FicWad

HALLOWEEN was my all time favorite horror movie. I thought about the movie the next day almost non-stop. How the fuck would Gerard fit it into our Movie night? Shit, I hoped a knife wasn’t involved. We had arrived at the next venue and I had hard at work on the Meet and Greet that was scheduled. As I watched the Band took their places behind the long table that had been set up for them. Gerard was wearing dark sunglasses. I really hated when he did that. It made him seem so detached from the fans. Face it people wanted to gaze into his eyes. He was also chewing gun a mile a minute.
The fans were just starting to file in as I moved behind him and whispered, “Spit it” in his ear. I put my hand in front of his mouth. He gave me a puzzled look. “My mom would have said you look like a cow chewing its cud.”
The damn man burst out in laughter. “Fuck, you have some of the strangest saying.” He looked down at my hand and lowered his lips to my palm. I not only got the gum I got his tongue licking my skin. I pulled my hand back just as the first fan walked up to the table. I faded into the background.
After the last fan had passed through I saw Gerard walk over to a group of girls who were exchanging stories about meeting the guys. Their eyes grew big as he neared.
“Can I be in a picture with your guys?’ he asked. I thought the girls would go into cardiac attack. It was so wonderful to see how much he cared about the fans. This was no act I could tell. He did this from the heart. After the photos he gave them hugs and took off for the backstage area. The guy amazed me. There was so much about him I didn’t understand.
Once again I went back to the bus during the concert. I took a shower then pulled on my sweats and a tee-shirt then settled down to read my book. I tried to concentrate on the story of a guy who buys a ghost on the Internet but my mind kept thinking about Gerard. Would he and I be going somewhere tonight? He had said the movie was HALLOWEEN. Maybe we wouldn’t be able to get away tonight. Crap, why couldn’t I stop thinking about him? I put the book down and wandered back to his bunk planning on lying down and resting. It was there that I found a sketchbook tucked under his pillow. Okay so I knew I should look in it but curiosity got the best of me. Should have remembered what curiosity did to that fucking cat.
Inside the notebook were some of the most gruesome yet beautiful drawings I had ever seen. Gerard was an incredible artist and it was unbelievable that he could make a drawing of an obviously dead girl look so beautiful. Shit, he was talented but I could see he was also tormented. Was this girl someone he had once known? There were so many drawings of the same girl. They were all different locations and situations but in all she was dead. I didn’t hear him walk on the bus.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” he grabbed the sketchbook from me. “Stay the fuck out of my stuff.” He was so angry that I was truly frightened.
“I’m sorry,” I said truly meaning it. “I was going to lay down and it was under the pillow.
“Yeah, I know. I thought you would be watching the concert not snooping on the bus.” He unzipped his messenger bag and shoved the sketchbook inside.
I scooted out of the bunk and stood. “I’m sorry,” I said again as I tried to get past him. His anger was scaring me and I hoped someone else would arrive soon. He and I were the only people on the bus.
Gerard roughly shoved me back down on the bunk. “You need to understand your place.” He spat. “You’re gonna be my fiancée in time but that doesn’t give you a right to invade my life.”
I had cracked my head on the top of the bunk when he pushed me back and it hurt like hell. He was towering over me. “Get the fuck out of my way.” I said to him.
“I’m not fucking around Laura, I mean this. Stay out of my stuff stay out of my private life.”
I shook my head, “And just what part of your life an I supposed to be in?’ I heard Mikey and Alicia coming up the steps of the bus and figured he wouldn’t answer.
“The part that’s not fucking evil” he said looking into my eyes.
I had no answer for that one. I just started back. Suddenly his face changed and no one would have ever guessed by looking at him that he had been ready to decapitate me a moment ago.
“Hey, bro. The rental car is outside.” Mikey told him. If Mikey noticed any tension between Gerard and me he didn’t let it show.
“Thanks” Gerard said. He put out his hand to me. “Come on Laura.”
I must have looked at him like he had suddenly grown another head cause he smiled and explained. “I had a car rented for us so we can drive to the next stop. Thought you might like to get off the bus for a while.”
I honestly didn’t know what to say or do. Did I really want to be alone with him? He sensed my reluctance, “I won’t bite,” he said loud enough for the other band members who had just arrived to hear. Under his breath he added, “much”
I looked into his eyes and saw none of the earlier anger. Slowly I put my hand out and let him help me out of the bunk. He grabbed his bag and I went back to the other bunk and grabbed mine.
‘See you tomorrow” Mikey said to us as we moved towards the door.
“Yeah we’ll see you guys around noon.” Gerard said with a smile.
Ray spoke up, “Don’t forget we have that interview at noon.”
Gerard nodded, “Yeah, I know, Ray.” I could hear how annoyed he was by his tone.
Ray stood in our way. “Are you sure you really want to drive to the next venue? You seem kinda tired. Maybe it would be best for Laura if you guys just stayed on the bus. The concert tomorrow night is sold out. We wanna put on a good show.”
I spoke up. I hated how Ray always seemed to be trying to run Gerard’s life. “Ray, we’ll be fine. I’ll make sure he gets plenty of sleep.” I put my arm around Gerard’s waist. I was surprised when he leaned over and kissed my cheek.
“She’s good to me, Ray. She’ll look after me and make sure I get plenty of sleep.”
His arm suddenly was resting around my shoulders.
Ray looked at me and I swear he looked sad. I wished I understood what the fuck was going on his mind. He moved out of our way and headed down the hall towards his bunk without another word.
The rental car was idling just outside the bus. The driver handed the keys to Gerard then moved to the trunk he had already opened and placed out bags inside. I didn’t look at Gerard as we drove away from the bus, I was afraid I might see the anger in his eyes that I had seen earlier. After forty-five minutes we still hadn’t spoken to each other and I was in desperate need of a cigarette. I got one out but couldn’t find my lighter.
“There is a book of matches” His voice startled me but I tried to hide that fact. I spotted the book of matches and leaned over to grab it. My eyes grew wide as I looked down at the red matchbook in my hands. It had a black silhouette of a rabbit and the wording in black read “Rabbit in Red Club”. I noticed Gerard stole a glance at me.
“How the fuck did you find a matchbook like the one in the movie?”
He just smiled but offered no explanation. I wondered when he had planted this matchbook in the car. How had he found a matchbook like the one used in “HALLOWEEN”. This guy was good and I had to admit scary. I finally got up the nerve to ask when we would be stopping. He continued to stare straight ahead and I figured he wouldn’t answer.
“When we get to our destination.” His voice was dead calm.
Okay then, I thought. Guess that translates into “We’ll get there when we get there.” I knew the town of the next gig I just wondered if that was where we were going to spend the night. We drove on for several more hours and I finally dozed off. My eyes snapped open when he turned off the car. I sat up in my seat and looked out. “Holy fuckin hell. It looks like the Myers house.” How the fuck had the guy found a house that looked like the house from the movie? When had he had the time?
He smiled, “It’s a bed and breakfast, Laura. I rented it.”
“You rented us a room?” I said unbuckling my seat belt.
He corrected me. “I rented the whole house. It’s ours for the night.” He got out and went around to the trunk. I saw the front door of the white house open and I heaved a sigh of relief. Someone else was at the house. We weren’t totally alone. I tried not to admit it but the anger he had displayed earlier was still fresh in my mind.
He carried both bags up the steps and into the house. I followed behind still creeped out by the house. The resemblance to the Myers house was eerie. The owner of the house spoke to Gerard briefly as I looked around. My eyes were drawn to the staircase. The man left saying he would be back in the morning. I jumped when Gerard whispered in my ear, “At the top of those stairs was Judith Myers room. She was sitting at the dresser brushing her hair when Michael snuck up and stabbed her.”
“Gerard how did you find this house?” I asked trying to slow down my heartbeat by taking several breaths. I caught a quick flash of anger in his eyes.
“From this moment on no more questions. Just go with it, understand?” His tone made me believe it would be in my best interest to do as he said. I nodded.
“Go upstairs, Judith.” He said suddenly turning from me and walking across the room. He stood by the door and stared at me.
I didn’t know what to do. He wanted me to go upstairs and pretend to be the girl who gets stabbed to death at the start of the movie. I could sense he was waiting to see if I would do it of if I was scared of him. My mind flashed back to the pictures he had drawn of the dead girl. Shit, what had I gotten myself into? I took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. I expected to see anger at my reluctance but instead I saw something else. What I saw I understood. I turned and walked up the wooden staircase.