Art Entwined In Blood

6 - A Little More Than Acquaintences

     "Frances, please get out of the blood. You're ruining your clothes."

     Frank reluctantly stood up, but didn't dare take a step away from his current position. From the outside of the doorway, Gerard beckoned him to come out of the room by motioning with his fingers. Frank refused to budge.

     "Tell me why my neighbor is dead on your floor," Frank heaved, staring Gerard in his gleaming eyes.

   "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. My guard dog found her patroling my premises. I couldn't exactly help what happened; she was illegally on my land."

     "Since when do you have a guard dog? I've 'been on your land' multiple times, and there was no sign of a guard dog."

     Gerard looked at Frank without faulter and replied, "I just recently acquired a guard dog specifically because of you, Frances. I didn't want anyone else knowing I live here. It's probably because of you sneaking over here that she felt the need to come over here herself. She is a reporter, if I'm not mistaken. I like being left alone. I don't want the public knowing what I'm up to."

     Frank dropped his gaze back to the woman on the floor and ran over multiple thoughts in his head.

     "So she's technically dead...because of me?"

     "Technically. But no worries, you won't be held responsible, I'll be sure of that."

     At last, Frank stepped out of the puddle that seemed to stop growing for the time being. He had seen dog attacks before, and this didn't look like one of those times. It was definitely something with knarly teeth, but it wasn't a dog. He let Gerard lead him to a room on the first floor where he had water, soap, laundry lines, and other cleaning materials. He demanded Frank to take off his shoes, which he easily obliged. Choosing to stand in a blood puddle while wearing Converse wasn't exactly his best idea. He then comanded that Frank take off his pants, as they were also soaked with the red menace. There was nothing on his shirt, so Frank was relieved that he wasn't completely naked. Still, he felt the need to ask Gerard for extra clothes until his clothes had soaked and dried.

    "Are you ashamed of your body? I don't mind if you're half-clothed," Gerard stated, immediately adding, "a-as long as it's for a purpose."

     "Yeah, well you aren't the one half naked, Mr. I-Wear-Twenty-Layers-Of-Clothing."

     Gerard chuckled and removed an outer layer of his extravegant outfit and placed it over Frank.

     "Don't trip; it's long and expensive."

     A smile grew on Frank's face for the first time that day, even if it was almost midnight. He snuggled into the lavish garment and sneakily sniffed it to find that it smelled of books and...something else. He didn't know if Gerard wore cologne or not, but he was too embarrassed to actually ask. It just seemed odd for a married, grown man to ask another grown man if he wore cologne. It just wasn't the social norm. He figured it didn't matter; it smelled good, and that's all he needed to know.

     "Don't you usually...sleep by this time?" Gerard had removed multiple layers of clothing in the time that Frank was thinking. He really did have about twenty layers on.

     "Well, yeah...but you usually are wide awake at this time, so I'll stay up with you. You seem like you need company."

     Gerard scoffed and shook his head, "I have the company of Esmerelda and my books. You have a wife to look after. I met with her earlier and she seemed very upset... I wouldn't be surprised if she's still waiting up for you. I know I would be."