If the Suspense Doesn't Kill Us, Something Else Will
Chapter Two
Coralline’s POV:
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and before I could remember where I was, I rolled over and hit the hard wooden floor with a thud. I heard a snigger from behind me, and then turned to see Mikey’s face peering down at mine.
“You fell.”
“Yes, Mikey, I did. Now be a gentleman and help me up.”
“I dunno, that’s not really me now is it?”
“Just do it.” He sighed then, giving up his game, and pulled me back up to lay in bed. It was then that I took a look around the dimly lit room and realised it was Gerard’s, and that I was probably in his bed. I’d had this dream before.
“Did you manage to get any sleep last night?” Mikey asked.
“No, not really.”
“Me neither. Gerard’s bed smells weird.” I subtly buried my nose into his pillow, but it didn’t smell weird at all. The smell reminded me of that time we’d all gone ice skating, my family and his, and he’d caught me just as I was about to fall. His jacket smelt of cigarettes, coffee, and… guys. His bed smelt exactly the same.
“I wonder how last night went.” A part of me wanted to know, but a part of me didn’t. I was hoping, just like every other person, that everybody was fine and that the media had just made things seem worse than they really are.
“I might go put the news on, or something,” Mikey said. “Join me when you’re ready, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sure your father’s fine, by the way. You should call him. You can use our phone.”
“I’m sure he’s fine, too. I just wish he wasn’t so far away. I mean I get it: it’s his job. But I’m his daughter…” Mikey rubbed my back before he climbed out over me, and left the room in relative darkness again as he closed the door behind him. I did understand, or at least, I tried very hard to. My dad had been offered a promotion a couple of months ago, with the rise of these… things, but he’d turned it down, because he’d have to move overseas. When my mother died, he decided he’d go for it. He decided he had to. I understood that he wanted to help find a way of beating these monsters, but moving to the UK made it less appealing. I wanted him to be helping find a way to destroy these things, but I wanted that position for him in the military to have been in our own country. He was needed overseas, and that was that. I had no say, in the end. It’d only been a week since he’d left, and still another 3 before his return for a couple of days. I wasn’t sure I could wait that long.
I’d started falling asleep again, with the darkness of the room not helping to keep me awake, when I jumped as I heard a noise come from the floor. I realised then that it would be Gerard, and felt horrible that he’d slept on his old mattress on the floor.
“Sleep well?” he asked, and I just nodded. He was sat there with his hair in every which direction, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Even as he yawned and attempted to get up holding his blanket around him, he still looked beautiful. No one should look like that in such early hours.
“I should let you dress,” I said, and slipped out of his warm bed. I’d slept in yesterday’s clothes, having not cared to change into pyjamas after last night’s ordeal.
“Actually, I’m headed to the shower anyway. If you could, you know, turn whilst I find my clothes, that’d be great.” I did as he asked and laughed as I heard him trip more than once before he told me all was good. I turned and he was still wrapped in the blanket he’d slept with, but he had clothes in his hands now.
“I might go join Mikey and watch the news,” I said, and he nodded towards me.
“Let me know what happened, if anything.”
“Sure.”
We had to turn the TV off, it was that bad. Of course the police couldn’t shut off all of the scenes before the media got to them with their cameras, and the news programs were all over it. The afternoon ended with me crying hysterically, and Mikey with a pale face. Gerard sat and watched the rest of it later on by himself, but you could tell it bothered him. He didn’t like those scenes any more than we had. I guess he just had the stomach for it, and we didn’t.
Gerard left early in the afternoon and wasn’t back by the time I’d left, which seemed to worry Mikey now more than it had in the past.
“He drinks now,” Mikey told me. “He drinks a lot now.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I knew Gerard drank. We all knew Gerard drank. With what was happening to the world, you really couldn’t blame him.
I sat on my bed in my room, the door already locked and my curtains drawn. I didn’t have the sense to buy bars for the house windows and even if I had, I couldn’t get them up all by myself. My dad told me before he’d left that I’d be fine as long as I was quiet and the lights were off by dark, but that was before the recent reports of these creatures coming into homes through their forgotten backdoors, or even breaking the glass windows on some occasions to get inside and take what they wanted. We’d been emailing since then, though, and he’d let me onto a few new discoveries. This new breed, they say, can open the doors. This new breed knows how to get what it wants. Some people have even reported that this new, Draculoid breed of monster can manipulate us, and that they’re picking up the languages of the world. I’ll admit that scares me, just a bit. And so I sat there staring at the window to my room all afternoon, waiting for that sun to go down.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and before I could remember where I was, I rolled over and hit the hard wooden floor with a thud. I heard a snigger from behind me, and then turned to see Mikey’s face peering down at mine.
“You fell.”
“Yes, Mikey, I did. Now be a gentleman and help me up.”
“I dunno, that’s not really me now is it?”
“Just do it.” He sighed then, giving up his game, and pulled me back up to lay in bed. It was then that I took a look around the dimly lit room and realised it was Gerard’s, and that I was probably in his bed. I’d had this dream before.
“Did you manage to get any sleep last night?” Mikey asked.
“No, not really.”
“Me neither. Gerard’s bed smells weird.” I subtly buried my nose into his pillow, but it didn’t smell weird at all. The smell reminded me of that time we’d all gone ice skating, my family and his, and he’d caught me just as I was about to fall. His jacket smelt of cigarettes, coffee, and… guys. His bed smelt exactly the same.
“I wonder how last night went.” A part of me wanted to know, but a part of me didn’t. I was hoping, just like every other person, that everybody was fine and that the media had just made things seem worse than they really are.
“I might go put the news on, or something,” Mikey said. “Join me when you’re ready, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sure your father’s fine, by the way. You should call him. You can use our phone.”
“I’m sure he’s fine, too. I just wish he wasn’t so far away. I mean I get it: it’s his job. But I’m his daughter…” Mikey rubbed my back before he climbed out over me, and left the room in relative darkness again as he closed the door behind him. I did understand, or at least, I tried very hard to. My dad had been offered a promotion a couple of months ago, with the rise of these… things, but he’d turned it down, because he’d have to move overseas. When my mother died, he decided he’d go for it. He decided he had to. I understood that he wanted to help find a way of beating these monsters, but moving to the UK made it less appealing. I wanted him to be helping find a way to destroy these things, but I wanted that position for him in the military to have been in our own country. He was needed overseas, and that was that. I had no say, in the end. It’d only been a week since he’d left, and still another 3 before his return for a couple of days. I wasn’t sure I could wait that long.
I’d started falling asleep again, with the darkness of the room not helping to keep me awake, when I jumped as I heard a noise come from the floor. I realised then that it would be Gerard, and felt horrible that he’d slept on his old mattress on the floor.
“Sleep well?” he asked, and I just nodded. He was sat there with his hair in every which direction, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Even as he yawned and attempted to get up holding his blanket around him, he still looked beautiful. No one should look like that in such early hours.
“I should let you dress,” I said, and slipped out of his warm bed. I’d slept in yesterday’s clothes, having not cared to change into pyjamas after last night’s ordeal.
“Actually, I’m headed to the shower anyway. If you could, you know, turn whilst I find my clothes, that’d be great.” I did as he asked and laughed as I heard him trip more than once before he told me all was good. I turned and he was still wrapped in the blanket he’d slept with, but he had clothes in his hands now.
“I might go join Mikey and watch the news,” I said, and he nodded towards me.
“Let me know what happened, if anything.”
“Sure.”
We had to turn the TV off, it was that bad. Of course the police couldn’t shut off all of the scenes before the media got to them with their cameras, and the news programs were all over it. The afternoon ended with me crying hysterically, and Mikey with a pale face. Gerard sat and watched the rest of it later on by himself, but you could tell it bothered him. He didn’t like those scenes any more than we had. I guess he just had the stomach for it, and we didn’t.
Gerard left early in the afternoon and wasn’t back by the time I’d left, which seemed to worry Mikey now more than it had in the past.
“He drinks now,” Mikey told me. “He drinks a lot now.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I knew Gerard drank. We all knew Gerard drank. With what was happening to the world, you really couldn’t blame him.
I sat on my bed in my room, the door already locked and my curtains drawn. I didn’t have the sense to buy bars for the house windows and even if I had, I couldn’t get them up all by myself. My dad told me before he’d left that I’d be fine as long as I was quiet and the lights were off by dark, but that was before the recent reports of these creatures coming into homes through their forgotten backdoors, or even breaking the glass windows on some occasions to get inside and take what they wanted. We’d been emailing since then, though, and he’d let me onto a few new discoveries. This new breed, they say, can open the doors. This new breed knows how to get what it wants. Some people have even reported that this new, Draculoid breed of monster can manipulate us, and that they’re picking up the languages of the world. I’ll admit that scares me, just a bit. And so I sat there staring at the window to my room all afternoon, waiting for that sun to go down.