FicWad

"Emily! It's so good to see you again!"

Emily looked up from her textbook, a polite smile forming on her lips as Donna Way hovered above her.

"Hi Mrs. Way." Emily greeted, standing up from the couch to give Mrs. Way a hug. "It's nice to see you too."

The smile never faltered even when Donna tightened her arms around Emily's middle.

"I was beginning to think that Gerard was keeping you away from us after your first visit."

Both Emily and Mrs. Way glanced over at the boy who was still sitting on the plastic covered couch. The boy rolled his bright hazel eyes that were almost hidden by thin strands of black hair. He glued his eyes back to his own textbook that laid on his lap.

"Gee Ma, now why would I want to do that?" there was sarcasm dripping from his words which earned him a glare from his mother.

"Gerard." She replied sternly, an obvious difference from the joyous tone she had with Emily.

Emily suppressed the urge to laugh at the cute exchange between mother and son. It seemed like Gerard was back to being a child instead of the grown college junior. She did, however, keep her smile as she sat back down in her seat. Gerard sighed softly, so only Emily could hear him, before he spoke again.

"We just paired up again for this art project mom. Just a few more days and we'll be out of your living room."

"No, no." Donna insisted, her expression softened a bit now that Gerard has showed some respect. "Stay as long as you need to. I don't mind. I’m going out of state for three days anyway so I won't be much of a bother."

"Oh yeah." Emily heard Gerard mutter beside her. Now that Emily payed attention to her surroundings, she noticed the suitcase near the front door.

"Oh, I hope you have a nice trip Mrs. Way."

Donna smiled at Emily's well wishing. "Thank you darling. I'm leaving now so I'll be out of your hair."

Mrs. Way said her goodbyes once more and yelled up the stairs to inform her youngest son that she was leaving before walking out the front door.

"I am so fucking sorry that you had to see that." Gerard said as he closed his textbook.

Emily laughed as she closed her textbook and setting it aside. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. Your mom is cool.” She lifted her head up to see Gerard roll his eyes.

“Yeah, sure.” Gerard stood up from the couch, the plastic chasing after him. He lifted his arms, stretching and groaning as he flexed his muscles. Emily stared at his back , her eyes raking in his stringy black hair, worn out leather jacket, snug black jeans and scuffed up sneakers. It was the same getup he wore the first time she saw him in class.


------------------------------------------------------------

Gerard sat in a desk near the window, head lowered over the notebook he was scribbling in. They were only a few seats left in the room and Emily took a chance. She sat next to Gerard, the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of bright orange and emily couldn’t help but look over. There was a beautifully drawn setting sun in the middle of Gerard’s page. she admired the way he blended his colors together, the use of his lines and how realistic the car looked as it kicked up tan dirt into the air. Emily knew that she was going to meet amazing artists in school but she hasn’t seen any one draw like this.

She leaned over her desk and tapped Gerard on the shoulder. Emily watched him look up from his drawing, slowly lifting his eyes from the page. Gerard’s eyebrows were raised, asking Emily a silent question.

“Hi,” Emily smiled. “That’s an amazing drawing.” She stared at Gerard hoping that she wasn’t crossing any boundaries. She saw the corner of Gerard’s mouth lift upwards and couldn't help but to smile back.

“Thanks.”

Emily nodded at Gerard’s reply, taking a good look at him before he went back to his notebook. It was Gerard’s hazel eyes that caught her attention. They were the most striking features other than his high cheekbones and thin lips. From then on, they had a friendship and paired up for most of the projects Professor Odbelis had assigned. They grew closer together throughout the semester, Emily finding out small things about Gerard that warmed her heart and fueled her admiration. Emily was falling in love with her greasy haired, outspoken, goal-driven classmate and she was terrified of messing up the friendship they had.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sound of Gerard’s voice tore Emily away from her flashback. “Huh?” Emily asked, ripping her eyes away from Gerard’s back.

“i was asking if you wanted something to drink.” Gerard turned around to face her, his thin lips pulled down into a small frown. “You’ve been spacing out a lot lately. Are you alright?”

Emily nodded. Her cheeks were burning as she blushed. “I’m fine.” She reassured. She tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear. “We’ve been doing the project for so long, I’m starting to go blank.”

Emily gave Gerard a small smile and stood from the couch. Gerard stared at her for a few seconds, his hazel eyes staring into her silver-blue eyes for the truth. Gerard shrugged and led Emily into the kitchen. “You know you can crash here if you want?”

Gerard offered as he handed Emily a can of soda. She took the drink but was shocked at the offer. He wanted her to stay the night? This was the first time Gerard had invited Emily to sleepover and it sent Emily’s thoughts into overdrive.

“Maybe he wants to talk to me. Maybe he knows that I really like him. Maybe he likes me back and is going to ask me to be his girlfriend. Maybe he’s going to reject me. Oh god!” Emily’s thoughts ran rampant as she pulled on the tab of her soda can. She hasn’t answered Gerard but she was afraid of spilling her thoughts.

“You know, for the project.” Gerard said, filling in the long silence.

“Oh.” Emily finally answered. “Oh yeah sure. my roommate won’t mind.” Gerard smiled at her. “Cool. A+ Here we come.” Emily returned the smile and when her lips quivered, she took a sip of soda to hide her frown.

The thuds of footsteps sounded above them, the volume getting the college students to look up at the ceiling. “i guess Mikey is going out.” Gerard muttered, walking towards the kitchen doorway. Emily remembers Mikey, Gerard’s quiet stoic teenage brother. She sees him around when she studies with Gerard but Mikey never says much. The footsteps hurried down the steps and almost flew past the kitchen if Gerard hadn’t caught Mikey’s jacket sleeve.

“Hey Mikes, where are you going?”

Mikey was pulled back into Emily’s eyeline, stumbling backwards until he was next to his brother. Mikey’s eyes grew wide, surprised that he was caught by his sleeve. Emily gave him a small wave and Mikey waved back.

“I’m going out.” He answered Gerard’s question.

“Out where?”

“To the Henderson house. Ray, Frank, and I are going to go check it out.” Mikey slipped his sleeve out of Gerard’s grip and fixed his jacket as Gerard stared him down.

“Isn't that the old haunted place down by main?” Emily asked. She had heard stories of the Henderson place from Gerard. He says the place was owned by a family about 20 years ago and the father went crazy from the voices in his house and killed his wife and kids before killing himself. It kind of scared Emily that it excited Gerard to talk about it but she quickly found out that it ran in the Way family.

Mikey nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gerard said, frowning at his younger brother. “Mom will kill us if she finds out.”

“Then mom won’t find out,” Mikey assured as he looked at his wristwatch. “I’ll be back by 2am.”

Mikey seemed to flash his brother what seemed to be a small smile before he walked out the door. Emily watched as Gerard looked after his brother. Gerard sighed heavily before turning his attention on Emily.

“I’m too much of an influence on him, aren’t I?” He joked. Emily smiled at him. “I call that being a cool brother.” Gerard laughed at Emily’s comment which warmed her heart. She looked down at her feet so that her red hot cheeks wouldn’t give her away.

“Come on,” Gerard said grabbing Emily’s hand and led her out of the kitchen. “It’s 8, maybe we could watch some movies.” Emily agreed and followed him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey,” Gerard whispered two and a half movies later. Emily looked up at her friend, the light from her tv screen giving Gerard’s skin an orange glow.

“Yeah?”

“What time is it?” Emily checked her cell phone and announced the time. “2:43am”
Gerard’s face was suddenly hard, his facial features sullen. “What’s wrong?” Emily asked.

“Mikey hasn’t come home yet.”

Emily sensed Gerard’s worry. Gerard stood up suddenly, picking up a pair of keys as he turned off the tv. Emily watched him move around the living room, feeling useless as she sits on the couch. Before Emily could question Gerard’s movements, he held out his hand in her direction. “We should go find Mikey. You wanna come with?”

There was something in the way Gerard asked. Emily could sense the desperation in his voice and saw the urgency in his eyes. “Yeah, of course.”

The car ride over to the Henderson’s house was a quiet one. They pulled up to a lone run down house after 20 minutes of driving, the dark house swaying slightly in the wind. Emily frowned at the sight. She shivered as Gerard cut the engine, running a hand over the goosebumps that had covered her pale skin.

“Gives you that Amityville Horror feeling, doesn’t it?” Gerard said, a forced chuckle following his words. Emily looked at Gerard through strands of her long brown hair. The frown was still on his thin lips and his eyes were fixated on the car a few feet away from them. “That’s Frank’s car.” he informed. Gerard exited the car, going around to open Emily’s car door.

“Thanks.” She smiled before following him onto the porch.

The wood beneath their feet creaked and moaned. Gerard reached the front door, pushing it open and beckoning Emily to come inside. Emily followed his lead although she took hesitant steps into the dark and dusty living room. She covered her nose as they went further into the house, the smell of mold and decaying wood pungent in the air. Gerard did the same, Emily noticed, as he surveyed the area. He looked over his shoulder, giving Emily a hesitant smile before holding out his hand. Emily took it it, her nerves calming down now that she had Gerard’s hand in hers.

“We’ll go upstairs. Mikey would have gone up there first.” Gerard informed. Emily nodded. She mentally willed herself to move, telling herself that she’s helping out a friend. She had gotten used to the fact of considering Gerard as only a friend even if she had strong feelings for him. They traveled up the stairs, the steps straining underneath their weight until they reached the second floor. The doors to the bedroom were closed except for the one on the far left. Emily could see a four poster bed through the crack of the door, the yellow wilting wallpaper bright even in the darkness.

Gerard was speaking, his back turned to the open bedroom. Emily tried to listen to him but she felt drawn to the room, her skin and nerves buzzing to enter it. Emily slipped her hand out of Gerard’s hold as she walked towards the alluring bedroom, a strange force pulling her toward the door.

“Emily?”

Emily heard Gerard call her but she couldn’t stop her legs from moving. It felt like something was pushing her toward the room. The hair on the back of her neck standing up and her skin prickling at the sudden drop of temperature.

“I don’t know what I’m doing.” Emily worried, fear clearly evident in her voice. She felt Gerard grab at her wrist but as he tried to tug her to back to him, Emily didn’t move an inch.

“Ems?” Gerard sounded alarmed.

Emily felt a rush run through her and felt her control over her body suddenly leave. She couldn’t speak or move on her own, a heavy hold moving her muscles for her. She only had control over her sight and her eyes were open wide in fear. Emily saw her arm lift on its own, a swift movement before it swung into Gerard’s chest knocking him back with great force. Emily’s eyes held her shock as Gerard landed on his back. She felt her mouth open, a deep dark voice that clearly didn’t belong to her slipping through her voice.

“Stay out of my way.”

Emily saw the surprise on Gerard’s face before her limbs rushed her into the open bedroom. Her feet thudded against the floorboards until she crossed the bedroom door and then felt her limbs relax. Emily took a deep breath, relieved that the strange hold over her had let go. As she tried to calm her rapid heart beat and nerves, the bedroom door behind her slammed shut, locking her in. Emily started to panic. She started to pound on the hardwood door, screaming one name over and over at the top of her lungs.

“Gerard! Gerard!”

“Emily?”

Emily felt the door bend under the poundings Gerard was delivering on the other side. She cried even harder. “Gerard, help! I’m trapped!”

“Em, Just wait there. I’m going to go look for something to open the door. Just wait for me, okay?”

Emily nodded even though she was alone in an empty room. She felt hot tears run down her pale cheeks and did nothing to wipe them away. She was scared and she had a right to be. She was in a house where a whole family was murdered, something clearly took over her body, and she was trapped in what looked like the master bedroom.

Emily took a quick look around the room. The four poster bed was covered with a floral bedspread, the drawers and cabinets shiny as if the wood had just been polished, and the whole thing seemed as if it wasn’t abandoned for twenty years. Emily wiped away the tears from her silver blue eyes. She tried opening the door again and almost broke down when the door wouldn’t budge. She tried locking and unlocking it but she was still trapped in the eerily cold master bedroom. Emily’s legs shook as she leaned against the wall, her fear racking her nerves.

She closed her eyes as she ran her trembling hands up and down her arms, the skin around an old childhood scar covered in goosebumps. Emily told herself to breathe. Gerard would be back soon, she’ll be free of this room and clinging to Gerard’s side. Thinking about Gerard coming to her aide had calmed her down significantly. She thought about his warmth. She thought about the ride back to his house and the consoling words he’ll say.

“Maybe.” Emily muttered as she sank down to the floor. She sat on the wood floor and rested her head against the door. “Maybe I’ll tell Gerard about my feelings. Assuming I get out of this house.”

Emily looked around the room once again, her angle different now that she was sitting on the floor. The room was covered in darkness as before but as Emily’s eyes did a quick sweep, she saw a glimmer of light. It came from the bottom of the four poster bed and Emily inched just a bit closer to get a good look at it. She was on her hands and knees, face near the floor as she squinted for that shiny light.

The light seemed to be near the far end of the bed. It looked like a small ball of light to Emily. She stared at it for a while,against her better judgement, but kept still when her want of getting closer kicked in. She’s seen enough horror movies to keep herself alive. (Well, enough for the first hour and a half.) When the ball of light started to grow in size, Emily scrambled back into her previous position. The ball of light advanced at her and Emily screamed at the now visible decrepit face.

The face was clearly a woman's but it suffered from multiple cuts and gashes and looked green from age. Its eyes were a milky white and its mouth was opened as if its jaw was broken. Emily screamed louder as the face started to emerge from under the bed frame. Her heart was beating like a tribal in her chest but she couldn’t tear away from the monster in front of her.

“Join me.” The monster rasped, its hand stretched out to touch her.

Emily tried to scream. She had used up all the air she had in her lungs and her throat felt like it was on fire. She cowered away from the monster, sliding even further down to the floor. Tears fell freely from her eyes, the thoughts of dying clouding up her mind, until Gerard screamed on the other side of the door.

“EMILY!”

“GERARD!”

Emily’s reply was weak, her voice gone from all the screaming.

“Ems, just wait! I’ve got you!”

Emily wanted Gerard to hurry. She wanted to get rid of this monster in front of her who was desperate to get Emily to join her. The monster hovered above her, her hands close enough to touch Emily’s face, when the sound of wood splitting caused both the monster and Emily to look up. A blade was stuck in the wood then gone in the next second. The sound of splitting wood was back and Emily noticed that Gerard was breaking down the door with an axe.

With that newfound information she pieced together, a surge of strength flowed through her veins. Emily pushed the monster away from her before she stumbled to her feet. She moved away from the door waiting for Gerard to finish with the door. A few more tries with the axe and Gerard had managed to create a hole in the door. Emily almost sobbed at the sight of Gerard’s face.

“Ems!” Gerard exclaimed, dropping the axe and pushing at the loosened wood panels on the door.

“Gee!”

“Come on, we got to get you out of there.”

Emily nodded and made her way through the hole. She nearly fell once she got to the other side but Gerard wrapped his arms around her before her knees gave way. She clung to Gerard as soon as she could, her face buried into his neck as she cried.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his voice quivering as he smoothed down her brown hair. Emily shook her head.

“I thought I was going to die.”

Emily picked up her head to look Gerard in the face but was surprised to see that tears brimmed his brown eyes.

“I wouldn’t have let it come to that.” He told her sincerely. He looked down into her eyes and Emily felt like she could melt in his arms. Her knees went weak and she clutched at his leather jacket when Gerard kissed her suddenly. His lips were soft and he kissed her hard enough to show her his passion. She chased his lips as he pulled away. “I couldn’t live with myself. i love you.”

Emily gave him a weak smile. “I love you too. Ever since freshman year. I love you Gee but can we get the fuck out of here?”

With that, Gerard led Emily down the stairs and out of the Henderson house. Gerard ushered Emily into the car and with his foot on the gas pedal, She felt the car the jolt out of the driveway and onto the road. Emily started to relax in the car as she gathered air in her lungs. The buzzing sound next to her seat made her jump but took a deep breath when it was only Gerard’s phone. She checked the phone, wondering who was calling Gerard at 4 in the morning.

“Gee, It’s Mikey.”

“What?”

Emily handed Gerard the phone and Gerard answered the call, putting it on speakerphone.

“Mikey, where are you?” Gerard scolded into the phone.

“I’m at Frank’s house. Have been since 3am. I’ve been trying to call you. Where have you been?”

“I’ve been out here looking for you at the Henderson house!”

“You actually went down there? We were kidding.”

Emily could see Gerard tremble with anger in his seat so she decided to take the conversation in her own hands.

“Uh, Mikey. It’s Emily. Just get home safe tomorrow. We have to go.” Emily took the phone of Gerard’s hand and ended the call. She slipped her hand into Gerard’s tense one and felt him relax against her fingers.

“We’re safe. Mikey’s safe. That’s all that matters.” She reassured. Emily placed on his cheek and smiled when she realized that she can do this anytime she wants now.

She caught Gerard’s eyes in the rearview mirror and saw the love he said he had for her. He squeezed her hand and Emily decided that their night at the Henderson house did have some positive consequences.