So Long, Not Goodnight

Chapter Forty-Five

The density of the night air outside felt like a storm was beginning to brew, whipping the shrubbery around and whistling over the slope of the roof. A spiral of dead leaves and flowers spun up from Gerard's bare feet, around his legs and up his torso, finally circling his head. The glow of Helena's eyes glowed fiercely like headlights in a rearview mirror. Babbles of jumbled words that Frank couldn't make out fell from Gerard's lips in quick succession. His hands were open and centered towards each other making a circular loop with the arcs of his thumbs and fingers. "Semalf," yelled loudly from Gerard's lips in Helena's voice, trying to seize control over whatever was happening as the other sounds were swept up by the loud gusts of wind. 

There was a whoosh of air that shook between Gerard's open hands as a tiny glowing bead rolled over and over, becoming larger and larger until Frank noticed the licks of flames that tried to reach out but fell back inwards atop the globular form. Gerard's body tried to turn around, but Helena willed her host to keep forward, feet planted and holding all his muscles in place as they rumbled with need to twist and turn. "No!" Helena yelled, the ball of fire pulsing between Gerard's palms. "You can't control me anymore! I! Won't! Let! You!"

The inferno that she held glowed angrily, it's flames licking over Gerard's skin. Gerard's mouth snarled into a grimace as Helena forced his hands closer, cradling the fireball, and pushing with all their strength into it. The light grew brighter and brighter as Gerard's fingers clasped over it, his hands yellowing as he pushed the globe into his hands and Helena screamed. "Fuck! You!"

The wind sped up as Frank's nails dug into the splintering wood of the railing to keep himself still, feeling a cyclone tearing at the neck of his shirt. The light flickered and Gerard became Helena for a split second, the frail youth digging her fingertips into the orb, her veins popping up under her skin that became completely clear with the lights she held. There was a thunderous clap as Gerard's palms struck each other, quenching the flames that seeped through the words on his palms and glowed up through his body, lava coursing through him that glowed vibrantly and made it's way up to his eyes, mixing and mingling with the glowing green of Helena's. Rolling around inside his head and then slowing and softly extinguishing, making it's way back down his neck to his arms, still glowing but dimly, until a thick and steaming rush dripped out from his palms, scorching small holes in the deck below, pocking the wood and missing his toes by mere millimeters. "You can't control me anymore," Helena spat out in front of her, eyes wild with a new feeling of freedom. "Because from now on, I will always fight back."

Everything stopped, hushed, not even the wispiest breeze or a chirp of a cricket. The world stood still, a silent picture without subtitles. There was a ring of the dead leaves and torn flowers encircling Gerard's feet, their petals and thin veins didn't curl or teeter at all as they lay flatly on the boards of the porch wallpapered against the wood. Frank was still holding on to the banister for dear life, slightly letting himself go, unwary of the serenity around him. He broke his hold when he caught Gerard's eyes roll back, the back whites of them so bright compared to the tired blue circles underneath. He leaned forward, catching his fall as his knees just hovered over the porch and sitting him down, feeling his whole weight in his arms. After the longest few seconds to ever exist, Gerard's eyelids closed and when they blinked open wearily, Frank leaned down to kiss his boyfriend's return. "How's your head, baby?" Frank caressed the top of Gerard's scalp.

"Better," Gerard coughed and then smiled up at Frank, trying to get himself up to his feet. "I think I'm starting to acclimate to..." He shrugged and motioned all over himself and around him. "To whatever this is."

"I guess that's good, right?" Frank half smiled, helping Gerard up. "At least you shouldn't have to deal with it for much longer."

"Yeah, but at least now I know what's going on, regardless of how utterly insane it seems." Gerard took a step, stabilizing himself with the jamb of the porch sliding glass door.