Life is but a Dream for the Dead

[i]The hands that held him down were impossibly strong, crushing his shoulders and pinning him to the floor. His throat had closed up, his eyes blurred and his body numb. The face that loomed in front of him was masked in shadows, but he knew who it was. "I miss you baby," Ethan's breathy voice sounded in his ear. "You never gave me the chance to gut your pretty little stomach out. Do you hate me that much?" And of course, Frank couldn't answer him. His lips were sewn shut, messily laced together with black thread. Frank just rolled his head to the side, face damp with sweat and tears. He was stripped naked, his wrists tied together behind his back. It was the same every time, but it didn't make it any better. Ethan walked round him in a slow circle, sighing to himself. He turned Frank's head to the side with the toe of his shoe so he could look at his swollen, bleeding face. "You look so good like this Frank," Ethan mused, smiling. "So helpless and fucked up. But you always were, weren't you? You've always known you're[/i] nothing[i], haven't you?" Frank closed his eyes, trembling. Ethan laughed and Frank felt his stomach flare with pain, his eyes flying open to find the hilt of a knife protruding from his stomach, blood so dark it was almost black spurting up around the knife. "See what it feels like?" Ethan snarled at him, twisting the knife viciously. "Now you know what's it's like, having a fucking knife driven into you." He twisted the knife even more, blood splattering across his face, a muffled scream bursting behind Frank's tightly sewn lips, the stitches stretching a little, blood starting to seep from the wound. "Wake up Frankie," Ethan said softly in a voice that wasn't his own. "Wake the fuck up." Frank watched as Ethan's tanned face drained of colour, becoming pale and changing shape, his strong, angular nose morphing into a smaller, upturned one, his lips thinning out, his cheekbones re-arranging themselves. His eyes turned a bright, burning hazel, swirling specks of green and brown staring straight through him.
Gerard was now leant over him, his hand slowly removing the knife from his stomach, his porcelain skin sprayed with dripping crimson blood. "Time to wake up Frank."[/i] "Frank!" He sat upright, gasping, sweating, shaking and hitting out, his fist landing a solid blow to what felt like someone's jaw. "[i]Shit![/i]" Gerard swore angrily, stumbling back from Frank and clutching his jaw, his eyes blinking rapidly. "Jesus, calm the fuck down, it's just me!" Frank stared, bewildered and wide eyed, his chest heaving for air. His hair was plastered to his face with damp, cold sweat and his head throbbed. "I... I thought..." "You were screaming in your sleep," Gerard said flatly, rubbing his swollen jaw. "Were you having a nightmare?" Frank swallowed and looked away, ashamed. He didn't answer him. Instead he lay back down on his back, a frown ascending on his perfect face and the sweat dribbling down his temples. "Frank?" Gerard said a after a while. "You don't... you look like you're going to throw up." Frank turned his head to see Gerard still stood over him, hand gripping the cold metal of the bunk bed frame. "Go back to sleep Gerard." Gerard sighed but didn't move. "What were you dreaming about?" Frank rolled over, turning to face the wall with his back to Gerard. "It doesn't matter. Really." It was quiet after that but Frank could still feel Gerard's presence standing over him. Frank sighed heavily opened his eyes again. "Gerard. I said it doesn't matter, now fucking leave me alone." "Who's Ethan?" Frank sat up again and swung his legs over the bed and stood up. Gerard didn't move but looked warily at Frank, the space between their bodies almost nonexistent. "He's no one. Now leave it, yeah?" "You were crying Frank. You say his name almost every night in your sleep and you always cry, but... but you we screaming tonight. You looked like you were having a fit, you wouldn't stop shaking." "Gerard," Frank said hoarsely, looking so tired that Gerard thought he might drop to the floor with exhaustion. "It really, really doesn't matter." "You said my name too." Frank didn't reply to this. He just stared blankly at Gerard, his face emotionless. "What... What were you dreaming about Frank? "I dont remember." "But you obviously do," Gerard insisted. "I just... I just want to know." "Why? Why the fuck do you want to know Gerard?" Frank snarled, shoving the older man away.
Gerard's face hardened. "Would you not want to know if it was the other way around?" "No! Don't you get it? I don't want anything to do with you! You're nothing but the sick fuck I have to share a cell with and another bastard who raped me! Why would I want to even be in the same room as you?" Frank cried out, shoving Gerard again. Gerard grabbing Frank's wrist in a crushing vice as the smaller, younger man went to hit him. Frank spat at him and tore his arm away, but Gerard seized him by the shoulders and shoved him up against the wall. "You going to rape me again Gerard? Does it make you feel better about yourself, about all the sick shit you do?" Frank snapped at him, making no attempt to shove Gerard away. "Go ahead, fuck me up even worse than you did last time. It still won't do [i]shit[/i]." Gerard's face was furious and dark and Frank was terrified, but he didn't let him see that. "You don't know what you're talking about. I never meant for it to get out of hand, you-" Frank laughed, cutting him off. "What? You never meant to rape me? I don't think that's really something you can accidentally do Gerard." A hard blow to the side of his face knocked Frank's head back against the wall and he swore, the pain sharp and deep. Gerard's face moved closer to his and he studied Frank's face intently. "You can pretend all you want Iero, but we both know you're never going to win." Frank made a muffled yell as Gerard kissed him violently, his strong hands clamping down even harder on his upper arms. Frank didn't know what to do. Gerard had him paralysed, his mind shutting off as he was kissed. Gerard worked his lips open, his tongue slipping into his mouth. Frank groaned and tried to push Gerard away, but he merely grabbed Frank's hips and pulled him as close as possible, their bodies glued together. Frank gasped as small, blunt teeth sunk into his neck, hot air sending shivers up his spine. "Why can't you just let yourself realise you want this?" Gerard asked huskily, his teeth nipping over Franks pulse point. "Because I [i]don't[/i]," Frank hissed. "Why can't you understand that?" Gerard shook his head and kissed him firmly again, pulling back after a few seconds to hold Frank's face in his hands a d staring at him. "You're the one who doesn't understand!" Frank glared at him. "No I'm not. You think that I'm like every other person you've ever wanted, you think that I'll just come running the second you snap your fingers. You think I'm easy and vulnerable and you can have me any time you want, but you [i]can't[/i]. I'm not like your other little fuck toys Gerard." Gerard's face fell and Frank knew he'd struck him deep and hard. Gerard's hands released him and Frank shoved past him, climbing back into his bunk and lighting up a cigarette. Frank thought he'd gotten rid of Gerard, thought he'd insulted and hurt him. What he didn't know was that he'd just made Gerard even more determined to make Frank his. Gerard loved challenges, and Frank Iero was certainly one of them. ******************************** "So did you think about my offer?" "Maybe." Gerard just crossed his arms over his chest as he watched him lean down and deeply inhale his line of coke with a bored expression. He drew back, blinking and and sniffing, rubbing his nose and swinging his jaw. He looked up at Gerard and grinned. "Bet this shit isn't good enough for you, huh? I'd offer you some but y'know... Probably think you're above it, don't you?" Gerard raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't take that shit if it was the last bit of blow around." He snorted with laughter, leaning down to sniff up his last line. His pupils were blown and his face was hysterical. "Only the best for pretty boy Way." Gerard just stared at him blankly. "I didn't come here for you to talk to me about my preference in coke Jay." He smiled lazily, leaning back in his seat. "Course you didn't."
He gasped as he was knocked from his seat and felt a song pair of hands gripped around his neck. "Listen you cocky son of a bitch," Gerard snarled,"if you think that for one minute you can fuck me over, you've never been so wrong before in your life. You're lucky I even considered your offer. You have no idea what it means to have me on your side." Jay's face had turned a nasty shade of purple and he was making obscene choking noises. Gerard slowly uncurled his fingers and sat back. "This is how it's gonna be; I get you out of here, you get me the information I need and if I'm happy, you get a nice little bit of money and protection. You pull any shit over on me, I'll see to it myself that you never see the light of day ever again. "Do we have a deal?" "Yes," Jay gasped, his voice stringed and hoarse. "We do."

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