If You Dare
Chapter Three
“Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.” - Andre Malraux
The wind lightly brushed stray hairs from my face as I clutched my coat closer to my body. The temperature had dropped to unseasonably cold from the time we had had lunch to now, the end of school. I stuck to my side of the footpath and kicked the occasional stray piece of gravel or rock that happened to be in my path. Mikey and Ray would usually be accompanying me on my journey home but since our hefty conversation at lunch I hadn’t seen either all day. Fair enough they were slightly mad at me and my insisting to go back to the manor but that hardly justified ignoring me completely. Mikey was uneasy with the subject, maybe I pushed a little too far.
“Frank!”
I stopped moving and spun on my heel at the sound of my name. Ray was running along the sidewalk towards me looking very, well, pissed. He made it to my side puffing and bent over to catch his breath.
“Hey Ray what’s up?”
He glared daggers at me, “don’t ‘what’s up’ me, did you say anything else to Mikey while I wasn’t there?”
“What? No, I haven’t seen Mikey since lunch, why?”
“Because he left school early and won’t reply to any of my texts or answer my calls, god dammit Frank, you really fucked him up, you know that? You knew how much he hated the house and yet you took him there anyways and now I have no idea where he is, if he’s safe, he could be locked in a locker for all I know!” Ray was red and fuming by this point, and I’d be lying if I wasn’t anticipating him to punch me at any point.
“Ray I think you need calm down, Mikey will be fine, he was fine at lunch plus I promised I wouldn’t bring it up again, and he’s too tall to fit in the lockers so you don’t need to stress out about it.” I tried my best to raise my hands in a soothing gesture, but Ray was seething by the time I stopped talking.
“Frank! This isn’t a joke! I need to know where Mikey is and if he’s okay, if something happened to him I’ll kill you!” Ray shoved me, and due to the size difference I stumbled backwards nearly falling.
I growled at him before shoving him back, “What the fuck man! Don’t fucking shove me! Mikey is fine, what are you his fucking boyfriend!?”
“I’m his fucking friend and acting like a friend should! By caring about him and his feelings, unlike you who doesn’t give a shit about anyone else but yourself. You knew! You fucking knew about how sensitive Mikey is, he still hasn’t completely healed from losing his family when he was little and the you decide to traumatise him a little more for your own gain! You’re an insensitive piece of shit Frank Iero and I will make it my mission to keep you from hurting Mikey again, unless you already have in which case you better wish we’d never met, because I will fucking destroy you, do you understand!?” Ray snarled at me.
Fuck this. Fuck him. I refused to cower at his empty threats. “Fuck you Toro, you’re being a total ass, what the fuck has gotten into you? Mikey is fine and you’re acting like a bitch. Leave me alone. I’m done with this conversation. You can’t just take Mikey away from me. That’s not your decision to make. I don’t have time for your empty threats and bullshit, see you later Ray.” I spat at him before turning away and heading in the direction of my house.
I trudged along the footpath keeping my eyes set to the ground. A stinging sensation tingled my eyes and I could feel my bottom lip begin to quiver. No, no way in hell was I going to let Ray make me cry. I wasn’t an insensitive piece of shit, I knew Mikey had a rough upbringing and that he’s sensitive, but I didn’t purposely taking him out to the house to upset him, I just wanted someone to be with me whilst I was there. I was just as afraid as he was, I just didn’t let it show.
No matter how hard I fought a few tears managed to leave a warm trails down my cheeks. I must have looked like a mess; a teenage boy stomping along the sidewalk nearly bursting into incoherent sobbing mess. No doubt the small amount of eyeliner I had applied this morning was running down my face perfectly complementing my puffy eyes and red cheeks.
Fucking Ray. This was his fault. Being the overprotective piece of shit he was. Mikey was fine. Mikey was just having a cry over something that didn’t even matter, being an emotional wreck as per usual.
I stopped as my breath hitched in the back of my throat. How could I even think that? Ray was right. I’m an insensitive piece of shit who cares about nothing but himself. Ray never did anything wrong, this wasn’t his fault…he was just taking care of Mikey, just taking of me, just doing what Ray always does, which is always the right thing. And Mikey, how dare I even let those thoughts grace me subconscious. Mikey’s lost his family, he’s happy with his adopted parents but they’ll never be his real mum and dad, and he’ll never get his brother back, no wonder he takes things to heart. I’m just an asshole that used malleable and sweet caring nature to get him to do what I want. Now I let the tears fall. There was no need to hold them back. I’ve fucked up, fucked up big time.
At least neither will reprimand nor be mad at me anymore than they are now if I were to break the promise and go back to the house. I’ve nothing to lose, if there is a psychotic killer living there that does decide my time on earth is up, well perhaps it’s for the best. Not like Ray or Mikey would care, right?
I shoved the front door open and thundered through the hallway making a beeline for my bedroom. I kept my head down, vision focused on my feet, my mother would be relentless if she caught a sight of me. The last thing I wanted right now was her over nurturing. My still shoe clad feet tripped and caught on the carpeted floor causing my body to thump against the walls. I heard a few high pitched calls come from the kitchen but ignored them, if I could just speed up a little I’d be able to make it past the kitchen without an intervention from my mother.
I was almost tempted to laugh as my vision suffused with amaranth, I should be so lucky my mother wouldn’t catch me. Her lanky arms wrapped tightly around my shuddering frame, my tears dampening her dress that blinded my vision with amaranth and near suffocated me. He cooed softly in my ear whilst patting my hair soothingly.
“Frank, Frankie love what’s wrong?” She whispered not releasing the embrace.
My sobs quickened and though half incoherent I tried to force out the words, “I-I’m s-sorry mum.”
“Sorry? Sweetie, what are you sorry for?”
“F-for b-being me,” I wailed clinging onto my mother a little more tightly.
My mother sighed but didn’t loosen her hold on my shuddering frame, “come on, I think you need to have a sleep, we can talk about this later, yeah?”
I sniffled and nodded allowing my mother to guide me through the house and to my bedroom. She helped me out of my jacket and jeans leaving me in my boxers and t-shirt before placing me on the bed and pulling the covers over my body. She left a tender kiss on my forehead before leaving my room muttering something that I didn’t quite catch. I left my eyes closed and didn’t bother to try and pry then open. A seventeen year old boy comes home crying and allows his mother to get him ready for bed like a child. Forget feeling pathetic, I was pathetic.
I woke up to total darkness except for the green burst of luminescence next to my bed reading 2:06am. Guess mom and I never got around to having that ‘chat’. Not that she wouldn’t bombard me with questions eventually, but evading it for a few hours was better than nothing. My eyes had nearly wholly adjusted to the darkness of the room and there was no way I was going to get back to sleep now. I didn’t have to be awake for school for a another 5 hours, but a bonus of last night was that feigning sick and getting the day off would be easier than usual.
Despite working on my cough and snotty nose charade for my mothers’ appearance at exactly 7am, my brain was shuffling through the past week bringing up moments in unorganised fragments. Rays shouting. Mikey’s distress. That house. The boy. Everything always came back to the boy. His eyes. His anguish. His hair. How small and fragile yet menacing he looked. I shot up and tossed the blankets to the side. I had to go back. I had to go back now. My feet found their way into a pair of shoes and I found my jacket from earlier as well as some pants. Creeping around late at night without pants would not look good on my behalf, especially if I ran into unwanted company.
I considered leaving the house the conventional way; through the front door. But it wasn’t worth the risk if one of my parents was awake for some unbeknownst to me reason. They may not be violent but in a bad mood, especially with me, the pure terror and violence in their voices was enough to cover me with metaphorical emotional bruises. Quite the contrast to their usually delicate and caring nature, but everyone has their vices, my parents was their temper. My vice was my inability to do what I was told and/or what is considered the ‘smart’ thing to do. An example of this was the fact that I was clinging for dear life to a rusty pole sliding down the side of the house. Definitely not the smart thing to do.
My feet hit the ground will a dull thud. And before even considering climbing back up I ran. My jacket flapped behind me making me look like a vampire wearing a cape running through the streets. Which was pretty badass, but not exactly the look I was going for. I made it a few blocks before stopping and bending over trying to regain my breath. I looked ahead of me and saw the houses stop and the black mass take up the majority of the navy sky. My breathing slowed and the small noises of the night pricked at my ears, crickets, cicadas, footsteps. Wait. Footsteps. My breath hitched as I turned. There was an unmistakable movement next to a car across the street from me. Fuck. Was someone following me the whole time? How did I not notice?
Forgetting my fatigued state I began to move away from the person. I made no effort to hide myself and apparently they decided that secrecy wasn’t required. As I began to run along the sidewalk they emerged from their hiding spot and ran after me. The light footsteps from before turned into heavy slaps against the concrete. Nerves pulsed through my body and fear controlled my movements. I didn’t dare look back, but I knew they were gaining on me. I heard their laboured breathing get louder and heavier. Through some inexplicable force of nature I forced myself to go just that little bit quicker causing a growl to emit from the person behind me. There was something familiar about the light huskiness of the voice…I could have sworn it sounded like-no, it wasn’t him. Don’t be stupid Frank, why would he be out at this time of night and following you? Idiot.
Nevertheless I continued running, and didn’t stop to look back even once. If I could just make it to the forest, then I’d be okay. Not even a petty thief, whom I’m assuming was chasing me, would follow me in there at night. If you got lost you’re practically dead, unless you’re adapt at surviving in the forest without water, which majority of people aren’t – me included. But I knew where I was going, well I knew the general direction.
The breathing behind me along with the footsteps slowed to a near stop as the footpath ended. I didn’t risk taking a glance to make sure they had completely stopped. The first branch clasped onto my jacket and was followed by numerous others. Bony fingers gripping and wrapping around me, swallowing my body and thrusting it into the pitch black. Another perfect example of my stupidity was my failure to bring a torch. All I had to rely on was my sense of direction and touch. Straight ahead. I just had to stay straight, if I could manage that then I’d be at the house in no time.
My hands ran lightly over the coarse bark of the trees as I steadied myself with each step. I tried to feel around making sure there wasn’t a ditch or a mound along the trail but with the debris and leaf litter coating the ground it was hard to differentiate between a log and a pile of dirt. Sticks jarred into the soft flesh of my stomach and arms leaving tiny scratches and cuts that stung when irritated with movement. A few of the higher sharper branches slashed along my cheeks and forehead leaving gashes leaking blood down my face. How I was going to explain this to mum and dad I had no idea, make-up would only help so much, but I’d worry about that later. Right now despite the stinging in sporadic bursts across my body and the stickiness of blood to complement it was the least of my worries.
It seemed as the though the person from before had indeed given up in following me. Not worth getting lost to mug a kid, I suppose. Not that I had anything worth stealing, except my clothes if they were desperate. I shuddered at the thought of being left naked and beaten in the middle of the street all over a little bit of money, it had happened before, they guy left town as soon as he recovered. I would have too if I were him.
A floating orb of glowing golden light made me quicken my pace. The house. Although I wasn’t sure why someone would be awake at this hour, it was nearly 3am after all, on a weeknight. Not that it mattered why they were awake but it did make me a little more jittery about being caught. Mikey was right about a lot of things; hopefully psychopath occupying house in forest wasn’t one of them.
I crept into the position Mikey and I shared a few days beforehand and huddled behind the shrub that concealed my presence. The house definitely looked a hell of a lot more menacing in the dark with only the pale yellow glow of lights from inside to illuminate it. Shadows were cast around the irregular wooden beams and metal shaping of the windows leaving eerie figure like formations to be projected onto the empty space surrounding the house. Maybe that’s what Mikey saw, shadows, not ghosts, that would make a lot more sense. But no one was inhabiting the house when it happened, unless someone was living here all along just nobody knew about them.
The squeak of metal hinges brought my attention from the shadow shapes and toward the front door. It flew open with great force and the man with silver skin’s silhouette appeared in the doorway. I couldn’t see any feature on his face but I could hear his heavy breathing; he was fuming at something or someone. My heartbeat instantly sped up and pounded in my ears at the thought he may have seen me. I tried to calm my body but instead shook even more violently. I clenched my eyes shut and waited for the encroaching footsteps to seal my fate.
“Gerard!”
I froze. Wait, that’s not me. I released the hold on my eyelids and peeked toward the house. A moment of silence before the boy shuffled from the light of the house and became a silhouette next to the older man.
“Yes, Sir?” His voice was effeminate but still somehow held onto a masculine raspy undertone.
“Go get more firewood, chop it up and then re-kindle the fire,” the man spat into the youngers face and pushed him out of the doorway and onto the porch. The boy fell with a small thump onto his knees. “Now!” he barked a final order before kicking the boy down the few stairs as he tried to stand.
I had to grip onto a stray branch to stop my body from rushing to the boys’ aid. The man disappeared into the house and slammed the door close. I stopped my breathing and listening to the small whimpers as the boy tried to stand once more. He fumbled to push his body up onto his knees and sit back on his feet. He sniffled. Crying, was he crying? I felt guilt rush through my body pricking every nerve, I could have done something, I should have done something, instead I let him get kicked down the stairs. His body wobbled as he moved to his feet. I knew he’d just fall again and again until he hurt himself even more then he already was. I shot to my feet and rushed over catching his limp body moments before it hit the ground.
He sunk into my hold around his shoulders and waist and let out a sigh of relief, or defeat, I wasn’t sure which one. As quickly as he relaxed he tensed up. His eyes flew open and he looked at me in pure shock. A small gasp escaped his lips as he fought against my grip, slapping me in the face a few times and sending us both tumbling down the small incline. Sticks and rocks stabbed at my body and broke the skin until we finally stopped tangling in a shrub; the very same one I was hiding behind. Our bodies were intermingled and knotted with one another, limbs and torn pieces of clothing jagging onto limbs of foliage.
I groaned hoisting myself up on my elbows and looked across at the boy who was almost mimicking my actions. He brought his hand to the back of his head and rubbed it before removing a stick that was tangled in his messy raven locks. He seemed to momentarily forget my presence but soon remembered why he had rolled down the small hill in the first place. His eyes locked onto mine and widened in fear before he scrambled backwards recoiling from me.
I raised my hands in a soothing manner, “hey, hey, calm down, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”
His breathing calmed a little but he didn’t move an inch, “who-who are you, what a-are you doing-g h-here?” He whispered as he spoke, obviously afraid he would get caught. We were far enough away from the house, there was no way the man could hear us.
“I’m Frank, I uh, I came to see if you were okay, I saw the other day when you arrived, what he did to you.”
“It’s not any different than normal, why do you care, how did you find us? You shouldn’t be here, if he catches you…” His eyes darted around as he spoke.
“I care because he can’t treat you like that, I found you because I like to snoop, and what will happen if he catches me? What else does he do to you?” I inched closer to the boy and tried to use my doe eye technique to pry the information out of him. He didn’t move away, so I took that as a sign he was a little more comfortable.
“He can, and he does, no one can stop him. And if he catches you he’ll do the same, maybe even worse, please Frank you need to leave, go, go now!” He pleaded with me trying to push my body away from the direction of the house.
“I’m not going anywhere until I get some answers.” I huffed and crossed my arms.
“No, no you have to go, please he’ll hurt you, he’ll hurt me, just leave, don’t come back, forget you ever saw me. He’s going to be so mad…” The boy wrapped his arms around himself and began to cry silently, “please, please just go.”
“Not until you tell me your name.”
He sniffled, “G-Gerard, now please go.”
I smiled and got to my feet, helping Gerard along with me, “I’m coming back. Same time, tomorrow.”
“NO!” Gerard raised his voice and grabbed onto my shoulders, “don’t you dare come back here.”
“I’m coming back, same time tomorrow, make sure you’re here or I’m knocking on that front door and facing whatever wrath comes my way.”
He sighed and didn’t say another word. I took that as a yes.
“Same time, same place, I’ll see you tomorrow Gee.” I grinned at my little nickname and turned away from the Gerard. I heard him sigh again before I ran off and the darkness swallowed me from his sight.
The wind lightly brushed stray hairs from my face as I clutched my coat closer to my body. The temperature had dropped to unseasonably cold from the time we had had lunch to now, the end of school. I stuck to my side of the footpath and kicked the occasional stray piece of gravel or rock that happened to be in my path. Mikey and Ray would usually be accompanying me on my journey home but since our hefty conversation at lunch I hadn’t seen either all day. Fair enough they were slightly mad at me and my insisting to go back to the manor but that hardly justified ignoring me completely. Mikey was uneasy with the subject, maybe I pushed a little too far.
“Frank!”
I stopped moving and spun on my heel at the sound of my name. Ray was running along the sidewalk towards me looking very, well, pissed. He made it to my side puffing and bent over to catch his breath.
“Hey Ray what’s up?”
He glared daggers at me, “don’t ‘what’s up’ me, did you say anything else to Mikey while I wasn’t there?”
“What? No, I haven’t seen Mikey since lunch, why?”
“Because he left school early and won’t reply to any of my texts or answer my calls, god dammit Frank, you really fucked him up, you know that? You knew how much he hated the house and yet you took him there anyways and now I have no idea where he is, if he’s safe, he could be locked in a locker for all I know!” Ray was red and fuming by this point, and I’d be lying if I wasn’t anticipating him to punch me at any point.
“Ray I think you need calm down, Mikey will be fine, he was fine at lunch plus I promised I wouldn’t bring it up again, and he’s too tall to fit in the lockers so you don’t need to stress out about it.” I tried my best to raise my hands in a soothing gesture, but Ray was seething by the time I stopped talking.
“Frank! This isn’t a joke! I need to know where Mikey is and if he’s okay, if something happened to him I’ll kill you!” Ray shoved me, and due to the size difference I stumbled backwards nearly falling.
I growled at him before shoving him back, “What the fuck man! Don’t fucking shove me! Mikey is fine, what are you his fucking boyfriend!?”
“I’m his fucking friend and acting like a friend should! By caring about him and his feelings, unlike you who doesn’t give a shit about anyone else but yourself. You knew! You fucking knew about how sensitive Mikey is, he still hasn’t completely healed from losing his family when he was little and the you decide to traumatise him a little more for your own gain! You’re an insensitive piece of shit Frank Iero and I will make it my mission to keep you from hurting Mikey again, unless you already have in which case you better wish we’d never met, because I will fucking destroy you, do you understand!?” Ray snarled at me.
Fuck this. Fuck him. I refused to cower at his empty threats. “Fuck you Toro, you’re being a total ass, what the fuck has gotten into you? Mikey is fine and you’re acting like a bitch. Leave me alone. I’m done with this conversation. You can’t just take Mikey away from me. That’s not your decision to make. I don’t have time for your empty threats and bullshit, see you later Ray.” I spat at him before turning away and heading in the direction of my house.
I trudged along the footpath keeping my eyes set to the ground. A stinging sensation tingled my eyes and I could feel my bottom lip begin to quiver. No, no way in hell was I going to let Ray make me cry. I wasn’t an insensitive piece of shit, I knew Mikey had a rough upbringing and that he’s sensitive, but I didn’t purposely taking him out to the house to upset him, I just wanted someone to be with me whilst I was there. I was just as afraid as he was, I just didn’t let it show.
No matter how hard I fought a few tears managed to leave a warm trails down my cheeks. I must have looked like a mess; a teenage boy stomping along the sidewalk nearly bursting into incoherent sobbing mess. No doubt the small amount of eyeliner I had applied this morning was running down my face perfectly complementing my puffy eyes and red cheeks.
Fucking Ray. This was his fault. Being the overprotective piece of shit he was. Mikey was fine. Mikey was just having a cry over something that didn’t even matter, being an emotional wreck as per usual.
I stopped as my breath hitched in the back of my throat. How could I even think that? Ray was right. I’m an insensitive piece of shit who cares about nothing but himself. Ray never did anything wrong, this wasn’t his fault…he was just taking care of Mikey, just taking of me, just doing what Ray always does, which is always the right thing. And Mikey, how dare I even let those thoughts grace me subconscious. Mikey’s lost his family, he’s happy with his adopted parents but they’ll never be his real mum and dad, and he’ll never get his brother back, no wonder he takes things to heart. I’m just an asshole that used malleable and sweet caring nature to get him to do what I want. Now I let the tears fall. There was no need to hold them back. I’ve fucked up, fucked up big time.
At least neither will reprimand nor be mad at me anymore than they are now if I were to break the promise and go back to the house. I’ve nothing to lose, if there is a psychotic killer living there that does decide my time on earth is up, well perhaps it’s for the best. Not like Ray or Mikey would care, right?
I shoved the front door open and thundered through the hallway making a beeline for my bedroom. I kept my head down, vision focused on my feet, my mother would be relentless if she caught a sight of me. The last thing I wanted right now was her over nurturing. My still shoe clad feet tripped and caught on the carpeted floor causing my body to thump against the walls. I heard a few high pitched calls come from the kitchen but ignored them, if I could just speed up a little I’d be able to make it past the kitchen without an intervention from my mother.
I was almost tempted to laugh as my vision suffused with amaranth, I should be so lucky my mother wouldn’t catch me. Her lanky arms wrapped tightly around my shuddering frame, my tears dampening her dress that blinded my vision with amaranth and near suffocated me. He cooed softly in my ear whilst patting my hair soothingly.
“Frank, Frankie love what’s wrong?” She whispered not releasing the embrace.
My sobs quickened and though half incoherent I tried to force out the words, “I-I’m s-sorry mum.”
“Sorry? Sweetie, what are you sorry for?”
“F-for b-being me,” I wailed clinging onto my mother a little more tightly.
My mother sighed but didn’t loosen her hold on my shuddering frame, “come on, I think you need to have a sleep, we can talk about this later, yeah?”
I sniffled and nodded allowing my mother to guide me through the house and to my bedroom. She helped me out of my jacket and jeans leaving me in my boxers and t-shirt before placing me on the bed and pulling the covers over my body. She left a tender kiss on my forehead before leaving my room muttering something that I didn’t quite catch. I left my eyes closed and didn’t bother to try and pry then open. A seventeen year old boy comes home crying and allows his mother to get him ready for bed like a child. Forget feeling pathetic, I was pathetic.
I woke up to total darkness except for the green burst of luminescence next to my bed reading 2:06am. Guess mom and I never got around to having that ‘chat’. Not that she wouldn’t bombard me with questions eventually, but evading it for a few hours was better than nothing. My eyes had nearly wholly adjusted to the darkness of the room and there was no way I was going to get back to sleep now. I didn’t have to be awake for school for a another 5 hours, but a bonus of last night was that feigning sick and getting the day off would be easier than usual.
Despite working on my cough and snotty nose charade for my mothers’ appearance at exactly 7am, my brain was shuffling through the past week bringing up moments in unorganised fragments. Rays shouting. Mikey’s distress. That house. The boy. Everything always came back to the boy. His eyes. His anguish. His hair. How small and fragile yet menacing he looked. I shot up and tossed the blankets to the side. I had to go back. I had to go back now. My feet found their way into a pair of shoes and I found my jacket from earlier as well as some pants. Creeping around late at night without pants would not look good on my behalf, especially if I ran into unwanted company.
I considered leaving the house the conventional way; through the front door. But it wasn’t worth the risk if one of my parents was awake for some unbeknownst to me reason. They may not be violent but in a bad mood, especially with me, the pure terror and violence in their voices was enough to cover me with metaphorical emotional bruises. Quite the contrast to their usually delicate and caring nature, but everyone has their vices, my parents was their temper. My vice was my inability to do what I was told and/or what is considered the ‘smart’ thing to do. An example of this was the fact that I was clinging for dear life to a rusty pole sliding down the side of the house. Definitely not the smart thing to do.
My feet hit the ground will a dull thud. And before even considering climbing back up I ran. My jacket flapped behind me making me look like a vampire wearing a cape running through the streets. Which was pretty badass, but not exactly the look I was going for. I made it a few blocks before stopping and bending over trying to regain my breath. I looked ahead of me and saw the houses stop and the black mass take up the majority of the navy sky. My breathing slowed and the small noises of the night pricked at my ears, crickets, cicadas, footsteps. Wait. Footsteps. My breath hitched as I turned. There was an unmistakable movement next to a car across the street from me. Fuck. Was someone following me the whole time? How did I not notice?
Forgetting my fatigued state I began to move away from the person. I made no effort to hide myself and apparently they decided that secrecy wasn’t required. As I began to run along the sidewalk they emerged from their hiding spot and ran after me. The light footsteps from before turned into heavy slaps against the concrete. Nerves pulsed through my body and fear controlled my movements. I didn’t dare look back, but I knew they were gaining on me. I heard their laboured breathing get louder and heavier. Through some inexplicable force of nature I forced myself to go just that little bit quicker causing a growl to emit from the person behind me. There was something familiar about the light huskiness of the voice…I could have sworn it sounded like-no, it wasn’t him. Don’t be stupid Frank, why would he be out at this time of night and following you? Idiot.
Nevertheless I continued running, and didn’t stop to look back even once. If I could just make it to the forest, then I’d be okay. Not even a petty thief, whom I’m assuming was chasing me, would follow me in there at night. If you got lost you’re practically dead, unless you’re adapt at surviving in the forest without water, which majority of people aren’t – me included. But I knew where I was going, well I knew the general direction.
The breathing behind me along with the footsteps slowed to a near stop as the footpath ended. I didn’t risk taking a glance to make sure they had completely stopped. The first branch clasped onto my jacket and was followed by numerous others. Bony fingers gripping and wrapping around me, swallowing my body and thrusting it into the pitch black. Another perfect example of my stupidity was my failure to bring a torch. All I had to rely on was my sense of direction and touch. Straight ahead. I just had to stay straight, if I could manage that then I’d be at the house in no time.
My hands ran lightly over the coarse bark of the trees as I steadied myself with each step. I tried to feel around making sure there wasn’t a ditch or a mound along the trail but with the debris and leaf litter coating the ground it was hard to differentiate between a log and a pile of dirt. Sticks jarred into the soft flesh of my stomach and arms leaving tiny scratches and cuts that stung when irritated with movement. A few of the higher sharper branches slashed along my cheeks and forehead leaving gashes leaking blood down my face. How I was going to explain this to mum and dad I had no idea, make-up would only help so much, but I’d worry about that later. Right now despite the stinging in sporadic bursts across my body and the stickiness of blood to complement it was the least of my worries.
It seemed as the though the person from before had indeed given up in following me. Not worth getting lost to mug a kid, I suppose. Not that I had anything worth stealing, except my clothes if they were desperate. I shuddered at the thought of being left naked and beaten in the middle of the street all over a little bit of money, it had happened before, they guy left town as soon as he recovered. I would have too if I were him.
A floating orb of glowing golden light made me quicken my pace. The house. Although I wasn’t sure why someone would be awake at this hour, it was nearly 3am after all, on a weeknight. Not that it mattered why they were awake but it did make me a little more jittery about being caught. Mikey was right about a lot of things; hopefully psychopath occupying house in forest wasn’t one of them.
I crept into the position Mikey and I shared a few days beforehand and huddled behind the shrub that concealed my presence. The house definitely looked a hell of a lot more menacing in the dark with only the pale yellow glow of lights from inside to illuminate it. Shadows were cast around the irregular wooden beams and metal shaping of the windows leaving eerie figure like formations to be projected onto the empty space surrounding the house. Maybe that’s what Mikey saw, shadows, not ghosts, that would make a lot more sense. But no one was inhabiting the house when it happened, unless someone was living here all along just nobody knew about them.
The squeak of metal hinges brought my attention from the shadow shapes and toward the front door. It flew open with great force and the man with silver skin’s silhouette appeared in the doorway. I couldn’t see any feature on his face but I could hear his heavy breathing; he was fuming at something or someone. My heartbeat instantly sped up and pounded in my ears at the thought he may have seen me. I tried to calm my body but instead shook even more violently. I clenched my eyes shut and waited for the encroaching footsteps to seal my fate.
“Gerard!”
I froze. Wait, that’s not me. I released the hold on my eyelids and peeked toward the house. A moment of silence before the boy shuffled from the light of the house and became a silhouette next to the older man.
“Yes, Sir?” His voice was effeminate but still somehow held onto a masculine raspy undertone.
“Go get more firewood, chop it up and then re-kindle the fire,” the man spat into the youngers face and pushed him out of the doorway and onto the porch. The boy fell with a small thump onto his knees. “Now!” he barked a final order before kicking the boy down the few stairs as he tried to stand.
I had to grip onto a stray branch to stop my body from rushing to the boys’ aid. The man disappeared into the house and slammed the door close. I stopped my breathing and listening to the small whimpers as the boy tried to stand once more. He fumbled to push his body up onto his knees and sit back on his feet. He sniffled. Crying, was he crying? I felt guilt rush through my body pricking every nerve, I could have done something, I should have done something, instead I let him get kicked down the stairs. His body wobbled as he moved to his feet. I knew he’d just fall again and again until he hurt himself even more then he already was. I shot to my feet and rushed over catching his limp body moments before it hit the ground.
He sunk into my hold around his shoulders and waist and let out a sigh of relief, or defeat, I wasn’t sure which one. As quickly as he relaxed he tensed up. His eyes flew open and he looked at me in pure shock. A small gasp escaped his lips as he fought against my grip, slapping me in the face a few times and sending us both tumbling down the small incline. Sticks and rocks stabbed at my body and broke the skin until we finally stopped tangling in a shrub; the very same one I was hiding behind. Our bodies were intermingled and knotted with one another, limbs and torn pieces of clothing jagging onto limbs of foliage.
I groaned hoisting myself up on my elbows and looked across at the boy who was almost mimicking my actions. He brought his hand to the back of his head and rubbed it before removing a stick that was tangled in his messy raven locks. He seemed to momentarily forget my presence but soon remembered why he had rolled down the small hill in the first place. His eyes locked onto mine and widened in fear before he scrambled backwards recoiling from me.
I raised my hands in a soothing manner, “hey, hey, calm down, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”
His breathing calmed a little but he didn’t move an inch, “who-who are you, what a-are you doing-g h-here?” He whispered as he spoke, obviously afraid he would get caught. We were far enough away from the house, there was no way the man could hear us.
“I’m Frank, I uh, I came to see if you were okay, I saw the other day when you arrived, what he did to you.”
“It’s not any different than normal, why do you care, how did you find us? You shouldn’t be here, if he catches you…” His eyes darted around as he spoke.
“I care because he can’t treat you like that, I found you because I like to snoop, and what will happen if he catches me? What else does he do to you?” I inched closer to the boy and tried to use my doe eye technique to pry the information out of him. He didn’t move away, so I took that as a sign he was a little more comfortable.
“He can, and he does, no one can stop him. And if he catches you he’ll do the same, maybe even worse, please Frank you need to leave, go, go now!” He pleaded with me trying to push my body away from the direction of the house.
“I’m not going anywhere until I get some answers.” I huffed and crossed my arms.
“No, no you have to go, please he’ll hurt you, he’ll hurt me, just leave, don’t come back, forget you ever saw me. He’s going to be so mad…” The boy wrapped his arms around himself and began to cry silently, “please, please just go.”
“Not until you tell me your name.”
He sniffled, “G-Gerard, now please go.”
I smiled and got to my feet, helping Gerard along with me, “I’m coming back. Same time, tomorrow.”
“NO!” Gerard raised his voice and grabbed onto my shoulders, “don’t you dare come back here.”
“I’m coming back, same time tomorrow, make sure you’re here or I’m knocking on that front door and facing whatever wrath comes my way.”
He sighed and didn’t say another word. I took that as a yes.
“Same time, same place, I’ll see you tomorrow Gee.” I grinned at my little nickname and turned away from the Gerard. I heard him sigh again before I ran off and the darkness swallowed me from his sight.
Notes
hey guys! alright, so honest opinions, do you like how the meeting of Gerard and Frank played out? I don't know if it seems believable or not, so let me know what you think and I'll rewrite it if need be! Other than that let me know your thoughts on the story and anything else that needs improving, what you like, what you don't, rate, subscribe and all that fancy stuff! and thank you for reading!
sorry for any typo's or grammatical errors!
x
@Frerardified
Thank you hun! I'm glad you enjoyed it! c:
9/14/14