Off Track - The Black Parade

**Nukyster** · 08-28-2009, 01:43 PM

Rating: 15+

Main Characters: Frank, Gerard and OFC's

Summary: Although nothing ends,
In this near end,
Secrets are what taught us to smile,
Lies are the only form of happiness,
And drug addicts teach us
The most important life lesson

Genre: Angst, drama, drugs, abuse.

Disclaim: I don't own any My Chemical Members or any other members from bands, I simply borrowed them.

Chapter index:
Chapter 1, page 1.
Chapter 2, page 2
Chapter 3, page 3
Chapter 4, page 3
Chapter 5, page 5
Chapter 6, page 6
Chapter 7, page 7
Chapter 8, page 8
Chapter 9, page 8
Chapter 10,page 9
Chapter 11, page 10
Chapter 12, page 10
Chapter 13, page 11
Chapter 14,page 12
Chapter 15, page 12
Chapter 16, page 13
Chapter 17, page 14
Chapter 18,page 16
Chapter 19) page 17
Chapter 20, page 18
Chapter 21, page 19
Chapter 22, page 21

.-.-.

.-.-.

**Nukyster** · 08-28-2009, 01:49 PM

Chapter 1) Pet Project, take one.

.-.-.

Determent he forced his worn out Converts to keep moving. They didn’t seem to apply to his order. No wonder because what he was about to do was risky and mostly stupid. But stupid and impulsive could be his middle name and third. He had a thing for getting into trouble although he was a good kid, yes a good kid he was. Just a little punk on the outside, giving a fake impression so he could keep his head up through his teen years.

But he wasn’t a bad kid, defiantly. Just a little… stupid sometimes. Maybe radical was a better word. Or maybe lazy, yes that could be a second best. He was too lazy to start up his computer, what would take forever since the amount of viruses was overloading his system. A teenage boy, of course there was some porn deeply hidden in his files. And with those cheap images and dirty flicks came a Trojan Horse every now and then.

Anyway, once a year the school direction found it necessary to give them a little life lesson wrapped in a few hours of see and tell. This time it had been a recovered alcoholic telling them all that drinking was bad. While he’d kept his fingers crossed for some descent sex ed, some forty year old douche bag came in dwelling about his life.

Drinking too much isn’t good. Dhu, too much as soon as you hear those words there should ring a bell. Too much, never good.

Frankly his teacher wasn’t sure the ‘say no to too much’ message had been clear enough. So they got a home assignment. The all needed to take a main addiction and work it out. History of the drug, find out what the massive consequences where and wrap it up in an ordered story. It had to be good breathing the allure it’s been written by a smart straight a student who got sickened by the thought of passing a joint. All the teacher wanted to see was bad, drugs and alcohol is bad, to reassure them they were doing their job good.

As much as he wanted to suck up, because that would be for his best interests (let’s just say he rather went for a C+ then to do something extra). He didn’t feel like scowling through Wikipedia on such bright sunny day.

So he made another plan. He ‘borrowed’ his day expensive camera (a Nikon something) to do a little ‘fieldwork.’ Slowly he was reaching the ‘bad areas’ of New Jersey. The places where at night guns would be shot and people would be killed for smack.

It felt thrilling, naively thinking nothing bad could happen on such a bright sunny day. But that’s the way sixteen year old boys are right? Such badass adolescents that need to borrow mom’s car to get to school and whine if they need to take a bus every now and then. Having it ‘bad’ if they couldn’t afford that kickass new video game, arguing with their parents because all their friends can stay out as long as they like. Yes, sixteen year old boys had a rough life. Naively rough.

His search to his secret pet project started at a few bars, without much luck. He got scolded out before he could even have a good peek inside. He scampered around the areas of scary alleys but didn’t have the balls to actually walk through them, what lies in the shadow should be left alone.
After an hour and a half he started to get bored, his camera still glued to his hand. If he would lose it, his days of freedom would be over. His dad loved to make vacation videos, could have hours and hours of footage of a sunrise. Or a ‘must seen’ in a ‘place to be’.

A little lost he scampered into a local 7-11 to get something to eat and buy a new bus pas. Spending a few dollars on a cheap brand of coke, a bag of Twinkies and a new pas he got out of the shop. Leaning against one of the shopping cards in line and sipping from this drink he wondered if this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Maybe it was just easier to print a few pages about ‘boo-hoo-bah drugs are bad’ and be done with it.

“Yeah, kiddo.” A voice from aside him coughed.

He turned around, his back still resting against the car. His gaze fell on a guy hiding between the line of cards and the wall of the shop. If it wasn’t for the ‘nest’ of cardboard and an old jacket surrounding him, his smell alone would give away he was homeless.

“You’re blocking my sun.” With one eye pierced, a quirked up lip the stranger stared up at him as he moved aside to give him back his precious sunlight. The guy smiled and ran one dirty hand through his greasy half long hair. “T’s better, got any change?”

As he got observed from head to toe he did the same with the stranger. Dirty old sneakers, fading and ripped jeans. Followed by an oversized worn out lumberjack shirt, marked with come cigarette burns. Moving up, a face that hadn’t had one bit of personally hygiene for quite a while. Lip quirked into a meek smile, chapped and cut. A few bloody scratched on his nose and cheeks that made his skin appear paler. The eyes that stared up at him weren’t clear, foggy and red.

“Well, do you?” The guy asked again, pushing some dark strings out of his faces hastily.

He shook his head quickly. “No sorry, I used it all up in the store.” He gestured to the 7-11.

The guy looking up at him grinned and nodded understanding. “Don’t they all, well if I would tell you I would use it to build an orphanage, would you have some left?”

“Maybe.” He answered uneasy.

The guy shrugged and started rolling a cigarette. “Figure.” Dirty fingers twitched unable to keep still. Finally he licked the thin layer of paper and felt in his pocket for a lighter. Then he took a cane of cheap beer out of his other pocket. As he noticed he still got watched he raised his head.

“Can I help you?”

“Maybe.” He said again.

“Will ‘maybe’ mean you ‘maybe’ have some bucks, ‘cause that would really help me out.” The guy joked and coughed hard after inhaling.

“Maybe.” He looked around and lowered his voice. “Are you an addict?”

For a moment the stranger frowned, taking a long sip of his drink. “Do I look like one?”

He took another long look at the smoking boy. “A little.”

The boy huffed. “Thanks a lot.”

Both remained silence, the boy drinking and taking quick drags in between. He just watched for a while collection courage for his next question.

“Can I video tape you?”

The boy started to laugh. “Aren’t you a little young for porn?”

His face reddened. “No! No, I… I mean…” Afraid someone might have overheard the both of them he looked around and lowered his voice again, leaning over the card. “I have to do a school assignment about drugs and I thought, maybe I could find someone that would want to share his… well, story?”

“Owh…” The stranger clacked his tongue. “In that case, I’m addicted. If you have some cash so I can save up for my orphanage…”

“Err, sure. How much do you want?” He asked nervously.

“How much do you got?”

Carefully, keeping a good eye in the sitting boy he checked his wallet. “Twelve bucks.”

“What a change, I was thinking about twelve bucks.” The boy sat up and blinked his eyes as he watched straight up to the sun. “Shit, and I want some of those Twinkies.”

.-.-.

Fifteen minutes, twelve bucks and seven Twinkies later they sat on the edge of a desert parking lot. Sitting on a big piece of concrete his pet project had settled on the tiny bit of grass between the asphalt, junk and pieces of his clothes.

Lighting his second cigarette he safely putted away the twelve earned dollars. “So, lemmy get this straight, you’re going to interview me?”

“Yes, that’s the plan.”

“Will it make me Hollywood famous?”

“Afraid not, but you will be classroom-famous.”

The guy seemed to like that and chuckled. “How about that.” He gestured at his dad’s camera. “Better get my good side.” When he worried what side the guy meant, he started to chuckle again.
“’M just kidding, my good turned so bad.” Dirty nails scratched over the tiny wounds of his cheek. “Let’s just fucking do this, shit.”

“Kay, cool.” He raised his dad’s camera and pressed play. A tiny screen focused on his project.
“So, err. What’s your name?” He asked, hoping the guy wouldn’t keep staring straightly into the camera the entire time.

“Gerard, let’s not involve last names ‘cause the cops would just love that.” His gaze started to get less intense and turned at his knuckles, who where bruised and caked with dried up blood.

“You’re addicted?”

“Jup.”

“To what?”

“Uhh, depends on how much money I have. When I don’t got much I go for Crack, ‘cause it’s cheap and keeps your rolling for a while. But it fucks you up. Weed, ‘s good too. Not so hard to get, I know a guy who grows it home. He can fix me up with a nice bag of grass. Beer, ‘s good during the day ‘cause I can get it without being illegal. Also, cheap. If I got enough dope I like to score coke, gives me the celebrity vibe and I can go on all night, all night long. But fuck, I’m garbage I’ll use everything to keep me floating.”

No longer was he watching at the tiny screen, but looked over it at the person who he was taping.
“Are you high right now?”

“Not as much as I’d like.” A goofy smirked filled his face and he rubbed through tired eyes.

“Then, are you ever sober?”

“A little too much, if you ask me.”

“Where do you live?”

“Around.”

He sighted and lowered the camera. “Dude-“

“-Gerard, call your real life star by his name please.”

“Gerard, this isn’t getting me anywhere.” He whined.

Gerard licked his lips and nodded, hinting he didn’t give a shit. “Maybe you should ask better questions then.”

“Kay.” He raised the camera again. “Gerard, when did you start using drugs?”

His subject moved unsteady from left to right, eyes rolling back slightly. “Long, think twelve or something, went to the hard stuff when I was around sixteen. A… A friend shot me up with heroine, stupid fuck. ‘T was a birthday gift, woo-fucking-hoo. But I’m not a big fan of needles, I rather smoke or swallow.” He winked at the camera. “Never mind to swallow.”

He didn’t have a descent reply to that and nodded. “Have you tried to go to rehab or something?”

“A few times, but mostly because at every rehab centre there is one dealer that’ll help you to cheap and good shit. Ya know, to get you back to your habit.”

“Owh.” He let out shocked. “Wauw.”

“Yeah, I know right.” Gerard shrugged, staring sheepish up at him. “Rehab ain’t my thing. T’s just a lot of talking about a bunch of crap. And they check you up with every meeting, if you’re positive for anything they won’t let you in. I didn’t get the ‘green card’ a lot, so I didn’t go that much.”

Again there was a long silence until he realized it was his job to ask the questions. “So, where do you get your drugs from?”

“Around.” He said casual. “I know some people who know people, I know a few parties where stuff flows around. Pot-heads aren’t that hard to track, mostly at parks or around schools. And beer, you can always buy beer if you look sober enough to be let into the store. But hell, it’s a matter of money, as long as you have enough…”

“What do you do to get enough money then?”

“That’s questions cost you more than twelve bucks, don’t ya think?”

“Fine, what are the side effects from your drug life then?”

“Mister Director, look at me. Doesn’t that speak for itself?” he pointed at himself, with trembling hands.

He lost complete focus on the camera, impressed by the careless honesty of his project. “Then why don’t you stop?”

“Because there ain’t no point. If this is the edge…” He pointed at a crack inside the asphalt. “Then I’m here.” He let his finger slide as far away from the crack as his arms let him. “I’m none-helpable. And that sucks. Jup. Addicted to being addicted.” He hiccupped and started giggling, hiding his face in both hands. “Everything is shit here kiddo.” Slowly he peeked through his fingers. “If you dance with the devil, you’ll dance like the devil, right?”

“Call me Frank.” He said breathless, lowering the camera a bit, hoping that the junkie in front of him wouldn’t faint.

“Sure thing Frank.” His project laughed and straightened his back. “Any more questions to the real life bottom-rocker?”

“What would you say to the kids in my class?”

Dreamy he stared up, looking directly into the lens. “Stay at school, don’t do drugs.” He blew the camera a kiss. “Bye.”

That was probably his cue to press off and he quickly shoved it back into his bag. “Thanks.”

Awkwardly he zipped his bag and stood up, unsure what to do now. He had what he wanted, he should be going back home right now and do a little Windows Movie Maker, by the end of the evening he would be done with his anti drugs project.

“That’s it then?” His project got up swaying, dragged his jacket off the ground. As a card trick he pulled out another cane of beer, opened it up and took a swig. “Easy peasy pumkin squeezy then.” He rubbed over his nose and spilled some beer on his shirt. “Shit, ya know. Hope you get a nice B or whatever.”

“Yes, thank you.” He muttered shyly, trying to observe the guy in front of him, standing close enough to smell the scent of sweat, alcohol and drugs. Drugs… drugs he didn’t know about, besides the smell now. It was a strange smell, even a bit exotic as the other smells where so penetrating.

“Bye Frankie.” His project had noticed him staring and winked at him. “See you in another lifetime.”
A little limp and stiff the addict started to walk away, back towards the 7-11 now he had his twelve bucks to spend on cheap beer.

‘Or who knows what else.’ Playing marble he stared fascinated how the guy crashed into the line of cards.

“Hey wait up!” He yelled into the direction of the cards and scampered closer. “Can I tape you tomorrow again?”

.-.-.

As mentioned, a new chapter of a new fiction. It’s weird how the story grabbed me. It’s a little mix of three storylines that have been in my head for… years I think, well one of them anyway. Yes, defiantly years. But it all started to link together and make sense when I saw a video on YouTube. A random bystander through it would be fun to interview a junkie. And this guy, he wasn’t ‘gone’ yet. He was an addict, but it seemed there was still strength left. Something that made me be captivated by him. He told about his life, which had been rough and bad, horrible. But he didn’t blame anyone else but himself and that seemed so reasonable. When the vid was done I checked the date, more than a year ago. This guy that really shocked me because he seemed ‘not-lost’ could be dead by now. And it made me think, a whole lot and I think it took one day and a night and the story was created in my head.

It’s going to be a hell of a ride, I hope it turns out the way I picture it and I wonder what people will think of it. It will be bad, turning worse but I hope you like it anyhow.

X Nuky

**Kriss** · 08-28-2009, 02:14 PM

Whoo, new story! You have no idea how happy that made me. I'm hardly reading any stories here now because of obvious reasons, so I'm all happy-face that you posted this.
And I really like this idea. Never read a story like this. I'm sure it's gonna be awesome, and I can't wait to read more.

Rebecka · 08-28-2009, 02:34 PM

Oh... man. This is so different to everything I've ever read. In a good way.
I really love it, and can't wait for more. I love your writing style, the way you write everything really catches you up, I was starring at the screen till I was done

It's very interesting, and as I said, I can't wait for more of this. It really makes you think, in a way. And I love that. I'm all in for books/stories that makes you think, you know what I mean? And I've read some of what you've written before, but I gave up, it was too many chapters to even try to catch up! More when you can

And, I think you need to add an disclaimer, right? No offence, I might have missed it :P

MCR_Jerk · 08-28-2009, 02:41 PM

You posted it!!
Yay ^^
Can't wait to read more Nuky :3

**Kate.** · 08-28-2009, 02:50 PM

This is really Intriguing. I love how your characters always have this quality to them, I don't know what it is but when you create a character they always make me really fascinated with their story, you make the characters have a background to them and they really come alive and the plot is different and interesting too, I love it and I'm curious to hear more =)

Roxie · 08-28-2009, 03:28 PM

wow

I can't really exprime what I think..no words I can think of now, fit this.
You have a writing style diffrent from all the other people..when you write something, it's hard not to recognize that it was you the one who wrote it, and the stuff you write has emotions, feelings, that makes you enter in the story and feel like you are there, seeing what's happening right in front of your eyes.
The idea is original, and it is written very good, no wonder it took you so much time to think about it and write it..but you did a great job, it so deserved the time you spend making it and the effort you put in it
Also, I really liked the way you described Frank and Gerard, and the reason why they are like they are.
I can't wait for more..and I have a feeling this is gonna be one of those rare stories that you became addicted to and always want to read more.
I love it already
<3

frerard777 · 08-28-2009, 06:42 PM

YES!!!!! NEW STORY!!!
I'm so excited, Nuky!! I'm already captivated by the story, really, and I haven't read that much!
The character of Gerard was so.. weird, but interesting, it was like... He was all the way laughing at himself and at how much addicted he is, it's just... Amazing, and I think Frank was just as captivated xD
I'm not too inspired to make a long and deep comment, cause I haven't read enough, but I can tell that this is gonna be great, cause you're the author and cause I like it, very much even thought I read just one chapter.
I can't wait to read some more, update when you can. :]

Love you, much.

xo
Nana.

**Noemi.** · 08-28-2009, 09:53 PM

I like the story so far. Makes me wonder what's going to happen between the both of them through this project.

GeeWayIero · 08-29-2009, 02:23 AM

Wow!
I sooooooooooooooo love this!
The idea is amazing!!!

please, I need more!!!