16 year old, Nico Ramone wakes up in The Black Parade Hospital for Psychiatric Patients, unaware of where he is located. Suffering from depression, suicidal tendencies and social anxiety, his parents send him to the hospital for treatment. His mind is the one thing that can destroy him. He has recurring flashbacks from childhood, which sends him into spirals of insanity. The doctors do not know how to diagnose him. His family thinks he is insane, and during the war within his mind, he keeps on reciting, “There’s a hell inside my head and I can’t escape.”

Nico stared at the white ceiling, confused. The last thing he remembered was being on his bedroom floor. With a knife in his hand. He took in his surroundings. An all-white room, with a window, a TV, a bathroom, and to his left he saw a heart monitor. Nico was filled with dread. He attempted to rest. When a tall, dark-skinned man, with lofty black hair walked over to the hospital bed. His nametag read: Mark. Mark was appointed if a patient did not want to be treated by other doctors. Mark’s face expressed sympathy, but his eyes told a different story. Nico had a skeletal frame; ghostly skin, black olive eyes, a nest of black hair, dark circles, and lacerations ran up his arms, completing his demented appearance. “Well Mr. Ramone, let’s begin.”

Nico explained to Mark how his parents were the cause of his problems. “My parents treated me like a pariah, physically and mentally. I grew insane and tried to kill myself.”

Mark walked over to a cabinet in the corner and handed Nico a yellow bottle. The bottle read: Paroxetine. “Take two before bed.” That night, Nico took his medication. He blacked out before the second pill could enter his mouth.

He was 10 years old. Sitting in the living room. Nico’s dad Ezra, was yelling at the top of his lungs. “I can’t believe you destroyed this!!” Ezra held up his charred medal that was given to him by the police force.

Nico’s mother Bianca, replied, “Of course he destroyed it. That’s all he’s good for.” Nico trembled because he knew what would happen next. Ezra grabbed Nico by the throat, threw him against a wall, and kicked him mercilessly in the stomach. Nico coughed up crimson blood. Ezra was about to pick Nico up again, when his vision turned white.

Nico screamed and flailed uncontrollably as a doctor and four teams of nurses examined him. He tried to rise out of the hospital bed, but he looked down at his arms and saw restraints over his gashed wrists. His ribs were broken. Nico screamed, trying to break the restraints. “There’s a hell inside my head! There’s no escape!” The doctor turned on the anesthesia and fastened the oxygen mask over the frightened boy’s mouth. Nico shrieked, “No! They’ll kill me! Please, don’t put me to sleep!” The hospital walls faded.

Ezra and Bianca Ramone sat in the waiting room with pleased expressions. The doctor had told them about Nico’s behavior. “Nico’s malnourished, never sleeps, and has panic attacks.”

They knew Nico had always been different and they were not surprised that he was causing “problems.” Mrs. Ramone said kindly, “We would like to see him.”

Nico laid down and stared out the window; wishing he could break the glass and plummet to his death. He shrugged the thought and rolled over. Then, he heard a voice that made his heart sink. It was his mother. “Nico, how are you?” He glared at his parents. Whose expressions were happy, as if he ceased to exist.

Mark grabbed Nico’s parents and escorted them down the hall. They ordered to see their son and claimed they never caused him harm. “Don’t come back. You've done enough,” Mark demanded.

Two months passed, and Nico approached the brink of insanity. His flashbacks became so torturous that any infliction implemented on his body appeared on his flesh when he awoke. That night, Nico had his worst flashback yet. Nico was in his bedroom. Everything his parents had done finally affected him. The flashback inhibited his body and he unwillingly extracted the weapon that almost ended his life. Nico’s hand cut his flesh and his body burned horrendously. He watched his blood rapidly descend upon the ground. Then without feeling, he collapsed.

Nico regained consciousness and snuck out of the hospital. He grabbed a knife from the doctor’s surgical table and ran. He arrived at a gray-slabbed house, with black fencing, and a tall oak tree adjacent to the house. Nico climbed on the roof and broke his bedroom window. The whole house was silent. He knew his parents would be sleeping and he hurried to their chamber. Nico lurked to their place of rest and glared at their sleeping bodies. He brought out the knife and his father stirred. “Who… who’s there?”

His wife replied, “It’s nothing. Go back to bed.” Ezra was about to slumber when Nico slashed his body in half as blood caked the walls. His mother hysterically cried, “Nico… I know what we did was wrong, but...” She never got to finish. Nico rammed the knife through her mouth and headed for the door. Nico proceeded down the stairs, but the scene changed and he was in the hospital with restraints clamped over his wrists. The hell inside Nico’s head made him believe that he had left, but the truth of the matter was that he had always been inside The Black Parade Hospital for Psychiatric Patients.