Part two has arrived! And for those of you telling me I am cruel for keeping up the suspense for another chapter...just remember, this update could have been weeks away -not less than a day! So love me! For I have updated.

I'm also kind of high on caffeine. This pleases me.

One day, perhaps I'll just wake up, and realise I've forgotten her name. That I can't remember the shape of her eyes, the scent of her perfume, or how soft her skin felt under my fingers. Maybe then, one day, I can start to live again.

/

/

/

Dr Simmons and Alicia were staring at each other as though...well as though they hasn't seen each other in a decade.

Or rather, Dr Simmons was staring at Alicia with the kind of expression that accompanies not having seen ones own daughter for over a decade. It was slightly more difficult for Alicia to return the stare, considering she had to focus on the steering wheel. But somehow she managed it, which did nothing for my sense of security.

We were driving jerkily, with as much speed as Alicia could coax out of her little car, down the narrow roads that led to the cliffs. Mikey and I just sat in the backseat in frozen silence, holding on to the sides of the seats with a death-grip, not saying a word. There was so much to be said, and so many things that needed to be answered, but right now none of them could be -which was partially down to the driving, but mostly down to the unbearable anxiety which filled the little vehicle, as we contemplated what we would find at the other end. We were all linked by the single factor of Frank Iero, and right now we couldn't afford to shatter the fragile bonds linking us together.

We were jolted forwards in our seats, as Alicia took a sharp right hand turn down another narrow road, and Mikey and I exchanged looks.

You never said your girlfriend was such an awful driver. I accused him silently with my eyes.

Did you want to walk then? Mikey's eyes seemed to be saying back, as he shot me a glare.

I ignored him, looking out the window as the trees rushed past the road. Or was it us rushing past the trees? I couldn't tell, I was looking for signs, anything to tell us that we were getting closer.

Just as I was on the edge of giving up hope, another sharp turn yanked us tight against the seat-belts, and Alicia pulled into a tiny dirt car-park, signposted as 'The Hudson River.' It was deserted and bare, the last rays of the sun barely illuminating the little square of dirt that humans had carved out of the surrounding forest. We were the only car in the lot at this time, the sun nearly gone. At the end of the car-park, I could see the beginning of a trail, and I released myself quickly and tumbled out of the car, ridiculously relieved to be on solid ground again.

Mikey followed, and so did, I believe, Dr Simmons and Alicia. But I didn't care, barely noticed whether or not they were still there. The sign pointing to the little trail told us that it was the right direction if you wanted to reach the Palisade Cliffs, and that was enough for me. I was within reach, and the moment I had confirmed the right direction, I took off.

I was running again, alone up this little dirt track, and I really needed to work on fitness. If I had thought the run to Frank's flat was bad, this uphill unsurfaced route was a thousand times worse. With every step, my calf muscles burned and ached, my thighs protested and my lungs expanded agonisingly. Thorns caught at my jeans and ripped, but I barely noticed. As the light faded, the tall looming trees overhead cast a menacing glare on the tiny human that had thought to invade their forest, and I shuddered, even as I forced myself onwards. I paused at the top of a particularly steep section, retching into the dirt, watching my lunch coat the ground in streaks of vomit. I wanted to stand still in shock that I had just thrown up from exhaustion, but the was something harder in my mind now. Something cold and focused, forcing me to push past the pain and continue.

With every step now, it began to get easier. Nothing had changed, the pain was still there. But I rejoiced in it now. Every screaming protest in my body only pushed me further and harder, as I forced my legs and arms to work in tandem. Sweat dripped down my forehead and into my eyes, stinging, and I swiped a hand across my face. I had thrown off my hoodie somewhere halfway along the route, and my t-shirt was sticking to me. All I could hear was the racing of my heart and the pounding of my feet, the thin branches that whipped against my face, lacerating it until the blood dripped freely. I smiled grimly, gritting my teeth against the pain. I had left the other three far behind. Mikey was the only one with a prayer of reaching me, but I didn't even care. This wasn't their race, this was mine, I was the one who had someone to save, and something to prove.

That was the only thought in my head as I burst through the trees into a tiny clearing, the last of the branches slapping me rudely across the cheek. Air burst from my lungs in a last frantic gasp, and I took in the tiny meadow in which I now stood. It was almost perfectly circular, this little green meadow, surrounded by golden brown, orange and red stained trees. At one end I could hear the rushing roar of water, and as I turned towards that edge, I saw a broken down wire fence, a sign flapping in the wind proclaiming it to be a warning against getting to close to the edge. The edge.

I walked quickly and carefully, not thinking about what I might find. I couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything, but he had to be here! He had to be!

As I reached the wire, I ducked under the warning sign, and looked around. Yes, this was the place from the picture. It was the place I had drawn, and I smiled ruefully as I realised I had drawn the sea when it was only a river all along. How typical of me. But not just a river, the rushing and roaring water was terrifying to behold. This was the place I knew Frank would be, but he wasn't there! I could see the edge only a few feet away, and he wasn't there!

My shoulders slumped, and I fell to my knees, waves of exhaustion crashing over me as hot tears trickled down my cheeks. I had been too late again. There was no-one and nothing here, except the emptiness of the sky and the river, where the cliffs joined the water. I had to leave, I knew. I needed to go back and tell them all that he was gone, that I had let little Frankie die. But I couldn't bring myself to move, I just lay there, letting the pain wash over me.

Then I heard it.

How I managed to hear anything over the crashing of the water on the rocks was beyond me, but I heard it.

A low moan, coming from the direction of the edge. Like a wounded animal, letting out its dying breath.

Pushing myself onto my hands and knees, I crawled through the damp muddy grass. As I came within a few feet of the edge, I lay down, and shuffled forwards on my stomach so I could look over. Dizzying waves of vertigo were threatening to overcome me, but I managed to push myself enough to hang my head over the edge, and see what was below.

The shock of what I saw nearly sent me tumbling over the edge to join the river. I clung to the edge with all my might, my barely able to believe my eyes.

Just below the edge of the cliffs, perhaps only ten feet or so lower, there was an outcropping ledge of rock. Barely more than a little stone shelf, it pushed away from the cliff, completely out of sight unless you were in the exact position I was now. And lying on that stone shelf, battered and bruised, cut and bleeding and broken, but very much alive, was Frank.

His tiny body barely fit on the outcrop, and it was a miracle he had landed on it. I couldn't see his head, as he lay crumpled on one side, clearly unable to move. But there was blood everywhere, so much blood on that shelf. He was still breathing though. I could see the rise and fall of his body, and he wasn't dead yet.

Pulling myself frantically back from the edge, I turned to the clearing, but there was nobody there yet. Hadn't they got here? Where were they, hadn't they run just as fast as I had to get here?! Just as I was debating whether to go for them, or to Frank, they burst through the trees in a rush. Mikey and Alicia were holding hands, and he wrapped his arms around her as they straightened up and looked around. Dr. Simmons wasted no time, hurrying towards me where I knelt by the edge. "Gerard!" He shouted, while he was still halfway across the meadow. "Is he...?"

"He's alive!" I screamed, "he's here! I can't get to him, I need your help!"

Dr Simmons broke into a run again, reaching me within moments. I pointed at the edge, beyond words. Dr Simmons knelt down, then mirrored me, leaning over until he caught sight of Frank's tiny body, resting precariously on the edge. His face went from red from exertion, to absolutely white. Pulling back, Dr Simmons turned to me desperately. "Are you sure he's alive?" He demanded. I nodded, yes. "I saw him breathing, I swear!"

I didn't even have time to ruminate on what to do, because Frank was down there, and he needed my help. I began to shake, a delayed reaction from the exercise, and sheer terror at what I was about to attempt. I was not a climber, I had never been. But I needed to get down there. I began to turn myself around by the edge, preparing to lower my body over the side, when Dr Simmons grabbed my arm tightly. "What do you think you are doing?" He hissed. "Getting down there! I have to help him!" I choked out.

Dr Simmons shook his head furiously, then a mask dropped over his face, turning him ice cold. He glared at me, then proceeded to take control of the entire situation. Right then as far as I was concerned, it didn't matter who he was, or what was wrong with him, or why he was here. I was just appreciating that the was an adult in the vicinity who could take control. Mikey and Alicia looked as bad as I felt -we were nothing but terrified children at the end of the day. Dr Simmons stood up, and pulled me away from the edge, then turned to Mikey and Alicia, who were standing a few metres back looking absolutely terrified. "Michael. And Ali..." Dr Simmons' voice seemed to fail as he addressed his daughter, and he shook his head, turning to Mikey. "Michael. Can you call 911?" Mikey shook his head, seeming paralysed. "No, there's no signal up here" he said quickly, waving his phone at us.

Dr Simmons nodded. "Okay. Both of you, run until you find signal. If you can't get through, drive until you're out of the forests and you can! Tell them where we are, tell them the entire situation, and make sure they know they'll need to airlift him out" he rattled off, fixing his eyes on the pair intently. Mikey straightened up, and nodded. I was sure that he, like me, was beginning to see the military man that Dr Simmons had apparently once been. Mikey grabbed Alicia's hand again, and they began to run back the way they had come.

Ignoring me completely, Dr Simmons turned to the edge and stuck his head over again. Seeing Frank lying there seemed to bolster him, and he turned to me grimly. "Okay then, you're going to have to get down there" he said. Seeing the terror written plainly across my face, he sighed. "I'll help you. But if Frank stays there, he could roll off the edge. He needs someone down there to hold him in place and make sure he doesn't fall. And if he wakes up, you'll have to stop him from moving."

I nodded, determined not to fail, if there was a chance we could still save Frank. Next thing, Dr Simmons pulled his long cotton scarf from around his neck, and ripped it into several long strands with his strong hands. Plaiting and knotting them together with a deftness that surprised me, the man then turned to me, and without a word or explanation, knotted the rope around my waist, wrapping the other end tightly around both his wrists. Turning to the edge, Dr Simmons instructed me to lie down with my feet facing towards the edge. I did so, and then followed the instruction to shuffle slowly backwards, until I felt the ground beneath me begin to give way, my feet and ankles hanging in empty space.

I wanted to freeze in fear, but Dr Simmons didn't give me time to, forcing me further backwards into space. Only the thought of Frank, unconscious, alone and potentially dying beneath me, could make me carry on. Painfully slowly, my knees and then thighs hung over the edge, until my stomach was pressed against the pivotal point, and I knew if I continued there was no going back. Catching the Doctors eye again, I nodded grimly, trusting him with my weight, and then slid slowly over the edge. My hands hung on tightly to the tufts of tough grass that grew near the edge, ignoring where the strands became sharp and cut me. My feet hung in the emptiness for one terrifying moment, and then I pressed them against the cliff wall in relief, almost weeping as I found a foothold. Dr Simmons was taking most of my weight, but painfully, painfully slowly I began to move down the side of the cliff. Ten feet didn't seem like much in the abstract, but it was forever when every moment your muscles are protesting, your hands are going numb from the cold, and your feet are slipping on the icy rocks.

When I reached the ledge, I only realised when my feet couldn't go any further down. I looked behind me, and down, and gasped as I realised I was right on level with Frank. He lay turned away from me, his dark clothes soaking wet from the river spray, which reached us even here. I couldnt see his face from the way his head was turned, but he looked mostly intact, to my utter relief. Quickly, but carefully, I slid my feet sideways, until I could crouch on the narrow rocky shelf. Unknotting the makeshift rope from around my waist, I gave it two sharp tugs, before Dr Simmons began hauling it back up over the edge again. Then I looked around, and wondered what on earth I was going to do now. There was barely space on the ledge for Frank's body, let alone another teenage boy. Finally, seeing no other solution, and praying Frank didn't have spinal injuries, I crouched down, pressing my body tightly against the wall, and slid my arms underneath his shoulders. Franks head lolled sickeningly as I somehow simultaneously lifted him, and slid my body under himm so I was sitting on the ledge. My arms about to give out, I settled Frank back down, his head resting in my lap.

Now, we were safe. For the moment. I ran my hands through Franks hair, experimentally lifting the strands. They were sticky with mud, and also with blood, which as far as I could see came from a huge lump on his forehead, which was already turning purple, and was mostly responsible for the streaks of scarlet across his white, filthy face. But Frank was definitely still alive.

Frank was here, he was in my arms and I could feel him breathing. When I rested my fingers against his neck, I could feel a strong pulse beat under my shaking fingers. I had made it in time! I barely noticed when I started crying, the tears of fear and stress and grief that had been building all afternoon finally coming out. I tried to stay as still as possible, but I was shuddering and choking as I tried to accept the fact that he was really still here. I cradled him tenderly in my arms, and kissed his cheek as gently as I could, feeling the cold skin beneath my lips.

I didn't kow how long we would have to wait to be rescued, but I knew I need to stay awake and functioning for Frank, to make sure he didn't fall. After all, we were lying on an outcrop of rocks, while hundreds of metres below us, a river churned and smashed against much sharper and more dangerous rocks. It was pitch black by this point, and if Dr Simmons had tried to say anything I wouldn't have heard it over the noise of the water. At any moment the outcrop could give way and sent us plummeting, or Frank could wake up in agony, or any number of horrific things could happen

But it didn't seem to matter, not while he was here. I didn't even care.

Because it was just me and Frank, and he was here and he was alive. That was all I needed.

/

I didn't know how many hours had passed before I heard the sounds. I was frozen to the bone, almost as cold as Frank felt in my arms. Both of us, like living statues poised on this tiny little space that time forgot.

I must have unintentionally fallen asleep, drifting off into a light, fitful slumber in spite of the surroundings, and I jolted awake each time with a familiar sense of terror that I had somehow let go of Frank in my sleep. But I never did, he was still there in my arms, still breathing miraculously. I wrapped my arms tighter around him, in spite of the fact that I could no longer feel my hands, and my fingers were a sickly white and purple as all the blood left them. I began to chew on my lips, the pain forcing me to stay conscious. I felt when my teeth broke through and warm metallic blood flooded my mouth, but I didn't stop. I needed to stay focused, to hold onto Frank until help arrived.

When the whirring started, I barely believed it was real at first. I thought I had fallen asleep again, and my mind could make no sense of this strange sound. But the wind was whipping more fiercely against my face than before, in a regular rhythm which was enough to force me into wakefulness, as these strange sounds filled the air. I looked up, squinting in the dark, to see to my surprise, a series of bright lights, coming from something hovering in mid-air. My exhausted mind couldn't seem to understand what was happening, until a brighter light suddenly flashed over us, highlighting our figures, on our stone seat.

Then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, there was a figure next to us. Suspended seemingly in mid air, I realised a moment too late it was a man, being lowered on a rope from the craft. The man seemed to be speaking to me, shouting urgent questions, but I simply stared at him, too tired to understand what he meant. Giving up, the man simply leaned forwards, and grabbed my arms, forcing them one by one through a series of straps under my arms and around my waist. While I slumped there, aware I should be doing something, but unable to move, the strange man hanging in the air did something similar to Frank. When he tried to move Frank's head from my lap, to put on him some strange plastic contraption that my mind vaguely recognised as a neck-brace, I came to myself slightly, hissing at the man, and winding my arms tighter around Frank.

Apparently giving up trying to speak to me, the man simply broke my grip matter of factly, and rolled Frank onto the strange plastic stretcher-type thing that I hadn't realised was hanging next to us. Tightly strapping Frank down by his arms and legs, and across his waist, the man then said something unintelligible into a device next to his mouth, and without further ado, Frank began to rise into the air, strapped tightly to the board, suspended in some kind of harness.

All I could register was that they were taking him away from me, and I tried desperately to reach for him, my hands grasping at empty space. "Fr-Frank!" I cried, as he rose higher and higher, until he reached the bright lights somewhere far above me.

The man next to me adjusted my harness one last time, and then pulled on the ropes again. With a jerk, I was suddenly lifted from the ledge into the air, rising steadily past the cliffs. The man was still hanging next to me, rising at the same pace. As we reached the strange craft which I slowly realised was a helicopter, there were hands all over me suddenly, pulling me inside. Part of me wanted to object to this handling, but I was too weak to protest, even as I was strapped onto a similar stretcher to Frank.

Frank! Where was he!? I managed choke out his name, searching with my eyes which didn't seem to be working properly. All I could see was dark figures moving around, and bright lights.

I didn't understand.

One of the figures detached itself, and came towards me. The figure bent, pushing my hair away from my face. "Sh...he's safe now. You're safe. You can sleep now Gerard, you saved him..." The person whispered.

I needed to ask more, I needed to find Frank. But my weariness overcame me, and I could fight against it no longer. As I slipped into darkness, I was aware of my own voice mumbling his name over and over. "Frank..."

/

/

The End.

Nah just kidding ;) Don't we all love near death situations?

Are you all happy now I didn't kill him? Good. Excellent.

See you all next week!

"You see there's no real ending...it's only the beginning. Come out and play..."

-Hana Belladonna xoxoxox