Safe?.... Hardly! (Re-edited for easier reading)

"Gerard?"

Bert was starting to panic a little, not that he'd show it. SHIT! He'd fucked it up again! Last time, he'd gone too far... he'd cut too deep, and he'd ran, left Gerard to die there, cold and alone! He'd been determined not to make that mistake again! That's why he hadn't gotten his blades out yet, cos he always got too eager, always went too far... Patrick being a case in point! But he didn't want to kill Gerard, at least, not yet! But he had, hadn't he? He hadn't made the same mistake, this time he'd just screwed up in a whole other way!

"Gerard?"

Bert composed himself, slapped a smirk on his face, and turned to face the camera.

"Oh well, guess the funs over, Frankie!"

He laughed humourlessly.

"Bye for now!"

Then he disappeared from shot, leaving the camera trained on Gerard's lifeless form for a minute, then turned it off.

Quickly rushing back to Gerard's side, Bert hastily undid the straps and dragged the limp body to the floor, laying him on his back, and preparing to do CPR.
Gerard couldn't leave him, not again! It had taken too long to find him for it to be over so quickly!
Placing one hand on top of the other, in the centre of Gerard's chest, at the nipple line, Bert began compressions!
1,2,3,4... he counted each one until he reached 30, then checked for a pulse... Nothing!

" Shitshitshitshitshit "

He still wasn't breathing either! Bert tilted Gerard's head back, opening his mouth and pinching his nose closed, before sealing his mouth to the still one beneath him, and breathing two, short, sharp breaths out. He watched as Gerard's chest rose with each breath, but when he stopped, so did the movement.

"Come on Gerard!"

He hissed.

"Don't do this!"

Then he began another cycle of CPR!
30 compressions, followed by 2 breathes. Watching, waiting, praying in his head, for any sign of life. Then another... and another... and...

Suddenly Gerard was coughing, choking on the water that was invading his lungs. Bert quickly rolled him onto his side and rubbed his back as the liquid evacuated Gerard's shaking body.

"Frankie..."

The whisper was so quiet that Bert almost missed it... unfortunately, it wasn't quiet enough, and rage surged through Bert's body.
How dare he? After what Bert had just done for him? After he'd basically saved his life? How, fucking, DARE he?!

Roughly, no longer worried for the older mans health (yeah, that lasted long!) Bert hauled him back up onto the chair and strapped him down. This time, he put him face first, and turned the various handles to adjust its position, so that Gerard had his feet on the floor, his torso bent forward onto the chair, and his arms stretched high above his head. At least this way, if there was still any water in his system, he wouldn't choke on it, he could just bring it back up, that was merciful, right?

Bert then returned to the camera, removed the small black memory card and grinned to himself. Frank would sure get a shock when he watched this little home movie! Maybe he'd even kill himself afterwards?

"Now, there's a thought!"

Bert chuckled, liking that idea, as he placed the card in an envelope, scribbled Franks name and address on the front and turned back towards Gerard.

"I'm just popping out for a bit, Hun"

He cooed, licking up the side of Gerard's face. Gerard grimaced, eyes still closed, body trembling from cold and shock.

"Don't go anywhere!"

Chuckling, he stuffed the ball gag into his mouth, briefly worrying that he could still choke, but quickly dismissing his concerns, before turning and heading over to his discarded clothes and quickly redressing.
Once he had his jeans, hoodie and sneakers on, Bert picked up the envelope, his keys, and his wallet, then walked towards the locked door, quickly locating the correct key and slipping out into the early morning light. When did morning happen? Admittedly it was impossible to tell the time of day from inside the warehouse, but he had been sure it was still night! Guess he'd spent more time on Gerard than he thought... or more time in him! Bert grinned at the memory, he'd be watching the video of that back later!

Climbing in his van, Bert put the envelope on the passenger seat and started the engine, before putting it in gear and heading out of the abandoned car park.
He wasn't concerned about Gerard being found. The warehouse, and several others, were in a completely rundown and unused industrial estate on the edge of town, and, with new units further along the river, newer, bigger units, no one ever came here anymore.

After a while, Bert turned the van onto Main Street and parked outside a small cafe. Scanning the street, his eyes finally landed on a group of teenage boys, all hanging around outside a liquor store, probably hoping someone would be dumb enough to buy some alcohol for them. Picking up the envelope, he got out and, after locking the van, walked towards the youths.

They saw him coming, and for a moment, he thought that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But he had committed now! He was almost to them, and he figured he could buy his escape if it came to that. Stopping in front of them and sticking a smile on his face that he hoped didn't make him look like a pedophile, Bert cleared his throat and put forward his proposition.

"Hey! If you'll do me a favour and deliver this envelope to the address on the front..."

He said, holding it up for them to see.

" ...then I'll pay you $500, and I'll get you a couple of cases of beer too! So, what do you say boys?"

He studied the teens as they formed a tight huddle to discuss what he'd offered. There were four of them, and he was almost positive that not one was above the age of 15, but that didn't bother him, it just made them all the easier to control. After a minute, they turned their attention back to him.

"Ok!"

The tallest boy said.

"You get the beers, then Jacko here..."

He indicated a shorter boy with shoulder length blond hair.

"...will get on his bike and peddle his ass over there with the letter, drop it off, then come back. When he gets back, you give us the money! Got it?"

The boy grinned at him.
Bert nodded, then, turning to "Jacko", added something to the plan.

"You got a camera phone kid?"

The boy nodded.

"Good! Then when you get to the house, I want you to film yourself posting the envelope! I need to be sure you didn't just dump it in the trash or something!"

The boy nodded again.

"No probs dude!"

He drawled in a Californian accent that took Bert a little by surprise.
With their plans in place, Bert strolled into the store and purchased four packs of beer, six cans in each, and returned outside to the now quite bright morning.

"There you go!"

He said, handing the beers over.

"Now, off you go!"

He nodded at the small boy, who, with a quick nod to his friends, got on his bike, taking the envelope from Bert's outstretched fingers, and cycled away.

"He won't take long!"

The tall boy said after a few minutes, getting Bert's attention again.

"He's real quick!"

Bert just nodded in reply, he really wanted to get back to Gerard now! He had such fine plans for today, and he didn't want to waste time standing on a street corner with a bunch of dumb kids.
After no more than 8 more minutes, the small boy reappeared, wheeling along the sidewalk, not looking even the slightest bit out of puff. Skidding to a stop in front of the group, a huge cheeky grin on his face, Jacko held out his cellphone for Bert to take.

Gripping the small device, Bert looked at the screen. There, ready to play, was the first shot of a 15 second video. He pressed play and watched as the boy walked up to Gerard and Frank's house and posted the envelope through the letterbox. The film ended.
Bert handed the phone back with a smile, then reached into his pocket and retrieved a large role of bank notes, all held together with an elastic band.

"Thank you boys!"

He said, passing the money to the tall boy.

"You can count it if you like!"

The tall one shook his head.

"Nah! 'S'okay! We trust ya!"

He grinned.

"And we're here every mornin' if you need anythin' else doin'!"

Bert smiled back.

"I might just take you up on that! So long as you all agree that you never saw me? You tell no one, right?"

The boys all put two fingers up in a "scouts honour" sign, though Bert was pretty sure that none of them had ever been a scout a day in their lives, and assured him they'd keep it all to themselves.

After agreeing that the payment would be the same each time he needed their help, Bert waved goodbye, and trotted back to his van, glancing back once to see the boys disappearing into a nearby alleyway with their booze and cash, to split their earnings.

Starting the van, Bert headed back to the warehouse. When he arrived, he climbed out, locked the door and checked to make sure that no one had followed him.
Satisfied that he was unobserved, Bert unlocked the warehouse's side door, and stepped inside, locking it back up behind him.

Now that was done, he could have some more fun!
Walking over to Gerard's side, he could hear the faint whimpers and whines coming from beneath the gag. God, that turned him on!

Bert grinned wickedly, reaching out to remove the muzzle.

"Honey, I'm home!"

He sing-songed in Gerard's left ear, watching as the mans face crumpled into a look of sheer terror, and new tears began to stream down his face.

"Now let's play!"

His voice was cold, evil, and as he stepped back into Gerard's eye line a moment later, a new toy in his hand, Gerard began to scream! The screams of a man who knew that his time on this earth would be way too short, and filled with way too much pain.

"FRANKIEEE!!!"

Notes