FicWad

“What are you doing!” Gerard yelled as Bob pulled him down the maze of passages. “Let go of me and tell me what’s going on! Where have you been? How did you get out of that cell? Where’s Frank?”
“Shut up, Gee! We have to get back to the dungeon,” Bob replied as they ran.
“Why?” Gerard demanded pulling harder against him. “What are the pair of you up to?”
Bob sighed as at last they reached the dungeon and, pushing the entrance aside, he shoved Gerard through into the comparatively brightly lit dungeon. Gerard stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Frank tied to the rack.

“What the fuck…!”
Turning he faced Bob, backing off a couple of paces to find his own ground.
“You better not think you can do that to me, Bryar!”
“Gerard, just shut up and sit down!” Bob ordered. “We need to…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Bob sighed as Gerard ran to Frank’s side and started untying his left hand.
“No!” Bob shouted. It was bad enough having one of them who wouldn’t listen to him without two.
Grabbing Gerard around the arms and waist, Bob dragged him back away from Frank. The knot had partially been untied and it wouldn’t be long before Frank could work it loose enough to free it. He still had to untie his other hand and both ankles yet though, but Bob realised he probably only had a few minutes to silence the very vocal and struggling Gerard. There was only one way to do this. Dragging Gerard over to the iron maiden, Bob pushed the front open with his foot and shoved Gerard inside. As he closed the front section, Gerard’s eyes widened and he screamed in terror. Behind them, despite knowing how it operated, Frank held his breath.
All of Gerard’s sounds silenced within moments of the maiden closing, in fact at that precise moment, the only sound was Bob’s breathing, which came in heavy gasps as he forcefully calmed himself. The next sound came from within the casket.

“I hate you, Bryar!”

Even Frank laughed at the sound of Gerard’s voice; so indignant and embarrassed.

“Yeah, I know you do, but can you just shut up and help out here? We have a very real problem!”
“Yeah,” Gerard agreed, unaware that he was the problem.

Bob turned his head to look at Frank. He had released his left hand and was, unexpectedly awaiting Bob’s approval to free himself. Bob gave a brief tired nod before opening the iron maiden to let Gerard out, offering him a conciliatory smile as he did so.

“You better have a good reason for this, Bob,” he grumbled as he moved past him to assist Frank in untying his ankles.
“I do,” Bob replied, gravely, “and you’re it.”
“Me?” Gerard straightened up and turned back to stare at the drummer.
“Yeah, I just stopped you from killing yourself.”
“What?” The pitch of Gerard’s voice raised several tones as he conveyed his disbelief. “What game are you playing now?”

Frank kicked off the last of the ropes and joined the others an expression of confusion that almost mirrored Gerard’s own plastered on his face.

“I’m not playing any games!” Bob insisted. “You were in the kitchen sobbing your heart out, by the time I got there you were about to push a knife straight into your chest!”
“I’m not falling for that crap!” Gerard snapped. “I don’t know what you’re trying…”
“Was it the large bladed cook’s knife?” Frank asked quietly. “And was he sat at the table?”
Bob turned disbelieving eyes towards Frank.
“How do you know?”
“Oh, please!” Gerard rolled his eyes. “Great double act, well rehearsed and all, but…”
“Shut up and listen, Gee!” Bob snapped. “I’m serious! If you want proof, I can give you it, it’s all recorded on tape.”

Gerard fell silent. He remembered the strange feeling as he entered the kitchen, but little more. Bob certainly seemed sincere, but after the jokes he had played on them, he was less inclined to believe him. But there was one thing he did need to say before Bob took over the conversation.

“Before you say anything else, Bob, I want to know what you thought you were doing scaring the life out of Mikey and after all that business with…”
“I never did anything to scare Mikey!” Bob raised his hands defensively. “Frank, yes, Ray, maybe, but not Mikey. How heartless do you think I am?”
“The knife! On the kitchen table!” Gerard tried to prompt his memory.
“The one you nearly impaled yourself on?”
“If you say so,” Gerard grumbled in return.
“That wasn’t me,” Bob replied quietly and with such sincerity that Gerard was momentarily lost for words. “Look, I don’t understand it either but I know something very strange happened before and I didn’t cause it.”
“Okay,” Gerard nodded, “I’ll accept that something happened, but I think we should go back upstairs. If someone or something is here that we don’t know about, I don’t think we should be leaving Mikey and Ray on their own.”
Frank and Bob both nodded.
“Agreed,” Frank spoke for both of them, “then I’ll tell you everything I know about the house.”

*

Mikey paced.
“He’s been gone too long, Ray,” he consulted his watch for the eighth time in the last few minutes.
“It does seem far too long,” Ray agreed. He pondered his next question carefully. “Do you want to wait while I check or come with me?”
Mikey frowned; it didn’t seem that either were particularly good options.
“I…I’ll wait,” he finally settled on a reply.
“Okay,” Ray offered a concerned smile. “I’ll be really quick, and I’ll be within shouting distance the whole time, okay?”
Mikey smiled. It was a fake smile. He tried to give the impression that he was sure that everything would be fine, but in reality only managed to convey the opposite.
Ray squeezed his arm reassuringly.
“I’ll be real quick.”
Nodding, Mikey watched as he descended the stairs at speed.

Ray had only stepped in through the kitchen door for the briefest of moments before Bob, Gerard and Frank all piled through a secret door.

“What the…” Ray began, a little lost for words. “Where did you all come from? Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!”
“We’ll explain everything in a minute…” Bob began, only to be interrupted by Gerard.
“Where’s Mikey?”
“I had to find you, you’ve been ages, I came down, but he didn’t want to.”
“You left him alone!”
“It was his choice, Gee. He’s just upstairs, by the door.”

Gerard nodded and headed immediately up the staircase.
“Where?” he called down.
Ray looked up, meeting Gerard’s concerned gaze.
“He was right there!”
Gerard shook his head, his eyes filled with concern and worry for his missing brother.
“Come with me,” Bob ordered.
“No! I have to find Mikey,” Gerard pointed vaguely behind him.
“Gee, there’s a camera in every room, and another down here where they can all be viewed. We can find Mikey from there, much easier than on foot.”
Gerard’s shoulders sagged. He had to trust Bob, but he felt so useless.
“And, Frank,” Bob continued, “I really think we need to know what the hell is going on around here!”
“I’ll tell you everything I know,” Frank replied; the grave reality of the situation not so much washing over him, as hitting him like a tidal wave. “I just hope it helps.”