"But that was October, right?" I asked her.
She sighed. "Yeah, that was definitely her, but that was definitely NOT her voice. And did you see her? She looked like shit. She was so damn skinny,"
"Well I didn't know her before, I had no idea how thin she was or anything."
"Not that thin, that's for sure. She wasn't big or anything, but she was a lot healthier than that."
I didn't say anything. I could feel tears stinging my eyes.
"Do you think he's still-"
"Alive?" I cut her off. "I fucking hope so, it doesn't look like it, though."
"Gerard, she was lifting him up; trying to help him. Maybe she got him down."
"But what if she didn't, couldn't? He's my best friend..."
I really did begin to cry now and I didn't even try to hide it. "He can't go, not like this. In front of the world? In front of his Mom?"
"Gee..." Julianne began.
"What?" I snapped. "She was trying to help him. I could see the panic on her face."
"Well that's all fine and good that she was trying to help him. But it doesn't change the fact that he was still hanging there. Did you see his eyes?"
"Yeah," She whispered. I swiped at my nose furiously, which was beginning to run.
"Woah, did you hear that?" She asked.
"Hear what?"
"Right at the end, as October's running away. Hold on." She was quiet for a moment. "It sounds like...laughter."
"Are you sure? I never heard that."
"No, I swear I heard it. A man was laughing in the background."
"Well it'd clear October, if it could be proven," I acknowledged.
"The police have got to have computers and programs that can pick it apart and decipher it," Julianne said almost excitedly.
"The FBI took over the case," I corrected. "They're considering it a kidnapping case now."
"With October as the main suspect," Julianne muttered.
"They're not actually saying that, though. It's FBI now because Frank was clearly in danger in the video."
"October's in danger too. If they did that to him, what are they going to do to her?" Julianne exclaimed.
"As of now, they are 'unsure' of her involvement. That's what I've been hearing anyway." I clicked on the play button and shushed Julianne.
"I want to hear this." I turned the speakers all the way up and listened closely. I rewind the little bit repeatedly until I could be sure of what I heard. "You know what? I think you're right. I think that was laughter."
"See, I told you so. There was definitely another person in that room with them." She was quiet for a moment. "So do you believe me, then?"
"I think I do. It doesn't make sense otherwise."
"Good," She breathed.
"Alright, well I'm going to make some phone calls and see what I can find out on this," I told her.
"No problem. I'm going to post something against all these flamers on here anyway and try to set the record straight. Just try to stay positive, okay? He's still alive, I know it."
I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. "I hope you're right. I'll be in touch," I said quickly and hung up. I didn't really know if I would end up calling her back though. Talking to Julianne always brought everything up again, and I hated thinking about it. Not that I had much choice. The story was everywhere. I stared at the computer screen until it went blurry. "Please, Frank, be okay," I pleaded aloud. "We need you."
Everything in our lives was in turmoil right now. We'd had to cancel the tour, much to management's dismay. We couldn't go on without Frank, they had to understand. Not like this. If he were sick or something, we'd get a replacement. But that was obviously not the case. Our hearts just wouldn't be in it. Our fans understood this, thank God, and were being really supportive on everything I read. I took a deep breath and picked up the phone again. Time for the phone call I dreaded more than any other. She picked up on the second ring. "Hi, Jamia," A string of obscenities were immediately directed my way.