Never Coming Home

They Glisten

It's day three now, trapped in the white and lifeless room. Frank and Gerard sit, sleepless and emotionless, listening to the sounds of the building: water dripping, air conditioners working, and the whistling wind blowing. The one thing Frank and Gerard knew for sure, they were high up.

"Hey.." Gerard whispered.

Frank looked over to him, his eyes droopy and sad. "What."

"If I grow my hair long enough, do you think we could break a window and climb down?"

Frank gave a small smile. "Shut it, Rapunzel."

"Sorry.." Gerard giggled, his smile quickly fading.

Frank looked away for a second, thinking. "How's your hand?" He asked, trying to fill the silence. Frank wasn't one for conversing. He always deemed himself too awkward for many things, things that included any form of communication.

"S' fine." Gerard responded, opening his fingers and stretching his dry cracked palm. "Stings like a bitch."

"I bet..." Frank said.

Again, the two sat silently.

Frank scanned his eyes over every inch of the room. They didn't even have bedsheets...

In other news, the window bars stopped buzzing. Frank guessed that they had no tools to break them open anyways, so why waste electricity?

Near the far corner of the room sat a small bathroom consisting of a toilet and a sink. No shower, so of course, the two boys could be smelled from a mile away.

"My hair is greasy.." Gerard sighed, twirling the thin black locks in between his fingers. "I don't think the grease has ever been this far down. It's right by the tips too. Hey Frank do you think I'd look cool with red hai-"

"Shut up." Frank interrupted, standing abruptly.

"Wha..?"

"I said shut up!" Frank hissed, pressing his ear to the metal door, carefully avoiding the handle.

There were voices coming from the outside.

"...special one who can withstand it..." said a familiar low pitched voice. It was the man from the speaker.

"And the other?" Piped in another voice, this one more delicate and light. It was a woman.

"... die soon. They don't ... anyways."

Frank didn't understand. He struggled to hear the lower pitched voice. Die soon? Who? Surely, it couldn't be one of them.. could it? Both Frank and Gerard felt healthy... enough.

"We can't risk getting more." Said the woman. "... looking suspicious."

Gerard spoke up, suddenly. "What time is it?!" He asked, panicked.

"No where near nine.." Frank whispered, looking back at his companion. "It's still dark out."

When Frank looked back, a hatch was slammed open and a pair of calf brown eyes with thick winged eyeliner stared at the two boys. Frank shrieked and stepped back, tripping over Gerard's legs in the process. The eyes squinted, almost as if the woman was smiling (or laughing), and two trays of sad cold food slid into the room from under the door. It wasn't much, just a carton of milk and a bologna sandwich, but damn were they hungry. They practically licked their trays clean. Frank even considered eating the milk carton, but come on, they weren't animals.

Quickly, the hatches closed and once again the eerie silence of the room filled the boy's ears. Who was that woman? Why had she decided to feed the boys? Was it out of some kind of pity, or was it because she had to? Frank had hoped for the latter, but he wouldn't be surprised if she did it out of obligation.

"Everyone at Parallax is insane." Frank thought out loud. Gerard nodded in agreement.

"Hey Gee? Can I call you that?" Frank paused, waiting for Gerard to respond. The boy nodded again, so Frank continued. "What did the speaker dude mean by.. you know, having no family?"

Gerard visibly tensed. His eyebrows scrunched in thought and the muscle in his jaw flickered. "Frank, I.."

"No no it's okay! You don't have to answer if you don't want to!" Frank interrupted, waving his hands in front of his face.

"No.." Gerard answered, his shoulders finally slumping. "It's fine... it's just," he sighed. "It's hard."

"I know.." Frank responded. "Trust me, I know."

The raven haired boy flicked his eyes up to meet Frank's eyes and automatically relaxed. There was just something about Frank that made everyone calm.. almost tranquil.

"My parents died a few years ago in a crash." Gerard began. "Then after that.. it was just my brother and I but he-" the boy took in a sharp breath. Somehow, he just couldn't get his mouth to form the words. His lungs wouldn't provide the breath he needed to form this sentence. After a few more tries, Gerard was finally able to speak. "He just couldn't handle the pain.. he- fuck-" The boy looked away, squeezing the tears out of his eyes.

"It's okay.. you don't have to explain more.." Frank said, embracing his friend. "I'm so sorry.."

"What happened, happened." Gerard said, glancing at Frank. "I can't change that, but.." He looked away. "But I didn't think I'd get punished for this.. I thought..... I don't know what I thought.."

"You thought maybe you could be happier." Frank mumbled. "You thought maybe now that he's gone, his pain is over and you would only have to worry about yourself for once."

Gerard blinked at the floor. "How-"

"Because," Frank interrupted, letting his eyes scan over his ink covered hands. "I've thought the same things about my mother."