Go With Me

What to say about those caves?
They were magnificent. Three caves, carved in to the grey rocks, at least five meters apart. Beneath them grew grass and in it lied a couple broken off rocks that fell down from the overhang, where there were signs of a stream that once ran down the rocks, but was now dried off because of the heat.
Gerard never saw the stream, ever, no matter how long he waited for it. It never came running down from the mountains...
These three caves used to scare Gerard when he was a child. There was one big one and two smaller ones. The smallest one wasn’t touching the ground like the other two, but was a couple feet higher.
Now, when Gerard saw these caves, they didn’t seem so scary then he remembered.
Frank, Ray and Mikey couldn’t hide their excitement. Well, Ray couldn’t hide his surprise that the caves actually existed. All three of them pulled out their cameras and all the equipment and started taking pictures. Left, right, up close and far away. This was the climax of their trip to the ends of the world. This was the climax of the unknown.
Each one took their pictures differently; Mikey more or less kept changing his lenses and took very little pictures. Frank kept jumping around and he looked like the one with the most imagination. He kept looking for new angles, looking through the lenses and deciding if the image was right or not and if he wasn’t happy with what he saw, he crawled away through some more bushes and looked again. Ray on the other hand, took a lot of pictures. Gerard thought it was probably so he’ll have a lot of evidence at home, if he were to question the caves existence again.
As the rest were busy taking photographs, Gerard headed up to the entrance of the caves.
To tell the truth, they really were a whole lot smaller then Gerard had remembered. He passed the two smaller caves, because he would have to bend down just so he could get inside them. The smallest one really looked more like a fox hole, and not some huge monstrous cave, child’s cries emerging from it.
Gerard stopped in front of the biggest cave. It used to look like a cave for a giant to Gerard! Everything is so much different when you look at the world as a child.
In truth, the cave was just high enough so a full grown man could walk in it standing up and two meters wide and deep.... Well, at least it was deep enough so the inside was pitch black.
Gerard entered the cave for the first time in his life. To this moment, he only looked at the cave from a far. And now he was in it! He expected... Nothing scary, of course, but he at least expected that there would be excitement growing inside him. But there was nothing. And there was a strong smell of moisture in the cave and a little of urine.
Gerard looked to the ground, finding burned out cigarette buds scattered across the floor. Not even that caused excitement. There were also some leaves at the entrance, which the wind had probably blown in. Gerard walked deeper inside. Just a few steps and he was surrounded by darkness. He took his lighter out of his pocket and lit it. The cave was lit up and now Gerard could see that it actually wasn’t that small. The ceiling rose up, and about a meter in, the cave turned to the right. Gerard carefully continued his way inside the cave. He followed the cave to the right, taking a look around. He expected to see at least one bat handing from the ceiling, something that would make him shiver. But there was nothing. The ceiling slowly began to lower and Gerard followed it with his eyes. Where the ceiling and the ground finally came in to contact, Gerard noticed... Traps! Hunting trap for animals. There were many of them. From the smallest one for squirrels and to the big ones with steal teeth for bears, which Gerard only saw in cartoons. Gerard whistled.
Then he bent down, taking a closer look.
‘What the hell do they hunt with these’ Gerard thought. And... ‘Is this even allowed?’
He shook his head, stood up and headed outside. When he once again saw the bright light of the outside world, he turned off his lighter and placed it back in his pocket.
Just as he reached the entrance, he saw Mikey headed his way. Gerard sat down on the edge of the cave. Mikey sat down next to his brother.
“I must admit” spoke Mikey: “I really didn’t believe that these caves exist”
Gerard blankly stared in front of himself. Mikey stared at his brother for a while, then smiled to himself.
“I mean they’re not some huge grand caves, but... still” Mikey continued.
Gerard stayed quiet. Mikey unloaded his backpack, taking out a big bottle of coke. He took a big swing of it, burping loudly when he put the bottle down.
Gerard stared at his baby brother.
“What?” asked Mikey.
Gerard remained quiet, just staring at him.
“Gee, what the hell is it?” asked Mikey again.
“Nothing” said Gerard.
Mikey shrugged, now taking a very long sandwich out of his backpack. All Gerard could see stuffed inside those two pieces of bread were sausages and salami. Gerard swallowed his spit, remembering that he hadn’t eaten anything that day.
“Frank’s gonna kill you” then said Gerard.
“Ah...” mumbled Mikey, taking another bite of his sandwich.
“But it... wasn’t... intentional. I didn’t know... He had it there...” Mikey mumbled, his mouth always full. Gerard stared at him without movement, suddenly feeling big need for food in his stomach.
“Then I’ll just buy him a new one” said Mikey, finally swallowing his food.
“He had a bullshit phone anyways” he added, taking another bite.
Gerard stared at Mikey for a while longer, then looked down the hill, seeing Frank and Ray coming their way.
“Hey, Mikes, do you still have that corn?” Gerard asked his kid brother.
“Huh?” Mikey looked at Gerard.
“That corn... The one you picked from the Morgan’s field... Do you still have it?”
“Yeah” nodded Mikey.
“Give it to me, so I can check if it’s ripe”
Mikey put down his sandwich, browsing through his backpack, until he found the corn cobs. He threw them in front of Gerard and the older Way brother picked one up, examining it.
“It’ll do” Gerard nodded.
“Yummy” smiled Mikey.
Meanwhile, Frank and Ray had reached the Way brothers as they started to remove the corn leaves off the cob.
“Preparing the corn are we?” smiled Frank: “We gonna roast it?”
“Blah” frowned Ray.
“I think it’s ripe enough” said Gerard. Frank placed his things on to the ground and sat down by Gerard’s side. The two shared a look, smiling fondly at each other.
“Let me see” said Frank, taking the corn cob that Gerard was holding, letting his hand linger for a moment. Frank took a good look at the cob, examining it like it was the cure for cancer.
“It’ll do” he repeated Gerard’s words.
“This will take forever” whined Ray: “I need to get home!”
“We all have to go home Ray” said Frank: “Let’s just rest for a bit! Wouldn’t you enjoy a nice picnic in this beautiful piece of nature? Give your blisters a moment to breathe”
Ray stayed silent.
“But I don’t like corn” he then spoke.
“What time is it?” asked Gerard.
“It’s gonna be two pm soon” said Mikey, looking at his wristwatch.
“Okay” said Frank: “We take a rest for about an hour or so, we eat something and then we go. And on the way back we can take another swim in the pools” he looked at Gerard, who had slightly blushed: “What do you say?” Frank then turned to Ray.
Ray took his time to think it over.
“I need to call home” Ray then said.
“Call then” said Frank happy that Ray chose to go with the plan, then he looked at Mikey with a murderous look: “ I would call home too, if I could”
“Dude, I’m sorry” said Mikey: “It’ll dry off...”
“Shall we make a fire?” asked Gerard, lighting up his lighter twice. Gerard must of been really hungry, because the next second, he pulled Frank behind him, saying: “Help me gather some wood”
The two boys walked away from the caves, leaving Ray and Mikey alone at the cave. As soon as they were out of sight of the other two, Frank pinned Gerard up against a tree and kissed him deeply. Gerard didn’t hesitate for a second, his arms immediately snaking around the smaller boys waist. When their lips parted, neither of them said anything, they just stared in to each other’s eyes, heavily breathing.
“We should really get that wood” then finally spoke Frank.
“Isn’t this better?” asked Gerard, pulling Frank in to another kiss.
“Yeah, this is a whole lot better, but Mikey and Ray might get suspicious” Frank said, when again their lips detached.
“You haven’t broken up with Ray yet, have you?” Gerard said, maybe a little disappointed, unwrapping his arms from Frank’s small body.
“Gee, I promise you I will” Frank said, sadness evident in his voice.
“When?” Gerard snapped up at Frank.
“Before we get back home, I swear I’ll break it off. Please believe me when I say that you’re the one I love, not him” Frank said, taking hold of Gerard hands and entwining their fingers.
“Yeah, okay” sighed Gerard: “It’s just hard ya know. Now that I know how you feel, but you’re still with someone else”
“I know baby, but you’re gonna be all mine soon. That I promise you”
They were sitting by the fire and roasting corn.
Frank and Gerard, after another make out session, gathered a couple of dried branches. Some thin, some thick. When they returned to the cave, Mikey was playing video game on his phone, while Ray accusingly spoke to Frank about there not being any signal, then he yelled at Gerard saying that he brought them to a shithole of a place.
“At least you can try to call! I can’t even do that! And leave Gee alone, okay?” Frank retorted to him, defending his love.
The two of them, Frank and Gerard, made a circle of rocks around the pile of sticks that would soon catch on fire, thus protecting the surroundings. Their fire was a masterpiece! Gerard lit the dried up wood with his lighter and as soon as there was a small fire, he threw his corn cob on in, letting it get nice and roasted.
Then Frank pulled a pocket knife out of his backpack, making a roasting stick for all four of them. Gerard and Frank sat together, with Ray right next to Frank and Mikey on the other side, still playing video games and drinking his coke.
“How can you drink that when it’s warm?” Ray asked Mikey.
“I can do anything” retorted Mikey, taking another sip. Frank gave Mikey a poisonous look, then took a sip of his own water. He had a bottle of water, which he gladly shared with Gerard. Frank always liked sharing things with Gerard, and he knew that as soon as he breaks off things with Ray, that he and Gerard will be the kind of couple that shares everything and would do anything for each other, just to see the other smile.
The four boys slowly turned the corn. Gerard told them about the hunting traps he found inside the cave. Then, with a lit lighter, he showed them said traps... They didn’t really know much about these things, but they all agreed that they looked dangerous. Murderous! They also agreed that it’s illegal, and that this cave is a hiding spot of some wild hunter. But who could that be? They went through their memories, remembering who they saw today, wondering if any of them could be the wild hunter. The one person they all immediately thought of, was that guy they saw at the Morgan’s farm, that bully, who hit the kid. Each one of them found at least one reason why it would be him.
Gerard kept quiet about the feeling he’s been having almost through the entire day; the feeling like they’re being watched or followed. Maybe both. He especially didn’t tell them about the thing he saw at the pools, the man in overalls that was standing there, watching them. Mikey then mentioned Agatha’s son, that maybe he escaped the asylum, that he was sure it was him.
“You’re sick!” Gerard hissed at his younger brother, getting chills when Mikey mentioned only Agatha.
“But even in the city you find all sorts of creeps and psychopaths...” said Frank.
“Yeah... Turtleman, for instance” said Ray: “Or the old Lapkovski lady”
“Do you remember... This morning?” smiled Frank, turning back to Gerard.
“Those are not manners! You don’t know what city culture even is!” Mikey started to impersonate Mrs. Lapkovski.
“Huh” huffed Gerard: “Seems like an eternity since that happened”
“Right?” agreed Frank.
“It’s a good thing I’m leaving that building” sighed Ray.
Everything was quiet. A spark flew from the fire ever so often, the birds were calmly chirping.
“When are you moving?” asked Frank.
“End of summer, beginning of autumn” said Ray.
“Where?” asked Gerard.
“To the old part of the city” explained Ray.
“Old Johnson bought an really big attic and he turned it in to a penthouse” Frank explained instead of Ray.
“My mom will have work closer. She has practices none stop” added Ray.
Gerard was quiet.
Frank was quiet.
Mikey was quiet.
Ray was quiet.
They all watched the flames roasting their corns.
“Does this mean...” then spoke Frank, trying not to seem like he had hope in his voice: “That you’re gonna switch schools next year?”
It would make things a whole lot better for Gerard and him, and also for Ray, not having to always see them happy together.
“I don’t know” shrugged Ray.
“Gerard doesn’t either” said Mikey: “If he’s still gonna go to our school”
Both Ray and Frank stared at Mikey, eyes wide.
“Oh Mikey, you’re so funny! Really... Drop dead funny” said Gerard, his voice bitter, not even lifting his look from the flames.
They were all quiet again for a few moments. Frank stared at the younger Way brother, in his mind beating the shit out of him, not only because of what he had said about Gerard, he still hasn’t forgotten about his phone.
“Sorry” Mikey mouthed out to Frank.
“Shhh” hissed Ray, placing a finger in front of his lips.
“Be quiet” he whispered.
They all looked at him.
“Deer” he said quietly, pointing at the dried up river stream by the smaller caves with his finger. They all looked in the way of his finger. And there indeed was a deer, casually eating the grass blades.
“Shh” repeated Frank.
They all quietly watched the deer. The animal must have sensed their stares, because it lifted its head, looking their way. They stared at each other for a while, than the deer returned to its business with the grass.
“It’s so cute” said Ray.
“I can’t believe it’s not even afraid of us” said Frank.
Gerard didn’t say anything, but he did notice Mikey, aiming an imaginary arrow at the animal.
“Guy! The corn!” then shouted Frank, when he looked back at the fire: “It’s burning!”
Frank’s shout sent the deer in to a gallop, and in two or three seconds it disappeared in to the forest.
Gerard and Mikey grabbed the roasting sticks, lifting the corn up and away from the flames. All the corn cobs were burned on one side, Mikey’s even caught on fire at the end.
Ray made a sip of his water and said: “How can you eat that stuff? It’s for pigs”
“Oink oink” Frank made pig sounds towards Ray.
“Just smell this!” he said, sticking the corn cob under his nose.
“Mmm, it’s good” said Mikey, already taking a bite from his cob.
“Maybe it’s not ripe enough for roasting, but it is good” agreed Gerard.
Frank also took a bite from his cob. He chewed, swallowed, then said all knowingly: “Maybe a day or two too early, not still good”
“Oh, cooome oooon” Ray said, rolling his eyes, finding their fascination over corn so childish.
“City mouse” smirked Frank.
“Yeah” agreed Mikey.
Then they ate, with an occasional mmm escaping their lips, from tasting the good food. When the finished their first cob, they immediately started eating a new one. Ray watched them the whole time.
“Do you guys remember what that Neanderthal did to that kid, who just wanted to take one apple from the basket?” Ray asked them.
“Aha” the other three said at the same time.
“This corn is also stolen” said Ray.
Mikey stopped eating and stared at Ray.
“And?” asked Frank: “No one saw Mikey take it. And it’s not like they’ll notice”
“They tend to go a little overboard when it comes to their produce here” said Gerard.
“What if, right now the hunter comes.... to get his traps? And sees you with this corn... He’d know where you got it from! It’s was the only corn field along the way” said Ray, clearly deciding that it was the man from the Morgan’s farm that those traps belong to.
“We’re all in this together” said Mikey, his voice slightly quivering: “That means you too, Ray”
For a moment, Gerard remembered the feeling from before. The feeling like someone was watching them. He looked down the hill, seeing the path that lead them here. Everything was as it should be, so Gerard quickly dismissed the thought, thinking it was all just his imagination running wild, because of a sleepless night, returning his attention to the food in his hands.
“I know what you’re doing!” said Frank to Ray.
“What? What am I doing Frank?”
Frank smiled to him.
“Okay, let’s finish the corn, pack our stuff and let’s go. We take another swim at the pools, you’re gonna call there and everything will be okay. We’ll be home soon. We’ll be faster going downhill, then up”
“Okay. Hurry up then” said Ray.
“Where’s the hurry?” said Gerard: “We can’t just throw food away”
Then they ate in silence for some time. If we’re being precise, Frank and Gerard were eating, Mikey just held his cob, seeming deep in thought.
“Gee?” Mikey said after a while.
“Yeah?”
“You knew grandpa best... When they were stealing plums from him...”
“Yeah...”
“Did he really chase them with an ax?”
“Yup”
Silence. Mikey kept on staring blankly in front of himself.
“And... And...” he stuttered: “If he had caught those kids, what would happen? Would he really...?”
“Probably...” said Gerard: “I don’t know.... He probably really would have... Their luck for getting away, otherwise it would have ended badly for them”
“And for your granddad also” said Frank: “Afterwards”
Gerard looked at Frank and nodded.
“Because of some fucking plums?!” Mikey lifted his look up to meet his brother’s eyes.
“Because of the schnapps” said Gerard: “You can’t joke around, around here... You can’t joke around with schnapps” he smiled.
“But that nothing” said Frank: “ In ancient Rome they chopped of thieves hands... So they couldn’t steal anymore”
“Well, yeah...” said Mikey: “... those were primitive times”
“You’re primitive” said Gerard.
Ray laughed out loud.
“Even today, Mikey. Even these days they do that...” smirked Frank: “My old man told me, that when he was in Yemen, when they were having elections for a new president, that he saw, with his own eyes, how they chopped a woman’s hand off just because she stole an apple. To teach the others. Can you imagine it?” said Frank, finishing his cob, throwing what was left in to the fire.
A couple second silence followed.
“You’re bullshitting us” said Ray.
“Not at all” said Frank.
“Is there any other way to get back home?” asked Mikey, looking really worried. There was no way in hell, that he was going back the same way they came.

Notes

hey sweethearts :) how are you all doingg?

Hope you like this chapter :D
And Im thinking about putting maybe a smidge of smut in here, just to keep things interesting.
Thoughts?

Until the next update, stay Fabulous <3 xo