The True Horror Began On Friday 13th

“Gerard you were out all evening yesterday –do you really have to go this early?” I asked as he dragged on his Doc Martins, “It’s only nine o’clock!” I practically begged. Gerard pulled his trousers down over his boots before kneeling down in front of me, “I hate it when you go-"

“Shh, you’ll be fine,” he murmured, holding my hands.

“I hate being on my own in the dark, all your lights go out randomly and I hear weird noises-“

“You have an over active imagination, don’t worry, the electricity is real bad. You’ll be fine, I have to go though okay?” he said, kissing my stomach quickly.

My stomach had actually gotten rather big actually, it was peculiar. The way the rest of you stays the same, apart from this alien bump on your stomach.

“Gerard –please,” I begged as he rose, his knee clicking a little.

“No,” he chuckled, resting his forehead against mine, “I. Have. To. Go,” he continued, pausing after each word, “I’ll be back at two am latest,” he said, pecking my lips, he sighed through his nose expressively, continuously leaving long wet kisses on my bottom lip, “I have to go,” he murmured, stepping back.

“Can’t you be back earlier?” I begged, following him down stairs wearing his ‘Hannibal’ shirt which I had taken to wearing as a nightie.

“It depends, the bookies gets quite busy –y’know guys looking for something to do after a drink? Why not bet on horses?” he chuckled, grabbing his navy blue dressing gown from the sofa and slinging it over my shoulders, “Now -up stairs, keep my side of the bed warm for me, go on,” he ordered, turning me around and giving me a light shove to get me walking. I trudged up stairs, sighing when I heard the front door slam. I turned around for a second, before gripping the banister and resigning to his bedroom.

I crawled into bed, shivering as the cold blankets hit my skin. I don’t know what Gerard meant ‘my side of the bed’ his side was the middle, the dent he had managed to make. I curled into the pillow, reaching out to click off the side light.

I lay there cold and stiff for hours.

This had been the ritual since he had gotten a job at that horse racing place.He'd go out early and come back late, some time going out as early as four. It always made me worry because he said he wasn't allowed his mobile on and he didn't know the number of the place,

Eventually he did come back though. I heard his footsteps in the hall, so I pretended to be asleep, just so it looked like I had at least tried. I could hear him chuck off his boots and start to pad up the stairs, his hand running up the banister.

“Dolly? Are you awake darling?” he whispered, coming into the room. I rolled over and sat up a little, moving towards him to give him a hug, “Oh, wait two seconds,” he said, stepping back, “I stink of sweat and guys. There was a work do and everyone wanted to go splash out on horses,” he chuckled, “Let me have a shower and then we can have a hug,” he said into the darkness.

“Okay,” I murmured, relaxing an awful lot now I knew he was back.

“You should be asleep Doll, it’s nearly one thirty, you need your rest,” he said whilst showering in the bathroom.

“I can’t sleep when you’re out,” I mumbled, walking dozily into the light bathroom, covering my eyes from the brightness.

“Go to bed sleepy, I’ll be in, intwo seconds,” Gerard chuckled, letting the shower door swing open seeing as it was impossible to jam close. He quickly turned around, so his back was facing towards me, “Doll, your blatantly tired,” he said, lathering his arms and legs up in hand wash because he’d used all his shower gel. He grabbed the shower head and washed himself off, hurriedly hanging a towel around his neck before stepping out.

He opened his arms and I fell into them happily, ignoring the fact he was still drenched. Gerard chuckled and kissed my forehead, leading us both into bedroom whilst trying to dry himself off.

I shrugged his dressing gown to the floor and climbed into bed, waiting impatiently for him to dry his hair. He turned off the bathroom light quickly and slipped in beside me, immediately throwing his leg over my hips and hooking his under mine

“What have you done with yourself this evening then?” he asked, rubbing his toe along my calf, “I’ve been thinking about you non stop.”

“Nothing, lay here, I hate it when you go out all night, I worry like anything,” I told him.

“I’m fine, I can look after myself,” he chuckled, rubbing his hand up and down my thigh and my side. I nodded into his damp chest, sighing as he started to peck my neck slowly, “You’re not too tired are you?” he asked, I shook my head and kissed his chest, letting him roll us over.

Gerard sighed and breathed in deeply, contently bringing his hand down to rub my neck unhurriedly. I brought my hands down and clasped his hips, noticing his face contort.

“Owch,” he hissed, biting his lip, I took my hands away abruptly.

“What?” I asked, pulling the covers down to his thighs, “What happened?” I asked, looking at the small red marks on his skin, “How’d you do that?”

“I tripped over the curb and this guy grabbed me by the hips, it was just too hard is all,” he murmured.

“Do the hurt lots?” I asked, mixing up my words from being tired.

“No, not really, I think we should leave it for tonight though, you’re too tired to even try and keep your eyes open,” he chuckled, rolling over so he was hovering above me, his damp hair dripping onto the pillow beneath my head.

“You’ve been working though, you deserve-“ Gerard cut me off with a small chuckle.

“Go to sleep, I can work myself out for a night –that is if you don’t mind?” he whispered, climbing out of bed whilst throwing on his robe, “I’ll be back in a couple minutes, go to sleep,” he smiled. I nodded and watched him leave the room, only noticing the slight red welts on his thighs as he left.