Behold... the cursed Gerard/Edward face swap. It actually doesn't look too bad the longer I look at it, but correct me if I'm wrong and going crazy.

____

"As I burn another page, as I look the other way, I still try to find my place in the diary of Jane. So tell me how it should be."
— 'The Diary of Jane', Breaking Benjamin.

The stares Frank and Gerard received during their walk to class were nearly insulting. Almost as if they couldn't believe Gerard bid Frank of all people the time of day, one of the most ordinary human beings to walk the earth. On another hand that looked through the glass in an outsider's perspective, Frank concluded he wouldn't stare, but he would be baffled if he witnessed the same scene. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about himself apart from the strange ability he possessed naturally, apart from the near fatal accident taking place on school grounds what felt like an entire year ago if Frank added into perspective how things had changed since then. Gerard wasn't blatantly displeased by Frank's presence anymore, a good sign, but also a mind boggling one Frank wouldn't be able to figure out for the rest of his days. Frank wondered how he could sleep peacefully during the following nights now that he was being entirely intoxicated by an individual he once believed was better to avoid.

With their desks within such close proximity, despite the small strip of space between the surfaces, Frank became aware of the lack of distance in a way he hadn't before. Nerves ricocheted throughout his body like the embers remaining from explosive fireworks and his heartbeat was the crashing drums of a parade surfing through streets once packed, now barren of signs of life. Frank had gotten used to invisible barriers threatening to freeze any living thing daring to come close enough to so much as graze the surface. Now that there was no such thing existing between them, Frank was flustered by the continuous glances Gerard flung his way, the fidgeting movements when Gerard was once practically a block of stone plastered to a seat. By the way his body language and tension bundled together intensely enough for Frank to sense it, Frank smugly assumed Gerard was also affected by his presence, the way Frank was affected by his.

It was strangely ego boosting to know a being as unreachable as Gerard Way would react to Frank's presence beside him in a way that wasn't negative. A spark of enthrallment cascaded through Frank's body and he cupped a loose hand around his blushing cheek to mask his flush, leaning forward on the desk for his elbow to rest comfortably. Frank took in a deep breath through his nose, containing the smallest smile threatening to curl at his lips, before he caught himself. He shouldn't have been smiling over a case that prior to their conversation at lunch practically nauseated him from the discomfort and the density of the unknown preying on his ever-twisting mind puzzling over every move Gerard made. Frank cleared his throat discreetly and pressed his lips together to wipe the smile from them, but he was certain it hadn't gone unnoticed. He met the eyes of a few classmates twisting around a bit in their seats to glance over their shoulders at him seated beside Gerard and he huffed quietly with annoyance.

"When will the interrogation process begin?" Gerard's voice became softer and more fluid when it was quieted to preserve his and Frank's privacy.

Frank's hand fell away from his cheek and he sighed, turning to meet Gerard's eyes silently dreading the influx of questions he knew were headed towards him. Frank found himself chuckling slightly at it.

"It's not an interrogation. I'm not like you." Frank kicked his backpack between his legs under the desk to keep it out of the way of someone approaching the front of the classroom to throw something away.

"I don't interrogate." Gerard's brows furrowed.

"You've grilled the fuck out of me twice." Frank's eyes swept around the classroom as he lowered his voice. "Our opinions clearly differ."

"Alright," Gerard refused to contribute to the argument in a slightly exasperated tone, "What are you planning on asking me?"

There was a plethora of inquiries hidden beneath Frank's tongue, not all appropriate for their current setting. His mind dimly recalled the unpleasant dreams causing him to thrash in his sleep, sending the whispers of chilling fog down the contours of his spine, a fluid shiver rushing through him. Frank shook off the lingering sensation and masked it by fidgeting, leaning back in his seat with his knees slightly spread. He tongued at the inside of his lip ring as his eyes flashed over to Gerard's firmly situated on him. His stomach fluttered and he asked a question bubbling to the forefront of his mind. He wanted to start off easy, questions anyone would ask while getting to know each other.

"What's your favorite color?" Frank asked.

Gerard arched one eyebrow as though he didn't believe Frank was being serious. He was as serious as a dead man in a grave, nodding along to encourage Gerard to answer.

"Eggplant."

"You can't just say purple?"

"It's a specific shade of purple," Gerard smirked faintly, "The perfect blend of warm and cool."

"Alright, eggplant." Frank rolled his eyes. "What's your favorite song right now?"

"First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes." Gerard answered instantly, almost catching Frank off guard.

Frank softened. "That song is really special to me."

"Is it?"

"Yeah . . . maybe I'll tell you about it one day." Frank knew he'd opened an opportunity for Gerard to flip the questioning around, he saw it brewing in his eyes. "Favorite movie?"

Gerard hesitated, and if Frank's eyes were mistaken, a hint of bashfulness crossed his face. "Phantom of the Opera. Although I must say I much prefer the broadway production over the movie."

Frank's lips automatically spread into an astonished smile. "Really? What do you like about it?"

"The character of the Phantom resonates with me. A ghastly looking man turned away by mankind for his face, condemned to live in the shadows. All he has is music until Christine appears. His love turns into obsession, this poor beast of a man who knows no difference between the two." Gerard's eyes unfocused as he drifted off into his observations. Frank could see how the character resonated with others, but something in Gerard's wistful voice said perhaps, deep down, he saw a piece of himself in the Phantom. It saddened Frank.

"I've never see the actual play. I might give it a chance." Frank softly said to coax Gerard away from the darkness.

Gerard blinked, returning to earth, and nodded, forcing a smile on his face. "Shall we move onto the real questions?"

Frank supposed they'd eased into the sway of a conversation. He drifted into a more complex mindset, questions not so light and simple.

"The first time we talked. Why did you get so uncomfortable when I asked about what your life is like?" Frank strangled the wavering breath rising in his throat to notice Gerard's instant recognition within him, meaning he hadn't disregarded the moments they came across each other.

Gerard grew visibly tense, but instead of drawing the titanium shutters down to keep hidden behind their nearly indestructible security, he balanced himself in Frank's view, determined to answer despite how it made him feel. Frank was appreciative of the summoned resilience and felt he could definitely get used to not being shoved into the darkness against his will.

"I'm a private person, to put it simply. We're all very private people as you may have noticed." Gerard said softly, selecting each word with care. "With constant rumors swirling around and the alienation, you could image we have difficulty trusting anyone so soon."

Frank hadn't considered trust issues before. Now that it was brought into the light, Frank felt a touch inconsiderate for being upset Gerard refused to open up any part of himself to Frank after prying answers from Frank about his own personal life. Then again, Frank didn't have the same intense trust issues. He didn't know what it felt like to be alienated to the point of being feared or at least very intimidated by classmates.

"I'm sorry." Frank whispered with true sympathy. "I didn't think about that."

"We prefer it this way. It's comfortable sticking to familiarity, having a routine." Gerard accepted Frank's apology with the gentleness of his eyes, but made it known it wasn't entirely needed. "There's enough of us to prevent anyone from feeling so alone."

"I get it. But it's nice to make friends, maybe step out of your comfort zone a little from time to time. That's how I started hanging out with the friends I have now." Frank webbed his fingers together and placed them on the desk. "I really didn't wanna start new or have to socialize and make new friends. But they came to me first and I went with it. It ended up being a good choice."

"For myself and my family, it isn't quite the same." Gerard's lips were haunted by the ghostly beginnings of a smile as he turned his eyes to the front of the classroom. "But it makes me glad to hear you've managed to find some happiness in this dreary little town."

Frank's heart wildly skipped over its normal thumping rhythm. Before he had the chance to untie his tongue and make up a fitting response, the teacher entered the classroom, rolling down the projector screen in front of the whiteboard.

The teacher announced that while he continued grading their projects, he'd be playing The Great Gatsby film on the projector, suggesting students to take notes on the events to guide them on an important test he intended to assign. As the class shuffled to gather their needed materials before the lights flicked off, Frank continued to speak to Gerard in a hushed tone.

"If you don't talk to anyone besides your family, then why did you talk to me on my first day?" Frank asked the second question that made an appearance as a result of the churning gears in his brain.

Gerard's faint smile vanished in favor of a placid expression with the edges hardened slightly, struggling to keep himself unguarded for Frank's sake without opening up entirely. His eyes skimmed over Frank thrice before settling and digging in, pinning Frank to his seat.

"Are you one of those people who refuse to accept the most subtle of compliments, and denies that anything about them might be seen in a positive light?" Gerard asked before delving into an explanation.

"Uh . . . I keep it to myself if I doubt anything." Frank curled his fingers tightly around his school binder as a flurry of possibilities for what was to come blew past him.

Gerard hummed very quietly. He held Frank's eyes, intent on keeping his gaze there. "You're intriguing. There isn't predictably in you. It leads me to become curious, and when I'm curious, I feel the urge to know everything."

Frank couldn't imagine how he out of all the students attending and the people Gerard came across outside of class was intriguing. Frank thought even his interests weren't extraordinary, drifting by in life constantly and adjusting like every other person, never finding anything inside him was spectacular enough to capture anyone's attention. Especially not a person who didn't take a liking to socializing with people outside of his circle.

"Well, I said I'd keep it to myself if I doubt anything you say." Frank mumbled while resisting the urge to claim there was nothing out of the ordinary about him. "I guess it just surprises me that you don't talk to anyone, but you're sitting here having a conversation with me."

The lights switched off and bathed the room in a shroud of minimum darkness, the only light seeping into the room radiating from the projector and the dull glow of the rumbling gray clouds knitting together outside the shield of thin shutters rolled over the windows. Frank's eyes scanned the room and met Gerard's again.

"I sensed something about you since the beginning." Gerard whispered and leaned in closer so it wouldn't be lost to Frank's ears. Frank suppressed a shudder from the close proximity, the sweep of Gerard's long lashes and the lock of hair curling around his jawline.

"I wasn't being very discreet." Frank admitted, recollecting how overwhelmed he felt to be suddenly become bombarded by Gerard's glaciers and roaring rivers. Frank managed to have some control over how it affected him, but it could never be muted, always lapping at the shore Frank distanced himself from.

"People tend to be afraid of or intimidated by me." Gerard swiftly retrieved a pen from his bag resting near him and tapped the tip against his notebook. "You were saddened. Seemingly riddled with grief. Wouldn't you want to know why someone would react to you that way?"

Frank didn't need to consider it for long. "Yeah, I would."

"That's why you are so interesting to me." Gerard murmured.

Frank understood well enough after having it explained to him, but Frank still couldn't fully make sense of the reasons behind Gerard's coldness. "If you were so interested, why did you push me away? I don't really buy that you did it because you don't think you'd be a good friend to me."

Gerard halted the tapping of his pen abruptly. His eyes pinned to the projection film towards the front of the room, pressing his lips into a thin line that disheartened Frank. Assuming Gerard wouldn't be answering his question, Frank let out a hushed sigh, opening his binder to an empty page to prepare to focus on the notes. He only turned his head again when, surprisingly, Gerard answered.

"Imagine getting through life without finding much interest in anyone, hardly making any friends." Gerard inclined his head in Frank's direction, still focused on the front board. "And one day, someone enters your life, seeming to know the emotions you've attempted to keep secret."

Frank pursed his lips while Gerard arched up an eyebrow, as though he knew he made a valid point. Frank's was tempted to stubbornly protest and not allot Gerard any excuses, but he decided against rising any tension between them. Frank sat back in his chair and digested Gerard's reasoning. He supposed it was frustrating to be seen through a carefully collected facade meant to deflect any lingering stares. Gerard managed to ward off everyone else except for Frank.

"I don't want to be your therapist." Frank reassured in case Gerard bristled against the idea of keeping Frank beside him.

Gerard's lips curved into a subtle smile and the movie projecting at the front of the room swam across his focused eyes. "Even if you did, I wouldn't allow it."

"I could be a great therapist." Frank wasn't sure how Gerard could divide his attention so expertly. He carried a conversation flawlessly without losing focus on the screen, drinking in every detail as assigned. Frank only dimly heard the audio and captured glimpses from the corner of his eyes, but all he saw was Gerard as he spoke, anticipating whatever he had to say next, for it was always unforeseeable.

"I'm sure you could be," Gerard murmured. His eyes dragged away from the front of the room at last and met Frank's, causing sparks to rattle through him. "So, now you understand my rude behavior. There won't be any more of that."

Frank's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?"

"I don't mean to hurt you," Gerard's voice softened into velvet rivers tunneling through hills of green, "I know you say I don't, but I've seen in your eyes that I have."

Frank's cheeks burned with rushing blood. He curled his hands up into loose fists and dropped them into his lap nervously. "You sure you can't read people, too?"

Gerard's little snort seemed to come from deep within, slipping with no control. He curled a hand around his mouth and looked away, the corners of his eyes wrinkling with the smile he concealed. "I'm not all-knowing like you, no."

Frank was surprised by how infectious Gerard's wholehearted amusement was. He found himself biting back a laugh of his own, tugging his lower lip into his mouth to chew at it and suppress the sound.

Once laughter faded into a lengthy silence of attempted concentration on schoolwork on Frank's side, a sudden insecurity dawned on him that he wondered if he should utter out loud. He reminded himself that it was his turn to ask any questions floating through his mind, unknowing of when he'd be given another opportunity. Frank scribbled down the ending to a sentence he worked on for his notes and set the pencil down once it was complete.

"How do I know that you're not acting like my friend just to get information out of me?" Frank blurted in as even and quiet of a voice as possible despite the way the theory made his stomach curl and flutter viscously, nothing like the way it did when Gerard acted kindly towards him. Frank settled himself and avoided Gerard's eyes darting in his direction.

"I'm not." Gerard was taken aback by the unexpected question. His sincerity was painfully clear, but Frank was still on the fence. Gerard had a way with words, a master of masquerade blending into the background for so long.

"I don't fully trust you yet, you know. I think that's fair enough." Frank mentioned his full trust had yet to be won over in case Gerard was fooled at any moment. Charm and an alluring aura weren't enough to completely win Frank over, he was smarter than that.

"I suppose it is . . ." Gerard trailed off, waiting for Frank to add more to his statement.

"This part of me isn't something I share with just anyone. My friends don't know." Frank carefully gathered his breath before turning his head. His eyes connected with Gerard, hypnotizing mossy green searching through Frank's soul to find his truth. Frank swallowed hard and struggled to pick up where he left off. "The only reason I told you is because you figured it out somehow."

Gerard nodded slowly. His lips parted softly, brows arching down a bit. "I wouldn't tell anyone about you, Frank."

In Frank's gut, he knew Gerard was being truthful. The resonance ebbed away a portion of his doubts, but it would take time for them to be eradicated. "That's not what I'm afraid of. I'm just, I'm worried you're gonna learn everything there is to know and go back to acting the way you were before."

Frank wasn't sure why it was so important to him that Gerard wouldn't twist around and turn to stone after he pried every bit of information he searched for out of Frank's brain. Perhaps it was his own tendency to stay fiercely loyal that lead him to being fearful of not having the same in return.

"I want to be your friend. But I'm not sure if I'd be the best friend for you, as I've said before." Gerard's hesitation laid on thick, but the honesty was inside his eyes trained on Frank, devoted to their focus. Frank was almost uncomfortable being the center of his undivided attention, someone so unintentionally intense and enigmatic.

Frank didn't take too well to his response, however.  He sighed quietly. "This is what I mean, Gerard. I don't want to share anything else with you if you can't guarantee you're not gonna be an asshole anymore."

"Harsh words. I suppose they're deserved." Gerard took a small pause after a faint wince flitted over his features. Frank almost regretted his choice of words. "It's . . . a work in progress. I promise I won't turn you away again."

"You mean that?" Frank asked, just to be sure.

"Cross my heart." Gerard's soft smile was higher on one end than the other, nearly a smirk, but his promise sank deeply under Frank's skin and was pure as a liquified bank of snow streaming through the mountains. Frank tapped into it and soaked it all in, willing it to settle permanently, but only because of his painfully human tendency to stay with lingering suspicion. Frank brightened with an idea quickly popping into his head.

"Okay — then prove it." Frank's smile grew at the confusion in Gerard's face.

"How do you want me to prove it?" Gerard asked, slightly uncomfortable in foreign territory.

Frank prayed he wouldn't be slaughtered for what he was about to do. "There's a party going on at Adam Lazzara's house this weekend. You should come. We can hang out."

Gerard's eyes widened. One eyebrow arched up high in a dubious fashion. "I don't think your friend would be very thrilled if I crashed his party."

Adam definitely wouldn't, and Frances would likely have his head, but Frank skillfully moved around that dilemma to take away Gerard's doubts with valid points. "I'm inviting you. It's not crashing. And besides, he's inviting people from others schools and fuck knows how many others."

Gerard considered Frank's points until the dubiousness faded from his face, replaced by a tiny grin. "You don't look like much of a party person."

Frank couldn't take offense to it if it was the truth. "I prefer kicking it back in my own room with my guitar, but I can socialize here and there."

"You're only going because Frances invited you."

Blood rushed to Frank's face in a second, so quickly it nearly dizzied him. Gerard turned his head to cough into his elbow, and Frank took the opportunity to sharply turn towards the front of the classroom, cupping a hand around his jaw and resting his elbow on the desk so his hand partially hid his burning cheek.

"I— well I— would you be able to say no to a girl twice in a row?" Frank stammered.

Gerard didn't laugh at Frank's chagrin, but instead surprised Frank with his response that came after a brief pause floating between them. "It's very kind of you to attend a party you'd rather avoid just so you won't let her down."

"Anyone would've done it." Frank mumbled.

"No, not anyone." Gerard swiftly jotted down a string of notes, submerging in his own thoughts for  a moment. Frank spent the silence absorbing the fact that Gerard thought he was kind. He shook away the urge to beam as the ridiculous giddiness simmered down and he sighed quietly to himself. He really needed to learn to control that or else he'd find himself in big trouble.

"Why were you eavesdropping on us anyway?" Frank asked once he recalled Gerard tuning in on his exchange with Frances.

"I have a class with Frances and Kayleigh Goldsworthy. I overheard them discussing her decision to ask you to the dance." Gerard's pen hovered above the pen as another smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He looked towards Frank almost fondly, taking Frank aback. "You're quite amusing when you're flustered. Did you know that?"

Frank caught onto the faintest and wildest inkling that, with Gerard's last statement, there was a mild flirtatious tone crossing the bridge of his words. Frank couldn't allow himself to ponder over it when Gerard was sat directly beside him and decided to dismiss the thought as a whole because it couldn't be the case. Gerard didn't strike Frank as the type to be interested in the same sex, unless he was phenomenally good at concealing that part of him. Many things remained as buried treasure in Gerard. Frank also brushed off the thought by simply knowing it was impossible for someone like Gerard to show interest in Frank if it came to his sexuality being the opposite of what Frank speculated at first glance. It was highly possible for someone like Frank to be an absolute goner for Gerard, but he wasn't going to open that can of worms.

"I'm glad you find my embarrassment amusing." Frank replied sarcastically and a little sigh fluttered out. "So are you coming to the party or not?"

Gerard considered it with a trace of a frown resting at his lips, leaving Frank to assume he was about to reject Frank's offer. To his surprise, Gerard softly clicked his tongue and said, "Alright. I'll go to the party."

Stunned, Frank's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't pick at the matter in case Gerard abruptly changed his mind. "Shit, okay. Well, uh. I'll just write down the details." He flipped his notebook open to a fresh page to jot down the address and time.

After Frank tore out the piece of paper and slid it onto Gerard's desk, Gerard picked it up and quickly skimmed over the jumble of less than elegant handwriting that was just legible enough to make sense. Gerard neatly tucked it away in his bag and turned to Frank.

"Does my agreeing to go convince you that I'm not being nosy?" Gerard arched one eyebrow questioningly.

Frank wouldn't make it so simple. "You need to actually show up to prove it."

"Why isn't my agreement enough?"

"Because you can be bullshitting me right now and leave me hanging on the night of the party." Frank wouldn't be fully convinced otherwise. Remaining wary, Frank boldly clung to Gerard's gaze without so much as blinking in between so he could understand Frank was as serious as ever.

"I'll be there." Gerard's vow materialized in his eyes and softened some of Frank's severity. He nodded his head slowly as Frank's frame released all remaining tension. If Frank couldn't fully trust Gerard yet, he could at least trust in his promise to accompany him at the upcoming event.

"I'll count on that." Frank blindly want to pick up his pencil before he disconnected his gaze from Gerard's, but misjudged the approximate distance between it and his moving hand. It began to roll, and Frank's scrambling to catch it went awry as it plummeted towards the ground.

Only to be caught by Gerard's quickly moving hand that Frank swore on his life he saw blurring from how it glided through the air with a perfect reflexive movement. Gerard snatched the pencil, his hand so still where it remained, capturing Frank's gasp rising in his throat and closing his airways from the suddenness. Frank's eyes widened theatrically. His heart stilled to think how quickly Gerard moved without thought, capturing the pencil in a quarter of a second to the point where his hand became a spectral blur in midair. His constant element of surprise struck Frank yet again, though that time, he captured it with his own eyes instead of being affected by the aftermath.

"Sorry. My reflexes are precise." Gerard muttered in a rush under his breath. He slammed the pencil back on the desk and quickly withdrew, rigidly adjusting in his seat with a tightened jaw. Frank followed his movements with his eyes.

"Precise?" Frank breathed, "Don't you mean eerily fast?"

"I was a baseball pitcher throughout my childhood," Gerard focused intently on the board ahead as he spoke in a monotone voice. "I brushed up on my reflexes and perfected them."

Frank knew the instincts of a pitcher, how they needed to follow the curve of the ball in seconds to capture it, but the speed at which Gerard constantly moved at was an oddity all on its own.

"Is that why you're always there at the right time?" Frank recollected all the times Gerard materialized out of thin air just when disaster was prepared to make prey out of him.

"You're just unobservant. Those times, I've stood nearby or I was already approaching you." Gerard spoke so fluently that it may as well had been memorized from a script specifically fabricated for scenarios such as the one he tangled into. Frank could only keep his astonished stare pinned onto the pencil resting on his desk again, clearly replaying the sharp blur of Gerard's hand capturing it. Even at the quickest speed, Frank's hand couldn't move fast enough for it to smear through air in a quarter of a second. It bordered being impossible.

"Guess so." Frank croaked as all conversation fell away in torn ribbons pooling around the silence.

The movie was completely lost to Frank, leaving him to not even attempt to catch up as he forced his eyes to the front of the room. The rusty feeling collecting in his throat was a familiar thing as he was once again taken aback, shoved a half step into the darkness at the cool asperity of a door slamming centimeters in front of his nose. Frank abstained from flinching at the ice encompassing his body in a bruising chill, fighting to make a scathing comment about being flung out into the blizzard without warning for the umpteenth time, but Frank only wired his jaw tightly shut. Frank knew he dug too deeply and asked for more than anyone else would when he was desperate to get to the bottom of a mystery, but the mystery at hand was a person, or an enigma in the end of the day as Frank's thoughts raced with oddities boggling his mind to no end.

That wouldn't be the end of things, and if Gerard believed that to be so, he was sorely mistaken. Frank didn't bite the bait that Gerard was striving to have him take; Frank wasn't brainless enough to believe someone's magical appearances at the most convenient times were a matter of coincidence. The incident with the vehicle in the parking lot, snatching up Frank's pencil with insane reflexes, exuding a silenced whisper yet keeping it just out of reach from Frank's fingertips. Something more was brewing, Frank would be certain to identify it in time. First, there was trust to be exchanged. Frank was willing to take the necessary steps to unveil the answers he needed.

"You drive me a little insane, Gerard Way." Frank found himself whispering in the hushed atmosphere laden with darkness painted in flickering images from a dated film.

Gerard's head inclined in Frank's direction. His gaze casted downwards so his lashes fanned out, and a knowing smile faintly curved the corners of his pale lips up. "What's life without any mystery?"

——

The evening of the party rolled in and it wasn't much of a struggle for Frank to persuade his mother into letting him go. She was only apprehensive in the beginning because of the lack of chaperoning, but the other end that wanted Frank to socialize in order to fully adjust in a new state outweighed her initial contemplating grimace. Since she worked odd hours, she trusted Frank wouldn't stay out until a ridiculous hour in the morning, but Frank couldn't stand sacrificing such a large quantity of sleep over a party, so he reassured her he wouldn't abuse the responsibility she entrusted him with.

Frank felt the urge to connect more with himself now that he was given the opportunity. After adorning himself in a causal hoodie along with a torn up pair of jeans, Frank decided to settle in front of a mirror for a brief moment before leaving to smear a touch of eyeliner around his eyes. He refrained from applying it while going to school since practically no one expressed themselves that way, especially not the male students, but from what he recalled, plenty of people went the extra mile for parties. If Frank was going to get used to his new surroundings, the least he could do was revert back to the version of himself that was comfortable in his own skin. He ruffled through his black hair in desperate need of a trim, but Frank figured it was in its awkward stage and wouldn't object to growing it out since keeping up with a hairstyle was a pain he didn't always have the patience for. He locked up the house as Linda instructed him to before hopping into his beloved wheezy truck and heading off in the direction of Adam's house.

Frank's stomach stirred with frayed nerves causing his fingers that weren't wrapped around the wheel to rhythmically tap against it, his eyes darting in all directions. He hadn't exactly mentioned to his friends that he invited one of the Way brothers to the party, assuming they'd refuse or grill him alive with an onslaught of questions about the suddenness of Frank's newfound friendship with one of the most elusive people in the entire school, if not the entire country. An element of surprise would have to do, although Frank couldn't be confident Gerard would show up the way he promised he would. He didn't explicitly say the words "I promise", but if the look in his eyes was anything to go by, Frank assumed there was at least an eighty percent chance he wouldn't go back on his word. Frank's willingness to entrust Gerard was different from his apprehension, for Gerard was an unpredictable person in the end. Frank supposed he'd need to see with his own eyes if the turbulence was worth the end result.

Frank parked along the curb since plenty of the parking spaces nearby were occupied by an abundance of both familiar and unfamiliar vehicles. Frank dreaded meeting strangers since his social capacity was fairly limited ever since he moved to Astoria, and he was never the most interactive person to begin with. He maneuvered past the puddles, still managing to waltz right through the edges of one, but he kept his cool that time since puddles weren't the worst thing he could come across in a rainy county. There was a time when he used to like rain because of the California droughts and roasting summers. When the showers came, he was relieved because they always arrived just when he was getting worried about the excessive dryness. He wriggled his ankle back and forth to rid of the droplets dotting his boots and continued on, entering the household coming to life with music.

As expected, there were plenty of faces he didn't recognize, all indulging in conversation and drinks, mingling with the faces that Frank was aquatinted with to some extent. The house wasn't extremely packed since the backyard was also occupied with groups of people surrounding a bonfire, so Frank was provided easy mobility as he continuously swept the area for his friends. His heart hammered every time his eyes came across with some similarity to Gerard; jet black hair, broad shoulders, fair complexion, even if Frank didn't believe anyone could achieve the same level of paleness Gerard's skin had. Frank released a breath he held in whenever the person turned around and they weren't who he anticipated them to be. Frank decided to shake his expectations for a moment to find one of his friends instead of searching for Gerard first.

Frank located Frances and Adam setting out dips and bowls of chips onto a foldout table, laughing amongst themselves.

"Hey guys." Frank made his presence known and shoved his hands in his pockets, offering a kind smile. They cheerfully greeted him back and tugged him towards the table.

"Frank! Just the man I've been looking for," Adam clapped Frank's shoulder harder than necessary, "I could use a hand getting the sodas in the ice chest. They've been devoured by the designated drivers."

"Don't talk down responsible people." Frances chastised Adam and turned to beam at Frank, the iciness of her oceanic eyes accentuated by smoky eyeshadow complimenting her long black dress and leather jacket. "I'm glad you showed up!"

"Glad to be here," Frank redirected his attention from the warmth exuding from her that was most definitely an air of affection exclusively for him, which only made his cheeks burn drastically. "Where's Ray?"

"He's in the kitchen whipping up more dip. This one is homemade. He's a fucking wizard in the kitchen, did you know that?" Adam's brows rose high.

"It doesn't surprise me," Frank grinned, "Let me help you guys out now that I'm here. Sorry I'm a little late, my truck is a geezer."

"No apology needed. Is that eyeliner? Iero's looking sexy."

Frank couldn't help the laughter that rose out of him, followed by Frances giggling and rolling her eyes.

"Every passing day, I question your straightness more and more."

"I can compliment my guys comfortably while still being straight, Frances Bean, settle down. Let's go provide those designated drivers their fill of soda."

Frank lended a helping hand after finding Ray in the kitchen and greeting him, maintaining a conversation with his friends while loading up a brand new ice chest full of two liter sodas and various cans buried in the crushed ice piled up at the bottom. He stole a can of Coke for himself, resulting in bullying from Adam before Frances swooped in to his defense. Frank's smile survived on his lips even if it grew faint for a moment, and he realized for a fleeting second that he was growing incredibly attached to the people who elicited laughter from him during the days when the gloom knitting in the sky above his head seemed a canvas of misery leaving him to second-guess his decision to move in with his mother again. He considered himself officially abandoned by his other band of friends who hadn't made an effort to reach out since he left despite his own efforts to evoke conversation, but it was never successful, and Frank wasn't going to waste him time putting his faith in people who no longer showed interest.

Instead of staying bitter, Frank valued the comradeships he formed in the present and shed his initial bit of unwillingness to socialize to involve himself in their conversations, finding it resulted in plenty of laughter and entertainment, to the point where Frank nearly forgot who he awaited for, but it never entirely trickled away from the back of his mind. His conscious brewed, drawing his eyes to his surroundings to frequently scan them, his breath hitching in the back of his throat whenever another parcel of hope was spent in vain.

"Dude, are you scared someone's gonna jump out and scare the shit out of you?" Ray jokingly asked once he picked up on Frank relentlessly checking around him.

Frank's cheeks blazed as all eyes turned on him curiously, the others who took notice of it, but weren't bold enough to question him about it.

"No, it's not like that." Frank shook his head and averted his eyes. Was he really about to admit the reason behind his mannerisms? He'd definitely be shaken left and right for it.

"What's up?" Frances hopped up on the counter and swung her legs back and forth, popping open a can of Dr. Pepper.

Frank's nervous hand went to the back of his head to run through his dark hair, raking through the locks and being hyperaware of every second that passed without delivering an answer. He sensed the knitting tension, an almost knowing atmosphere emitting from more than half of the group, all aside from Ray who asked out of genuine curiosity.

"I sort of . . . invited somebody." Frank couldn't make eye contact once it was gushing out of him.

Adam's clapping hands caused Frank to jerk in surprise at the loud noise followed by his boisterous voice. "He invited Gerard. I can fucking smell it, you owe me ten bucks, Francesca."

"My name is Frances, you dickbag. Jeez, at least let him tell us who it is before jumping to conclusions." Frances wheeled her wide eyes to Frank, silently pleading him to conjure up a different answer so her ten dollars would be spared.

It was a dead ringer of an assumption, Frank couldn't exactly cough up a lie for anyone's sake because he didn't hang out with anybody else outside of their circle and the occasional Kayleigh Goldsworthy plopping down at their lunch table. Frank's cheeks burned with blood, slight humiliation kicking in since it seemed Gerard would either be disastrously late or he chose he didn't need Frank's trust after all, deciding to leave him waiting all evening long just to return home exhausted and betrayed beyond words. To put it simply and in an outside perspective, Frank was most likely the idiot that got stood up when he should've seen it coming. Beautiful.

"I — okay, yes, I invited Gerard." Frank breathed out.

Adam laughed at Frances who swore and grimaced at her loss to some bet, which irked Frank, but he was smoothed over by Ray's concerned eyes showing no trace of amusement.

"Did he say he's running late or did he just leave you hanging?" Ray asked.

"I don't really have his number? I should've asked for it, that was kind of dumb of me." Frank pressed his hand against his flushed cheek in chagrin. "But I don't know if he's coming at all. He said he was."

"So are you two like . . . friends now or something?" Frances asked, a chuckle weaving through her words despite her puzzled expression.

"Yeah. We're friends." Frank thought back to the previous day where neither of them grilled each other questions; they only enthused over music they both mutually enjoyed, recommending band and musician names to each other after becoming familiar with their tastes. Gerard hadn't seemed too enigmatic then, despite some bumps in the road and moments where Frank braced himself for Gerard to call it off and storm off in the opposite direction for an unknown reason.

"I have no fucking idea how that happened, but you must have some magical powers if you've managed to become friends with Gerard Way of all people." Adam crossed his arms and leaned back in disbelief.

"How do you mean? I'm a cool guy." Frank tried to lighten up the atmosphere by popping a subtle joke, the side of his mouth tilting up.

"Obviously, but it's just really . . . intriguing, I guess is the appropriate word for it." Frances cocked her head to the side. "Didn't you hate his guts not that long ago?"

"I don't hate him. Hate is a super strong word, I just sort of disliked him. He was really rude." Frank justified his previous thoughts about Gerard. "He's pretty interesting when you get to know him."

"How did you get him to stop being an asshole?" Ray inquired.

"I gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"Did you diss him?" Adam's face nearly split with a grin, causing Frank to stifle a snort of his own in a futile attempt.

"A few times."

"Just when I thought my respect for you couldn't get any higher." Adam placed both hands over his heart in exaggerated pride. Frances laughed and lightly tapped Adam's side with her high heeled boot.

Their attention was drawn away from the topic when Kayleigh entered the kitchen with a warm greeting for the bunch, an unfamiliar girl trailing behind her with a soda in hand.

"My favorite girl!" Adam cried at her arrival.

"I'm not your favorite?" Frances pretended to sound offended.

"You're the wind beneath my wings, that's different." Adam mussed up her hair to her disdain and went to greet Kayleigh with enthusiasm.

"He's working on operation Goldsworthy, thanks to you." Ray murmured beside Frank so the others wouldn't capture it.

Frank's brows rose up high. "So he's gonna try to win her over?"

"Yup. Let's make sure he doesn't blow all of his chances for good." Ray lightly elbowed Frank's side, a gesture he returned with a snicker before his eyes trained back to the new girl standing in Kayleigh's shadow. She was dressed far more casually than the other girls, a baggy zip-up hoodie and torn jeans with worn Vans. She had thick black hair capturing the shine of the lights in the kitchen and she seemed timid, keeping to herself while Kayleigh giggled at whenever humorous thing Adam flung her way.

"Who's this?" Frances asked the words running through Frank's head, gesturing to the person who had yet to be introduced.

"This is Jamia!" Kayleigh spun around and gently pulled Jamia to stand beside her instead of keeping her hidden behind her back. "She's from Warrenton."

"The crappy little fishing town." Jamia clarified nervously, pink sweeping across her face as she glanced over everyone. Her eyes lingered on Frank who discreetly focused on the soothing waves he gathered from her, the essence of lavender in the spring breeze, but what mostly drew his attention was the strange sensation twirling along the top of his head that he knew this girl. He could guarantee he'd never seen her before in his life, but it was an odd familiarity. He pretended he hadn't been fixated on what energy exuded from her and pointed his eyes down at his soda to take a swig from it.

"Hey! I've heard that name before. You're Evan's sister, right?" Adam held his hand up for a high-five that Jamia timorously met with her own hand that was tiny in comparison to Adam's.

"Yes, but Evan's not here. I came down with a couple of friends." Jamia's voice was soft and feminine, almost too quiet for it to be comprehensible, but it seemed the type that gained volume when she moved around her initial nerves. Frank decided she was a pleasant person, perhaps one that required opening up to fully work out the linings of her soul.

"Aw, Evan's fun, shame he couldn't be here but it's nice to finally meet you." Ray held a polite hand out. "He's talked about you."

Jamia returned the gesture with pink blooming in her cheeks. "Yeah, it's my first time coming down to one of these parties."

"Make yourself at home," Adam gestured to the area with widespread arms, "Just don't break anything or my parents are gonna be mega pissed."

"Jamia doesn't have a destructive bone in her body." Kayleigh lightly scoffed at Adam, smirking at Jamia who nodded in agreement with a faint smile of her own.

"Just a warning before anyone dances on tables and drunkenly gives lap dances to each other," Adam teased before moving forward, beckoning everyone after him. "Let's not be party pissers, I didn't invite all these people here to be antisocial."

Although Frank dreaded socializing with strangers, he encouraged himself to go ahead with it so he didn't make either of his friends uncomfortable by him awkwardly lingering on the sidelines, kept to himself and his thoughts. His eyes consistently darted towards the entrance and scanned over the crowd in search of a specific face he hoped to capture, but he soon accepted halfway through the evening that his anticipation was only a futile hope that Gerard's sudden interest wasn't a singular moment of nosiness. He had his fill of quality time, whatever he addressed it as in his mind, and decided against debunking Frank's suspicions that it was all an act. At first, Frank's first instinct following his acceptance was a pang of hurt spreading through his chest, but he was quick to suppress it. However it would sting when he allowed his thoughts to return to it, none of it mattered in the present, because he couldn't depend on Gerard to be the sole reason to attend a party. He owed it to Frances, whose flirtations resumed through the night, and he figured in some ways he owed it to the rest of his group of friends for not providing them his regular company in favor of hanging around Gerard. A regretful error, he snidely thought, one that wouldn't be happening again.

Well into the evening, as Frances only elevated her boldness and took Frank's politeness as a mutual feeling, she was daring enough to ask Frank on a date. Put in a sticky situation where she noted she only hacked up the courage thanks to their friends she confided in for advice firsthand, Frank felt obliged to accept, but after thinking clearly, he couldn't string along someone he cared about only to avoid hurting her; that would only worsen matters when she eventually discovered his disinterest. Frances was lovely and an ideal girl to match up with, but something in Frank's heart didn't feel open enough to explore and see if something more could ever become of them.

Frank declining her gently caused an awkward atmosphere to hover in the air, so thick that he squirmed and made sure to avoid meeting her eyes the way she avoided meeting his. Inevitably, the others would hear about the rejection and there were a few ways the news would be handled, none Frank particularly looked forward to. All guilt aside, Frank knew he made the better decision that would only benefit Frances in the end; she was given the opportunity to move on.

Frank disentangled himself from anyone's side after that and skidded away to the kitchen for a breather. Everyone was more involved in the other sections of the house along with the back patio, lesser concerned with the kitchen after all food and drinks were distributed elsewhere. Frank detested being put in touchy situations that could only end in someone getting hurt. He was a bit annoyed by how off-putting it seemed and decided he ought to pray he wouldn't be disowned by the end of the night, even if it wasn't too likely in a realistic perspective. Frank itched for a cigarette to take the edge off, but he'd been cutting down recently so he wouldn't tempt his mother into returning to her addiction. Thankfully, it wasn't an intense dependency, but he felt the itch settling under his skin, the consequence of an old habit dying hard.

To his surprise, Frank found Jamia sitting at one of the kitchen stools, toying around with a bottle cap left behind by someone who popped open a drink at the counter. Her lips were pursed and she was deep in thought, one foot lightly tapping on the outer leg of the seat. Again, Frank felt that sense of familiarity in someone he'd never met before, and it was a curious thing considering she didn't even look similar to anyone he knew.

As if she sensed it as well, Jamia looked up expectantly and caught Frank's eye. Her eyes sprang open wider in surprise to see someone she barely knew at all. Frank felt compelled to greet her kindly so she didn't look so apprehensive and a tad bit scared.

"Hey." Frank sauntered casually into the kitchen, a disarming movement to let her know he wasn't going to be an arrogant jerk whose flirtations were unwanted. He never took offense when girls were skittish to be around him when they didn't have anyone they knew nearby, Frank found their reasons to be perfectly valid and the most he could do was reassure them he'd never harm anyone.

"Oh, hi." Jamia responded in her soft voice laced with timidness. She dragged a soda can closer to her chest and practically hugged it, her cheeks glowing pink.

"Did you lose Kayleigh?" Frank pointed out the girl he mentioned was no where nearby.

"More like she lost me," Jamia shrugged, "I don't really enjoy parties, I just wanted to get away from all the people for a little bit."

"I feel you." Frank agreed and tapped his foot against the tile. "I hope I'm not disrupting your peace."

"No, it's chill." Jamia waved off his worry, shedding some of her shyness the second she realized Frank was harmless. "I'm guessing you're here for the same reason as I am?"

"Yeah, I got a little uncomfortable." Frank noted without going into detail. "I'm still pretty new here, so I don't know a lot of people aside from my friends."

"You just moved out here?"

"A few weeks ago. I used to live in California."

Jamia wrinkled her nose in confusion at Frank's decision to escape the shimmering sun for the gloom and dampness of Astoria. Frank laughed out loud at her expression and nodded.

"Yeah, drastic change." Frank gestured to his surroundings. "Long story short, I'm spending time with my mom after living with my dad for a while. Let's just say I'm relieved she doesn't live in Alaska."

"I understand. But don't you miss the sunlight and warm weather? I crave it all the time . . . especially since my town is way worse than here." Jamia blew her bangs away from her face in disdain.

"Of course, but family is more important than weather. For me, at least."

Jamia's smile was wistful. "You're family oriented."

"Sure," Frank walked a bit closer to lean against the counter, "You aren't?"

"I would do almost anything for my brother. We're not very close to our parents. They're a little weird . . ." Jamia trailed off and it seemed she didn't intend to fill in the blanks.

Frank didn't pry and chose to change the subject instead. "If you don't like parties, what brought you here?" Frank realized how his words could've been taken offensively and felt a blush grazing under his skin. "I don't mean that in a bad way. It's a genuine question, I swear."

Jamia's small smile and breathy chuckle softened her face further. "I know how you meant it. Um, my brother and I were invited. The plan was that he was gonna show up and I wasn't. But he got the flu, so . . . he said we both couldn't blow Adam off. Kayleigh's my friend, she offered to pick me up and drive me out here."

"I don't think Kayleigh's mentioned you before."

"She knows a lot of people." Jamia's smile widened knowingly, revealing a row of pearly teeth. "If she went on about everyone she's friends with, she'd never stop talking."

Frank felt a smile of his own forming in return the second he caught sight of Jamia's grin. As he observed her for the few seconds they fell into comfortable silence, he realized Jamia was rather pretty. Her dark hair framed around a pale face, her eyes were dark and sleepy framed by thick lashes that tended to fall and sweep the tops of her flushed cheeks when she looked down. She had nervous hands that kept toying with her bottle cap the entire time she spoke with Frank like an absentminded habit. She hid herself in baggy clothes and didn't seem to care about touching her face up with makeup unless lightly filling in her thin eyebrows counted. She was a casual person, Frank gathered, harboring an inner zen he'd never come across in his entire lifetime, like a garden of lavender dripping with fresh dew from a new dawn.

Frank felt inclined to know more about her. He sat himself down one stool away from her so he wouldn't make her uncomfortable with the way the seats were practically huddled together. He leaned his arms on the counter and sighed softly, relaxing after standing for a good two hours. 

"Did you come here with your friends?" Jamia asked curiously.

"I drove here by myself in my bat mobile," Frank grinned crookedly, "A rusty old truck."

"I like rusty old trucks." Jamia flipped over the bottle cap and giggled.

"One more thing you and I have in common." Frank chuckled. "I guess you could say I'm here with my friends though." His smile faltered at the sharp memories of an individual face flickering through his mind, unwarranted. "Except for one."

Jamia arched an eyebrow, hesitating over whether or not she could question the matter that clearly perturbed Frank even if he struggled to hide it in front of others. Frank sighed quietly and met shiny dark eyes, feeling compelled to spill his guts out to their curious depths ringing out with a trace of innocence that was hard to track down these days.

"Just some guy. Him coming tonight would've proven something that was pretty important to me. But he never showed." The corner of Frank's lips twitched. "I should've guessed. He's a real mystery."

"Oh . . . you like him." Jamia sounded surprised, but all-knowing despite Frank believing he didn't leave any implications in his words for someone to draw that conclusion.

Frank was struck down by the assumption and felt his defenses flare up on instinct, because if he was being honest with himself, he was in a knot of emotion he couldn't unfurl to determine the roots balling him up in the first place. Frank hated being trapped in a state of confusion, it frustrated him endlessly.

"He was a friend. Now he's not." Frank opted for pretending he'd misinterpreted what Jamia meant and swiveled around in the chair, letting out a deep sigh.

Jamia slowly turned her seat in the same direction, the metal creaking quietly. Frank sensed that she knew he took the safe route to abstain from discussing the possibility of romantic feelings, but she didn't pry. She leaned back against the counter and nodded.

"Who's the guy?"Jamia sounded like she was still confident in her guess, and Frank couldn't help but to be the tiniest bit irked to not be the only one with intuition in the room.

"Uh, you might not know him," Frank tongued his lip ring, "His name's Gerard Way."

Across from him, Jamia stiffened. Her recognition came from a negative place in her heart causing her to press her lips together tight, a faint wince passing over her expression. It gripped Frank's intrigue and vowed to hold it prisoner until he got down to the bottom of Jamia's sudden discomfort.

"So you know him?" Frank's voice pitched higher due to the sudden tightness in his throat; he cleared his throat, embarrassed, and composed himself so he didn't seem too eager. It could've only been a natural reaction to the mention of someone who wasn't notorious for being the more gregarious person on the planet.

"I — I've actually never met him. I've just . . . heard things about him and his family. Really silly things, it's nothing important." Jamia rolled her eyes at the reminder, her mouth turning down into a frown since it must've been attached to another matter she didn't enjoy thinking about. But Frank was an insatiably curious being and if anything involved Gerard, it brought him one step closer to figuring out why mystery seemed to encompass every one of his movements, leaving his motives unknown.

"Really? What have you heard?" Frank asked.

"You'd probably think it's stupid." Jamia twiddled her thumbs and reached back for the bottle cap again to fidget with it, passing it from hand to hand in a twitchy pattern.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not dumb. A lot of people who go to school with the Way family sure have a lot of opinions." Frank pretended it was just a casual fact to ease Jamia up, coaxing the truth from her.

Jamia chewed her lower lip, contemplating with a crease between her brows. Her eyes flickered around the room for a moment. "It's not a matter of people thinking they're weird. And it's not really gossip if that's what you're looking for."

"I'm not interested in gossip," Frank was honest, "I think it would be a little comforting to know I'm not the only one who's infuriated with how cryptic Gerard is. His family too, but I've never personally met either of them."

Jamia released her lower lip and turned her eyes on Frank, assessing the truth he admitted, and slowly lowered her guard. Her fidgeting hands took a small pause as she raked up her thoughts to arrange everything properly. Frank felt his chest pulse in anticipation holding the faintest traces of dread.

"My parents are really weird. Like, they drove me and my brother away from how paranoid and superstitious they are. Mostly my mom, but when you're this unbreakable duo, it's not long before both people turn out the same. A lot of people in my town are like that." Jamia slowly began, choosing her words carefully. Frank nodded and inclined his body in her direction to let her know he clung to every syllable. She nervously swept her hair out of her eyes and continued. "It's because — well, they're really into witchcraft. They have all these creepy books and a basement to make all of their weird concoctions. When me and Evan were kids they would make up take these protective charms with us. My mom calls herself a witch, and she's always said that one day, I'll grow up to be just like her."

"Witches?" Frank wasn't sure how any of it involved the Way family, but he supposed patience was the best thing to hold onto while he listened.

"Yeah. They have all these legends and stories they'd share with us while we were growing up. Stuff about black magic, spirituality, supernatural things, superstitions. I don't understand why they thought it was okay to be sharing scary stories with their children, it was nightmare fuel . . . but they saved one and told us last year. I still think of it every now and then, I'll have these chilling dreams sometimes." Jamia's distress worsened, but Frank was sucked in, suspense building high.

"What was it?" The words left Frank's lips when he couldn't stand for there to be silence.

"Vampires," Jamia said the word softly, slowly, as though she feared speaking it aloud would summon one. "Creatures that kill to survive and live in darkness. My parents told me that they look like anyone else, they don't have fangs or claws and they don't burn to a crisp in the sun. They only said we should look out for the pale people with red eyes."

Frank felt a chill ripple down his spine. It was both disturbing and haunting to think there was a possibility vampires appeared as normal as every other human being, the only thing that separated them was the crimson irises leering through the shadows, piercing through human souls and devouring their blood to satiate their ravenous desire for the life-force in it.

"They told me — God, I just don't really believe this story I'm about to tell you, because it doesn't even fit the description." Jamia scoffed and shook her head. "They told me a story about our ancestors. A witch coven living here in Oregon. The ones who hunted, it was their life mission to protect the world from Hell's evil or something like that. Until one day, there was a family of vampires that wandered into witch territory — hunting animals. They swore they didn't feed on people the way other vampires did, they were just looking for a place to settle because they were tired of wandering. They claimed they were good."

"Like vegetarians?" Frank poked light fun at the diet being mentioned.

"I guess so," Jamia lightly smirked for a moment before immersing back into the story. "The witches could tell these vampires were being honest, wicked witch intuition. So they made a treaty. The vampires could live on witch land for however many years they wanted as long as they never killed a human being in their territory. The second they did, they'd be killed."

"What happened after that?"

"This is the crazy part I've been getting at." Jamia sat back and sighed, looking over at Frank. "My parents told me to this day, they're still here. They come and go so no one sees that they never age. According to our history, the vampires are the Way family."

Vampires had always been silly supernatural creatures living in graying horror films, the faded and newer pages of multiple novels selling millions of copies to the ones obsessed with horror culture. Frank indulged in some vampire media himself, engrossing himself in stories like the classic tale of Dracula and Anne Rice's superb creations. Frank knew it was all a silly campfire story to be romanticized or placed in hellish literature born from imaginative mind — so it came as a shock to him as his stomach plummeted as though he swallowed a stone. Another outbreak of chills circulated through his whole body, the hairs standing, and he felt his mouth go dry instantly. Frank tore his eyes away from Jamia and stared down at the floor instead, haunted by ghostly images of Gerard's glowing eyes and fair parlor swimming like images from a film across his vision.

"It doesn't make sense! Yeah, they're in dire need of a tan, but they don't have red eyes and they walk around during the day like it's nothing. Unless they'd go around wearing contacts, which I doubt. It sounds so silly." Jamia's hands slapped against her legs and startled Frank out of a place where he began to plummet. His throat felt like sandpaper as he struggled to understand what Jamia had said. When it registered, he saw she had a valid point.

"No, you're right," Frank sounded scratchy, "It's probably just something they told you cause they don't want you hanging around the Ways. Everyone thinks they're weird or bad news."

"That's exactly what I thought. But I don't know, the whole vampire thing got under my skin. It doesn't have to do with them, it's just disturbing to think of because my parents believe in these things so much that sometimes, I wonder if I'm the crazy one for not believing in them, too." Jamia gulped and stared down at her hands resting on her legs.

Silence filled the room. Frank felt it collecting in his belly like static from a television, his fingers fizzling just the same. Something was tugging at the back of his mind, unable to pass through the clog of information he was still processing sluggishly swirling in his head.

"I mean, you'd know if Gerard was a vampire, right?" Jamia chuckled to break the tension.

Frank smiled ruefully. "I don't think that's possible. But if he was, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Gosh. I don't believe bloodsuckers could eat animals. There's no way there can be an easy way out of something like that." Jamia sighed heavily.

"Yeah, definitely not." Frank left it there, sounding as distant as he felt.

At the ending of the evening, when the silver of moonlight was shrouded in clouds and the rains soaked the roads leading home, Frank made it back to his house at a reasonable hour with tiredness drying his eyes. The second he entered his bedroom, he changed his clothes, lazily wiping at the eyeliner around his eyes in front of the sink while brushing his teeth, and drained an entire glass of water before dropping into bed.

He couldn't quit shivering. It was aggravating when he was so exhausted, but images were swirling through his head. Fragments of Jamia's story, lore and media he'd collected subconsciously throughout the years. The word vampire tumbled endlessly through his mind like a spinning tunnel bringing a spell of dizziness over him. Frank rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to force sleep onto himself until he was given no other choice but to sneak some of his mother's melatonin tablets.

Hanging onto the threads of consciousness, Frank had an epiphany encircled by clouds of sleep. The description of vampires was a mirror image of his recent nightmare featuring Gerard with a pallid complexion and glowing red eyes. A vampire invaded his dreams again, and Frank was torn to shreds by the fear of freezing pale hands reaching out for him.

——
I hope that was enjoyable for everyone! I've added in some VERY big foreshadowing that will make more sense as Frank gradually unravels this mystery. I hope you'll stick around for it!

So yes, Jamia is our Jacob, if you couldn't tell. We'll be seeing much more of her in the sequel, but this isn't the last time you'll see her in this book!

Let me know your thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

"I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you. But who can decide what they dream? And dream I do."

-rosexo