So Long, Not Goodnight

Chapter Thirty-Two

The kitchen table was littered with open books and Frank's notes, as well as notepads and pencils for more thoughts that opened from the literature. Gerard had found some ground beef and tomatoes in the refrigerator and whipped up some penne bolognaise for them to eat for lunch. All the books that Gerard had borrowed were similar in nature: about witchcraft and it's history. They were all so vague and focused primarily on the witch trials in the United States and different types of magick. Gerard stood beside him, grating fresh parmesan into his bowl and wearing his mom's frilled apron. "Thanks babe," Frank leaned up as Gerard tilted his cheek down for Frank to kiss. 

"You find something?" Gerard spooned some pasta for himself before untying his apron and joining Frank at the table. 

"Uhm..." Frank's eyes flicked over his current read before he shut it closed and rubbed at his eyes. "Not from the books, no."

"Oh," Gerard slunk back in his seat, staring crestfallen into his noodles and stirring them around. "Damn... I was really hoping to get some answers." 

"I think I may have some," Frank pushed his somewhat crumpled paper over to Gerard. 

Unfolding the paper to show scratchy handwriting drew a curious expression on Gerard's face as his eyes flitted from phrases to quotes. The name brought him back to studying Ray's books on his bed years ago. "How serendipitous," Gerard placed his elbows up onto the table, rereading all that Frank had written.

Frank frowned, pursing his lips, pondering over the misuse of that word. "Serendipitous?" 

"Exactly!" Gerard slapped the paper down onto the table with one hand and gestured to it with his other. "Don't you see it, Frankie?"

"Uhm," Frank ran his teeth over his lip ring in thought, throwing a quizzical glance at Gerard. "I... Uh... Sorry, Gee, I got nothing."

"It's like a sign that this," Gerard slapped the paper before running his hands through his hair. "This right here! It isn't a coincidence that her name is also Helena, is it not? It has to be some kind of... Some kind of symbol, right? That we're on the right path... That this is what my Helena is trying to tell us... It's got to be..."

"Well for one thing," Frank said with a full mouth, wiping some stray sauce from the corners of his mouth. "It's about the only thing that I've read up on that seems to fit the best, that's for sure."

"The idea that everything is essentially related is spot fucking on," Gerard pushed his chair back from the table and got up to pace the kitchen. "And if you think further on that... On that there are countless planes of existence and that death isn't really a finality, but a beginning of some sorts that could potentially be it's own other pseudo life or just another stop in the road to another place... She can see back here, she is tied in some way... Torn between two planes of occurrence... But... One thing I can't understand is that she knows that we know she's here... But what is it does she need from us?"

His pace quickened, his hands kneading each other behind his back, face to the floor. "'As above, so below'... We understand that she is present among us... We know how she died... We know what had happened... We know the story..."

Popping another forkful of pasta into his mouth, Frank cocked his head to the side in thought. "Yeah... But we don't know everything, surely..."

The pacing stopped with a squeak from Gerard's soles. Frank rolled his neck towards the silence as Gerard slowly peered up from the floor to Frank's eyes. "Holy shit, Frankie," Gerard leaned over the table, spreading his fingers into fans on the wood. "You're absolutely right!"

Not even a second passed and Gerard was gone from the room, Frank could see the arms of his jacket flail in the doorway as he assumed Gerard was tugging it on. Taking one last bite of his meal, Frank bolted from his seat to join him in the foyer, shrugging on his own jacket and racing to pull his sneakers on to catch up with Gerard who was grabbing his keys and opening the front door. "Woah, give me a second, Gee," Frank hopped on one leg as he pulled his foot into his shoe, pulling the heel up from where it was indented. "Where are we going?"