Gerard gripped the handrail and followed his brother into the cave.
The cave was on the trail, and he could hear voices from people leaving it at the far side, but it was very dark and he was certain he could hear other things moving around inside the dark as well, things that were not hikers.
"C'mon G-, we're close to the top now, don't tell me you're tired already."
"I'm not tired; I'm just enjoying the last bit of sunlight before I dive into this dark pit that some idiot decided to make in the rock."
His brother laughed at him and walked ahead. Gerard stepped in after him and blinked for a moment in the darkness, trying to force his eyes to adjust and focusing on the air in front of him, which just looked black and empty. With a sigh he started after his brother.
"Mikey? It stinks in here, where the fuck did you go?"
"I'm already out!" his brother replied, still laughing at him, and Gerard quickened his pace, annoyed that his eyes had not adjusted yet, and that it smelled so bad-
"Ow!"
He had stumbled, and in a frantic attempt to keep his balance had grabbed the handrail, which happened to be broken at the place he gripped, and he felt the jagged metal tear back out of his palm as he ripped his hand away in anger and alarm. He stumbled around a corner and blinked in the bright light, and his brother's eyes widened at the sight of the wound. Two people walking in the opposite direction stopped and asked if he was alright.
"I'm fine, the rail's broken in there, just after the turn. Watch your step too."
After rinsing the wound with the contents of Gerard's water bottle and then wrapping it with both his own and Mikey's bandanas, the two hikers ventured back through the cave, careful to avoid the broken railing, and then back down the mountain to the parking lot.
As night descended an inquisitive figure with a sharp nose was drawn to the broken railing in the cave. The blood on the jagged edge was dry, but there was still enough for a small tongue to dart out quickly and lick it away, and the scent that came from it was still as strong and sweet as anything, and the scent was still strong enough to track. The slight figure slipped gracefully from the cave, bent down, and then ran doggedly on all fours down the trail with its tongue hanging sideways out of its mouth.
Gerard stood under the water of the shower, looking at his palm and thinking of what awful luck it had been to grab the stupid railing at that one exact spot. Because of the place the wound was, it was close to impossible to do anything with his left hand, and after the disinfecting he had given it right after getting home it was burning like hell, and the water was not helping.
He turned the faucet off and shook his hair, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist after drying most of the water from himself. That was the last time Mikey talked him into hiking, ever. He didn't even like going outside when it was so hot, so why had he even decided to go anyways? He dressed in boxer shorts and a t-shirt, and then went to the kitchen to eat something.
He was dumping cereal into a bowl when he realized he had already eaten supper, but he still felt hungry. Gerard placed the cereal box back on the counter. That wasn't hunger he was feeling, it was something else. What was it? He glanced down at his hand nervously, what if it was rabies? He had dumped so much disinfectant on his hand that he thought not even skin could grow there, but maybe…
He ran to the phone and dialed the number, glanced at the clock; it was almost midnight but-
The ringing stopped and there was a groggy "Hello?"
"Mikey! I'm sorry for waking you up, but I think I have rabies."
"What? Gerard…"
"No! Listen, I already ate tonight, but I was just going to eat again, and then I realized that I'm not hungry, I just feel like I need something but I don't know what it is!"
"I have a diagnosis for you; you're really tired and you need to sleep. You don't have rabies Gerard. Goodnight."
"But-"
Click.
Gerard pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it as though it had said something insulting, and then he replaced the receiver. If his own brother was too tired to bother with him dying of a terrible disease in the night, maybe he better look into it by himself. Gerard walked back around to the back room and switched on his computer. Did they have symptoms for rabies online? He didn't know, but he was about to find out.
After almost a full minute of staring nervously at the black screen, Gerard realized that his computer was not working. At almost the same moment that he realized this, all the lights in his apartment went dark at once.
Gerard stayed seated and listened. There was no movement that he could hear, but the overpowering sense that there was someone else in the apartment with him clung to him despite this. He rose cautiously from his chair and crept forward, around the doorframe and into the hallway that lead to the living room. The kitchen was on the left across from the dining room, both which were just before the living room. The bedroom was closed off and separated from the living room by a door just after the kitchen, and Gerard turned into the kitchen as he sneaked forward. He fumbled in a drawer for a few seconds before he found the heavy duty flashlight he kept in it. It was very bright, and could double as a weapon should he need one.
He fumbled for the switch, certain that he could smell someone now, expecting something to appear before him as if it was just a fact of life, and yet he did not feel afraid. He switched the flashlight 'On'.
The man standing right in front of him opened his mouth and shrieked, eyes wide and bloodshot, letting a spray of black bitter liquid that covered Gerard's face and chest. Gerard lost his footing and sat down on the tile floor, the flashlight bounced away from him and he swallowed a shout along with the liquid the man had spat onto him.
Before he could go for the light strong hands gripped the front of his t-shirt and lifted him to his feet, and then up into the air. He was so shocked that for a moment he hung suspended with his mouth open, and then he was slammed down again, onto his own bed, and he yelled and struck out with his fist, but his hands were quickly pinned to the bed. Whoever had him pinned was stronger than he was, much stronger. He did not wait to see what they were going to do- Gerard slammed his knee into his attacker's gut. The man coughed and released his grip, and Gerard rolled from the bed, jumped to his feet and swung out again.
Unfortunately he was so intent on striking back against the intruder that he failed to remember that his left hand was injured, and the pain that shot back up through his fist when it made contact with the man's face shook his concentration for a split second-
In that second the man grabbed Gerard's shirt again and lifted him off the floor, swung him around and slammed him into the mirror that was set into the wall, shattering the mirror and making Gerard yelp like a dog that had been kicked.
"Hello? Mister _, are you alright? Hello?"
Gerard was on the floor in shards of glass, and he could just see the outline of the intruder, looking outward toward the bedroom door, listening to the woman's voice from the hall. Gerard's back hurt enough that he thought it might have been twisted out of where it was supposed to be, and he sat still, breathed hard and waited to see what his seemingly inhuman attacker would do next.
"I'm calling the police mister _, unless you answer this door!"
The beastly man started, looked down at Gerard, or so Gerard assumed, as he could see nothing but the outline of the man. For a long time it seemed the intruder watched him, and then he ran back out into the living room. Gerard expected him to run toward the door, but instead the man hurried away in the other direction, and Gerard was suddenly freed from his stupor and jumped up after him.
He came out into the room and dived down to immediately retrieve the flashlight, ignoring the pounding on the door, and cast the light around the room. The man was nowhere to be seen, but the window was wide open. Gerard tripped as he ran toward it and caught himself on the coffee table he had set up in front of the sofa. He reached the window and pushed the blinds to either side and looked out, casting the light around, but he knew it would make no difference.
Gerard lived on the seventh floor.
"So he just jumped out the window and that was it? He flew away?"
Gerard rolled his eyes and shoved his soda straw back into his mouth. Mikey was eyeing his meatball sub sandwich with envy, and Gerard could see why, as Mikey had gotten something with what looked like day-old cold cuts slapped down between week-old bread.
"Yeah, here" He took half the meatball sub from the wrapper and plopped it down in front of his brother, taking the half of Mikey's sandwich he had not yet bitten "he just flew away. And that was after he threw me around my apartment."
"Huh." Mikey said, right before biting delightedly into his half of Gerard's sandwich. He chewed for a few minutes and then took a drink.
"Did you call the cops?"
"No, what was I supposed to say? That Batman attacked me?"
"Right."
He took another bite and Gerard took advantage of the silence to devour his own food. Despite how Mikey's looked, it really wasn't that bad, and Gerard finished it before Mikey was done with the meatball half.
"Wow, maybe you do have rabies."
"What?"
"I've never seen a non-rabid man eat a meatball and questionable sub sandwich that fast."
"Shut up."
"So, what are you going to do about this 'Batman' guy? You said he probably got in through the window too, and he put your power out-"
"He didn't, all the switches were off. The power worked just fine."
"Yeah, but how zoned out could you be to not notice the lights going off in your apartment one at a time? And I've seen your place, it's a giant mess! How could a guy get around without tripping all over and making a racket?"
"What's your point?" Gerard sat back in his chair and raised his eyebrow, shaking the cup in his bandaged hand and listening to the ice rattle around inside. Mikey shrugged.
"Dunno."
After they had finished Gerard drove them back to his place. Mikey had wanted to see the damage the intruder had done, and Gerard was ready to show it off. The only other person who had seen it was his neighbor who had helped him search the apartment the night of the attack.
The elevator was out, so they both trudged up the seven flights of stairs until they reached his floor. Gerard unlocked the door marked 706 and started to enter, and then stopped dead:
His apartment was in shambles.
"Shit!"
Gerard hurried into the room and looked around in disbelief. The sofa cushions were thrown around the room, shredded to pieces and the stuffing was everywhere. The window was smashed out; the entire frame appeared to have been ripped from the side of the building. In the kitchen the cupboard doors hung loosely or were missing, emptied of dishes which had been smashed over the floor. The drawers were all upturned and smashed into piles of wood and bent silverware. The coffee table and his dining room table were smashed to matchsticks. The television was gone.
Mikey had walked past Gerard and poked his head into the bedroom, his feet crunching on broken glass, and now he pulled back and looked at Gerard, his face writ all over with alarm.
"Your bed is gone too."
Gerard pushed past him and saw that the bed had been ripped apart. The frame was in three bent pieces, and the mattress, well; it was no longer recognizable as any such thing.
"Shit." Gerard breathed. He walked into the bedroom, bent down and lifted what looked like a thick wire from the floor. In a moment he recognized it as a straightened out spring from the bed.
"Shit!" He flung the wire at the far wall and it bounced off with a clang and landed in the pile of fluffy ripped-up mess.
"Let's get out of here, c'mon Gerard, let's not hang around here. We can call the cops from my place, c'mon!"
Mikey drove them to his place, and brought out blankets for Gerard to use while sleeping on the sofa, while Gerard called the police. He talked to them for almost an hour before he could finally hang up and find Mikey folding the blankets at the far end of the sofa.
"There, it's a nice couch, I fall asleep here all the time while watching T.V. and I never get a neck ache or anything." He pushed his glasses up against his face and blinked tiredly at his older brother. "I'm off to bed now; I'll see you in the morning."
"Night Mikey, thanks for doing this."
"Oh, no problem at all, just don't eat all my food while I'm sleeping."
Mikey's apartment was larger than Gerard's, and there was space between the back of the sofa and the door to the bedroom that was occupied by an island-counter. Gerard unlaced his shoes and flopped back onto the cushions, which were just as comfortable as Mikey had said they were.
He was just entering a dream when he was suddenly startled awake again.
He sat up and listened intently, strained his ears until he could hear his brother breathing behind the closed door of the bedroom.
Gerard suddenly remembered that he had fallen asleep with both the kitchen and lamp lights on, but they were off now and there was no light in the room, save what came in from the street lamps that shined through the window. Even with those he could barely see anything. Mikey had probably turned the lights off after Gerard had dozed off, even though he had been more tired than Gerard was, it was Mikey who had turned them off. Definitely, it was Mikey.
Mikey's breath stopped short for a split second and Gerard stopped breathing altogether. He heard movement, his brother rolling over, then a murmured 'yes' before the sleep-breathing continued as though it had never been interrupted.
A very bad feeling began to sink into Gerard's chest, and it elevated when the doorknob to the bedroom began to turn oh, so slowly, and then the door slid open to the pitch black maw that was the room where his brother was, and where those horrible white eyes were peering from now.
His heart was pounding an Allegro Molto, but he did not move an inch from where he was, kneeling on the sofa with his elbows resting on the back of it, looking at the figure that was standing in the dark. The rabies-feeling was running through him as fast as fire and twice as hot, and he did not move as the man approached.
"What is your name?" The man asked, coming to a halt just behind the sofa and in front of Gerard.
"Gerard." Answered Gerard without thinking on whether it was a good idea or not to give his name to the intruder.
"Gerard. I like your name, Gerard _." The intruder reached out and placed his fingers beneath Gerard's chin, lifted up gently and Gerard stood up straight on his knees. The effect the man's touch had on him was extraordinary. The fire burning through him was cooled instantly and he stifled a sigh. The man's hand slid under his ear and he turned his face against it.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Frank, do you like that?"
"Hmm… yes." Gerard wasn't listening; he was licking Frank's hand and sinking back down to sit on his feet. Frank followed him and looked into his face. Gerard could see Frank's face, and thought it looked abnormal, as though an airbrushed image from a magazine had somehow managed to escape the page and was walking around in real life attacking random people…
"Oh, you are not random, Gerard…" a small tinge of fear spread down Gerard's spine when Frank said his name again "You are most important! I don't usually chase for more than an hour."
Gerard had taken two of Frank's fingers and inserted them into his mouth, and was sucking on them and scraping his tongue against the rough edges. Frank ignored this as he spoke.
"You managed to avoid me for a full day. I was barely able to cope, and I came close to destroying your apartment building. Fortunately for your neighbors I was able to satisfy my anger in gutting your apartment, I hope you don't mind."
"Hunh." Gerard had turned Frank's hand over and was licking his palm. It was Frank's left palm, so it was exactly where he himself was wounded, and although he did take note of this fact he did not try to come up with any sort of meaning behind it.
His left hand was pulled away suddenly along with Frank's left hand, and the bandages wrapped around it to keep the wound clean were ripped away. Gerard flinched at the pain, and watched Frank stick out his tongue and dip it into the wound. The intruder's eyes were closed as he licked at it, and every time his tongue touched the skin Gerard's head spun and he wanted to laugh and float away.
When he had finished the cleansing Frank pulled back and then touched Gerard's face. His right hand slid over his neck and a hooked finger caught the edge of his shirt and pulled it down. Gerard's arms fell to his sides and he turned his face up and stared into Frank's eyes. Frank's left hand tightened into a grip in Gerard's hair, not pulling but holding, and Frank grinned down into his face, the grin growing wider and wider until it was tearing, splitting his face in half! And there were too many teeth, sharp and white, like an animal-
Gerard's head was suddenly pulled back and he took one gasping breath before Frank slammed his face into his throat and too many teeth ripped into his throat. Unbearable pain set upon his body at once, and Gerard's mouth opened to scream but the sound was choked away and he stared desperately at the ceiling. Something warm was absorbing into his shirt and spreading over his shoulder and back, and his wounded left hand was in an iron grip. His skin was growing cold, and he could feel the warm breath against his shoulder whenever Frank released a soft sound through his nose at odd intervals.
After ages of agonizing pain he was released, and was pulled forward into the monstrously strong embrace of the intruder. Frank held him for a moment, and Gerard's eyes wanted to close so badly, and they rolled around as he was barely conscious. Frank moved his left hand and shifted Gerard around, held him away and bit into his own arm. Dark blood ran down his arm as he pulled it away, pulled Gerard's head back again and pressed his mouth over his.
Sweet warmth filled Gerard's mouth and he swallowed it fast, and when Frank's lips left his he was guided to the teeth marks in his arm. Gerard wrapped his mouth around the wound and licked, sucked, and ground his teeth into the already existing wound. He felt as though something had been injected into his system which slowed everything around him to a crawl, but speeded it up at the same moment. He looked up at the intruder whose arm he was biting and saw he had his eyes closed again, teeth relatively regular size and he was breathing hard.
Frank finally pulled his arm away and Gerard licked the blood off his teeth. They stared at each other for a moment, and then the corner of Frank's mouth turned up in a small smile.
"I'll be back for you, Gerard _."
"I'll be waiting." Gerard replied, and then Frank was gone.