Drowning Lessons

I’m standing before the glass tank the next morning.
The Captain is standing behind me. I feel his eyes on me. They burn into my back and I feel so exposed in my skimpy swim trunks.
“You look different, Iero,” he says at last never lifting his heavy stare.
I shudder. “Maybe it’s the lack of fresh air.” I suggest venomously.
“I never knew that isolation could do the body such good…” he purrs and I feel more uncomfortable.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I demand. “You aren’t beating the shit out of me and I’m obviously not going to get in the tank so can I go?”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Frank just have you… help me.” He’s pacing now.
“I liked it better when you had you’re men in white beat me to try get me to cooperate. This is just fucking gross.”
I see his reflection in the glass of the tank as he passes and it looks offended.
“Why won’t you open up your mind to me Frank?” he coos. “Why won’t you let me in?”
“I’m sick of having people in my head.”
“But we could help each other Frank. If you want I’ll even let you keep your power. Or I’d give you more. We could both be really powerful Frank,” his smile glistens in the reflection of the water tank. I shudder.
“Your reaction is offensive, Frank. If I were Gerard you wouldn’t be like this,” his brow furrows then his face lights up. “I know. When Kellin is drained I’ll look like Gerard forever.”
I turn around and face him. He’s still pacing. His mouth a straight line and his brow lined with curiosity. “No way-” I begin but he cuts me off.
“I’ll let you head off now Frank and when we talk tomorrow I hope you’ve had a good long think about it. We could work out a really favourable deal. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
I can’t shake the feeling of his staring eyes. I can’t rid myself of this unclean feeling.
They take Alex as they leave me. Rather than sitting in an empty room feeling gross I put a clean black outfit on and jump into the passages. I want to find Gee.
My first stop is his old room where I see Mikey lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. No sign that Gee has been in this room since the fight at the dinner table.
Next stop is back to those rooms where I saw him giggling like a maniac on the floor.
He’s not in any of the rooms with the chairs but in one further down. Smaller, with a bed and a bedside locker. He’s sitting on the bed and when I open the passage he tumbles out on top of me.
He gasps in shock and looks around. I help him up and push him and myself back into the room before the passage closes again.
“Frank… what the fuck man!”
“Shut up,” I warn. “These walls are fucking thin. I wanted to check on you.”
“So you jump out of the fucking wall!” he blurts then calms himself. “Frankie, I’m so fucking confused about everything.” He stares into my eyes. His eyes are glassy and his pupils are still a tad large.
“Gee, look at me, has the Captain been giving you doses of Ray’s powers?” I say looking directly at him. He avoids eye contact. “Oh Gee,” I sigh, “Are you fucking addicted? Can you stop?”
He looks at me nervously for a moment and then out the window. “I don’t think so. I made a mistake…”
“What?” I ask even though I know the answer.
“I traded something important for another hit…”
“Gee do still you like me in the way you did?” my voices wobbles.
“I don’t know Frankie. I woke up this morning and straight away new that he took that and not my fucking power and the thought of kissing you was as stupid as the thought of kissing Mikey. But now you are here and I don’t know. And this is almost worn off. I need more.”
I shake my head, “No you don’t. You need to ignore that. We’re going to have to try fight them soon, Gee, and we need your help.”
“Why? Why can’t we give in and go home?” he pleads.
I glare at him and turn away, stomping the short distance to the bedside locker. “Gerard you know we can’t do that. Just fight it okay?”
“Yea okay. Frankie I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too Gerard.”

Alex doesn’t come back that night. Or the next day. I’m really worried about him. I can’t find him at all no matter what passages I roam. I’m going for another drowning lesson tonight. I head out into the passages to look for Alex again midmorning. I stop off at Mikey’s room and tell him all about Gee.
“Fuck I knew that would happen. So did Ray. It’s a fucking drug. What do we do?” He asks, his face crumpling before me.
“Fight?” we had all been thinking it but none of us really said it. Maybe because we couldn’t contact each other.
Mikey looks so distressed, “but we’re all sick and weak and beaten up and shit. I am beginning to feel pain again. Only slightly but that is something. Can’t we wait till Ryan is better? He’s useful.”
I nod, “yea, okay. I’ve got to go check on others.”
Jaime is weird when I see him. Beaten up by the white coats but still as powerful as ever. Brendon has lost none of his powers and has been reflecting his mood on the weather. It rains constantly and the sky has been going from grey to black the longer he spends away from Ryan. Ashley is in girl form, refusing to change back because the Captain can’t touch any of his power as a girl. Kellin is back in his room spending a lot of his time posed as inanimate objects. I don’t even ask. Ray spends all his time rueing his powers for what it’s done to Gerard. Bob is silently pissed off at it all and has broken all the wires in the rooms he’s been in while slowing down time. Andy is still locked up and more pissed off than ever. He can’t wait to get out and “fuck the Captain up”.
Vic is in the infirmary, pretending to be unconscious a lot and listening in to thoughts. He sends me messages straight from his mind when I’m in the passages. Images of Ryan usually. He’s getting better and so is Vic.
I still can’t find Alex.
“So Frank, how’re you doing?” the Captain says when I enter the water room.
“Don’t try be fucking pleasant,” I growl.
“What’s seriously confusing me is that thought, yes that one. You keep repeating I’m not going to do what you say. Yea, why not,” he muses and motions his white coats to forcefully undress me. They don’t put swim shorts on me. Fuck I think is he going to rape me I begin to panic.
“I won’t rape you Frank,” he grins. “Just try get you drowning okay?” He motions me toward the tank. A white coat fastens the wires in place and I step naked into the tank. I don’t think I’ve felt so exposed since some kids pulled my pants while I was singing in a Christmas play in middle school and accidentally took my jocks with them.
The water starts filling the tank and brain throbs seriously hard. It fuzzes more than before and I can’t keep my thoughts on track. I fucking pass out.

I wake in the infirmary. Its dark outside and not from Brendon’s pissed off weather. I try to sit up in the bed and my head throbs like a bitch.
“Frank?” Ryan hisses from two beds down, over Vic’s sleeping body. His shadow casts a long black shadow over the grey wood.
“Hey man how’re you feeling?” I moan sitting up.
“Better,” he whispers, “how’re you you’ve been out since yesterday evening.”
I groan, “The Captain drained me pretty hard. I couldn’t actually stop it.”
Vic stirs and then his eyes fly open. “You’re awake! Dude I have something important to tell you yea… I saw a white coat think about Alex. He’s given in, man!”
“What do you mean?” I demand, possibly a bit loud for the secret night time conferring at the infirmary.
“Shh, yea it was,” Vic says. I miss the mind reading. “And yea, the Captain bribed him that five days of nonstop treatment and he could go home to Jack. No questions. It’s a lie obviously but he must have been desperate and we couldn’t stop him because we weren’t there.”
I groan and sink back into the bed. Alex you stupid motherfucker where are you.
“Oh he’s in a windowless chamber behind Gerard’s. I think. Can you not find a passage?” Vic says smiling from the bed.
“I don’t know maybe. I couldn’t find it before…”
“What will we do?” Ryan says behind Vic.
“We’re all thinking the same thing but are we strong enough yet?” Vic muses up.
“Tomorrow night we will. Jaime and Andy could do a lot of damage if we give them the scope, you know. Ryan you’re a pretty strong little bastard you can help fuck with them. Maybe we can just hold them off and escape on the food boat?” I suggest.
“I’m all for the getting out of here but we’ll need to refine our plan,” Ryan says rubbing his face.
“Yea, I know… what if we get help off the girl’s Island?” I suggest.
Vic sees the two dinghies in my thoughts. “Why didn’t you mention them before?” he hisses.
“What?” Ryan asks.
“I never thought to use them before,” I state.
“Use what?” Ryan asks again.
“But of course they’d be useful! We can send Ashley and Kellin off posed as girls!”
“Whaaaaaat?” Ryan demands. Vic looks over at him and his eyebrows shoot up. “Oh yea that would actually be helpful. Come on Frank.”
I roll my eyes. “So tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.” The others agree.

Notes

Short(er) chapter this time. Only three more to write guys thanks for reading it and even bigger thanks for voting :3 I hope I can live up to all the lovely comments... Let me know what you think and the next (incredibly important chapter) will be coming soon!