Everyone Learns Faster On Fire

The strong aroma of cheap cologne suddenly filled his nostrils, making Frank come to his senses. His arms were in an awkward position, and it was only when he felt the dull twinge of pain in his hands and wrists, he realised that they were bound behind his back. A moan escaped from his lips as his head throbbed.
His eyes shot open. He was sitting, tied to a chair in his very own kitchen and that’s when everything came back. He could hear the distant sounds of banging and shouting, but couldn’t work out where they were coming from. He knew that the guy who had broken in was in the room somewhere, he could smell him. Frank tried turning his head, but suddenly felt something cool and smooth being pressed against his temple. He had a gun pressed to his head.

“Don’t worry. You’re boyfriend’s not getting in.” That deep voice whispered in his ear, as he felt his skin tremble against the barrel of the cool metal. “Just don’t say a word. I’ll just be me and you for a while… just us two alone with nobody to disturb us.”

Frank could feel himself slipping away again, becoming faint and dizzy. The room was spinning, but his eyes were still glued to the maniacal expression his captor wore on his face. He watched as the man put the gun on the table and then walked away from it.

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill you. I just want to play a little game.”

The man walked towards him, a sly smile playing over his lips.

“Frank, I want you to kiss me.” This man said, kneeling down before him. “I want to know what those lips feel like.”

*

“Score!” Gerard said to himself as he saw a car down the road vacate it’s parking space. He started the engine up and drove towards it before anyone else could jump in before him. Frank had been a while, and Gerard assumed that he had a lot to carry. If he could park here, he could go inside and help him out.

Gerard parked up and got out of the car. He looked at his watch. Frank had been about twenty minutes and hadn’t bought anything down yet.
He got to the door of the apartment block and was about to press the button to buzz apartment number 6. His finger was on the cool plastic, but the door suddenly opened and Frank’s nosy neighbour came out. She held the door open for him, tapping her foot impatiently.

“Thanks.” Gerard muttered, ignoring her look of disapproval. He could still feel her stare burning into his back as he climbed the stairs to Frank’s apartment.

There was a man standing outside. Gerard frowned.

“Hello, can I help you?” Gerard said. The man looked worried, he looked from Gerard to Frank’s door with a look of unease.

Figuring that the man was confused as to who he was, Gerard decided to introduce himself. “I’m Gerard. I’m Frank’s…erm…friend.”

Gerard felt uncomfortable saying the word ‘boyfriend’ to someone who may not have known what had been going on between Frank and Jamia. Keeping quiet about their relationship who save any awkward explanations if this guy had no idea that Jamia had left him.

The man still didn’t look any calmer. “Oh, hello. I‘m Mark and I live next door.” He started, pointing down the corridor. “I’m just a little worried…I heard shouting and banging around from your friend’s apartment a few minutes ago. I tried knocking a few times, but there was no answer.”

’What?’ Gerard thought. Now it was his turn to look confused. ’Shouting? Who could be in there? Jamia had given Frank the key back the other day.’

There was only one more possible answer. Gerard suddenly felt freezing cold. Seconds seemed to take hours as all the information sunk in. He was sure that Steve the stalker was in there. And he had Frank on his own. How could Gerard have been so stupid as to let Frank go in there by himself?

He pushed past the man and began banging violently on the door, shouting and screaming. He was sure that people in the apartments above and below could hear him, but he didn’t care.

“What’s going on?” The man beside him asked timidly as Gerard wrestled with the door handle. “Is he okay?”

Gerard ignored him and continued struggling with the front door. “We need to get inside! Frank! Can you hear me? FRANK! Let me in!”

*

Frank winced as the man pressed his chapped lips against his throbbing forehead. Right on the spot where he had just hit him with the gun. He could feel it swelling up, and his eye had been swollen shut from an earlier blow to the face.

“There.” The man smiled in satisfaction. “You are pretty…exactly my cousin’s type. But you’re obviously not pretty on the inside, are you?”

Frank shook his head, wanting to agree with him and not wanting to earn himself another punishing blow to the face. So far this guy had just been playing around with Frank. Forcing him to kiss him on the lips and touching him in places no one apart from Gerard should be able to touch. But he beat him if he made the slightest sound. He tried to call out to Gerard when he heard him first start yelling outside, and this guy had punched him straight in the centre of the face, bloodying his nose and allowing the blood to dry crustily over his lips.

“No, you’re not.” He shook his head. “You’re disgusting. How dare you sneak off with that man when your poor, innocent little Jamia is sitting at home, cooking for you! I may not be particularly close to her or see her very often, but I think it’s an insult to my family.”

Frank gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. “I don’t know how you can be related. Jamia’s ten times the person you are. You’re a monster!”

His outburst only earned himself another slap across the face. He winced, feeling the blow shake his entire body.

“I told you not to speak.” His captor said simply. “Just listen and do as you’re told.”

*

“Gerard! Where are you going?” Mark called after the man running down the stairs.

Mark did not hear his reply, but he followed him, sprinting out of the building and around the corner, almost knocking an elderly lady carrying her shopping bags off her feet.

Gerard had had a sudden idea. He remembered the time when he had climbed through the window in Frank’s bedroom. He could do that now!
Mark watched as Gerard climbed the fence surrounding the communal garden belonging to all of the residents with such little effort. Mark struggled to copy him, but the man he had only just met had offered him his hand and helped him over.

“Mark, you have to hurry up!” Gerard puffed as he ran over to the back of the building. A group of children who had been playing a game of Frisbee stopped and stared at them, wondering what all the commotion was about.

“You know, you could’ve just asked me to let you in the garden from the inside.” Mark frowned, but Gerard didn’t seem to be listening. Time was of the essence.

Gerard counted the windows along, just like he had done to first time, before mounting the drainpipe and scrambling on top of the roof of the building extension which jutted out into the garden.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Gerard heard Mark yell from below him.

“Climbing in though the window! What else?!”

Mark sighed. “I’ll go get a ladder. My God, I’m getting to old for all of this.”

Gerard decided to attempt climbing up from here again. He had done it once before, so he sure could do it again. Even though he didn’t have Frank’s help this time, he was sure the adrenaline fuelling his body would give him the energy to make it alone.

*

“What was that?” Steve had stopped pacing around the room, telling Frank what he thought of him and glanced into the vacant hallway.

SMASH!

’What the hell was that? Frank thought. It didn’t come from the direction of the front door, so Gerard couldn’t have got in.

Suddenly, Steve was behind him, untying the ropes that bound his hands and tried to drag him up from his seat. Frank thrashed and tried with all his will to escape from his grasp, receiving multiple punches and kicks along the way. He cried out in pain as Steve yanked forcefully at his hair, propelling him to the open hallway door, obviously trying to escape before anyone could see what had been going on.

All of a sudden, there was a scream from behind him and Steve fell to the ground, taking Frank with him. Frank willed for his legs to work, but they were just anchored to the ground like lead weights. He tried lifting himself up with his arms, but it was no use. He fell to the ground, defeated and sobbing.

“Frank!”

Frank turned his head around feebly. He gasped at what he saw.

Mark from next door had Steve by the neck, holding him up against the wall. Steve had his gun again, pressing it to Mark’s head, but in one swift motion, someone else had knocked it flying across the room.
Frank struggled to turn his head to see who it was, but he would recognise the voice that had called his name anywhere. It was the same voice that sung to thousands of kids around the planet, spreading the message that his band believed in. It was the same voice that had promised him a place in the band that saved his life. The same voice that told him that he loved him, before it’s owner kissed him goodnight. Gerard was here and everything would be okay.
To Frank, the events after that were a blur. The next thing he knew, Steve was on the floor and Gerard was standing over the top of him, pinning his arms behind his back. He could hear Mark talking into his mobile phone, probably calling the police.
Frank could feel his exhausted body slipping away from reality again. One of the last things he could remember before he blacked out was the familiar scent that told him Gerard was nearby and the feeling of Gerard’s soft lips on his cheek.

“Baby, I’m here! I told you I would get him!…Frankie, honey, please try to stay awake for me…Frank…”