Ray walked up the steps of Frank’s house. He tapped his finger against the gun on his side belt before knocking on the door. He took a small step back. The door slowly opened. He met eyes with a hazel eyed woman with tangled hair and porcelain skin. Ray gave the woman a small smile, “Mrs. Iero? I’m detective Toro. I’m here to talk about your son.”

Her voice muttered, “Frank?” The door opened. She crossed her arms across her chest and stepped underneath the door frame, “My son left.”

Ray raised a brow, “You saw him leave?”

She gestured her hand in a swaying motion, “He just walked out the door in front of me.” Her eyes lowered, “He’s no good here. He’s like a parasite eating off the hard earned food I had to work for.” She rolled her beautiful eyes, “I don’t know where he’s gone but he’s gone.” She looked at Ray, “Why are ya looking for him anyway?”

Ray looked at her, “He’s one of the 4 teens who disappeared but .. I suppose .. he’s just ran off.”

Case solved?

Ray nodded, “Thank you for your short amount of time.”

Mrs. Iero said nothing as she shut the door behind her.

Ray trailed along the sidewalk before stopping by Mikey and Gerard’s home. To his surprise, no one answered. “How odd.” He murmured. He scanned the nice suburban home before finally backing out. Ray was utterly confused to why Mr. and Mrs. Way weren’t home.

He walked toward Nixon’s house with the thought of Frank running away and Mikey and Gerard. If Frank had run away, what happened to Gerard and Frank? Did they all run away together? Ray stepped onto the porch of Nixon’s home. His father answered the door and he was something Ray was not expecting. Someone would call Nixon white trash but his father was extremely proper. He calmly answered all of Ray’s questions.

“Nixon was a good boy. He had a rough childhood since his younger brother died from cancer .. something snapped in him after that.” Mr. Wedger sighed, “He wasn’t always violent, just when he came home from school. His mother and I would leave him be as he slammed open the door and cursed under his breath as he stomped up the stairs. After a while of being home, he was happy.” Mr. Wedger held back his tears, "I asked a dozen times what was wrong but he was too confused by anger that he didn't make any sense."

Ray nodded, “Mr. Wedger, did your son tell you where he was going the day of his disappearance?”

“He said he was going out to an old friend’s house.”

---

Gerard’s hands brushed against my hair. His soft voice soothed me but I didn’t pay attention to what he was saying. I knew he was begging, but I paid more attention to the vibration from his voice. Mikey was leaning onto Gerard, trying to make himself feel more comfortable as he cried.

I tuned in to hear Gerard say, “Can you at least untie our legs? The rope is hurting us.” Their legs were tied together so if they attempted to run, it’d be hard. I ignored his question before reeling him in and planting a kiss on his forehead, “How was your day?”

Gerard stared at me before mumbling, “It was good, Frankie ..” His seemed more sad, “It was good.” He lied. He glanced over at Mikey who was still shedding tears. I reached over from the couch and rubbed Mikey’s back whose cries soothed down. Maybe he was afraid, or maybe he really did need comfort. Mikey’s glassy eyes looked up at me but he didn’t say a word. I gave him a small smile and it seemed to affect him because his face turned slightly pink. He quickly looked away.

It seemed Gerard saw the whole interaction and was not happy with Mikey. He asked Mikey harshly, “Why did you blush?”

Mikey seemed mad, “Shut up.”

“He kidnapped us and is holding us into this house-and you’re fucking crushing on him?”

Mikey shouted, “He’s charming! I can’t help it, leave me alone.”

Gerard glared at me, “If you think you could pull a stockholm syndrome on us, you’re dead wrong.”

I grinned, “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” It wasn’t my intention to get Mikey to fall for me (even if he already had feelings for me) but I suppose I can use him. If Mikey falls for me, he won’t want to leave which would hold back Gerard from leaving. It’s perfect. If Gerard won’t succumb to me, Mikey will.

Notes

xo