Cursed

I was sleeping when he came in. Gerard had been out with Lindsey all day. I hadn't seen him since this morning. I'd fallen asleep in the Den, watching an old werewolf horror movie on TV. I was woken by the click of the door and heavy footsteps. Gerard stumbled in and I could just make out his silhouette. He leaned heavily against the wall, placing a hand out unsteadily for balance.

It took me a moment to realise he was hyperventilating. Struggling to keep his breath under control, he slid down the wall into a sitting position and curled his fists around his hair. He began to whimper to himself and heaved as if he was trying not to puke. When I spoke softly, he jumped and rushed into the adjoining bathroom. I sat up hurriedly and turned the light on. When I looked around, he'd thrown a bloodstained scarf on the floor.

“Oh my God!”

I rushed into the bathroom to find him bent over the toilet bowl, puking violently. Blood was on his hands and face. He looked up weakly in between bouts of vomit. Something had changed. Those white streaks in his hair were growing evermore prominent, his fingernails had grown into long sharp talons and as he spoke, I could see pointy teeth. It was happening, he'd started to change. I was right. He clung desperately to the toilet bowl. His voice was strained, cracked and hoarse.

“Get out!”

“What did you do? What happened?” I demanded.

He choked back a sob and tried to sit up. I dropped to my knees in front of him, with a wet cloth, and began to try and clean up his face a little bit. His eyes seemed glassed over as he wiped his sweaty hair from his face. His nails were frighteningly sharp; if he wasn't careful, he'd easily and effortlessly cut himself.

Fear wracked my heart. What was the story behind the blood? I couldn't imagine how I'd feel if he'd hurt someone. Perhaps he'd hurt Lindsey and left her lying by the side of a road somewhere. Maybe he'd hurt himself. I struggled to come to terms with the fact that I was potentially in the company of a killer. A killer who was opposite me, heaving and sobbing, trying to stutter out an explanation.

“I had this ache, Mikes. . .” He stuttered “And I thought it was because I wanted to fuck her but it was because I want to tear everything into. . . pieces! Like, rip it all up into nothing!”

So it had come to this. He was a killer. But whatever he'd done, I was going to help him hide this. We'd find a cure and get ourselves as far away from Jersey as we could. I wasn't going to leave him to deal with this alone. I guess I'd have to start by hiding any evidence.

Gerard propped himself against the wall heavily, completely oblivious to the fact that he'd just disclosed to me that he'd both lost his virginity and killed someone in the course of one evening. For all I knew, it might not have even been in that order. His eyes were glassy and his hair was sticky. He wasn't all there.

"She-she just tasted so. . . so good!"

“Where is she?” I questioned gingerly.

“Next door.”

* * *

Heaving myself up to peek over the wooden fence of next door, it took all of my self-discipline to not to cry out in disgust. There was a bloody corpse. A small frame, torn to the point it was almost unrecognisable. But I'd know that short curly brown fur anywhere. What the hell had he done?

Gerard looked up at me guiltily. He'd killed our neighbours dog and also gotten into their rabbit hutch from the look of it. I clambered down and looked at him.

“You killed them.”

“That dog,” He growled “It barked and barked and kept fucking barking at me. I got so angry so quickly. . . and I-I couldn't stop myself, Mikey! It just felt so good!”

As he retold the story I could see fear and excitement mixed together to make up that glint in his eye. Some part of him had enjoyed it. Somewhere inside him, he'd loved tearing those animals apart and feeling their blood growing sticky on his hands.What worried me was how deep inside him that part was, and how long it would remain dormant for. How long before he felt the uncontrollable desire to do it again? What if someone happened to cross his path at that time. They wouldn't be able to get away in time, no way. He'd kill again.

“We need to try something,” I insisted.

“Like?”

* * *

It had taken some convincing but he finally agreed to let me pierce his ear with the silver ring Frank had given me. I'd waited anxiously for him whilst he showered and cleaned himself up. He was now relaxing in front of the Den tv with a cigarette while he waited for me to sterilise the ring.

“It was pretty fantastic, Mikey,” He was bragging “I mean, I wasn't even nervous – I just wanted her so badly. It felt so good. You have to lose it soon! Then you'll understand!”

I was trying my best to ignore him. I didn't really want to picture Gerard and Lindsey going at it. In my mind that was their business and no one elses. What they did together was a private, personal experience and not for prying eyes or ears.

It mattered much more that we tried anything that could potentially wipe the virus from his system. I wanted my brother back to normal and okay again. But then it dawned on me. There was something he hadn't mentioned.

“Did you use anything?” I questioned.

He looked back at me and his casual, offhand glance said it all before he'd even uttered the apathetic “No.”

I pushed my fears to the back of my mind, hopefully nothing would come of this. Hopefully it was just me being paranoid. Gerard continued.

“It's not really something I planned, Mikes. And anyway, it totally ruins the moment if you stop and start searching through your wallet for one!”

I frowned. That most definitely hadn't been his opinion before. Mom and Dad had done their best to drill the importance of protection into us as soon as we were old enough to realise what our dicks were for. It was something Gerard had felt strongly about if he “met the right girl”. Yet here he was suddenly not giving two shits. He wasn't himself.

Once the needle and ring were sterilised, I inspected them carefully and watched Gerard finish his cigarette. He eyed the small ring of hope I held between my fingers. So much was being placed on this flimsy piece of silver.

“You really think this will work?” He questioned dubiously.

“We have to try something,” I answered “They used to believe pure metals purify the blood. There's no harm, right?”

“I guess not,” He replied “Okay, let's get this over with,” He continued, stubbing out his cigarette.

It was a relatively short process but it felt like forever. Gerard refused to stay still, his fear of needles kicking in. At one point I considered giving up after he swiped at me with those ridiculously sharp nails. I liked my face just the way it was – you know, not torn up into ribbons!

Once it was over, Gerard panted softly to himself and touched the ring now going through his ear lobe. He growled lowly to himself.

“How do you feel?” I questioned “Any different?”

“I feel awesome,” He smirked, inspecting those sharp claws.