What Do The Dead Wear?

Frank's eyes fluttered open when his body clock told him too. He blinked a few times to get used to the bright lights spilling into his room. He groaned when he looked at the evil red numbers.

"Six o'clock. Ugh, I can't believe I just woke up this early!" He groaned again as he rubbed his eyes, wishing his body would let him sleep a few more hours.

He sat up and clutched his head when a throbbing headache had emerge; he'd gotten up to fast. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and let his warm feet come in contact with the cold wood flooring. He took in a sharp breath when the coolness sliced into his warm feet.

Slowly and groggily, he padded his way to the kitchen. He poured out a steaming hot cup of coffee into a mug. He instantly sipped it, feeling the liquid warm up his body.

He yawned and stretched as he made his way over to the couch. He plopped himself down and turned on the television. Perhaps watching early morning cartoons could help pass the time and wake him up. He yawned again as he noticed the news on again.

"How can people already be up this early?" He questioned no one as he stared at two awake and perky reporters. They weren't reporting anything interesting, as usual, so Frank flipped through the channels until he found Scooby-Doo. The typical kiddy show with drug sources hidden behind it.

As his phone blasted out loud music, he set down his coffee and ran to the bedroom. As he flipped open the phone, he was perplexed at how early someone could be calling him.

"Hello?" He sleepily asked. The person on the other end was lucky, if they had woken Frank up, he would've beaten them.

"Hey Frank, its Gerard. Sorry I'm calling so early I just really hope I didn't wake you up, I mean, I'd feel horrible and-" Gerard stumbled out apologies too fast for anyone to understand.

"Gerard, settle down, you didn't wake me. Sadly, I was already awake." Frank talked over him, trying to calm him a bit. He heard Gerard let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh good. I was just wondering if you wanted to catch a bite to eat at lunch again. You know, like yesterday?" Gerard asked awkwardly.

"Uhh sure." Frank giggled slightly.

"Great, I'll see you at Starbucks." Gerard told him, hanging up his phone.

Frank hung up his phone and walked back over to the couch. He watched as Scooby and Shaggy ate down plates full of food, not gaining a pound or getting full. He slurped down his coffee before it could even reach room temperature.

--

Several television shows and a few cups of coffee later, Frank was headed out to work. He pulled on a Misfit's hoodie, grabbed his keys and exited his most loved apartment.

As he approached the none to familiar record store, he stumbled over someones outstretched leg. As his hands scrapped the brick ground, laughs erupted from near by people. He scuffed as he pulled himself up and headed into the warm building.

He pulled off his hoodie and set it down behind the register, throwing his car keys on top of it. He took his typical spot on a stool and pulled out a music magazine he hadn't read before

His inside excitedly jumped when he saw an article about Black Flag. As he lost himself in the words the writer wrote about his favorite band, customers came and went.

"The black flag, eh? They're pretty good, but I much rather prefer Iron Maiden." Someone said, obviously trying to get Frank's attention. Frank raised up his eyes from the article and found a familiar orange haired kid smiling.

"Oh my god! Ray!" Frank squealed as he crawled over the top of the counter and jumped on top of Ray. As Ray caught him, he slightly teetered and fell down. Laughs emerged from the two boys throats as they were re united.

"I haven't seen you in forever. Jebus, I've missed you." Frank cried, hugging him. Ray laughed as he pulled himself and Frank up.

"You're still the same, Frankie." He laughed again as he stared at Frank's typical attire. They used to be old buddies when they were younger, but Ray was forced to move. They ended up losing contact and their friendship.

"And you're still my lovely afroed friend!" He gave Ray a rib cracked hug around his chest, suffocating him for a second.

"Okay, Frankie, I can't breathe now." Ray pocked Frank's shoulder, trying to get him to release his grip.

"Oh, sorry." Frank smiled an innocent smile. He was shocked and excited about seeing Ray again. It had been years since they last saw each other.

"So, what brings you to Newark?" Frank asked, taking his seat back at the counter.

"Well you know, the usual; nice malls, good people, pretty flowers..." He trailed off, naming everything that seemed to make him want to go back to Newark. Frank frowned a bit, but tried to still be happy.

"I'm just kidding! I came because of you!" Ray smiled and laughed, noticing Frank's frowning face. Frank instantly smiled when he heard Ray was joking.

--

As the day went on, the two of them sat in the small record store, catching up with each other. It's amazing how much two people can miss when they're away from each other for a few years.

Frank was in the middle of telling Ray a story about a time when he ate sour skittles when his phone beeped out.

"Oh, I'm supposed to be going to lunch with Gerard right now." Frank had flipped open his phone and saw that it was just his alarm telling him the time.

"Oh, well I'll go then." Ray said as he straightened himself up. He was about to go through the doors when Frank called his name.

"Hey, come to lunch with me. You can meet him, I'm sure he won't mind." Frank told him, giving him puppy eyes. Ray sighed and stared down into those eyes, they seemed to sparkle more and more as seconds went by.

"Fine." He breathed out as Frank's face was taken over by a grin. As if he was given sugar, Frank hyped up.

He threw on his hoodie, grabbed his keys and pushed Ray out the door. He skipped to his car as Ray followed behind. The cold Jersey air seemed that much warmer to him.

--

When Frank and Ray walked through the doors of Starbucks, Frank spotted Gerard instantly. He walked over to the small wooden table and sat in the chair opposite Gerard's.

"Hi." Frank said, smiling at Gerard. He had been engulfed in a newspaper article and had barely noticed Frank walking in.

"Hey." He replied, finishing up the article he was reading. As his eyes hit that last word, he closed up the paper and set it off to the side.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought someone with me." Frank asked, his face morphed into a worried expression. As Gerard looked next Frank, he noticed a seemingly tall orange haired kid.

"Not at all, grab a seat." He gestured to a chair behind him, giving him a nice cheery smile.

Ray grabbed the chair and placed it at the only open spot on the table. Since the table was wedged against a window, there were only three places chairs could fit.

"I'm Ray." He extended his hand to Gerard. Gerard took it and gave it a firm grip, smiling as well.

"Gerard." He told him, dropping his hand down back on the table. "So, did you guys hear about that guy that was murdered?" He looked from Ray to Frank and back to Ray again.

"Sort of...I saw it on the news..." Frank trailed off, trying to remember what was said about the poor unfortunate soul.

"Oh yeah, I did. I watched the news last night. I heard he was so badly slaughtered that it was hard to even tell who it was." Ray suddenly pipped in.

The previous night, he had stayed up late just to watch the special program. Memories of the gruesome photos came flooding back into his memory.

"Oh really? The newspaper doesn't get into much detail. It says like near to nothing. Just about some guy who was killed and how they have lots of questions to answer and blah blah blah." Gerard shared his part of the story that he knew.

Murders were normal for Jersey. People were murdered so much, the news never really put up much about them, not until they knew every last detail. Living in Jersey, it wasn't scary for people to be murdered, its just what you had to deal with if you lived there.

"Yeah, I've heard a lot around here. I'm surprised they don't put exactly all they know on the news or in the paper. I heard somewhere that a couple of other people were murdered just like this guy. They all think its the same dude because of the way he brands his victims and how brutally he slaughters them." Ray told them, leaving his voice down at a whisper.

"How does he brand them?" Frankie asked, his childlike voice splitting through the eerie sense.

"I heard he marks them by slashing an x in the back of their neck. I heard that he slashes an x in their neck like years before he murders them. Its like his mark, like if your marked, your marked for death. If you're marked, there is no way to get off the list. I heard that they didn't even know the x was there, really." All three boys hairs stood on the back of their necks, a shiver playing around their spinal cords.