FicWad

Pain; a searing dull ache courses through every joint, body numb and cold as ice. Lips tinted blue, skin pale, lips dry and cracked, eyes sore, chest heavy, throat constricted and raw. Eyes lifeless and dull as they stare up at the sky

The sky; grey with clouds, the rain having stopped and thunder and lightning having ceased. Day break. The distant noise of cars driving by and a quiet chatter of the early risers

Stomach growls loudly and painfully; empty and begging to be fed. Unloved; nobody cares. Better off dead

Choking; coughing and choking; chest hurting, throating burning. A single tear falls. Tired; so very tired. Heaving out a final choked breath, eyes slip shut, back into the darkness

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Gerard’s POV

Mikey hides further into my neck, as the screaming continues, but there’s another sound. What is that sound? I tried to listen as another shriek sounded. Fuck; Ray and Bob

“Come on Mikes,” I reassured, tried to stand and haul Mikey up with me at the same time

“But Ger-”

“GET IT OFF ME!” Mikey jumps violently, his fingers digging painfully further into my arm

Standing up straight, I pull Mikey towards the door and peer out into the hallway, the screaming louder and coming from the front of the house. Mikey sticks close as I walk fairly quickly. Wait a second . . . . that other sound, is that laughter? I jump back as ray falls backwards out of a room, laughing hysterically, like a retarded hyena. I looked at Mikey, and he looked equally confused, but kept his grip on my arm

“Seriously Ray!! Get it off me!” Bob cried out and carried on screaming

“Oh man! My stomach!! I . . . . it hurts!” Ray cried out, clutching his stomach tightly

“Anyone mind telling me what all the screaming is about?” I asked, as Mikey stared at Bob in disbelief

“W-w-we checked t-t-the linen closet first,” Ray choked out, eyes watering, “And, then, w-we went into t-the master bedroom, and then . . . a-a-an-and Bob, h-h-h-he walked into a hu-uge spiders web!”

Ray leaned against the wall, falling into another bout of laughter. Bob was frantically waving his arms about, panicking, and crying out hysterically. Mikey let go of my arm and towards Bob, and began to pick off any cobweb that remained on his shoulders, arms, chest and hair

“Is there a spider on me??” Bob asked, staring wide-eyed at Mikey

“Seriously Bob? Spiders?” Mikey asked, amused

“Shut up!! Seriously, is there a spider on me? Fuck, my skin won’t stop crawling,” Bob whimpered out, rubbing his hands up and down his arms and flinching slightly. Mikey inspected Bob thoroughly for an eight-legged mini-beast that was nowhere to be seen

“There’s nothing there,” Mikey reassured, still looking highly amused. Bob nodded his head and looked down at the ground, clearly embarrassed; poor guy. Ray began to calm down, his laughter, turning into silent giggles

“Well, I never honestly thought I’d see the day, where Bob would be screaming like a little girl, over something so little,” Mikey commented, chuckling slightly. Bob’s head snapped up, as he scowled at Mikey and Mikey fell silent. Bob was red in the face as Ray started laughing again

“So? We’re all scared of something, and YOU,” Bob said, pointing his finger at Ray and Ray fell quiet

“Some friend you are! Ungrateful fucker!” Bob growled, his fists clenching

“I’m sorry dude, but oh, man, your face was a picture!” Ray laughed again, and Bob growled before launching himself at Ray, knocking him harder into the wall. Mikey’s eyes grew wide as Bob began to wrestle Ray

“Seriously guys?! I sighed as the two, continued to have their scuffle. I peered into the master bedroom, an abandoned bedframe and tatty looking mattress lay in there, dressers left abandoned, wardrobes standing tall. The room was filled with several cobwebs that glinted in the torch light; no wonder Bob freaked out. I glanced down and saw the abandoned candle and broken plate on the floor. Stepping in, I scooped up the candle, avoiding the cobwebs

“Oh knock it off you two!” I snapped, clutching the candle in my hand. The two continued to push for a few seconds more, before pushing each other away, Bob still scowling deeply at Ray, as Ray glared back at him

“Everyone is entitled to their own fears, not something to laugh and joke about,” I said

“Sorry,” Ray mumbled. Honestly, sometimes I feel like a parent when Bob and Ray start fighting; they’re just like two kids. I shook my head, as Bob folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the carpet. I glanced at Mikey

“Are you ok Mikes?” I asked. He stared down the landing, mouth open slightly. Ray directed his attention to Mikey, before looking down the landing

“Mikey?” Ray asked quietly, glancing back at Mikey

“I thought . . . . nevermind,” Mikey shook his head and looked away. I shone the torch down the landing, looking, but could see nothing

“Did you two find anything in any of the rooms?” Bob asked, shooting a glare towards Ray before fixing his gaze upon me

“Just a fallen book on the floor,” I said shrugging slightly

“A book?” Ray questioned

“Yeah, in the middle of the floor,” Mikey nodded his head

“How does a book end up in the middle of the floor,” Bob said, raising his eyebrow slightly

“Poltergeist?” Ray said, glancing warily down the landing. I scoffed

“OR it could have been left there by the previous owners,” I said, shrugging

“But Gerard, if it had been left there, then it would have collected dust, the thing was spotless, not a speck of dust on it,” Mikey said, staring at me

“He has a good point,” Bob pointed out

“What if there is someone or something in this house?” Ray said

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed again

“But Gerard, how else would that book have ended up in the middle of the floor?” Ray said. I shook my head; I’m not going to win this argument. Mind you, it is a bit weird how a book ended up in the middle of the floor

“Come on, I want to check all the other rooms out, especially the attic, before we go back downstairs and make up beds for the night,” I said walking forwards

“Fine by me, but someone else is going into all the rooms first,” Bob mumbled as he trailed behind. Ray snorted but soon fell quiet as I headed back towards the study me and Mikey had previously been in

“Mikey, where’d you put the book?” I asked

“I put it on the desk,” Mikey said, walking over to the desk, but stopped and turned around

“I’m sure I put it on the desk.” Strange; I could have sworn we left the attic door open when we came out of here

“The book’s gone.”

“What do you mean ‘gone’?” Ray asked

“Vanished; no longer here. I put it on the desk, I know I did,” Mikey spun around to stare at Ray and Bob

“Well it can’t have gone far, maybe it fell off the desk and went under,” Bob said walking over and getting on his knees and feeling around on the carpet. I took hold of the door handle and twisted it

“Weird,” I said, pulling on the door

“What?” Ray asked, looking round behind him at the door, before looking back again

“The door’s locked.” The door refused to budge as I tugged at the door

“Locked? But it was open, we both fell through it!” Mikey exclaimed

“Oh God,” Ray groaned, wrapping his arms around himself. I gave the door one last tug, but it refused to move

“Maybe this house is haunted,” Bob suggested, standing up again

“Don’t be silly, there’s no such things as ghosts!” I scolded. Bob raised both eyebrows at me

“But, I will agree, that something strange is going on around here,” I said. I glanced at the attic door again, shaking my head and walking back towards the door leading out onto the landing

“Come on, let’s go, we can check out the rest of the rooms in the morning.”

Trudging back along the landing and down the stairs, the wind still howled outside, a low rumbling in the distance sounded, as the rain pounded relentlessly against the windows, Mikey pushed past me, and headed back into the kitchen, and stopped in front of the basement door

“Still want to go check it out?” I asked. He nodded as Bob set back to work, lighting the rest of the candles. I walked over just as Mikey opened the door leading into the basement, a wave of cold air filtered through the door. Mikey took the torch out of my grasp and went down the stairs first, me following behind and Ray a few paces behind

“Man its cold down here,” Ray muttered

Reaching the bottom, Mikey shone the torch around, boxes were stacked around the room, along with random black bags and what looked like old camping gear piled in one corner. Walking around, Mikey came to a stop in front of a pile of bags

“I really don’t get how you had your bedroom in the basement Gerard,” Ray commented as he stood next to me

“Quite easily; it was quiet and peaceful,” I said. Mikey squeaked and jumped backwards, bumping into me, dropping the torch

“Oh my god! What is it?” Ray panicked as I bent down and picked the torch up. A pair of black beady eyes stared up at me, making me flinch backwards, as a rat scurried off into the darkness

“Fuck, I hate rats,” Mikey grumbled, as I handed him the torch back

“You’re not the only one,” I mumbled as Mikey headed back towards the basement stairs. Ray closed the basement door, once we were back in the kitchen, which was now basked in a warm glow

“Find anything?” Bob asked as he lit the last of the candles

“Rats and a couple of boxes and some junk,” Ray said

“Nice,” Bob grimaced slightly. Mikey yawned leaning against me a little

“Right, time for bed I think,” Bob said, picking up the plates holding the candles, and placed them on the try and walked back through into the lounge area, placing the tray down on the coffee table

“So, who’s sleeping where?” I asked

“I’m going to sleep on the floor,” Mikey said, grabbing some bedding and plonking himself down near the coffee table

“Armchair,” Bob nodded, dropping onto one of the armchairs, and Ray dropped onto the other

“You sure you want to sleep on the floor Mikes?” I asked

“Yeah, I prefer sleeping on the floor.” I chuckled slightly and shook my head as I sat myself down on the sofa

“I’m going to go take off my face paint,” Ray mumbled, picking up a plate off the tray, the candle burning brightly, the flame flickering and dancing slightly

“Just shout if anything happens,” Bob said, grabbing his bag and rummaging through it, pulling out a set of different clothes. Ray disappeared out of the room, the stairs creaking as he went back up stairs

“What do you suppose happened to that book?” Mikey asked

“Who knows Mikey,” I said, “Even I don’t know the answer to that one.

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I was the last one to use the bathroom. The water was cold, as I splashed it over my face, attempting to get rid of my Halloween make-up. I’ll admit, that this house is strange, but not haunted. I’m yet to hear the screaming and crying. But I still can’t work out what had happened with the book and the attic door. I stood up straight and stared into the mirror. The light from the candle flickered slightly. Satisfied that my make-up was gone, I pulled my shirt off, shivering as the cold air attacked my body.

Quickly drying my face with my shirt, I pulled on my t-shirt, before wrestling myself out of my skinny jeans and pulling on my sweats. I pulled on my hoody, and scooped up my discarded clothes, and took hold of the candle. Walking out onto the landing. My head snapped towards the door leading to the study. Was that a shuffling sound? No, it couldn’t have been; there are probably rats in the wall cavities. Shaking my head, I head back down the stairs and into the lounge, where everyone is more or less settled down. I placed the candle back down onto the coffee table. Ray stared warily at the door, his eyes drooping slightly. Bob was sound asleep. I turned to see Mikey, laying on his stomach, looking up at me slightly. I smiled down at him

“Goodnight Mikey,” I whispered

“Night Gerard,” Mikey mumbled back

Glancing back at Ray, his eyes had finally slipped shut. I looked back at my messenger bag. Walking over, and dropping to my knees, I pull out my sketchpad and find a pencil hidden right at the bottom of my bag. Pulling myself up off the floor, I move and settle down on the couch, and open up my sketchpad to an unfinished sketch that I had been doing at college. I glance up as another crack of thunder sounds in the distance. Staring back at my unfinished sketch, the thoughts of that book and the attic door still swirl around my head; why would a book disappear and then a door lock all by itself like that? Sighing, I take my pencil to my sketchbook and drag the pencil across the paper.


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Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one. I have more or less carried on writing the next chapter. And I am sorry if this is a little boring - I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, so I may edit it, I'm not sure at the moment, I will see what happens when I carry on writing. I hope you like it though!