Dust everywhere... maybe it was a good thing he couldn't breathe. One sneeze and the place would be filled with a particle cloud that would take hours to settle. It's been so long since he has heard a human voice that he actually thinks his mind has shattered when he hears the faint murmuring sound of someone talking.
He stands up from his chair, and crosses the room quickly, not even disturbing the hoard of dust bunnies that have multiplied over the last three years. He's been so alone, he has even caught himself starting to name them, along with other random things around the house. He shakes his head of these thoughts when the voices start to become more clear, and a little louder.
"Are you sure this is fine? I really don't want to intrude."
Gerard noted right away this voice belonged to a woman. He found his hands splayed on the dark wood of the door, his ear pressed against it.
"Ellie, I told you, it's fine.. better than fine! It actually solves a few problems at once. Mikey said that this is really going to help him out... so, no more feeling like this is an intrusion.. got it?" a male voice answered.
He knew that voice... he knew that voice almost as well as his own.. "Frankie.." the name came out of his mouth like a wisp. Hope and disbelief start bursting through Gerard's chest all at once.
He felt something move within the door, the vibration of a key sliding in a lock. An undeniable 'click', and with a burst of fresh air and blinding light, he stumbled back and saw two silhouettes standing in the open door frame. Millions of dust moats were dancing dramatically in the beam of light pouring in from the doorway.
"Okay, got it." she whispered as she looked in.
"Welcome Home Ellie!" Frank said with a big grin on his face, which slowly faded when he saw the look on hers. She stood stock still, her face drained of all the blood. His first thought was that she looked like she'd seen a ghost. His second thought was that she looked like she was going to turn, and run for the hills.
He followed her gaze, and his eyes swept over their surroundings.. "Well, it HAS been a long time since anyone has been here. I guess I should have gotten someone over here to clean up a bit." Looking over the amount of dust left on everything. It really did look like an abandoned museum, he thought to himself. The sound of her little sneeze broke him out of his musings.
"I'm sorry Ellie, I did not realize it would be this bad." He turned his head and looked at her. Even though she was still pale as hell, she looked at him and smiled. "It's okay Frankie, it's only dust! It's kind of my job to get the house back together anyway, right?" She really smiled then. He thought it was nice to see her smile again, it's been so long since she has had a reason to.
"Well, I wouldn't say 'Job', but why don't I get someone over here tomorrow to help you get a handle on it?" He said, while not sure where she would even get started cleaning this place, and feeling somewhat guilty for it. She sighed.. "Honestly Frank, if I can't handle a little dust and basic cleaning, how do you expect me to get this place back into shape at all?" She looked at him and smirked. "No faith, man!" she shoulder bumped him, and started walking around a bit, looking at various items that still lay where they were the night of the murders. Still somewhat afraid to touch anything.
Gerard stood there shell shocked. After all these years his friend has come into the house. Well, 'anyone' has come into the house. He was at the point that he did not care who it was, just as long as it was someone.. but he was sure glad to see Frankie, even if he still was not sure that he was dreaming or not.
He looked at the woman standing in his living room. She was about 5'6", her hair was dyed red. It was not an obnoxious red, but it was defiantly not natural.. but on her it just looked like it could have been. She wore glasses.. the rectangle kind, that just enhanced her face shape. They were perched half way up on her nose, drawing his attention to a nose ring in her right nostril. Messy curly hair she had up in some kind of a messy bun. She definitely did not look like she was a princess type. That thought was only backed up by the clothes she wore. Over-sized black corduroy pants rolled up to reveal black Docs, a black tee under an open and un-tucked flannel. She was the epitome of casual... and he thought she pulled the look off beautifully.
He shook himself from his thoughts. 'of course you think she is beautiful.. she's the only woman you've seen for three years!' he thought to himself, immediately feeling guilty over his late wife. Which got him thinking again.. 'why is she not here with me? Am I in Hell, while she went to Heaven? We were both killed here, why am I stuck here by myself?'.
These are the same questions that he has asked himself for three years... he has screamed them, begging for answers, but no answer ever came. No explanation as to why. He has pounded his head against the walls looking for any reasonable justification, and has always come up with nothing.
By the time he looked up he noticed that Frank, and the woman were walking through the house. Not knowing exactly how to react to their being there, or the feelings he was having about it, he jogged to catch up to them.
"So, this is the bedroom.." Frank said as he opened the door, "OH Shit!" slamming the door shut as fast as he could. Ellie looked at him in shock, "Frank... was that... blood?". She was praying her eyes were playing tricks on her. Frank looked at her with a look of dread, mixed with grief. "Yeah, I am pretty sure it was.... I'm so sorry Ellie. Mikey warned me that they locked the house up as it was, but I didn't imagine that something like that would have been left." He sighed.
"Look, I understand if you don't want to be here, I didn't think this through very well." He gently grabbed her hand, and started to lead her down the stairs. "We can figure something else out. Everything will be okay, I promise." They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Ellie pulled him to a stop, and made him turn to look at her.
"Frankie, look... I'm fine. I will be Okay here. So, it wasn't cleaned.. I understand that. I could not imagine having to clean up something like this if my loved ones were killed like that. It might actually be better if I do it anyway, I don't have an attachment to them like you guys do." She reached out to him and pulled him into a hug, "I'm sorry if this is bringing back too much pain for you."
Frank leaned into her hug while they just clung to each other. "After everything you have been through Ellie, are you sure you can handle this? Or even want to?"
She pulled her head away from his shoulder, and smiled at him. "Yeah...Hey, it will be great! I will be close to you, and I'll get a chance to start all over again." He rested his forehead on hers...she sniffed...he sniffed.. then they just started to giggle at themselves. "Come on girl, let me show you around the rest of the house."
Gerard stood frozen in the doorway of his bedroom. It had been so long since he had been in there, he had actually forgotten why he refused to go in anymore. And now it stares him in the face. The blood soaked mattress, the blood splatter down the wall, the floor.. there was so much blood. Of course three year old blood does not look like blood.... more like peeling blackish paint, but to him it was as fresh as it was the night it happened. Tears stung his eyes as memories assaulted him. He missed his beautiful wife. He had loved her so much when they were alive. Where was she? Where is she? Where? There was the question again... the question that always haunted him.
~~
Frank showed Ellie the rest of the house, making sure to stay out of Gerard's office, afraid of what they would find in there. Frankie explained to her that Gerard was working late at night in his office, and Lindsey was in bed asleep when they were killed. Ellie knew that eventually she would have to go in there, but she knew Frankie was not anywhere near emotionally able to cope with it, and if she were being honest with herself, she wasn't either.
The rest of the day was a blur for Gerard. It was so much to take in after so many years of solitude and nothing more than the ramblings of his own mind to keep him company. Apparently he was getting a room-mate. He really wasn't sure how he felt about this. He was excited, but at the same time completely dreading it. This was his house! How could Mikey just let some stranger live here? And all of his things are here... what if she starts throwing his things away?!
Panic starts to fill him... who knew that dead people could actually get anxiety attacks? But as he turns and looks at her, she slowly smiles at something his best friend had said to her, lighting up her face. He feels a calm settle over him, and his lips slowly turn upward, and he smiles for the first time in three years.
~~
A/N:
Hey everyone, Thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic in about 10 yrs!! So, needless to say I am a little out of practice, but hope to get up to speed soon. I am sure you noticed I started the story with two of our favorite people in the world...well.. dead. Sorry about that.
I also will point out now, that YES, I know the 'real life' time table, and the 'story' time table do not match up.. they were never meant to. Also, I know most of you were wondering what happened to Bandit in this story... There is no Bandit in this story. I considered it, but I thought about how I would feel if I were a celebrity, and someone included my very young child into a story for other's entertainment. I decided that is something that I would be uncomfortable with. Hence, no cute kiddo here! *hands Bandit Batman Legos, pats her head and sends her off to play*
I look forward to comments...(nice ones), and seeing how you feel about the story! I love you all, and see you on the other side of that jet black mirror! muha!