Chapter 1
For the first time in ten years, Gerard was excited.
The last time he was genuinely thankful to wake up was the day of his high school graduation because it meant the last day he would spend in that shithole. Today, he wasn’t elated because of his new contract with Dark Horse or Mikey’s engagement. It’s because today, Friday, October 13th, would be the day that Frank Iero became his.
*****
Frank wasn’t superstitious, but today might have been the worst day of his life yet. His neighbors kept him up all night screaming, and fucking, and screaming again. His shitbox of a car finally died, making him late to work since he had to run there—in the rain. Todd screamed at him when he got there, said he wasn’t paying him to be late, said he looked like shit from the rain, told him this was his last chance. And Frank was barely making enough to pay rent. So, even though he hated his job, he couldn’t lose it, but now it seemed inevitable. Todd has it out for him or something. And Frank wasn’t the worst employee. He wasn’t like Chris who showed up high everyday or Janie who couldn’t count change for shit. He was just unlucky. He always got weirdly entitled customers who forgot they were inside a 7/11 and not the fucking Ritz-Carlton or whatever. Middle aged women and male octogenarians who always bitch at him about the prices Redbull or Lucky Strikes, who always call him a lowlife because of his piercings and the tattoo he got on his neck so he could never have a normal job, who always ask for his manager and tell Todd how much of a fuck up he is.
Today was just more proof of that. He was working the graveyard shift, he always is. Probably so Todd sees as little of him as possible. His shoes are still wet when it’s over, sneakers squishing everytime they hit the pavement. It’s the time of year where the sun’s rising later. Back in June, it was almost light when he left work, but now it’s dark at 6 AM. Frank was considering stopping at Denny’s on the way home. He knew he should be saving what little money was left after rent, but he didn’t feel like cooking. It didn’t matter anyway because before he realized what was happening, he was pulled into an alley, a nauseatingly scented cloth pressed tightly to face, and his eyes slipping closed.
*****
Gerard was so ecstatic he had to stop himself from speeding. He already made it so far, he couldn’t risk a cop stopping him and ruining everything. Frank, his Frankie, was going to be saved. Gerard was going to give him the life he truly deserved. No more nights spent working at that store, no more days alone in his barren apartment. He loves Frank. He’s perfect. In fact, Gerard doesn’t think it should be possible for anyone to dislike Frank, not his boss, not his parents, not the people he calls friends. But even though Frank was perfect, Gerard knew he shouldn’t be trusted to be alone. People like Frank need someone to take care of them. It’s not like Frank is unintelligent, Gerard would never call him that, but he was a little stupid sometimes. Well, ‘stupid’ is a little mean. Maybe misguided, yeah that’s better. People like his boy need extra guidance and Frank was severely lacking in it. That’s why he was so lucky to be in the backseat of Gerard’s car, coming home with him at last.
His boy would never have to be alone again.
Gerard gripped the steering wheel tightly at the thought. It’s a fight to keep his eyes on the road and not drift to the rear-view so he could watch Frank. Gerard reminded himself that he would have the rest of his life to watch his boy, that made it easier.
His skin was buzzing by the time he pulled into the driveway. The sky was starting to lighten. Gerard opened the front door before walking back to the car to pull Frank into his arms, marvelling at how light he was. His boy had really been neglecting himself. Gerard would fix that. Gerard would fix everything.
Getting down the stairs was a bit of a problem, Gerard would kill himself if he dropped Frank, but when it was over and Frank was sprawled out on his new bed, Gerard couldn’t help from smiling. He had so much love for the boy in front of him, love for the way that the dawn caressed his face and shined on the rings in his nose and mouth, love for the soft noises he made in his sleep. The older man found himself straddling his thighs. Gerard wanted to know everything about him, he wanted to learn how many cells were in his body, needed to count the hairs on his head. He lowered his own to Frank’s chest to feel it rise and fall, hear the soft thumping of his heart beneath the polo he wore to work. Gerard loved how alive his boy was. He cherished the fact that his blood was flowing underneath his skin. His boy was alive and finally his. His boy.
Gerard let out a high whine, had to stop his hips from rocking against Frank’s. Now wasn’t the time for that. He wouldn’t take pleasure from Frank’s body like that, not yet. He let his hand creep beneath his shirt just to satiate himself for now, to feel how soft his boy was. He loved that about Frank, how he was lean but not skin and bones, and Gerard longed to hold him, to lay his head on Frank’s chest like he was now and wrap his arms around his waist and drift off to sleep next to him. All in good time, he reminded himself. For just a few more minutes, Gerard let himself pretend they were already at that point in their relationship. The next few days would be hard, but they would get through it. Gerard knew they were made for each other. He sighed as he got up. There was still a lot to do before Frank woke up.
*****
Frank awoke with a pounding headache. He wondered if he had finished off the bottle of vodka he bought last week. It would explain why he didn’t remember much of last night, his memory became murky whenever he thought about his walk home or whatever happened after. He just hoped he didn’t text the guys again. The last time he drank, he sent a few embarrassing messages to Shaun to see if he’d want to start another band. Neither of them reacted very well to the other. Frank was going to get up and grab an Advil until he realized that he couldn’t, that his right arm was handcuffed to the headboard.
Frank felt sick. It wasn’t until then that he noticed that this wasn’t his apartment. He thrashed in his restraints, but his legs were also tied down to the bed.
“Hey!” He shouted, “What the fuck is going on? Let me out!”
He couldn’t hear anything except for the sound of his own breathing and Frank started to wonder if he had been left here to die, if some sick fuck left him tied to a bed in some abandoned house so he would starve to death. Maybe he had a camera in here, maybe he was watching Frank struggle and doing nothing about it just to get a kick out of it maybe—
“Sorry sorry.” A man came into view, Frank couldn’t make out much about him in the low lighting. “I wanted to be here when you woke up, but time got away from me.” He said, looking sheepish.
“Who the fuck are you? Let me go!”
“Frankie, it’s not nice to talk to me that way. We’ve met before, silly.”
Frank couldn’t care if they had met before. “Man, you gotta let me go. I’m sorry if I did anything, but I don’t remember you.”
The man clasped a hand over his heart. “That really stings, Frank. You’re not even trying.”
“Does it fucking matter?”
The man shook his head in disappointment. “If you’re not ready to talk, I’m going back upstairs.”
“Like hell you are!” But he was already leaving and Frank was too busy shouting to hear him shut a door on his way out.
And he kept shouting. The man had left him with more questions than answers. Frank screamed and thrashed until his throat and wrist were raw and then he started sobbing. Frank didn’t care for his life much, it was shitty, but he didn’t want to die. He wanted to get free from his piece of shit job and out of his piece of shit apartment so he could live somewhere with a dog. Maybe a mutt from a shelter or a stray he would find on his way home. And maybe he’d join a band that would take off like Pencey was supposed to, and once he’d made it, his parents would have more faith in him, let him back in. Now, he wouldn’t get any of that. Now, he was stuck in some freak’s house with tears and snot streaming down his face.
He was still hiccuping sobs when the man came back, a pitying look on his face and a glass of water in his hand. “Are you ready to talk now?”
Frank nodded.
The man smiled, his small teeth peeking from behind his pink lips. “That’s good. So, you want to know why you’re here, right Frank?”
The other man nodded again.
“I’m helping you.”
“Helping me how?” Frank croaked.
“Some people aren’t meant to be independent, they need someone to look after them, help them make decisions, y’know.”
Frank gritted his teeth. “I don’t.”
The man nodded, his smile smaller. “That’s okay. My brother is someone like that, right. He needed me to help him and now he’s getting married to someone who can help him in ways that I can’t. No one deserves to be alone, Frank, and when I met you, I knew that you were just like Mikey, you need someone to look after you and take care of you.”
“Okay.” Frank said.
“Okay? You get it?”
“Yeah, I just… can I have the water now?”
“Yeah!” The man said. As he got closer Frank could make out parts of him better. He looked like he was Frank’s age, with short, black hair that looked like it was growing out from a buzzcut.
Frank took a sip of the water before throwing the glass at Gerard, barely missing his head and smashing into the wall behind him.
The man’s smile dropped. “I thought we were making progress, Frank.”
“Fuck you.”
“I knew it would be hard, but I thought you learned your lesson.”
“Untie me, motherfucker. I swear to God.” He thrashed in his restraints.
“What’re you gonna do, Frank?” He asked, seeming more bored than anything. “It’s like you weren’t listening to anything I told you. I mean, you’re proving me right.”
“What the hell are you talking about, you psycho?”
Gerard tsked. “Such mean words. I gave you a decision, cooperate with me or don’t, and you made the wrong one. You’re always making decisions that are bad for you. I’m helping you by making your life simpler because that’s what you need. You’re a special guy, you need more guidance than other people or you’ll ruin things. It’s not your fault. It’s just how you are.”
Frank’s brow furrowed. The man was insulting him, right? So why did he look so…so soft when said that. When he called Frank special, he swore he could see hearts in his eyes. It did something weird to his stomach, made him feel sick that this stranger had such weird ideas about him. It made him feel something else that he couldn’t name. No, fuck this. “Let me go! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
The man sighed. “You’re really rude, you know that Frank? I mean, I knew you were rude. I’ve seen you perform.” He what? “And normally I like that about you. It’s cute.” Cute? “But I’ve been so nice to you. I’m doing you the ultimate favor right now. I’m saving you from yourself, but you can’t see that. I opened up my home to you, I gave you your own space, and all you’ve done is scream and try to hurt me. I mean, what did you think would happen, Frank? You throw the glass at me, you hit me and then what?”
“You die or pass out I don’t know.”
“Then what?”
“What?”
“You’re still tied up, what do you do after I’m dead?”
“I’d get out.”
“How?”
“I—”
“You’ve been trying to get out and all I see is a bruise on your wrist.”
“You left my other hand free, I’d just—”
“Try it.”
The cuff has a small padlock connecting it to the chain. Frank pulls on it, keeps pulling on it, moves his arm away while the other grasps at the padlock. His fingers are sweaty and he loses his grip on it, but it was no use before that anyway. He could…what? Dislocate his wrist maybe? It would hurt like hell but maybe he could…No the cuff is too tight. It’s made of fabric so plush on the inside that Frank is surprised that he’s managed to bruise himself, but that only shows how much he’s been struggling. He couldn’t chew through it. The outside is metallic. He has nothing in reach to file down the chain, and he doubts Gerard would ever give him anything, especially since he threw a glass at him. Frank could scream, but he doesn’t know where he is. He knows he’s in a basement because of how high the windows are, but the man could’ve brought him anywhere. Maybe he’s not even in Jersey anymore. It could be days before anyone found him and he would be stuck here in this room with no food or water, just his captor’s rotting corpse. Frank almost gags at the thought.
“Fuck…” Frank whispers.
“So, what was your plan, Frank?”
He doesn’t answer, just glares up at the man.
He laughs in response. “You know that I’m right and that’s why you’re mad at me. You don’t plan ahead, and that’s why I can’t trust you on your own. I mean, you had to realize that I left your non-dominant hand free for a reason, right?”
Frank felt his face heat up.
“Aw, Frankie.” The man cooed, and Frank hated how it made him feel, how it made snakes inside the pit of his stomach shift and writhe around. “You’re so cute, but you know I have to punish you, right?” As if humiliation isn’t punishment enough.
“What do you mean?”
“I know what’s best for you and you disobeyed me. You need to learn to trust me, I need to teach you a lesson. But believe me, it’s harder for me than it is for you.”
Frank scoffed at that but the other man seemed almost remorseful.
He left the room, and Frank let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in. He was supposed to work today. Todd’s gonna fire him. Todd will fire him, and then Frank will lose his apartment. But one of the guys will let him crash at their place, right? They gotta be looking for him already. Maybe they called him and he didn’t pick up, or maybe that psycho picked up and now they’re talking to the police right now. Frank hates cops, but the assholes might be looking for him. That’s how he’ll get out if his captor is dead. Someone’s looking for him, he knows it.
The man came back holding another set of handcuffs. Frank held his free hand close to his chest. “Fuck no! Fuck off creep!”
“Your punishment will get worse the more you insult me.” He said, almost bored. “Give me your arm,” the man said as he approached the bed.
“You’re insane! Get away from me!” Frank thrashed, trying to punch the man, but he was faster. Frank landed one good hit just under his eye, but the man used it as an opportunity to clasp the cuff around his wrist and locked it to one of the bars of the headboard. “Fuck you, asshole! They’re going to find me!”
“Are they?” The man spoke with the same disinterested tone as he opened a dresser drawer.
“Yeah, they’re talking to the cops now, I know it. They’re looking for me. They’re going to find me and they’re gonna put your ass away. That’s my plan.”
“That’s nice, Frank.” He said, approaching the bed and gripping Frank’s face, pressing at the hinges of his jaw until it was forced open. And then he shoved a rolled up sock into Frank’s mouth, far enough that Frank couldn’t spit it out, so far that he risked gagging on it. It muffled his screams while he tried again to get out. To grab the man, to knock him out or strangle him or anything. But the man just smiled, not like he did when he brought Frank the glass of water. It was smaller, sadder, like he truly did feel bad for what he was doing. Frank didn’t believe it, but it brought the snakes in the pit of his stomach back to life.