Gerard

I didn’t really know what to say to Frank apart from the obvious. I told him I didn’t think and act like the others and it didn’t matter that he was human to me. I wasn’t going to tell him about Lindsey, but I did. I don’t know why. It was just something about his wide, innocent green eyes that made me spill my heart out to him without even thinking about it twice. I didn’t know what I thought of him yet. He was beautiful but so completely fragile and broken, just like all the others.
He was like every other human who’d walked through those doors. Broken.

Broken, but just glued back together for the sole purpose of being broken again until he was no longer fixable.

But this time, I wasn’t going to let it get that bad. I was sick of seeing every human I’d ever been bought murdered for the simple reason I didn’t treat them like filth. It made my blood boil.

I glanced over at Frank.

He was just like all the others. Shy, quiet and terrified.

He kept his eyes on the ground and didn’t look up at me, always a few steps behind me as I walked through the palace with him.

As we were about to reach the back doors that led to the gardens, Mikey appeared from the kitchen, Ray trailing behind him on an ugly thick chain.

Already Ray’s skin was littered with bite marks and bruises and cuts. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Knowing Mikey, I’d thought he would have blinded or cut out Ray’s tongue by now. Or something like that. Mikey was creative and gruesome when it came to torturing people.

I heard the soft gasp that left Ray and Frank’s mouth at the same time and I watched in horror as the two of them surged forwards and embraced each other tightly, their arms locking around each other.

“Frank!” Ray gasped, his battered face lifting up into a huge smile.

I watched as Mikey’s face twisted up into a furious snarl and I swallowed heavily.

They quickly let each other go after a few seconds, beginning to realise what they’d just done.
Ray’s eyes widened with fear as he turned to face Mikey. I bit my lip and pulled Frank back towards me as Mikey threw Ray to the ground with s ingle stroke of his hand, the sound of skin cracking against skin ringing out in the silence.

“What the fuck was that?!” Mikey spat at Ray.

His foot booted Ray in the ribs and Frank whimpered.

“Please,” Frank begged, pulling his wrist from my hand and stepping towards Mikey. “Please, don’t. Don’t hurt him.”

Mikey just stared at Frank as if he’d just grown an extra head or called him all the names under the sun.

“Did that thing actually just speak to me?” Mikey said in a flat icy voice, slowly bringing his gaze to me.

“Don’t Mikey. Don’t start,” I warned him.

He just made a disgusted face and seized Frank by his hair, bringing him to his knees.

“What the fuck makes you think you can even look at me, never mind speak to me?” Mikey hissed at Frank.

He pulled Frank up and his hand encircled around his throat. Before I could do anything, Mikey had thrown Frank across the room, his tiny body colliding into the wall with a sickening thud.

I ran to Frank, pulling him up off the floor to see his face contorted with pain and his eyes rolling around in his head.

“Frank?” I whispered. “Frank, can you hear me?”

He just made a weak whimpering sound, tears flowing from his eyes.

I turned my head to Mikey and glared at him. “Get the fuck out of here, you fucking monster!”

Mikey’s lip lifted up into a snarl again. “He deserved it. I swear to God Gerard, if anything ever happens like that again, your stupid little toy is getting put through a fucking meat grinder!”

With that Mikey yanked Ray up to his feet and stormed out of the room.

I closed my eyes and shuddered as I heard Ray’s screams from behind the closed door.

I stroked my fingers through Frank’s hair as his eyes slid closed.

“I’m sorry Frank,” I whispered.