Doll House [rewrite] 3/5
Title: Doll House [rewrite]
Author: ipanicdaily
Rating: R
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Summary: Gerard wakes up in an eerie room, no clue where he is or how he got there. A mysterious voice tells him that he is in a doll house, as are all of his friends. With no idea how big the ‘house’ is, or what condition anyone is in, Gerard has two hours to find each person, complete a task without breaking the rules he doesn’t even know, or they will all suffocate on a poisonous gas.
Warnings: Violence [kinda], gory images, language, m/m, and…uh…well, if I think of more, I’ll let cha know.
Beta: yekith
Disclaimer: As real as there not being a television on the MCR website, playing ‘A Horse With No Name’ and confusing the fuck outta all of us.
Author Notes: I decided to get back into Ferard, where I started. I really loved writing ‘Doll House’, and decided to do a rewrite to make it a little more gory [hehehe] and also because my grammar/writing was pretty crappy when I did it like two years ago.
Also, I decided I WILL do a sequel to it once I get the original rewritten again
Previous Parts: Original ‘Doll House’ story
Chapter One: Welcome to the Doll House x.x Chapter Two: Raggedy Frankie
Chapter Three - VooDoo
“Frank,” Gerard sighed, “I can’t carry you down the stairs. Neither of us would make it down in one piece.”
Frank laid down, eyes still shut, and curled up a little while muttering, “Then just leave me.” And if it was anyone else, Gerard would have gotten really irritated and probably started yelling at them. But this was Frank, and Frank does this, so Gerard had more or less learned to deal with it rather calmly. For the most part.
“You know I can’t leave you.” Gerard rolled his eyes. “I can help you down them, I just can’t carry you.” Seriously. Gerard would no doubt fall if he tried; Frank coming down with him. “Lean on the railing and me.”
“Too tired,” the man answered. Gerard heavily sighed again.
“Frank, get up.” He got a bit firmer.
Frank only made a small whining noise.
“Frank,” Gerard tried again, “Get. Up.”
“I can’t,” Frank whined into the floor.
“Well you better try.” Gerard stated, his patience wearing thin. He didn’t have time for this. Literally. “Get your ass off the ground so we can find the others and just get the fuck out of this place already.”
It took a moment, and there was visible effort behind the movement, but Frank reluctantly pushed up off the ground and leaned heavily against the wall; weakly scowling at Gerard, though it was more of a deformed pout.
“Lazy,” Gerard lightly teased, offering his hand to the younger man to help support him as they started for the top of the stairs. He could feel Frank struggling to keep himself up, and Gerard did feel bad he had to make him struggle, but he would be no good to anyone with a broken neck.
“Just hold onto the railing, Frankie,” Gerard said, moving himself down the first few steps with his arm stretched the distance between him and Frank. The younger man nodded and grabbed the rotting railing, grimacing some, and waited for further instruction. “Try not to fall,” Gerard said, semi-desperately, and used his free hand to grab the railing as well.
Gerard descended the stairs backwards to watch Frank and make sure he was okay to be able to detect any sight of imbalance or sudden weakness to stop and let him rest a moment. Frank did rather well, though, moving forward as Gerard moved back, only stumbling a little one time [giving Gerard a heart attack in the process], but managing to catch himself before he fell. At least going down stairs would be a lot easier on Frank than if he had to go up.
It took about six or seven minutes to get all the way down; the stairs creaking the entire time. About half way through they turned to face the other direction instead of a wall, and Gerard let Frank lean on him for a minute as he complained of getting dizzy. When they finally reached the bottom, Frank found his way back to the ground, Gerard frowning down at him. He had never seen anyone so weak before - especially not someone normally overflowing with energy and excitement.
There were two halls Gerard could go down, and a door on the side of the stairs that clearly lead to a basement. He knew he didn’t want to go to the basement, not yet, so it was once again a matter of left or right.
The light was a tad brighter, an Gerard picked up on exactly how pale Frank was. Even his tattoos, what remained of them, were now faded. Dark circles were appearing around Frank’s closed eyes - not quite the color of bruises, but sickening all the same - and his lips were getting a slight bluish tint. Gerard was no medical expert, but after accompanying Frank to some doctor and hospital and venue medic a few dozen times, he knew that it was all very, very bad.
“You ready?” Gerard asked, kneeling to the ground. He pulled Frank’s hair from his face, able to feel the decrease in temperature from the man’s skin from what it was earlier. He didn’t expect it to be over yet, but he didn’t think Frank would be this sick. Something was still slowly killing the guitarist, and it twisted Gerard’s stomach tightly.
Frank didn’t answer, only forced his eyes opened and shoved himself into a sitting position. One arm wrapped around his stomach and the other he used to get himself fully up off the ground. “Are you okay?” Gerard asked, though he knew the answer already.
“Fuckin’ peachy,” Frank mumbled sarcastically. Gerard let himself smile a little because at least there was some part of the Frank he knew so well left unharmed in there. He helped Frank to his feet because he wasn’t really getting anywhere on his own. “This better be some fucked up nightmare.” Frank leaned against the wall and let his head drop back.
“I wish it was,” Gerard replied with a sad expression. Yeah, he really wished it was too. “Does your stomach hurt?”
Frank’s lips twisted up at the corner, giving him an almost sadistic smirk, answering, “My entire body feels like it’s on fire.” Gerard noticed how Frank’s breathing had become slightly labored again. “This…” Frank’s smirk faded as a couple of tears escaped his eyes; trailing swiftly down his cheeks. “It’s never been this bad before, Gee,” he whispered, sliding down the wall a bit so his knees were bent.
Gerard took Frank’s face into his hands, using his thumbs to brush away the tears then softly kissed him; pressing their foreheads together. “Just hold on as long as you can, Frankie. I’m going to get you help.” There was confidence in Gerard’s voice that he rarely ever actually felt despite how well he could present himself from years of practice. “Please try to hold on,” he quietly pleaded, almost bringing himself to the point of tears.
Drawing back, Gerard asked, “Can you walk or -?”
Frank wiped his eyes with his free hand and stood straight, not removing his other arm from his stomach. “I can walk,” he quietly replied. Gerard gave him an unsteady look, but Frank began going down one of the halls, so Gerard silently followed him; staying close to his side should he need the support.
=-=-=-=-=-=
It was faint, and Gerard wasn’t sure if it was just his mind playing tricks, but about half way down the hall, he swore he heard faint calls coming from one of the rooms at the end. Frank was leaning primarily against the wall now, breathing almost a pant, but he refused to let Gerard help him. Gerard wanted to go to the room at the end quickly to see if there was someone there, or if he was just imagining it all, but he couldn’t leave Frank alone. Especially when the younger man had begun lightly shaking.
The rooms on this floor were generally like the ones upstairs; though they weren’t as neat and recognizable. The wallpaper was falling down and the walls beneath crumbling. The carpets were stained and everything was covered in dust. Gerard even accidentally removed the handle from one of the doors.
About five doors from the end, Frank stopped and told Gerard, “I can’t,” before sliding down the wall until his knees collided with the floor; both arms holding his stomach as he leaned forward until his face reached the floor as well. He was crying again, something that didn’t happen often, and Gerard’s heart skipped a beat or two when he saw a tiny trail of blood coming from Frank’s open mouth.
“It’s okay, Frankie,” Gerard said, getting on the floor. “You can stay here.” He stroked Frank’s face with the back of his hand. “You have to promise me that you’ll stay awake, though.”
Frank only continued to cry.
“Promise me,” Gerard repeated. He really had to get going. Frank’s time was decreasing at a very alarming pace. “Frankie, promise me.”
“I promise!” Frank choked, eyes squeezed shut with the tears forcing their way out. “I’ll…stay awake…”
“Good.” Gerard yanked off his hoodie and laid it over Frank, telling him, “I won’t be long so stay awake.” Frank moved onto his back, Gerard fixing the hoodie over him, not wanting to think about the amount of pain Frank must be in if it brought him to tears.
Gerard got up and rubbed his face, he couldn’t lose Frank. He forced himself away to go towards the door he heard the calls come from. There were two doors, one on either side, identical in appearance. However, the one to his left seemed more appealing to Gerard, so that’s the one he chose to open; finding himself faced with complete darkness other than what light stretched in from the hall.
“Hello?” he called into the room, squinting at the black mass in the distance.
“Hello?” came a frantic answer. “Gerard? Is that you? Please tell me it’s you.”
“Ray?” Gerard breathed relief. He recognized that voice anywhere. Even when it was hoarse and cracked.
“Fuck.” Ray loudly exhaled and Gerard swallowed hard. Ray never swore. The only times he’d heard him swear was when he was really mad, which rarely happened, or when they were in some really situation. And even then, he tended to be calm about it.
“Gerard, I can’t - I can’t move.” Ray’s voice was scared and desperate. It couldn’t be good. Gerard almost wanted to keep the room dark to save him whatever twisted situation his friend was in. “Gerard?”
“I’m here,” Gerard reassured him. “I gotta find the light,” he said, starting to slide his hand around the inside wall in search of a switch. The wall felt rough and cold, sending a quick wave of chills down his arm, and Gerard tried higher then lower in the same general area until his hand collided with an upraised mass; his fingers coming over the switch seconds later.
Gerard snapped the switch up, closing his eyes as the burst of light shocked him, then slowly opened them after. When his vision of the room cleared, Gerard’s gut clenched and he contemplated closing his eyes again. He didn’t even know what to make of what he was faced with.
Fortunately, Ray was wearing a blind fold.
“Why can’t I move?” Ray asked, sensing the light.
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” Gerard frowned, studying the scene. “I’ll be right back,” he said after, turning to leave.
“What? Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Gerard answered, leaving and jogging down the hall to Frank who was in the same position Gerard had left him in. “Frank?” he asked, kneeling down and placing the back of his hand against the side of Frank’s face which was only getting colder. Sweat had started accumulating in a thin sheet over all visible parts of his skin. “Frankie; you still awake?” Gerard asked almost fearfully.
Frank gave a quiet whine-moan sort of noise, not moving. That was probably the best Gerard was going to get, it meant Frank was conscious and alive, so he took it. “I’m going to be at the end of the hall, okay?” He ran his fingers briefly through Frank’s hair. “I won’t be long, I promise.” Gerard pulled the hoodie up over Frank a little more; bending down to kiss his forehead.
When he stood up again, he fought off the gnawing feeling to stay with Frank, as though his body knew something that his mind didn’t.
Gerard went back to where Ray was, closing the door behind him, not because he didn’t want to hear Frank potentially calling to him, but rather because he didn’t want Frank to hear anything from the room. There would, without a doubt, be screaming.
“I’m back.” Gerard informed Ray, making his way towards the center of the room.
“Gerard, what’s going on?” Ray asked.
“I wish I knew,” Gerard muttered back. He stopped and looked again at Ray, studying to find an answer. What Ray was encased in, Gerard didn’t even know. The man was stood straight in the center with his arms and legs spread some, held against a wooden frame by what Gerard could just barely make out to be barbed wire.
Surrounding Ray, on all sides, were large pins; sticking out both ways indicating they were moveable. Though if moved forward, they would penetrate Ray somewhere on his body. Gerard got the disturbing realization that the only way he was going to get Ray free was by doing exactly that.
“Basically, we’ve been kidnapped. Someone really has it out for me.” Gerard spotted a table off to the side where a series of dolls were laid out, and a familiar note awaited him. “I have two hours - now a good hour, probably,” he hadn’t paid attention to the past couple of clocks, “to find everyone and get out of this house or we all get to suffocate on carbon monoxide.” He headed to the table.
“So far,” he grabbed the note and flipped it open, “I’ve found Frank and you.”
“That’s…really fucked up…” Ray apprehensively spoke, Gerard shrugging and reading the note.
One of the most fascinating practices is voodooism. It’s the belief of putting someone through pain to punish them for unfavorable actions by creating a representative doll of them. Whatever is done to the doll is ideally felt by the person the doll was made after.
Gerard glanced at the dolls, all of which had a variety of pins protruding from different areas, and inwardly groaned.
One of the dolls before you is the key to your friends release.
Can you spill his blood to save his life? Tick tock, tick tock.
Gerard crumpled the note and threw it behind him, picking up the dolls one-by-one to look them over. None of the pins appeared to be in vital areas, though none of them looked too pleasant either. All of the pins were above the waist; majorly in the abdominal and upper arm regions.
The trick was that one of the dolls was a ‘key’ - Gerard’s only guess of that being that the pins in the dolls represented the pins Gerard would have to move on the device surrounding Ray to get him free. There were five dolls, however, with only one or two pins being the same on a few of them in a variety of ways. If he moved the wrong pin, he would cause unnecessary pain to his friend, but the only way he was going to get Ray free was by the process of elimination.
“So,” Gerard gathered the dolls and climbed a few metal steps to the platform Ray was on, “You have a good tolerance for pain, right?” he asked, setting all the dolls but one on the ground near his feet.
“W-why?” The response was forced out, Gerard could tell, and he could practically hear Ray’s heart pounding.
“Because if I’m going to get you free of whatever the fuck you’re in, it’s going to hurt,” Gerard replied. “It’s going to fucking hurt a lot. And there’s probably going to be a lot of blood.” He lined the doll up with the pins around Ray. “But we’re no strangers to blood, right?” Gerard attempted to lighten the mood in hopes it’d settle Ray even a fraction.
“Take this thing off my face,” Ray told Gerard.
“I don’t think you want to do that.” Gerard frowned.
“Gerard,” Ray’s voice was firmer - like when he was telling Frank to behave because they didn’t need a dead guitarist and a jailed drummer - “Take it off.”
Hesitant, Gerard sighed, “Okay,” and walked around, carefully sliding his arms into the spaces around the pins and fumbling with the knot until the fabric loosened and fell around Ray’s neck.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Gerard heard Ray groan as he walked back to the front. “What’s around your neck?” Ray questioned when his eyes found Gerard.
“Not now,” Gerard pushed the topic aside. He didn’t have time to explain the details. For the most part, Gerard had actually forgotten about the shock collar. Apparently he hadn’t done anything wrong yet, and Frank was probably too out of it to notice Gerard wearing it.
“So,” he took a deep breath, “I think the best way to do this is to get it done with, you know?” He turned the doll over in his hands. “I’ll try to be quick about it.”
“Yeah.” Ray’s voice was deflated and dreadful. “H-how’s Frank?”
Gerard didn’t look at Ray while replying, “Dying,” because it was the truth, and no matter how much he wanted to, Gerard couldn’t deny it. “Right now I want to get you out of here.” He got a little harsh. He didn’t mean to. “I still have to find Bob and Mikey and if you’re like this -“ he absently waved his hand, “-I can’t imagine their situations.”
Ray nodded, traces of sympathy in his eyes. “Do it,” he said, taking a deep breath himself. “Just make it quick.”
Gerard stepped forward. “Do you want the-“
“No.” Ray shook his head. He shut his eyes instead, biting his lip.
Gerard frowned but didn’t say anything, looking between the doll and Ray. “Alright.” He stepped to the left. “I’m going to try the one on your right, below your ribs,” he said, putting both hands around the bulb of the pin with the doll loose in his arm. It felt cold and smooth against Gerard’s palms, and he hated it.
“Ready?” Gerard didn’t wait for an answer as he started pushing the pin forward, getting a few inches when Ray cried out and Gerard stopped. The pin didn’t even reach him yet. “Ray?”
“My wrists,” he hissed and Gerard looked down. Blood was trailing down Ray’s palms; dripping off his fingers to the floor. The wire around his wrists must have tightened.
Well. Now Gerard knew what happened when he was wrong.
Gerard threw the doll and grabbed another. “Ready to move on?” Gerard asked when Ray’s breathing slowed and the blood seemed to stop.
“Yeah,” Ray hoarsely answered.
“Right shoulder, back,” Gerard informed him, walkeing around to reach the pin. “I’ll go slow at first, and if I’m right, I’ll go faster.” Ray nodded, inhaling, and Gerard did just that. When Ray made no noise, he knew he was right, and closed his eyes as he shoved the pin quickly forward until he felt it click into place as Ray cried out. “I’m sorry,” Gerard weakly said, dark red blood running down Ray’s arm and back.
The top of the pin was buried in the man’s shoulder a good few inches, right below his collarbone.
“I’m going to keep going.” He tried not to look at the gathering pool of blood at their feet, finding the next corresponding pin. “Uh,” he located it after a moment, “Left arm, middle-ish?” he guessed.
Ray’s breathing was rigid, tears rolling down his face, but Gerard couldn’t wait for him to settle to move on. He began pushing the next pin, stopping at Ray’s cries of, “Wrongwrongwrong,” as blood came from his wrists again. Gerard hated that it hurt his friend, but a part of him was grateful because the failure meant that they were a little closer to finding the right one.
He looked at the remaining three dolls, matching up the pin that was already in Ray, and the pins that were wrong, leaving him with only two options and a bit of excitement. The two dolls varied only by one pin, so upon moving that pin, Gerard would have the right doll at last.
“Just a little more.” Gerard told Ray, finding the intended pin. “This one-“
“Don’t.” Ray cut him off, voice strained and quiet. “Don’t tell me. Just do it.” Gerard frowned more, but overall, he understood. This way Ray wouldn’t have time to overthink it, or concentrate on the pain from knowing where to expect it. Surprising him wouldn’t make it hurt any less, but in some way, Gerard knew it would help.
The pin was right in front of Ray, between his stomach and chest. Gerard hated himself for putting Ray through the pain and suffering, though it wasn’t exactly his fault, and Gerard hesitated a moment before wrapping his hands around the cool bulb and pushing. When Ray didn’t object, Gerard bit his lip and used his weight to shove it forward until it too clicked.
Ray’s cries filled the room, echoing against the walls, and Gerard quickly let go of the pin as it carried vibrations.
Silently, Gerard threw the doll, leaving him with the right doll, and did his best to ignore the growing pool of blood on the ground. “Two more and you’re free,” Gerard tried to comfort the man, though the words held anything but comfort. Tw more pins, two more that were definitely needed to release him, meant two more puncture wounds and a lot more blood. His concern was growing into fear that Ray could pass out from blood loss - die, if Gerard couldn’t stop it - and there was no way Gerard could carry him.
Let alone Ray and Frank.
“Do it,” Ray chocked out, head falling back.
Gerard went towards the next pin, just above Ray’s left hip, holding the floppy doll between his teeth by its arm and sliding the pin forward. He did his best to drown out the yells, they were dying in strength anyway, and kept pushing until he felt the click.
Going directly to the final pin, Gerard barely noticed walking through the blood that was running off the platform in an area or two. The final pin was seated at Ray’s back, almost center, and gave Gerard the most concern. It wasn’t real close to Ray’s spine, but it was close enough to make Gerard worry, because damage to that could paralyze, even kill, Ray. His spine was actually protected by the frame he was bound against which traced his bones, leaving the majority of his backside still exposed.
“Last one,” he said quietly, throwing the doll at the wall behind them and grabbed the pin, forcing it forward without stopping or slowing once until it clicked and he realized he was holding his breath the entire time. Gerard quickly let go and stepped back, brushing his hands on his pants anxiously.
The metal frame that held all the pins gave a soft whine, all the pins being pulled back to their original positions then dropping down to face the floor; no longer posing a threat. Blood bubbled out a little faster without having anything there to slow it down, but it wasn’t as bad as Gerard had initially expected.
Gerard slid into the small space where Ray was bound, getting close enough to have the man’s blood start to seep into his own clothing. “I’m going to get you free,” Gerard said. When he saw the exact details of how Ray was held, though, he groaned in frustration and rubbed his eyes because fuck, this was a real pain in the ass.
The barbed wire holding Ray’s wrists was threaded through the board and was twisted together in the back like a doll in a box. The only way to loosen it to get Ray’s wrists free was to untie the wire so it could be pulled back through, which meant Gerard would manually have to untwist its ends.
And it wasn’t like there were areas of just wire. The entire thing was jagged and sharp, so there was no way to avoid his hands from getting damaged. But if Ray could deal with it pulling into his flesh, Gerard could deal with a few scrapes on his fingers and palms.
With a deep breath, Gerard grabbed hold of the ends as lightly as he could, already feeling the little spikes poke into him, and began to slowly untwist it as carefully as he could. He hissed lightly to himself with every sharp poke, bringing beads of blood from the areas where the tips pierced him, drowning out the drip…drip…drip of Ray’s blood to the floor around his feet.
It was taking a lot longer than Gerard wanted so against his better judgment, he grabbed a larger portion of the wire; biting his lip as the barbs cut into him now, making his hands sting and bleed as well. Gerard moved his hands in larger circular motions until the wire was completely undone, going quickly to the other side to repeat the process.
By the time Gerard managed to get both ties undone, his hands had thin but long slices all along the palms and fingers. He pushed as much of his own pain as possible out of his mind and rounded back to the front to use his fingers and tug at the wire until it loosened enough to allow Ray to slide his wrists out to get free.
Ray staggered briefly, almost knocking into Gerard, but caught himself before he could actually take the smaller man out. “Sorry,” he muttered, hesitantly touching the gashes in his wrists.
“We gotta find a way to stop the bleeding…” Gerard observed. The wounds on Ray’s body may not be gushing blood, but he was still losing it, and anyone who attended basic high school biology knew that you could only lose so much before passing out and eventually dying.
Ray nodded, preoccupied with his wrists before a sudden look of genius dawned upon him. “My pocket,” he said hurriedly. Gerard looked at his friend in confusion, Ray expanding on his words with, “There’s a lighter in my pocket.” He knew the feeling of the metal object well - especially after being around people who smoked for so many years. “We can cauterize the wounds.”
“That…” is going to really hurt, Gerard wanted to say, but instead nodded slightly and finished, “Is probably the best chance.”
“You have to get it.” Ray frowned, glancing momentarily down at Gerard’s cut-up hands. “My wrists-“
“It’s fine.” Gerard cut him off. He couldn’t imagine the pain Ray had to be feeling right now - the man incredibly well at hiding it. “Which pocket?” Ray briefly motioned to his left so Gerard stepped a little closer and grabbed the fabric with one hands, pulling it out to try and open the pocket before reaching his other hand in to retrieve the lighter.
“Fuck; we gotta stop wearing such tight jeans,” Gerard said as he struggled to get far enough down to the object.
With a small laugh, Ray replied, “Any longer in there and you’re buying me dinner.”
When Gerard managed to get his fingers around the lighter, he quickly removed his hand and bit back a cry of pain, looking it over and groaning. He knew these type of lighters. They were great, but they were dangerous. If you got the lighter fluid on you, it burned you. Bad. The kind of burn that keeps getting worse until it’s as though you touched a burning stove or pot.
He didn’t say anything though and instead glanced around the room for a better place to attend to the wounds without remaining in the pool of blood. “Table?” he suggested when his eyes fell back onto the silver table where the dolls had been.
Ray silently nodded and followed Gerard down the platform to the table, pulling himself up onto it as though he were at a doctor’s office. Gerard was just tall enough to be able to reach Ray’s shoulder comfortably with him sitting on the table and was thankful.
“Gonna have to remove your shirt…” Gerard gently reminded, setting the lighter down just in case. He grabbed the back end of Ray’s shirt to try and help him ease the fabric up over his head, quietly wincing when the fabric stuck to the areas that were bleeding because they had to tug a bit to rip it off.
Once the shirt was off, Gerard took a moment to assess the extent of the damage and the areas that actually needed to be cauterized to stop the bleeding. He didn’t want to hurt Ray anymore so if there was minimal bleeding or the wound wasn’t too big, he decided he wasn’t going to burn it.
Essentially, that left Ray’s shoulder, abdomen and hip area. Or, the places the pins were. His wrists were bad, but not quite as bad as the other wounds. Ray took his shirt and ripped it into strips as though reading Gerard’s mind the moment he realized he would need some kind of wrapping, not saying a word to Gerard and just sort of waiting for him to take action.
“So…it’s gonna burn…” Gerard broke their silence. He heard Ray softly laugh for a second, because that was a given, and took the lighter in his hand again.
Gerard was a master of getting lighters to work and with a simple flick of his thumb over the little wheel, a flame erupted from the hole of the lighter. He watched it for a moment, dancing in small movements while staying primarily stationary, thinking about all the times he’s lit a cigarette or played with his lighter just to try and get his mind to other places.
“Gerard.” Ray’s soft voice snapped Gerard back to reality and he nodded to himself, trying to keep his arm as steady as possible while moving the lighter towards the first of Ray’s wounds. He was no doctor, and it wasn’t the most sanitary of actions, but it was all they had and it would stop the blood flow. If even for long enough to get out and get him real help.
Ray tensed when Gerard got close, flinching a bit when he got the lighter as close as he dared to get the job done without over burning his friend. They didn’t say a word to each other as Gerard did what he needed as quickly as possible, the lighter starting to burn him a little in the process. When he had gotten the blood to stop flowing, Gerard took the strips of Ray’s bloodied shirt and figured out the best way to get them wrapped over the wounds as a poor means of protection against infection or any more bleeding.
“Thanks,” Ray offered with a small smile, assisting Gerard in the wrapping of his wounds where he could. They put small strips around his wrists, making it look like he was wearing make-shift cufflinks, before Ray slid from the table.
Exhaling tiredly, Gerard looked over Ray one more time before turning his head to look at the door. “We gotta go,” he said quietly, body itching to get back to Frank. He left the lighter on the table and made his way to leave the room, Ray following somewhat stiffly behind him, flicking the light off on the disaster of a room behind them. It was something that Gerard knew he was never going to get out of his mind, not that he was ever really going to forget any of this, and headed down the hall.
Frank hadn’t moved a muscle from when Gerard last left him. He was still on his back with the hoodie over him, mouth slightly agape and eyes closed. It didn’t look like his chest was moving much anymore either, but when Gerard knelt down to him and moved his hand to push his hair back again, he could faintly feel little huffs of air coming from the younger man which relieved him.
“…Fuck…” Gerard heard Ray comment from behind him. “…Is he-?...”
“We have to keep going,” Gerard quietly replied. He knew there was no way Frank was moving now. Gerard didn’t even know if Frank was conscious. But he didn’t have time to spare shaking or yelling at the man to find out. At the moment he was still alive, and that’s what mattered most, but Gerard wasn’t sure how long that was going to last.
And he couldn’t risk the lives of the others finding out.
“Mikey and Bob are still here, and we have to find them and get out.” Gerard stared sadly at Frank, barely keeping the urge to cry at bay. He spent a second longer on the ground then stood up and moved his hair from his face, attempting to compose himself. “I haven’t been down the other hall yet…and there’s a door I’m sure leads to the basement too.”
“What about Frank?” Ray asked, looking down at him. “We can’t just leave him here.”
“He can’t exactly follow us, either.” Gerard unintentionally snapped back at his friend. “We can come back for him. He isn’t going anywhere…” The words ever again almost spilled from Gerard’s lips as well, but he caught them just in time to hold the shreds of hope he still maintained for the life of his boyfriend.
Ray stared at Gerard, almost with disappointment or even shame, before he slowly lowered himself down and slid his arms beneath Frank’s limp body. “Ray, don’t-“
“We’re not leaving him,” Ray sternly answered as he pulled Frank into his arms. “I don’t care if we’re just going to the end of the hall or wherever else, but he deserves to be with us. Unconscious or not.”
Ray used his knees to step himself back into a standing position, situating Frank in his arms and taking a deep breath to ease the pain Gerard could see shoot through his eyes from tugging at his fresh wounds. Frank was like a doll in his arms, flopping towards Ray with limbs dangling and overall unresponsive.
“Where to?” Ray asked once he got a strong grasp on Frank so as not to drop him.
With a grateful smile towards his friend, Gerard turned towards the hall opposite of where they stood and started to walk.
Next
Author: ipanicdaily
Rating: R
Pairing: Frank/Gerard
Summary: Gerard wakes up in an eerie room, no clue where he is or how he got there. A mysterious voice tells him that he is in a doll house, as are all of his friends. With no idea how big the ‘house’ is, or what condition anyone is in, Gerard has two hours to find each person, complete a task without breaking the rules he doesn’t even know, or they will all suffocate on a poisonous gas.
Warnings: Violence [kinda], gory images, language, m/m, and…uh…well, if I think of more, I’ll let cha know.
Beta: yekith
Disclaimer: As real as there not being a television on the MCR website, playing ‘A Horse With No Name’ and confusing the fuck outta all of us.
Author Notes: I decided to get back into Ferard, where I started. I really loved writing ‘Doll House’, and decided to do a rewrite to make it a little more gory [hehehe] and also because my grammar/writing was pretty crappy when I did it like two years ago.
Also, I decided I WILL do a sequel to it once I get the original rewritten again
Previous Parts: Original ‘Doll House’ story
Chapter One: Welcome to the Doll House x.x Chapter Two: Raggedy Frankie
Chapter Three - VooDoo
“Frank,” Gerard sighed, “I can’t carry you down the stairs. Neither of us would make it down in one piece.”
Frank laid down, eyes still shut, and curled up a little while muttering, “Then just leave me.” And if it was anyone else, Gerard would have gotten really irritated and probably started yelling at them. But this was Frank, and Frank does this, so Gerard had more or less learned to deal with it rather calmly. For the most part.
“You know I can’t leave you.” Gerard rolled his eyes. “I can help you down them, I just can’t carry you.” Seriously. Gerard would no doubt fall if he tried; Frank coming down with him. “Lean on the railing and me.”
“Too tired,” the man answered. Gerard heavily sighed again.
“Frank, get up.” He got a bit firmer.
Frank only made a small whining noise.
“Frank,” Gerard tried again, “Get. Up.”
“I can’t,” Frank whined into the floor.
“Well you better try.” Gerard stated, his patience wearing thin. He didn’t have time for this. Literally. “Get your ass off the ground so we can find the others and just get the fuck out of this place already.”
It took a moment, and there was visible effort behind the movement, but Frank reluctantly pushed up off the ground and leaned heavily against the wall; weakly scowling at Gerard, though it was more of a deformed pout.
“Lazy,” Gerard lightly teased, offering his hand to the younger man to help support him as they started for the top of the stairs. He could feel Frank struggling to keep himself up, and Gerard did feel bad he had to make him struggle, but he would be no good to anyone with a broken neck.
“Just hold onto the railing, Frankie,” Gerard said, moving himself down the first few steps with his arm stretched the distance between him and Frank. The younger man nodded and grabbed the rotting railing, grimacing some, and waited for further instruction. “Try not to fall,” Gerard said, semi-desperately, and used his free hand to grab the railing as well.
Gerard descended the stairs backwards to watch Frank and make sure he was okay to be able to detect any sight of imbalance or sudden weakness to stop and let him rest a moment. Frank did rather well, though, moving forward as Gerard moved back, only stumbling a little one time [giving Gerard a heart attack in the process], but managing to catch himself before he fell. At least going down stairs would be a lot easier on Frank than if he had to go up.
It took about six or seven minutes to get all the way down; the stairs creaking the entire time. About half way through they turned to face the other direction instead of a wall, and Gerard let Frank lean on him for a minute as he complained of getting dizzy. When they finally reached the bottom, Frank found his way back to the ground, Gerard frowning down at him. He had never seen anyone so weak before - especially not someone normally overflowing with energy and excitement.
There were two halls Gerard could go down, and a door on the side of the stairs that clearly lead to a basement. He knew he didn’t want to go to the basement, not yet, so it was once again a matter of left or right.
The light was a tad brighter, an Gerard picked up on exactly how pale Frank was. Even his tattoos, what remained of them, were now faded. Dark circles were appearing around Frank’s closed eyes - not quite the color of bruises, but sickening all the same - and his lips were getting a slight bluish tint. Gerard was no medical expert, but after accompanying Frank to some doctor and hospital and venue medic a few dozen times, he knew that it was all very, very bad.
“You ready?” Gerard asked, kneeling to the ground. He pulled Frank’s hair from his face, able to feel the decrease in temperature from the man’s skin from what it was earlier. He didn’t expect it to be over yet, but he didn’t think Frank would be this sick. Something was still slowly killing the guitarist, and it twisted Gerard’s stomach tightly.
Frank didn’t answer, only forced his eyes opened and shoved himself into a sitting position. One arm wrapped around his stomach and the other he used to get himself fully up off the ground. “Are you okay?” Gerard asked, though he knew the answer already.
“Fuckin’ peachy,” Frank mumbled sarcastically. Gerard let himself smile a little because at least there was some part of the Frank he knew so well left unharmed in there. He helped Frank to his feet because he wasn’t really getting anywhere on his own. “This better be some fucked up nightmare.” Frank leaned against the wall and let his head drop back.
“I wish it was,” Gerard replied with a sad expression. Yeah, he really wished it was too. “Does your stomach hurt?”
Frank’s lips twisted up at the corner, giving him an almost sadistic smirk, answering, “My entire body feels like it’s on fire.” Gerard noticed how Frank’s breathing had become slightly labored again. “This…” Frank’s smirk faded as a couple of tears escaped his eyes; trailing swiftly down his cheeks. “It’s never been this bad before, Gee,” he whispered, sliding down the wall a bit so his knees were bent.
Gerard took Frank’s face into his hands, using his thumbs to brush away the tears then softly kissed him; pressing their foreheads together. “Just hold on as long as you can, Frankie. I’m going to get you help.” There was confidence in Gerard’s voice that he rarely ever actually felt despite how well he could present himself from years of practice. “Please try to hold on,” he quietly pleaded, almost bringing himself to the point of tears.
Drawing back, Gerard asked, “Can you walk or -?”
Frank wiped his eyes with his free hand and stood straight, not removing his other arm from his stomach. “I can walk,” he quietly replied. Gerard gave him an unsteady look, but Frank began going down one of the halls, so Gerard silently followed him; staying close to his side should he need the support.
=-=-=-=-=-=
It was faint, and Gerard wasn’t sure if it was just his mind playing tricks, but about half way down the hall, he swore he heard faint calls coming from one of the rooms at the end. Frank was leaning primarily against the wall now, breathing almost a pant, but he refused to let Gerard help him. Gerard wanted to go to the room at the end quickly to see if there was someone there, or if he was just imagining it all, but he couldn’t leave Frank alone. Especially when the younger man had begun lightly shaking.
The rooms on this floor were generally like the ones upstairs; though they weren’t as neat and recognizable. The wallpaper was falling down and the walls beneath crumbling. The carpets were stained and everything was covered in dust. Gerard even accidentally removed the handle from one of the doors.
About five doors from the end, Frank stopped and told Gerard, “I can’t,” before sliding down the wall until his knees collided with the floor; both arms holding his stomach as he leaned forward until his face reached the floor as well. He was crying again, something that didn’t happen often, and Gerard’s heart skipped a beat or two when he saw a tiny trail of blood coming from Frank’s open mouth.
“It’s okay, Frankie,” Gerard said, getting on the floor. “You can stay here.” He stroked Frank’s face with the back of his hand. “You have to promise me that you’ll stay awake, though.”
Frank only continued to cry.
“Promise me,” Gerard repeated. He really had to get going. Frank’s time was decreasing at a very alarming pace. “Frankie, promise me.”
“I promise!” Frank choked, eyes squeezed shut with the tears forcing their way out. “I’ll…stay awake…”
“Good.” Gerard yanked off his hoodie and laid it over Frank, telling him, “I won’t be long so stay awake.” Frank moved onto his back, Gerard fixing the hoodie over him, not wanting to think about the amount of pain Frank must be in if it brought him to tears.
Gerard got up and rubbed his face, he couldn’t lose Frank. He forced himself away to go towards the door he heard the calls come from. There were two doors, one on either side, identical in appearance. However, the one to his left seemed more appealing to Gerard, so that’s the one he chose to open; finding himself faced with complete darkness other than what light stretched in from the hall.
“Hello?” he called into the room, squinting at the black mass in the distance.
“Hello?” came a frantic answer. “Gerard? Is that you? Please tell me it’s you.”
“Ray?” Gerard breathed relief. He recognized that voice anywhere. Even when it was hoarse and cracked.
“Fuck.” Ray loudly exhaled and Gerard swallowed hard. Ray never swore. The only times he’d heard him swear was when he was really mad, which rarely happened, or when they were in some really situation. And even then, he tended to be calm about it.
“Gerard, I can’t - I can’t move.” Ray’s voice was scared and desperate. It couldn’t be good. Gerard almost wanted to keep the room dark to save him whatever twisted situation his friend was in. “Gerard?”
“I’m here,” Gerard reassured him. “I gotta find the light,” he said, starting to slide his hand around the inside wall in search of a switch. The wall felt rough and cold, sending a quick wave of chills down his arm, and Gerard tried higher then lower in the same general area until his hand collided with an upraised mass; his fingers coming over the switch seconds later.
Gerard snapped the switch up, closing his eyes as the burst of light shocked him, then slowly opened them after. When his vision of the room cleared, Gerard’s gut clenched and he contemplated closing his eyes again. He didn’t even know what to make of what he was faced with.
Fortunately, Ray was wearing a blind fold.
“Why can’t I move?” Ray asked, sensing the light.
“I’ll tell you in a minute.” Gerard frowned, studying the scene. “I’ll be right back,” he said after, turning to leave.
“What? Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Gerard answered, leaving and jogging down the hall to Frank who was in the same position Gerard had left him in. “Frank?” he asked, kneeling down and placing the back of his hand against the side of Frank’s face which was only getting colder. Sweat had started accumulating in a thin sheet over all visible parts of his skin. “Frankie; you still awake?” Gerard asked almost fearfully.
Frank gave a quiet whine-moan sort of noise, not moving. That was probably the best Gerard was going to get, it meant Frank was conscious and alive, so he took it. “I’m going to be at the end of the hall, okay?” He ran his fingers briefly through Frank’s hair. “I won’t be long, I promise.” Gerard pulled the hoodie up over Frank a little more; bending down to kiss his forehead.
When he stood up again, he fought off the gnawing feeling to stay with Frank, as though his body knew something that his mind didn’t.
Gerard went back to where Ray was, closing the door behind him, not because he didn’t want to hear Frank potentially calling to him, but rather because he didn’t want Frank to hear anything from the room. There would, without a doubt, be screaming.
“I’m back.” Gerard informed Ray, making his way towards the center of the room.
“Gerard, what’s going on?” Ray asked.
“I wish I knew,” Gerard muttered back. He stopped and looked again at Ray, studying to find an answer. What Ray was encased in, Gerard didn’t even know. The man was stood straight in the center with his arms and legs spread some, held against a wooden frame by what Gerard could just barely make out to be barbed wire.
Surrounding Ray, on all sides, were large pins; sticking out both ways indicating they were moveable. Though if moved forward, they would penetrate Ray somewhere on his body. Gerard got the disturbing realization that the only way he was going to get Ray free was by doing exactly that.
“Basically, we’ve been kidnapped. Someone really has it out for me.” Gerard spotted a table off to the side where a series of dolls were laid out, and a familiar note awaited him. “I have two hours - now a good hour, probably,” he hadn’t paid attention to the past couple of clocks, “to find everyone and get out of this house or we all get to suffocate on carbon monoxide.” He headed to the table.
“So far,” he grabbed the note and flipped it open, “I’ve found Frank and you.”
“That’s…really fucked up…” Ray apprehensively spoke, Gerard shrugging and reading the note.
One of the most fascinating practices is voodooism. It’s the belief of putting someone through pain to punish them for unfavorable actions by creating a representative doll of them. Whatever is done to the doll is ideally felt by the person the doll was made after.
Gerard glanced at the dolls, all of which had a variety of pins protruding from different areas, and inwardly groaned.
One of the dolls before you is the key to your friends release.
Can you spill his blood to save his life? Tick tock, tick tock.
Gerard crumpled the note and threw it behind him, picking up the dolls one-by-one to look them over. None of the pins appeared to be in vital areas, though none of them looked too pleasant either. All of the pins were above the waist; majorly in the abdominal and upper arm regions.
The trick was that one of the dolls was a ‘key’ - Gerard’s only guess of that being that the pins in the dolls represented the pins Gerard would have to move on the device surrounding Ray to get him free. There were five dolls, however, with only one or two pins being the same on a few of them in a variety of ways. If he moved the wrong pin, he would cause unnecessary pain to his friend, but the only way he was going to get Ray free was by the process of elimination.
“So,” Gerard gathered the dolls and climbed a few metal steps to the platform Ray was on, “You have a good tolerance for pain, right?” he asked, setting all the dolls but one on the ground near his feet.
“W-why?” The response was forced out, Gerard could tell, and he could practically hear Ray’s heart pounding.
“Because if I’m going to get you free of whatever the fuck you’re in, it’s going to hurt,” Gerard replied. “It’s going to fucking hurt a lot. And there’s probably going to be a lot of blood.” He lined the doll up with the pins around Ray. “But we’re no strangers to blood, right?” Gerard attempted to lighten the mood in hopes it’d settle Ray even a fraction.
“Take this thing off my face,” Ray told Gerard.
“I don’t think you want to do that.” Gerard frowned.
“Gerard,” Ray’s voice was firmer - like when he was telling Frank to behave because they didn’t need a dead guitarist and a jailed drummer - “Take it off.”
Hesitant, Gerard sighed, “Okay,” and walked around, carefully sliding his arms into the spaces around the pins and fumbling with the knot until the fabric loosened and fell around Ray’s neck.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Gerard heard Ray groan as he walked back to the front. “What’s around your neck?” Ray questioned when his eyes found Gerard.
“Not now,” Gerard pushed the topic aside. He didn’t have time to explain the details. For the most part, Gerard had actually forgotten about the shock collar. Apparently he hadn’t done anything wrong yet, and Frank was probably too out of it to notice Gerard wearing it.
“So,” he took a deep breath, “I think the best way to do this is to get it done with, you know?” He turned the doll over in his hands. “I’ll try to be quick about it.”
“Yeah.” Ray’s voice was deflated and dreadful. “H-how’s Frank?”
Gerard didn’t look at Ray while replying, “Dying,” because it was the truth, and no matter how much he wanted to, Gerard couldn’t deny it. “Right now I want to get you out of here.” He got a little harsh. He didn’t mean to. “I still have to find Bob and Mikey and if you’re like this -“ he absently waved his hand, “-I can’t imagine their situations.”
Ray nodded, traces of sympathy in his eyes. “Do it,” he said, taking a deep breath himself. “Just make it quick.”
Gerard stepped forward. “Do you want the-“
“No.” Ray shook his head. He shut his eyes instead, biting his lip.
Gerard frowned but didn’t say anything, looking between the doll and Ray. “Alright.” He stepped to the left. “I’m going to try the one on your right, below your ribs,” he said, putting both hands around the bulb of the pin with the doll loose in his arm. It felt cold and smooth against Gerard’s palms, and he hated it.
“Ready?” Gerard didn’t wait for an answer as he started pushing the pin forward, getting a few inches when Ray cried out and Gerard stopped. The pin didn’t even reach him yet. “Ray?”
“My wrists,” he hissed and Gerard looked down. Blood was trailing down Ray’s palms; dripping off his fingers to the floor. The wire around his wrists must have tightened.
Well. Now Gerard knew what happened when he was wrong.
Gerard threw the doll and grabbed another. “Ready to move on?” Gerard asked when Ray’s breathing slowed and the blood seemed to stop.
“Yeah,” Ray hoarsely answered.
“Right shoulder, back,” Gerard informed him, walkeing around to reach the pin. “I’ll go slow at first, and if I’m right, I’ll go faster.” Ray nodded, inhaling, and Gerard did just that. When Ray made no noise, he knew he was right, and closed his eyes as he shoved the pin quickly forward until he felt it click into place as Ray cried out. “I’m sorry,” Gerard weakly said, dark red blood running down Ray’s arm and back.
The top of the pin was buried in the man’s shoulder a good few inches, right below his collarbone.
“I’m going to keep going.” He tried not to look at the gathering pool of blood at their feet, finding the next corresponding pin. “Uh,” he located it after a moment, “Left arm, middle-ish?” he guessed.
Ray’s breathing was rigid, tears rolling down his face, but Gerard couldn’t wait for him to settle to move on. He began pushing the next pin, stopping at Ray’s cries of, “Wrongwrongwrong,” as blood came from his wrists again. Gerard hated that it hurt his friend, but a part of him was grateful because the failure meant that they were a little closer to finding the right one.
He looked at the remaining three dolls, matching up the pin that was already in Ray, and the pins that were wrong, leaving him with only two options and a bit of excitement. The two dolls varied only by one pin, so upon moving that pin, Gerard would have the right doll at last.
“Just a little more.” Gerard told Ray, finding the intended pin. “This one-“
“Don’t.” Ray cut him off, voice strained and quiet. “Don’t tell me. Just do it.” Gerard frowned more, but overall, he understood. This way Ray wouldn’t have time to overthink it, or concentrate on the pain from knowing where to expect it. Surprising him wouldn’t make it hurt any less, but in some way, Gerard knew it would help.
The pin was right in front of Ray, between his stomach and chest. Gerard hated himself for putting Ray through the pain and suffering, though it wasn’t exactly his fault, and Gerard hesitated a moment before wrapping his hands around the cool bulb and pushing. When Ray didn’t object, Gerard bit his lip and used his weight to shove it forward until it too clicked.
Ray’s cries filled the room, echoing against the walls, and Gerard quickly let go of the pin as it carried vibrations.
Silently, Gerard threw the doll, leaving him with the right doll, and did his best to ignore the growing pool of blood on the ground. “Two more and you’re free,” Gerard tried to comfort the man, though the words held anything but comfort. Tw more pins, two more that were definitely needed to release him, meant two more puncture wounds and a lot more blood. His concern was growing into fear that Ray could pass out from blood loss - die, if Gerard couldn’t stop it - and there was no way Gerard could carry him.
Let alone Ray and Frank.
“Do it,” Ray chocked out, head falling back.
Gerard went towards the next pin, just above Ray’s left hip, holding the floppy doll between his teeth by its arm and sliding the pin forward. He did his best to drown out the yells, they were dying in strength anyway, and kept pushing until he felt the click.
Going directly to the final pin, Gerard barely noticed walking through the blood that was running off the platform in an area or two. The final pin was seated at Ray’s back, almost center, and gave Gerard the most concern. It wasn’t real close to Ray’s spine, but it was close enough to make Gerard worry, because damage to that could paralyze, even kill, Ray. His spine was actually protected by the frame he was bound against which traced his bones, leaving the majority of his backside still exposed.
“Last one,” he said quietly, throwing the doll at the wall behind them and grabbed the pin, forcing it forward without stopping or slowing once until it clicked and he realized he was holding his breath the entire time. Gerard quickly let go and stepped back, brushing his hands on his pants anxiously.
The metal frame that held all the pins gave a soft whine, all the pins being pulled back to their original positions then dropping down to face the floor; no longer posing a threat. Blood bubbled out a little faster without having anything there to slow it down, but it wasn’t as bad as Gerard had initially expected.
Gerard slid into the small space where Ray was bound, getting close enough to have the man’s blood start to seep into his own clothing. “I’m going to get you free,” Gerard said. When he saw the exact details of how Ray was held, though, he groaned in frustration and rubbed his eyes because fuck, this was a real pain in the ass.
The barbed wire holding Ray’s wrists was threaded through the board and was twisted together in the back like a doll in a box. The only way to loosen it to get Ray’s wrists free was to untie the wire so it could be pulled back through, which meant Gerard would manually have to untwist its ends.
And it wasn’t like there were areas of just wire. The entire thing was jagged and sharp, so there was no way to avoid his hands from getting damaged. But if Ray could deal with it pulling into his flesh, Gerard could deal with a few scrapes on his fingers and palms.
With a deep breath, Gerard grabbed hold of the ends as lightly as he could, already feeling the little spikes poke into him, and began to slowly untwist it as carefully as he could. He hissed lightly to himself with every sharp poke, bringing beads of blood from the areas where the tips pierced him, drowning out the drip…drip…drip of Ray’s blood to the floor around his feet.
It was taking a lot longer than Gerard wanted so against his better judgment, he grabbed a larger portion of the wire; biting his lip as the barbs cut into him now, making his hands sting and bleed as well. Gerard moved his hands in larger circular motions until the wire was completely undone, going quickly to the other side to repeat the process.
By the time Gerard managed to get both ties undone, his hands had thin but long slices all along the palms and fingers. He pushed as much of his own pain as possible out of his mind and rounded back to the front to use his fingers and tug at the wire until it loosened enough to allow Ray to slide his wrists out to get free.
Ray staggered briefly, almost knocking into Gerard, but caught himself before he could actually take the smaller man out. “Sorry,” he muttered, hesitantly touching the gashes in his wrists.
“We gotta find a way to stop the bleeding…” Gerard observed. The wounds on Ray’s body may not be gushing blood, but he was still losing it, and anyone who attended basic high school biology knew that you could only lose so much before passing out and eventually dying.
Ray nodded, preoccupied with his wrists before a sudden look of genius dawned upon him. “My pocket,” he said hurriedly. Gerard looked at his friend in confusion, Ray expanding on his words with, “There’s a lighter in my pocket.” He knew the feeling of the metal object well - especially after being around people who smoked for so many years. “We can cauterize the wounds.”
“That…” is going to really hurt, Gerard wanted to say, but instead nodded slightly and finished, “Is probably the best chance.”
“You have to get it.” Ray frowned, glancing momentarily down at Gerard’s cut-up hands. “My wrists-“
“It’s fine.” Gerard cut him off. He couldn’t imagine the pain Ray had to be feeling right now - the man incredibly well at hiding it. “Which pocket?” Ray briefly motioned to his left so Gerard stepped a little closer and grabbed the fabric with one hands, pulling it out to try and open the pocket before reaching his other hand in to retrieve the lighter.
“Fuck; we gotta stop wearing such tight jeans,” Gerard said as he struggled to get far enough down to the object.
With a small laugh, Ray replied, “Any longer in there and you’re buying me dinner.”
When Gerard managed to get his fingers around the lighter, he quickly removed his hand and bit back a cry of pain, looking it over and groaning. He knew these type of lighters. They were great, but they were dangerous. If you got the lighter fluid on you, it burned you. Bad. The kind of burn that keeps getting worse until it’s as though you touched a burning stove or pot.
He didn’t say anything though and instead glanced around the room for a better place to attend to the wounds without remaining in the pool of blood. “Table?” he suggested when his eyes fell back onto the silver table where the dolls had been.
Ray silently nodded and followed Gerard down the platform to the table, pulling himself up onto it as though he were at a doctor’s office. Gerard was just tall enough to be able to reach Ray’s shoulder comfortably with him sitting on the table and was thankful.
“Gonna have to remove your shirt…” Gerard gently reminded, setting the lighter down just in case. He grabbed the back end of Ray’s shirt to try and help him ease the fabric up over his head, quietly wincing when the fabric stuck to the areas that were bleeding because they had to tug a bit to rip it off.
Once the shirt was off, Gerard took a moment to assess the extent of the damage and the areas that actually needed to be cauterized to stop the bleeding. He didn’t want to hurt Ray anymore so if there was minimal bleeding or the wound wasn’t too big, he decided he wasn’t going to burn it.
Essentially, that left Ray’s shoulder, abdomen and hip area. Or, the places the pins were. His wrists were bad, but not quite as bad as the other wounds. Ray took his shirt and ripped it into strips as though reading Gerard’s mind the moment he realized he would need some kind of wrapping, not saying a word to Gerard and just sort of waiting for him to take action.
“So…it’s gonna burn…” Gerard broke their silence. He heard Ray softly laugh for a second, because that was a given, and took the lighter in his hand again.
Gerard was a master of getting lighters to work and with a simple flick of his thumb over the little wheel, a flame erupted from the hole of the lighter. He watched it for a moment, dancing in small movements while staying primarily stationary, thinking about all the times he’s lit a cigarette or played with his lighter just to try and get his mind to other places.
“Gerard.” Ray’s soft voice snapped Gerard back to reality and he nodded to himself, trying to keep his arm as steady as possible while moving the lighter towards the first of Ray’s wounds. He was no doctor, and it wasn’t the most sanitary of actions, but it was all they had and it would stop the blood flow. If even for long enough to get out and get him real help.
Ray tensed when Gerard got close, flinching a bit when he got the lighter as close as he dared to get the job done without over burning his friend. They didn’t say a word to each other as Gerard did what he needed as quickly as possible, the lighter starting to burn him a little in the process. When he had gotten the blood to stop flowing, Gerard took the strips of Ray’s bloodied shirt and figured out the best way to get them wrapped over the wounds as a poor means of protection against infection or any more bleeding.
“Thanks,” Ray offered with a small smile, assisting Gerard in the wrapping of his wounds where he could. They put small strips around his wrists, making it look like he was wearing make-shift cufflinks, before Ray slid from the table.
Exhaling tiredly, Gerard looked over Ray one more time before turning his head to look at the door. “We gotta go,” he said quietly, body itching to get back to Frank. He left the lighter on the table and made his way to leave the room, Ray following somewhat stiffly behind him, flicking the light off on the disaster of a room behind them. It was something that Gerard knew he was never going to get out of his mind, not that he was ever really going to forget any of this, and headed down the hall.
Frank hadn’t moved a muscle from when Gerard last left him. He was still on his back with the hoodie over him, mouth slightly agape and eyes closed. It didn’t look like his chest was moving much anymore either, but when Gerard knelt down to him and moved his hand to push his hair back again, he could faintly feel little huffs of air coming from the younger man which relieved him.
“…Fuck…” Gerard heard Ray comment from behind him. “…Is he-?...”
“We have to keep going,” Gerard quietly replied. He knew there was no way Frank was moving now. Gerard didn’t even know if Frank was conscious. But he didn’t have time to spare shaking or yelling at the man to find out. At the moment he was still alive, and that’s what mattered most, but Gerard wasn’t sure how long that was going to last.
And he couldn’t risk the lives of the others finding out.
“Mikey and Bob are still here, and we have to find them and get out.” Gerard stared sadly at Frank, barely keeping the urge to cry at bay. He spent a second longer on the ground then stood up and moved his hair from his face, attempting to compose himself. “I haven’t been down the other hall yet…and there’s a door I’m sure leads to the basement too.”
“What about Frank?” Ray asked, looking down at him. “We can’t just leave him here.”
“He can’t exactly follow us, either.” Gerard unintentionally snapped back at his friend. “We can come back for him. He isn’t going anywhere…” The words ever again almost spilled from Gerard’s lips as well, but he caught them just in time to hold the shreds of hope he still maintained for the life of his boyfriend.
Ray stared at Gerard, almost with disappointment or even shame, before he slowly lowered himself down and slid his arms beneath Frank’s limp body. “Ray, don’t-“
“We’re not leaving him,” Ray sternly answered as he pulled Frank into his arms. “I don’t care if we’re just going to the end of the hall or wherever else, but he deserves to be with us. Unconscious or not.”
Ray used his knees to step himself back into a standing position, situating Frank in his arms and taking a deep breath to ease the pain Gerard could see shoot through his eyes from tugging at his fresh wounds. Frank was like a doll in his arms, flopping towards Ray with limbs dangling and overall unresponsive.
“Where to?” Ray asked once he got a strong grasp on Frank so as not to drop him.
With a grateful smile towards his friend, Gerard turned towards the hall opposite of where they stood and started to walk.
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