FicWad

The Poison
Chapter Seven
And the truth that makes us laugh will make you cry,
You wanna die? No?
Naturally, Alicia and I became friends. It was almost easy, in a way, because of how talkative she was. I usually sat and listened, as she filled the room with her chatter for hours- and don’t think I wasn’t satisfied with this setup, because I was. Although I could read very well, I wasn’t too eloquent in terms of speaking. But she was a storyteller if there ever was one, able to weave tales from the air, and having nearly a bottomless supply of them. Considering what mishaps occurred whenever she and Mikey were around, though, I guess I shouldn’t find it surprising.
“And then… and then,” she snickered. “Oh, God! Um, I don’t know… he, uh, he…”
She waved her hand around in a circle, still laughing.
“He fell out of the car!” she dissolved into a fit of giggles, her shoulders trembling. “On the rollercoaster! It was a good thing we were still at the station!”
I felt a smile forming on my face, chest constricted in an oncoming laugh. The giggles soon followed, spilling out of my mouth like a river. I gripped my stomach, trying to breathe properly, finally bowling over on the floor.
“Hey!” Mikey burst into the room. “You’re not telling her about that time at Clementon, are you?”
Alicia smirked. “The one and only.”
He groaned, hiding his blush with his face. “Must you humiliate me everywhere we go?”
Her smirk stretched into a positively evil grin. “Yes, I do, because you are my bitch and you will obey mindlessly without questioning me.”
“Okay then, two can play the game. Hey Atropine,” he began sitting down cross-legged next to me. “Did she tell you about that time at the movie theater when...”
“No!” Alicia screeched. “She does not need to know about that!”
Now it was Mikey’s turn to grin like a madman. He grabbed a pillow, lightly hitting Alicia over the head with it. She made a noise that was somewhere between a scream and a laugh, and blindly groped for her defense. Another pillow made its way to her fingers with my help, soon viciously clocking Mikey in the face.
“Hey! I didn’t hit you that hard!” he cried, beginning to go red in the face.
Alicia stuck her tongue out childishly. “Does it look like I give a flying blueberry fuck?”
“Alicia said an uh-oh word in front of our baby!” Mikey fake-gasped, covering his mouth in a limp attempt to hold down the all scenery that he just ate. While I didn’t appreciate being referred to as a ‘baby’, I found the scene hilarious anyway- it would have been more apt to call them the little toddlers, rather than me.
A stray pillow brushed against my cheek, and unexpectedly I returned the blow with a vengeance. Alicia shrieked happily, batting me away while at the same time trying to hold Mikey back.
While this was all fun, I found myself almost anticipating the moment when Gerard would burst in, followed shortly by an awkward silence that would ultimately last the rest of the day. But no, we calmed down enough to seem mentally stable in time, got quiet enough to hear the stealthy footsteps that were headed our way. We all quickly sat down like rowdy children in school, assuming the most angelic expressions that we could, which, concerning the fact that Alicia was still smiling that impish smirk of hers, wasn’t all too convincing. With raised eyebrows, Gerard scanned the feather-dotted room, giving us the evil eye as we shifted guiltily. Mikey sat in his hands, whistling oddly.
“Uh...” A nervous glance was shared between us.
Gerard shook his head slightly, turning on his heel and once again leaving us alone.
“What...” I started.
“How...” Alicia said.
“I’m hungry.” Mikey declared, crossing his arms as nothing was more serious.
Alicia and I burst into laughter again. A bemused look crossed Mikey’s face, soon replaced with a decidedly begging face. He clasped his hands together and bowed awkwardly to me.
“Atropine! Make us some of your delicious food! Pweeeease?” his lower lip pooched out comically, and I felt another giggle bubbling in the back of my throat.
“Um, sure.” I bit my lip, holding in the snicker that had nearly escaped.
-.-.-
Since I had spent the majority of my time strenuously preparing complicated meals, I had decided to be lazy for the moment and made sandwiches instead. As I set the plates down in the breakfast nook, Mikey stuck his tongue out at me.
“You should’ve made something better!” he cried.
I huffed. “Well, too bad. I’ve been making crazy food for the last month and a half, and I’ve gotten lazy.”
He bit into the sandwich, still pouting as he chewed. “Eh, at least it’s still good.”
Alicia took a bite out of her food, less hesitant than Mikey. I stood stiffly across from the window, the strange tugging in the back of my mind effectively ruining my appetite. Having yet to figure out what this weird longing was, though, I tried to ignore it and took small, half-hearted bites from my BLT. And so, with no chair, no drinks or fancy side dishes to distract, I was able to eat without the feeling that one wrong move could land me in another bed.
And somehow, I still missed Gerard.
Over time, he had become such an irreplaceable part of me in an undetectable way, so now I could hardly go for a minute without some Gerard-related thought flitting through my mind. It was demented- we were years apart by age, and what things he had done to me were heinous. He was poison. A highly addictive, highly deceptive poison that would leave you dying on the floor long before you knew what hit you. A poison that, when built up an immunity to, would be one of the most delicious things you have ever tasted.
My knees straighten violently, causing a sharp snap in my spine. I hurriedly walk away, now of one mind.
I need to talk to him.
I soon picked up my pace, casting a nervous glance at his bedroom door, decidedly avoiding it for fear of what might happen if I invaded. I would just have to hope he was elsewhere... the library. Of course he would be there, reading away his sobriety. I ascended the stairs with a speed that would have astounded my old gym teacher, making headway towards the war zone that was my room and into the hopefully occupied library.
Gerard hardly gave a start when I burst in, in fact hardly acknowledging me at all. He spared me a cursory glance, and then he ducked back into his imaginary world. I stood awkwardly for a second, not quite having planned out what I was to do. Then I took in a deep, determined breath and opened my mouth, for the first time in a while fully ready to express my feelings.
Of course, I was interrupted by a resounding, terrifying crack of thunder.
I dove into Gerard’s chest, hands clutching fistfuls of his shirt. Another bout of thunder reverberated off the vacant walls and I buried my face deeper in his torso, trying to block out the noise. Hesitantly, he placed his arms around my shoulders as more thunder made the house quake. My lower lip wobbled and I grasped more of the black fabric, hoping for at least a few moments of quiet. But of course not, the fourth heaven-sent rumble split the sky and made us both press against each other, startled. A bolt of lightning shot nimbly across the gray sky, and I braced myself for more thunder, gripping Gerard’s shirt even tighter. He tensed as well, his hands turning into gentle claws on my back. Even so, when the noisy rumble shot through the air like a cannon ball, it still managed to elicit a small gasp from me and I further caved into Gerard’s body.
This is so stupid. I thought.
“This is so stupid.” I heard Gerard mutter, and I nodded in agreement, almost laughing at the similar thought that I had just had.
Despite his last comment, he still jumped.
A sudden chill burst in my chest, sending a shiver through me. I tried to untangle myself from Gerard’s surprisingly strong grasp, but his hands gripped my back in an almost desperate way. Staying put, warmth soon seeped back into me, provided by the rather intimate way he held me, with one hand now placed securely on my neck, and the other around my waist. Come to think of it, I was practically sitting in his lap. He was comfortable. Like an armchair, as strange as it sounds.
The sound of the door sliding ajar jolted me out of reverie, and suddenly I was deposited on the floor, Gerard having stood up to meet the intruder. It was Mikey and Alicia, both wielding blankets and steaming mugs of what appeared to be coffee.
“Want to watch the storm?” Mikey asked. “You know, on the porch.”
Gerard shrugged indifferently, letting out a small squeak as the thunder insistently hammered on the rooftop. I didn’t exactly relish the idea of spending a significant amount of time in the wet, rainy mass that had become the neighborhood, but if it meant free coffee, how could I refuse? Without saying anything, I took one of the penguin-shaped mugs from Alicia’s waiting hand, taking a healthy gulp to symbolize my agreement.
Mikey smiled. “Alright, then.”
The four of us made our way to the thankfully dry porch, the rain now calmed down to a steady drizzle, relieving my former worries. The mug blew a steady plume of wet air into my face, thawing my frozen nose- was there any heating in the library? Mikey had wrapped the generously sized blanket around our shoulders, making us look strangely like a family from the back. Sandwiched between Alicia and Gerard, I had a bit of difficulty getting the mug to my lips, but managed to do so without spilling the scalding liquid. I drank it greedily, draining the cup almost instantly.
“You like coffee?” Alicia asked. “That must be why you’re so petite.”
I sent her a playful glare over the lip of my mug, already craving a second cup. That had been the first taste of coffee I’d had in nearly a third of a year, so I thought I deserved to indulge myself a little.
“I’m not done growing yet, though.” I pointed out. “I’m only fourteen.”
A thin stream of coffee shot from both Alicia and Mikey’s mouths.
“What?!” Alicia spluttered, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. “You... you’re...”
“Fourteen.” I repeated.
“I thought you were older, though!” she exclaimed. “Like, eighteen! You’re not even done with high school yet?”
“So it would seem,” I muttered.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mikey spit the remainder of his coffee back into his mug, minutely shaking his head as he did so. Had Gerard told them anything about me, besides my name? My hands grasped the coffee cup to restrain them from choking Gerard, curling dangerously against the warm ceramic.
Gerard seemed to sense our anger, and he shifted uncomfortably away from me, leaving a region of cold on my side.
A predictably awkward silence prevailed throughout the afternoon, all of our mouths seeming to be sewn shut. We drank our coffee, waited out the storm, and as the sunlight broke through the ebony clouds, shed the stifling blanket that covered our shoulders. I sat with my knees in close proximity to my chest, Gerard even closer- disturbingly close, almost. Although not physically touching me, I could feel the warmth radiating from him like a heat wave in the dead of summer.
Luckily, Alicia broke the silence by yawning, then placing her head on the support of Mikey’s shoulder. I gently pushed Gerard off, reaching for my empty cup for no reason in particular and focused on the impending spring.
That really was the best way to describe the aftermath of the storm- the remaining snow had been all but washed away by the pelting rain, revealing the delicate green buds unfolding on the trees. The grass had already begun to abandon its drab brown hue, beginning to form some semblance of a proper lawn- much to my delight. It seemed that even after a little rain, the entire yard had been brought back to life- much more than what weeks of manual work could do. It was magical, in a way.
A strong wind elicited all the warmth from the air, and subconsciously I leaned against Gerard’s side for shelter. His arm wrapped protectively around my shoulder, making the blanket obsolete. I liked him better, anyway.
Although what little bit of spring weather was left had been sucked away by the wind, the sky remained blue and cloudless, shafts of sunlight dappling the lawn like pepper. Letting my feet hang off the edge, drooping into the dirt, I felt younger than fourteen. Nine or ten, maybe. But no older. I was like a doll compared to Gerard- while lanky and thin, he was still much taller than I, and far less delicate. Maybe that was why I was treated like an infant here- I looked too much like I needed to be taken care of. Well, to the bloodiest pit of hell with that!
My feet sank fully into the soil with the intention of leaving, but Gerard’s hand was locked onto my shoulder like a vice, preventing me from moving.
“Where...” he trailed off absently, leaving the question open-ended and vague.
“Somewhere.” I answered, equally vague. In all honesty I had no idea where I was going but it was best to keep that a secret.
I pulled an imaginary loose thread off my shirt and rushed away tactlessly, scowling slightly when I felt you-know-who’s hand brush against my back again. Sooner or later, I really would lash out like a psycho patient if he kept doing that.
-.-.-
Somehow, I found myself at 0001 Cemetery Drive, and what else should that lot contain but... a cemetery. This didn’t strike me as odd for obvious reasons. No. What did confuse me was that there was an express lack of actual graves-only about twenty or thirty of them were scattered about the generously sized plot of land, like lost things in a child’s room. Only that many... a sudden realization occurred to me. How easy would it be to find the ghost woman’s grave in this sparse area? Assuming that she had a grave marker, of course. I licked my lips, perusing the stretch of grass and dirt for any giveaways. There- towards the back, the grave with a small stone angel mounted on the top. Written in a plain text- Here Lies Lindsey Way, Loving Artist, Wife, and Mother.
And right next to it, another marker in the form of a resting lamb. Bandit Way, gone but not forgotten.
My hands clapped over my mouth, barely containing a muffled sob. I collapsed and landed on my knees, right in front of the marker. He had a daughter? Fuck. How hard it must be for him, to lose both a soul mate and a daughter? Now grasping the full gravity of the situation, I realized just how much Gerard had been holding in.
I was so lost in trying to imagine the grief, that I couldn’t even hear the snap of a twig.
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