[ note: trigger warning for this chapter!
it includes the topic of suicide and the description of a dead body.
please read with caution, i'm sorry. it was important to the story.]
A lot changes when you're on the brink of death. What started off as something as simple as a common cold grew to be something so much more fatal. The medications, vaccines and knowledge we have now weren't available years ago and so many suffered from it. Assuming you'll recover and bounce back to your normal self, only for things to plummet and your symptoms worsen until you are literally gasping for breath.
Imagine suffering for days on end, your family feeling helpless and afraid for what could happen because they don't know what to do. How to help you, you're unwell and miserable and they just have to sit back and watch. Multiple hospital visits didn't seem to be worth it because nobody knew how to help, how to make any of the side effects better. Everybody deep down knew what would come of this. You were too far gone to recover and survive.
Maybe he picked it up on that trip to Rhode Island last summer, maybe he should've made sure the things he came in contact with were sterile. There were so many possibilities but in the end, he got stuck with it and now had to suffer with it.
There are so many possible causes for Influenza and Gerard being as social and outgoing as he was, made it harder to narrow down how he contacted it. Influenza was an odd disease in the way that it started off with common flu-like symptoms, so at the time Gerard and his family hadn't thought much about it. He stayed hydrated and rested and did everything in the book that swore to make him better but in the end, his health only deteriorated. All they knew now was that he didn't have much time left. What they didn't know was that, his human life may be ending. But another was only just beginning. He couldn't quite remember how the next phase of his life happened, who he encountered that changed everything. Pulled him away from his family and claimed to have rescued him, but he wasn't thrilled about it.
All he remembered was his body practically giving out and being too weak to even lift his head. He spent his final days in a hospital that provided the utmost care, tending to their patients and making the most of their last few days. Eventually he was unable to take in anymore oxygen, despite how much his body begged for it. He could feel it getting harder and harder to breathe, the feeling of fluid filling his chest and lungs, as if he were underwater and felt grateful at that moment that his family wasn't there to witness the state of him. He was embarrassed, he couldn't bear the sight of them blubbering over him on his deathbed. He accepted that he was going to die. It was a given, but he didn't expect what had happened next.
Gerard couldn't change anything now, being stuck frozen in time. Being alive but not entirely, all he remembered was a sharp pain in his neck, blackness and excruciating pain throughout his entire body and then he was opening his eyes again. But everything seemed so clear, crisp this time. Colors more vibrant than before, his hearing and sense of smell had improved tremendously and he swore for a brief moment he could hear a faint heartbeat in another room that didn't come from a monitor.
It took him longer than it probably should've to piece together what had happened. The last thing he saw before his body gave out entirely, before the pain and blackness, there was a glimpse of a wicked smile; teeth abnormally long and sharp and then there was nothing. Until suddenly, there was everything, all at once. Almost like he was hit in the face by a truck, it felt like his senses were on fire.
Disgusted and ashamed with himself, now. Thinking he could have always driven a stake through his heart if he really wanted, but he wasn't that dramatic. He was quite the drama queen, but not in the way he'd kill himself out of spite and just because he was unhappy. He had to learn how to be a person again. Everything about his new life was almost the same, just enhanced times a million. His sense of smell was absolutely overwhelming, one specific scent flooding all of his senses at all times. The smell was overpowering, he could almost taste it, his mouth watering and throat stinging with need. He tried to avoid leaving the vacant house that became his new home, to avoid the temptations for the first week or so after his new... Transformation. But there was a particular fault in his plan. If he didn't feed, he would get weak and get very, very sick. Gerard hated being sick.
As the years went by, he no longer felt guilt for who he was and what he had to do to survive. He no longer hid, instead owning up to his new title. Alone, but he preferred it that way, even as a human. He liked to travel, but he kept to himself and was very isolated. His brother used to tease him about it for years, saying he'd never have a life if he remained being a hermit for all of his life. Gerard started to travel after his brother moved away for school, losing the person he was closest to and hung out with on a regular basis. But in doing so, it costed him his life.
Years and years of solitude, watching the world around you evolve and change. New discoveries being made, the way people dressed and acted, technology. It was all so much and he struggled a bit to keep up with the current day to day agenda of the world. Seeming as though his presence was only ever made in the late evening when the sun had gone down. When the crowds weren't so chaotic, he could hunt in peace without any worried glances or the possibility of someone noticing and coming after him. It took him quite some time to perfect his technique with hunting, sometimes he'd start off real friendly. Invite the victim out for a drink after they chatted for some time and then get them alone.
They fell for it every time. Something about his transformation had made him a lot more desirable. He had an affect on people he never did as a human, could easily draw them in and manipulate them, which definitely worked to the older man's advantage. Not much had changed with his new lifestyle, actually. But Gerard was a lot more confident. He was more graceful, less awkward and clumsy. Less embarrassing. He felt like he looked nicer, more attractive. Maybe that's where the confidence stemmed from, as well.
He began to find comfort in the cemetery downtown. Him and his brother, Mikey, had always found them interesting growing up. A couple times, they'd make a day out of it back home and sit under a tree and read or have lunch. Make up stories about the people that were buried there, what their lives were like and what they were doing in the afterlife. They never knew for sure, and didn't do anything to offend or insult the dead, it was just a way the boy's bonded. It wasn't until Gerard got sick and had... Changed, that he began to feel differently towards gravesites. Unable to be with his family since he had died, technically, but still kept tabs on them the best he could. His entire world crumbled to pieces when he learned that his little brother had died in his absence. Now his family had to deal with not one, but two losses.
Gerard was unable to attend the funeral, he wasn't buried. His mother had him cremated so he didn't even have a resting place for the older brother to visit. Sighing sadly, he spent time in the old cemetery the two used to hang out together at and just sat for a few moments in silence. What the hell had he been thinking? He had such a full life ahead of him, he had so many opportunities and things he had yet to experience. Gerard told him when he was ill that his sickness, his death couldn't stop him from living his life. That he had to keep going and remain strong, for the both of them. He promised. His death was so much worse than when Gerard discovered he wasn't completely dead, unable to interact with old friends and family now, but still walking on this Earth. Never once did he consider the possibility of how all this could affect him.
Mikey, his baby brother, had committed suicide not too long after Gerard had passed. His father had found him. Little Mikey Way, hanging from the closet in his older brother's bedroom. No one had known how long he was left there, they'd been out that day and when they returned home it wasn't what they expected to walk in on. He didn't scream upon finding his youngest son, it was so much of a shock that he was eerily silent until their mother came into the room cautiously because of whose room it was, before letting out the most blood curdling shriek their father had ever heard. Immediately rushing to her boy and trying to get him down, begging their father to help untie and free him but he remained still in the center of the bedroom.
There were claw marks at his neck and below his jaw, dark, angry marks both from his nails and the toughness of the rope around his neck. Dried blood smeared along the tips of his fingers, maybe from having second thoughts and how much he struggled to free himself. His hands hung at his side, now a deep shade of purple. Jaw clamped shut, tongue jutting out between his teeth, it looked like it was almost bitten in half. His eyes bulging out and surrounded by burst blood vessels. It wasn't an easy thing to look at, no death ever was. But seeing someone who had chosen to end their life, then clearly having had changed their mind was... Indescribable. The Way's father had to step out, finally coming to his senses and dialing the emergency number for help. It had been revealed the younger boy was left alone for a few hours. They tried everything they could, his mother sobbing uncontrollably as she was told there was nothing that could have been done, it had been too long and she had lost her second child.
Initially, Gerard was angry. He couldn't believe Mikey would have pulled such a selfish, dangerous stunt like this. One that affected him, himself, close friends and his family. What were they to do now? Gerard's death was hard on the entire family, still mourning him, another death within the family had happened and distressed the Way household. His mother kept herself up all hours of the night, wondering if it was her fault. If she could have prevented this, if there were signs she hadn't noticed beforehand. His father began blaming himself for leaving that day, for not checking in on him like they usually did when running errands. If someone had been home with him, if he had come along with his parents, if they did this, if they did that. If this changed, if this person said this thing differently. So many if's that could never reverse the situation.
He didn't stay angry, it was just how he learned to cope with things. All his life, Gerard would come off hot and angry. Dismissive. It was only a matter of time before his true emotions were shown and he was absolutely devastated when he realized his brother was really gone. And the more he thought, he began to understand what Mikey was going through. He knew his brother's thought process better than anyone, he knew how impulsive he was, how quickly he was to blame himself for something and jump to something illogical. He should have known. Going from being joined at the hip, having such a close relationship with someone to suddenly having them ripped away and being left alone. Gerard felt even more heartbroken there was no place he could go to say his goodbyes properly.
It took him a very long time before he was able to step foot in a cemetery again. Despite his brother not being buried in one, they still brought back a flood of memories and thoughts of where he was at now. If he was some place better, unlike Gerard. If there was an afterlife at all. He liked to believe that there was, Mikey deserved the very best and to be happy and safe.
Gerard continued to travel, finding it much easier to do in his new state and had moved across the country. Just to escape it all, a fresh start. There, he was able to interact with people if he ran into someone. Nobody knew him or about his previous illness. He began spending time at a cemetery he passed one day on a walk.
It was beautiful, the gates were huge and full of spirals and loops. It looked quite old, but it was held together very well, nothing in the entrance falling apart or showing signs of aging. He explored a couple times and for the first time in awhile, felt peace upon entering a cemetery. How cliché, he laughed at the thought. A creature of the night spending their time hanging around a graveyard at night. He returned almost every day after night fall, when there weren't many visitors so he had the place to himself. Or so he thought.
A younger boy seemed to follow him throughout the cemetery each time he arrived. Never approaching him, never introducing himself. Never speaking a word, just following and watching from a distance. It was weird, usually Gerard could tell when someone was near him. Sense the body near him, smell them, his senses going wild. But with this stranger, he didn't notice him until he turned a corner and caught movement out of the corner of his eye. It wasn't until his fourth visit that he finally decided to say something, a bit fed up with being watched by someone who clearly was doing this on purpose. Did he really have nothing better to do?
He brought a cigarette to his lips, lighting it with his back to the stranger and took a drag before he spoke. Their first encounter was awkward, the kid seemed caught off guard and surprised he was being called out for this creepy habit. He kept watching Gerard lift his hand to his mouth and lower his hand again, eyes almost glued to the cigarette in his fingers. Suddenly receiving a warning from him, eyes not focusing on anything in particular as he spoke.
"You shouldn't smoke those." He frowned, "They'll kill you." Watching Gerard stub the cigarette butt out and take a step forward to blow the remaining smoke in his direction.
Frank, the stranger having given his name moments ago, scrunched his face up in disgust and took a step back. The frown still prominent on his face. Something about his voice sounded strange, like he was suddenly really concerned about Gerard's health when he had only just met this person. Little did he know, the cigarettes could never harm him now.
They spoke for a bit, sitting closer to one of the broken street lights so they were able to see each other as they got to know one another. Frank sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, Gerard leaning back and legs extended in front of him with one crossed over the other. The light illuminating Frank's face strangely, sometimes it looked as if the light shone through the boy's face. Which caused him to stare for an uncomfortably long time until Frank made a face and shied away. Staring at his lap with the light no longer casting shadows across his face.
At some point, Gerard did have to leave. Informing his new friend that he would return, as he always did. And that they could talk more the next day. Now that Frank wasn't silently watching him, they could hang out together and it was nice. Something neither had done for a while. Frank didn't question Gerard's mannerisms or the odd ways he spoke sometimes, or how wild he got with his hand gestures when telling a story. In fact, he looked rather amused and completely enthralled with whatever he spoke about. The only other person that ever showed this much interest in what Gerard had to say was his brother, Mikey.
Gerard thought Frank was this weird little pervert, despite clearly being younger, that got off on following and watching strangers but he caught on to how shy the boy was as they sat together, he didn't have the best social skills so he didn't know how to approach him. A lot of things about him reminded Gerard of his brother and maybe that's why they connected so quickly. He could never replace his brother and he'd never want to, but it was nice to make a friend that resembled him so much. It gave him a sense of comfort. Gerard left the cemetery, glancing back once he reached the gates to find that Frank had yet to move but was waving goodbye with a big smile plastered on his face. Shouting at him that he'd better come back.
He waved in return with an amused chuckle, shaking his head and turning to walk off, taking a few steps before he spun back around with a question, only to find the field now empty. Train of thought coming to an abrupt halt as he stared, searching for his new friend but he seemed to be nowhere. Baffled, Gerard decided to shrug it off and walk home. But not before stopping for a treat, the sweet smell of blood down a different path catching his attention and he was changing courses already.
Eyes dilating until they looked almost black, with razor sharp fangs coming out to play.