Our Lady of Sorrows; An Unholy Tale

Chapter 3

"Gerard, wake up. Today is the big day. It's the opening of Our Lady of Sorrows." Gerard's fiancé Lindsey chimed; her raven hair messy from her sleeping state.

“Shit, it is. Good morning, baby.” He smiled at her, leaning up to kiss her.

Gerard groggily got up from their bed and trudged into his bathroom, taking a luxurious shower-he loved to shower daily now, because well, he could- and then stepped out quickly dressing. He wore his white Ramones tee-shirt, black skinny jeans, and his famous yellow convers.

Lindsey was on the couch watching something on television as Gerard made himself a cup of heaven-also known as coffee to some people- and sat himself down next to his soon to be wife. He loved Lindsey-or Lyn-Z as she’s known in her band- with all of his heart and more. She was the missing part of him that he didn’t know was even gone. Meeting her was like fate, falling in love with her was his destiny though. Now she was pregnant and he was thrilled. He couldn’t wait to be a dad, but he couldn’t help but be a little more than curious how his sperm got into her… never mind.

“Babe, hello, earth to Gerard?” Lindsey waved her small hand in front of his face snapping him out of his trance like state.

“I’m sorry, I was just thinking.”

“Elena would be so proud of you, Gee.” Pride rang in Lindsey’s voice as she hugged her fiancé.

Gerard smiled, recalling his supernatural encounter with his late grandmother. She was proud of him and she had faith that he could do this. She knew that this religion would be monumental, Gerard knew it too. He could feel it in his very core, and he was going to make sure that everyone who needed acceptance, a home, love, got just that.

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Mikey sat in the first pew, front and center as Frank was behind the sound board, picking which songs they would sing for worship. Gerard paced nervously in front of the alter, reciting to himself what he would say. He could perform in front of hundreds of thousands of kids numerous times a week, but when it came to this, to this new unnamed religion, well, he could feel the boil of the acid in his stomach.

What they were doing was so much bigger than any of them. They were going against ‘God’ and all of his faithful followers. The same followers who had shunned and shamed him, these followers who made these kids, these outcasts, feel like just that; an outcast. Gerard couldn’t wrap his mind around the theory that this god could be almighty and forgiving, accepting even, but have his disciples shun, torture and ridicule these innocent souls for simply being different.

 If being different and viewing the world differently was so wrong, then Gerard was glad that he had no part in it anymore. These horrid people made these kids and made him and his friends even, feel like they were dirt, like they were grime on the bottom of a shoe. So many times they are told that they don’t belong, they don’t matter, that the world would be a better place without them; these kids are told that they’re evil in the eyes of their creator for believing, loving, even looking differently; pushing people to take out acts of violence on themselves, on others. These kids suffer from depression and many times feel like suicide is their only way out. They think that once something bad happens that ending their lives will make it all better, when in reality, it won’t. Kids kill themselves every day for being out-casted and bullied. Gerard was fucking sick of it.

Suddenly, he knew what his first sermon would be about.

“Mikey! I know what our first service is going to be about. It’s going to be about what drew them all here; being a misfit.”