Inner Demons

Nadine was awoken by an unpleasant lurch in her stomach, followed by the sound of a door being opened. She opened her eyes to see Delia entering the room, still clad in her tight shirt and panties, a tired look plastered on her face, "There's still no power," she muttered, before crawling back into bed and curling her legs into her chest.

Nadine yawned and stretched, "What time is it?"

Delia moaned and rubbed her eyes, "9 ish, but I wouldn't go downstairs if I were you."

Nadine blinked, "Why?"

"Gerard is passed out on the steps and Frank looks like he could murder somebody." Delia sighed, turning to face Nadine.

Nadine bit her lip and sat up, "Maybe I should go get Gerard."

Delia shrugged and sniffed a bit, "I'm hungry..."

Nadine felt her stomach lurch again, then make a peculiar rumbling noise, "Me too... let's get some food."

The girls slid out of the bed and pulled on their jeans before slowly descending the staircase. Nadine felt her heavy feet beneath her, still somewhat asleep. She spotted Gerard curled up on the bottom two steps, sleeping quietly. Nadine crouched beside him, "Gee?"

"Get away from him." a sharp voice ordered.

The girls looked up to see Frank wielding a fire poker, a slightly insane look on his face. Delia nudged Gerard with her foot while Nadine stood up to face her brother. Gerard stirred and let out a deep whimper when he saw Frank. "What are you doing?" Nadine yelled.

"What are YOU doing?"

Nadine took in a deep breath, "Why can't I be with him, Frank? It's not hurting anybody!"

Frank dropped his arms to his sides and sighed dramatically, "Nadine, you dumb fuck! He's twice your age, and your my little sister!"

"DON'T CALL ME A DUMB FUCK!" Nadine roared, stepping closer to her brother.

Gerard cleared his throat, before yelling, "Be careful!"

Nadine stopped, Gerard was never afraid of Frank, ever. "What did you do to him?"

Frank stared at her blankly, but she yelled again, "What the FUCK did you do to him?"

Frank swallowed his fear and he felt as if he grew a bit taller, "Nothing, so don't worry about it!"

Nadine gasped and slapped Frank hard across the cheek, "What did you do Frank? How many times did you beat him last night?"

Frank hung his eyes and took in a sharp breath, "We didn't do anything!"

"Liar!" Gerard croaked, slinking up the stairs a bit.

Nadine snapped around at Frank, "You filthy bastard! Tell me what you did!"

Frank pushed against his sister, nearly knocking her over, "We hit him okay? It just happened!"

"He's your best friend!"

"He fucked my sister!"

Nadine stopped and exhaled deeply, "I asked him Frank, and I had sex with him the first time... I started all this."

Frank blinked, and stared up at Gerard, his fragile body curled up for protection on the couch. Then he turned back to Nadine, who had tears rolling down her cheeks, "If your gonna hit anybody hit me, just please, don't put Gerard through any more hell."

Frank sighed and slumped down to the ground, dropping the fire poker beside him. He gulped and buried his head in his hands, feeling Nadine run her hands down his back, "What else did you do, Frank?"

"That was it, I swear," he muttered.

She looked back at Gerard, who pursed his lips and laid his head on Delia's shoulders. Nadine fell to her feet and sighed as Frank wrapped his arms around her, "Why did you do it, Deeny?"

"I love him Frank." she whispered, trying her best to not cry.

Frank choked back tears as well, "Nadine, sweetie, you're 16, you don't know what love is."

Nadine shook her head, "I love Gerard! I really do!" she pleaded.

Frank rubbed her back, "Hun, there's a difference between lust and love, and even then, Love has so many different ranges." he explained, cupping her cheek.

"I love him Frank." she insisted.

Frank kissed her forehead softly, "I know hun... are you hungry?"

Nadine blinked at the sudden subject change, "Y-yeah, why?"

"I am too." he answered simply.

Nadine nodded and sniffed, "Can I go see Gerard now?" she asked timidly.

frank chewed on his lip a bit, and then nodded reluctantly, sighing as he watched his sister crawl over to Gerard and envelope him in a kiss. Frank fell back on his palms and sighed sadly, when would the madness just end? Ray appeared from the library, "Frank, what's going on? What about Nadine and Gerard?"

"I took care of it, now how about some breakfast?"

Ray blinked, "We have no power..."

Frank pointed to the door, "Go get some genius."

Ray rolled his eyes and Frank picked himself up, "If you guys wanna come in the library, it's really warm." he offered.

Delia nodded and raced towards the warmth, while Nadine and Gerard remained huddled on the staircase. Frank stood there awkwardly, "Look, dude, I'm really really sorry."

Gerard blew out a breath, "Yeah, I know... just, give it some time, okay?"

Frank nodded and walked off towards the library, "You don't think they hate me, do you?" Nadine asked nervously.

"If they hate anyone, it's me." Gerard sighed.

Nadine laid her head on his shoulder, "I'm sorry for causing all this." she muttered.

Gerard kissed her gently, "It's alright, I was the one who said 'yes'."

Nadine smiled and rubbed his chest, "Should we go in the library?"

Gerard shrugged and felt a hand snake its way around the back of his neck, "Oh, young love... how precious." Tara seethed.

Nadine gasped and tried to bat her away, feeling Gerard bolt into the the nearest room. She followed behind him, trying her best to keep Tara away. She slammed the door and sank into the couch, breathing hard. Everyone in the room stared at her and Gerard, with their faces sweaty and pale and their chests heaving. Ray made a face of disgust "I don't even wanna know what you two were just doing."

Nadine opened her mouth the speak, but the door was thrown open and Tara appeared in the room, "Hello fuckers."

**********************************
Nadine's eyes fluttered, and she could make out the sounds of Frank arguing with Ray about breakfast. She blinked dazedly and could feel Gerard wrapping his arms around her comfortingly, "You okay, hun?"

Nadine turned to face him and stared at him, "What?"

"You fell asleep there for a sec hun, you feeling okay?" Gerard asked, concerning laced in his voice.

Nadine nodded slowly, still not quite comprehending what was happening. Gerard furrowed his brow and dropped on hand off of Nadine's shoulder, "Hello in there?" he rapped her temple gently with his knuckle.

Nadine shook her head and smiled at him, "I'm really not sure if I'm asleep or not."

Gerard smirked, "Punch me then."

Nadine narrowed her gaze, but then shrugged and lugged Gerard hard in the shoulder. He yelped and instantly he cradled it in his hand, "You bitch!" he gasped.

"Your idea..." she replied smugly.

Gerard continued rubbing his shoulder, giving her a dirty look. Delia walked passed them, and stared at them, "Are you gonna just sit on those steps all day?"

Gerard nodded slowly, while Nadine stood up quickly, "Come on Gee, its a whole lot warmer in the library."

Gerard shrugged, "They hate me... I don't wanna start anything."

Nadine rolled her eyes, "They don't hate you, come on."

Gerard chewed on his lip, "I, uhh, need to get something from my room."

With that, he darted up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. Nadine turned back to Delia, who was shrugging her shoulders. The two walked back to the library together, and Nadine could feel Mikey's gaze burning into her skin. She hung her head, the long dark locks falling into her eyes, keeping Mikey's enraged face out of her vision. Delia ushered her over to the couch, and Nadine pressed herself into the corner, intent on staring out the frosted window. "You scheming bitch." Mikey seethed.

"Hey, watch your mouth!" Delia snapped.

"Get bent!" Mikey roared, his eyes flashing menacingly.

Bob blew out a sharp breath and shot Mikey a warning look, so he backed off Delia, turning back to Nadine, "You stupid little slut, what were you thinking?"

"I-I wasn't." she admitted softly, hanging her head and rubbing her sore thighs.

Mikey threw his hands up, "Finally she admits it!"

Nadine sniffled and blinked back tears. Where are you Gerard? she thought helplessly.

Mikey strode over and loomed above Nadine, glaring at her. Nadine squeaked softly, shielding her eyes from Mikey, "Look at me bitch!"

"STOP CALLING HER BITCH!" Delia screamed, rushing over to Mikey.

But Bob held her back, feeling her tiny body struggle against his. Mikey snorted loudly, "Nadine, look at me." his voice seemed to soften a bit.

Nadine whimpered and slowly lifted her head to look at Mikey, who looked somewhat upset, "Why, Deeny?"

Nadine choked back another sob and shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno, I was alone and sick of it."

Mikey rubbed her cheeks, "Do you know where Gerard is?"

Nadine shrugged half-heartedly, He said he was going to his room."

Mikey sighed and picked himself up, "Anyone care to join me?"

Nadine shook her head lightly, but Bob however, nodded, "I kinda got a bad feeling about this though."

Mikey blinked and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, whatever Bob."

The two mean left the library. Delia trotting behind them, keeping a keen eye on Mikey and Bob. They rounded up to the third floor, Bob's hand keeping a death grip on the railing, his knuckles white from the force. Mikey sighed gently and knocked on Gerard's door, "Gee, are you in there?"

Mikey got no response but a tired sounding moan. Bob blinked, "Is he sleeping?"

Mikey turned his gaze back towards the door and opened it slowly. He fell backwards into the railing, the overwhelming urge to vomit rising up in his throat. Gerard was sprawled across the ground, his arms bleeding heavily. Most of his stitches had been ripped out, as well as the metal bar keeping his wrist in place. Mikey ran over and shook Gerard feeling his cold, tight skin beneath his fingers. Bob stepped quietly into the room, kneeling next to Mikey, "I f-found this on the d-door." he half-sobbed.

Get out before i smoke you out

It was written in a strange dark ink, blood as Mikey feared. He turned back to his brother and rocked his body slowly, "Bob, go call an ambulance... and get Nadine up here."

Mikey turned over Gerard's left arm, inspecting the damage. It was far worse than any latter injury he received. The arm was almost healed, the stitches were becoming useless, but now, they had been torn out violently, ripping out chunks of flesh and destroying the mending tissue. Mikey cradled his arm sadly, stroking it and offering tiny words of comfort. Gerard moaned softly and opened blurry eyes, "What... Mikey?"

Mikey smiled, "Shh... who did this Gee?"

"I don't remember... where am I?" he whispered, curling into his brother.