“Words were different when they lived inside you.” - Benjamin Alire Saenz

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Everything hurt. It ached, burned, stung, throbbed. I twitched my finger and pain shot through the nerves in my arm instantaneously. The thought of even attempting to shift a body part was torturous enough to make me whimper. I could feel the pressure of a flat surface along one side of my body, and assumed that I was still on the floor of Mikey’s dads’ office. A heavy sensation lingered on my mind, my thoughts were slow, sluggish and took extra coaxing to become clear and explicit. As the sensations along my body returned, and the pain flared, so did the memories. I kept my eyes sealed shut as the images played through. The chanting, the figure, Mikey’s body. I took a sharp inhale as I remembered the ring. My hand clenched and the cool metal dug into my skin as my fingers tightened around the ring.

I let an eyelid slip open as the light brush of warm air tickled along my cheek. A blurry patch of black and distorted cream swayed and gesticulated frantically. Slender fingers grasped onto my cheeks, holding my head in place, forcing me to look directly at the slowly clearing figure. The continual drone of sounds began to fragment and fit together, forming words and vernacular I could identify and decipher. Light dashes of warmth hit my forehead, one after the other, then trailed along the side of my face, leaving tingling trails in their wake.
“Gerard! Can you please help me over here! Mikey may look light, but he’s a dead weight. Gerard? Gerard!” Ray voice rung through my ears.

A choked sniffle came from Gerard who was still hovering above me, “Ray, he’s awake! Quick! Frank? Frankie! Are you okay? Can you talk? Move your hand or-just-do something, anything! Dammit Frank!”

Ray appeared next to Gerard trying to shift him away. Gerard, of course, didn’t listen and didn’t move, so Ray worked around him. He tugged on my hand, and placed gentle pressure on the side of my neck.

“Well at least your heart rate is back to normal,” he sighed, looking completely exhausted.

“What do you mean-,” I regretted the decision to talk as soon as I had started, the rough scratch of the words as they made their way up from my throat threw me into a coughing fit. Gerard’s hands slipped under my body and began to hoist me up, I complied and tried to sit upright as much as possible. My lungs rattled with each cough, and the stiffness in my bones fought against the sudden jolting movements. Ray held a glass of water to my lips and I drank greedily, downing the glass in seconds. It didn’t cure the burn but it was enough for me to talking without wheezing.
“Mikey, is, is Mikey alright?”

Ray let out an irritated groan and glared at Gerard fussing over me, “he would be even better than ‘alright’ if you would help me get him off this damned desk!”

Gerard scurried up to his feet, “sorry, sorry, uh what, where, here?” he fumbled over his words and he gestured and moved around Mikey’s, now unbound, body.

“Gerard! Jesus, just hold his shoulders and neck, I’ll grab his legs and we’ll move him to the chaise, okay?”

Gerard froze for a moment before nodding and then moving to assist Ray. I watched as Mikey’s lax body drooped in Gerard and Ray’s arms. The black ectoplasm like substance dripped from his lax body, adding to the puddles already on the floor. I leant forward subconsciously, trying to get closer, to see for myself that Mikey was in fact okay. His body was placed almost reverently down onto the chaise. He looked peaceful; maybe sleeping. But the anger of the seeping wounds across his chest was enough to ruin the illusion of any form of sleep. Gerard upon noticing my minuscule movements hurried back to my side, his hands rubbing soothingly up and down my spine as he buried his head in my hair.
Ray kept his focus on Mikey’s unconscious form, lightly pushing the hair from his face. He didn’t look over at us when he began to speak, “we need to call someone, or get help or something.”

I secured my arm around Gerard pulling him slightly closer to me, “and tell them what exactly?”

“I don’t know! I don’t even know what the hell happened in here! Do you want to explain!?” Ray tried to be demanding, but his voice was shaky and desperate.

Gerard twisted a little to look up at me, “you found his ring, didn’t you?”

“Wha- how, how’d you know?” I asked a little dumfounded. Gerard was outside, he knew about as much as Ray did as to what had happened. He didn’t even know if Mikey still had his ring.

“I saw, well not directly, but mentally, it was weird,” Gerard scrunched up his nose, “It was like I could see through your eyes, and control your body, but I couldn’t see your thoughts or anything. It’s how I got rid of that –“ Gerard paused and looked away.

“What?” Ray pressed, “What, what thing? What was it?”

“They liked to be called shadow people, but there not people as such, they’re demonic entities shaped as humans, that one was, I guess, relatively malevolent.”
Ray snorted, “Relatively malevolent? Just a little bit?”

“Usually they don’t pull stunts like this so openly, but this one had a purpose, he was using Mikey as a vessel to try and summon Belial.” Ray and I were silent, equally lost for words and confused. Gerard either didn’t notice or didn’t care, but continued to talk, “that’s why there is this black ectoplasm everywhere, and the candles, Mikey was to be a vessel for Belial and then a sacrifice in his honour.”

“How do you know all this?” I asked not looking at him.

“My Owner, he kept a lot of old folklore books lying around, and entity he had posing as Ray all this time, was the shadow person, just in a humanised form. Which is strange as usually they don’t change form.”

“Clearly this one had a further purpose than serving that old creep, but this business with the ring?” Ray waved his hands, indicating for either one of us to elaborate.

“Gerard and Mikey are brothers as you know, their mother gave them both rings with the others initials engraved, turns out they’re magical, and well, yeah” I said looking at Gerard, “although I don’t think even you knew that they were this powerful.”

Gerard shook his head, “I had no idea, but if they can banish demons, and permanently, then they must be far more powerful that I even imagined. Especially if they’re used together.”

Ray’s eyes widened almost comically, “wait! If these rings can do all that, then can you use them to rouse Mikey?”

Gerard looked perplexed, “well I uh, I guess, the logistics make sense, so why not?” he moved his gaze back to me, “I need Mikey’s ring, Frank.” He held out his palm and I delicately dropped the ring and chain into his open hand.

Gerard quickly shuffled over to kneel at Mikey’s side, “I’m not really sure what to do, but I guess I just need to focus the energy on him, you think that will work?” Gerard looked back us, and we shrugged in unison. He sighed and turned back to Mikey, hands dancing over Mikey’s body, almost surreptitiously moving the hair from his face, checking his pulse, and sweeping away any debris on his skin.

Gerard placed Mikey’s hand over the one in which he concealed the rings, and pursed his lips in a tight line. His nose crinkled as his eyes screwed shut in concentration. A low humming buzzed from Gerard’s palm, a small white glow emitting from the cracks in his grip. Gerard gasped lightly as the glow began to seep from his hands. It lingered through the air, floating and slithering. It snaked its way around the permitter of Mikey’s body, giving him an ethereal glow; an aura. Gerard looked over his shoulder at us, “I don’t know what to do now, I’m trying to focus the energy on him but it’s not doing anything except giving him that weird glow,” slithers of hysterics rang on the end of his words.

I glanced at Ray, he was leaning forward, and wringing his hands as though he was desperate to do something, but wasn’t sure what. I shambled toward Gerard a little on my knees and watched he flickering aura around Mikey continue to stream from Gerard’s enclosed hands.

“Maybe you need to, like, focus the energy on Mikey waking up as well, picture it in your head or something,” Gerard’s eyebrows furrowed, “sorry, that was stupid,” I sank back a little.

Ray clambered toward me a small smile on his lips, “No! No, Frank, that might work. Try it Gerard.”

Gerard looked back at Mikey, and squeezed his eyes shut again. His grip tightened on the rings. The stream of light stopped abruptly, and the glow around Mikey got increasingly brighter.

“Is it working?” Gerard asked without opening his eyes. The glow shifted, encapsulating Mikey’s body and began to seep into his slightly ajar mouth.

I stared dumbly at Mikey, “I uh, I don’t know, you think that’s supposed to happen?”

“What? What’s happening? I can’t open my eyes it’ll break the focus.”

Choked gasps emitting from Mikey’s throat stopped me before I could answer. The irregular rising of his chest jolted as he began to hack and cough roughly. He sucked in a large breath, and then fell silent.

Gerard unclasped his hands and opened his eyes looking down at Mikey. He pressed two fingers against Mikey’s neck and began to shake. His voice rattled as he spoke, “He’s not – there’s no – oh god, Mikey!”

I gripped onto his biceps and pulled him away from Mikey, “Gerard – Gee, stop, you need to calm down.” Gerard continued to wriggle in my grip and try to pull away.

“What if I killed him? Oh god, Frank, what have I done?” Gerard finally stopped moving, but broke down in tears instead. He relaxed into my hold trying to his face in my shirt, while dampening it with his incoherent mumbling and tears. I cooed gently in his ear, trying to calm him. Mikey wasn’t dead. Gerard didn’t kill him. It’s impossible. No.

Ray slapped my arm, and I was seconds away from hissing at him from doing so, before I saw where his gaze was lingering. I turned my heard, keeping Gerard’s face hidden in my shirt, and almost shrieked with what I saw. Mikey was sat upright, looking dazed and in an aching pain similar to the one I was in when I awoke. He ran his hands along his chest, hissing when he applied to much pressure to a certain cut and looking completely perplexed and little horrified at the mutilations. He turned to see Ray looking completely shocked, me looking in disbelief and Gerard cowering into me like a child. Mikey looked confusedly at all of us, not sure what to say or do, but Gerard shifted in my arms and caught sight of his figure.

“Mikey!” he cried and threw himself at his brother holding him close, “oh my god, Mikey, fuck, I thought I’d killed you.” Gerard kept his grip tight around Mikey’s shoulders. Mikey relaxed into the embrace, and placed his arms around Gerard’s middle. The small glint of light reflected in the tear tracks than began to forge their way down his discoloured cheeks. It was only then I realised how terrified Mikey must be. He woke up with presumably very little memory and his body in aching pain and covered in hundreds of wounds and cuts. All this, as well as everything he did remember, which could be a lot, or nothing. I wasn’t sure which was worse. Mikey pulled away from Gerard, and looked around. He recoiled one he caught sight of Ray and the small smile disappeared from Ray’s face. He looked completely dejected at Mikey’s hesitance toward him.

“It’s alright Mikey. Ray’s not an ass anymore. Well, he’s not as much of an ass,” I smirked a little as Mikey’s lips tugged up into a smile.

Ray scowled at me, “fuck you, Iero. You know damn well that wasn’t me.”

Mikey’s voice was dry and hoarse when he spoke up, “I know it wasn’t you. It’s just weird seeing you here, after…y’know,” he paused to let us finish off for him.

“We don’t actually know anything, Mikey. We know you went missing, and that you were being used to invigorate a demon. B-something, what was it, Gerard?” I turned to Gerard waiting for an answer.

Gerard hesitated for a moment, “Belial?”

The second the word left Gerard’s lips Mikey arched his back and hissed in pain. The welts and cuts along his skin looked angry and irritated and some began to weep blood as they reopened. Mikey mewled in Gerard’s arms, still feeling the aftershock of the ignition of sudden pain. Gerard looked horrified and tried to quiet Mikey’s pained murmurs, rubbing his hands soothingly along his arms.

“Okay,” Ray broke the silence looking far too calm, “nobody say, you know what, when Mikey is in the area.”

“But, I don’t understand, we said it before and nothing happened?” It came out as more of a question than I would have liked, but it just didn’t make sense. Nothing made any fucking sense.

Ray stood, and awkwardly shifted on his feet for a moment before sighing, “I’m going to go to see if your parents are next door at Frank’s place.”

I got to my feet ignoring Mikey’s small nod of approval, “you can’t just leave and go there by yourself, what if, y’know, things aren’t-“

“Right?” Ray quirked and eyebrow at me.

“Well, yeah, I guess that’s the best way to put it.”

“Doesn’t matter, Frank. We have to check in on them sooner or later, besides if they’re in trouble I’d rather we do something quickly instead of leaving them any longer.”

I didn’t argue as Ray moved to the doorway, “I think you should come with me.”

“What? Why?” I was a little shocked that Ray had even asked, considering he knew I wanted nothing to do with that situation at the moment. Ignorance was far more appealing.

“You said yourself, I shouldn’t go alone. Besides, your parents are there too, Frank. You should want to check on them, and I think we should leave Mikey and Gerard alone, they've got a lot to catch up on with one another.”

I looked at Gerard for confirmation. He smiled and nodded, “it’s alright Frank. Ray’s right.”

Ray left the room and I hurried to follow close behind him. The sun had fully risen and bathed us in a gentle warmth as we stepped out of the shadow of the house. The small murmur of morning noise was a welcome change from the tense silence that the night held. Mothers were busy chatting as they pushed strollers along the side walk, people were running alongside their dogs, and cars slowly meandered past with bleary eyed drivers in suits. It was a regular morning for everyone else I suppose. The elderly lady who owned the small weatherboard house next to Mikey smiled and waved at us as we made our way down the front path. It was unsettling, the brightness and genuine happiness in her smile; totally oblivious to what had happened in that house. We grinned back and bid her a good morning, as far as she knew, we just spent the night, as friends do.

Ray huffed a little when we stepped up to my front door, “you wouldn’t happen to have a key on you by any chance?”

“Don’t need one,” I smiled and pushed on the door that was slightly ajar, “looks like our friend forgot to lock the door on his way out.”

The floorboards creaked as we tried to tip toe down the hallway silently. Everything seemed normal, nothing was shifted or out of place. But the closer to the kitchen we got the more things just didn’t seem right. The air had a distinctive nip to it causing goose bumps to appear all over my skin.

“Can you feel that?” I asked rubbing my hands up my arms to try and warm them, “It’s ridiculously cold in here.”

“It smells really bad too,” Ray scrunched his nose in disgust.

I was about to protest when a wave of fetid air seemed to drift from the kitchen. Instantly I placed my sleeved arm over my nose and mouth to reduce the smell. The air became acidic and stung at my eyes as we moved closer to the kitchen.

“Christ, that is fucking toxic,” I whined, my voice muffled from the sleeve. Ray hummed in agreement and stepped past me to the entrance of the kitchen.

His body tensed as he stopped in the doorway, “Frank, come here.”

I froze just as Ray did when I raked my eyes over the kitchen. Mikey’s and mine’s parents were sprawled out on the floor, chests rising and falling slowly. Their eyes had deep purple and black bags hanging below them, as though they hadn’t slept in days, and they held a frightening pallor across their skin. The kitchen itself was coated thickly in the black ectoplasm. It seemed to leak from the gashes in the dry wall, and seep from the cupboards. Puddles mottled the floor and the rancid smell seemed to emit from the few that held a green tinge.

I scurried around the puddles, and dropped to my knees next to my mother. Small laboured breaths escaped her lipstick smeared lips as I shook her sleeping form. “Mum, mum come on wake up. Mum!” I was seconds away from yelling at her when Ray’s hand clamped down on my shoulder.

He looked at me almost piteously, “We should move them into the lounge room, so they’re somewhere more comfortable when they wake up.” He didn’t wait for confirmation before he scooped my mother’s body up and carried her out of the kitchen in his arms. We moved the rest of the bodies placing each once carefully on the couch and wrapped them in blankets. The cold air still hung around, sending small chills up my back every time it brushed against my skin.

I sighed as I placed a blanket over my father’s sleeping frame, “what are we going to tell them when they wake up?”

Ray just shrugged, “drank too much? I don’t know.”

“Somehow I don’t think that a ‘Sunday roast dinner’ turned into ‘passed out drunk on couch’ will be believable.”

“Get some wine bottles or liquor bottles, empty them and leave them around on the floor, and some glasses to, make them looked used as well.”

“Huh, well I guess that could work. They can’t really deny getting wasted, especially if there is alcohol everywhere.”

We searched the house and placed every empty, or half so, alcohol bottle haphazardly around the room, and a few glasses spilt on the coffee table.
“I can’t help but feel a little guilty, my mother is going to freak out about thinking she got so drunk,” I said looking upon the scene.

“Least she won’t have a hangover,” Ray smiled at me. I tried to hold back, but accidently let out an obnoxiously loud snort of laughter which made Ray start giggling like an idiot.
For a moment it was easy to be swept away with the sound and the light airy feeling that laughter brought on. Ignoring everything, what had happened, what was still left unexplained, it was easy to just forget it. Forget everything. And just laugh. Laugh like an idiot alongside your friend - surrounded by your unconscious parents. I scowled at myself, because way to dampen the fucking mood, and tried to ignore Ray as he wiped tears from his eyes while fighting back the occasional giggle.

“Come on, we should get back to Gerard and Mikey,” I pulled Ray alongside me as he smiled dopily at nothing, “and will you quit smiling. You’re freaking me out.”

Ray’s smiled widened, “sorry, it’s honestly not even funny, I don’t actually know why I’m laughing.”

~*~
Ray and I were completely taken aback when we re-entered the Way’s office. Mikey was standing, with Gerard holding onto his arm for support, and his skin was completely clear. Every single discolouration, bruise, scratch and mark, was replace with pure untainted skin.
Mikey beamed at us as we look in awe at his skin, “I know! It’s awesome isn’t it? Gerard did it with those rings. I wish I’d known they were like magical or whatever, mine would have come in handy.”

“So I guess Gerard explained everything?” Ray asked.

“Yep, sure did. I’m still a little freaked out about the whole thing, but,” Mikey looked at Gerard affectionately, “I got my brother back.” Gerard smiled with glassy eyes and let Mikey take him in a tight hug. “I missed you so much Gee, and I never forgot what happened, to us, to mum. I did forget what you looked like, but when I saw you that day in Frank’s room, I thought I had gone crazy, you looked so familiar. I’d convinced myself I’d never see you again.”

Gerard closed his eyes and tightened his grip on Mikey, “so did I. So did I.”

Ray nudged my shoulder and nodded toward Mikey and Gerard embracing, “well, this is awkward.”

I started laughing as Ray grinned and shuffled uncomfortably, “fucking hell Toro, totally ruined brotherly love moment.” Gerard and Mikey started giggling too, and had to detach themselves from one another.

Ray’s cheeks took on a crimson hue, “sorry.” Mikey gestured for Ray to come to his side and they began to whisper and laugh at things neither Gerard nor I understood.

Gerard moved away from Mikey, coming up next to me and lazily entwining our fingers. He placed a feather light kiss to my cheek and rested his head against my shoulder.

“You think this is finally over? That we can be normal?” He whispered watching Ray and Mikey continue to laugh.

I let my head loll to rest against his smiling contentedly, “I think it’s over, but I don’t think we’ll ever be normal.”

We stood resting against each other in silence watching Mikey begin to tug at random strays of Ray’s hair just to wait for him to get all flustered and angry.

Gerard let out a small high pitched giggle and nestled closer to me, “yeah, neither do I.”

Notes

happy endings are nice aren't they? now don't worry there is still an epilogue to go!
To be honest I didn't think the story would end here, but it felt right - I hope it wasn't too rushed for you guys.
let me know what you think, and if there is anything special you want to see in the epilogue then let me know that as well!
thank you, to all those reading, you're amazing humans and so kind to spend time reading my work!
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