Excerpt: The Curse

Chapter 19

Avery pulled away with a small smile in place, and he allowed himself to drift up a few feet and away from Frank. “Where did Shadows tell you he’d be staying?” Avery narrowed his eyes as Frank drifted up to join him, and shook his head a little.

“I promised I wouldn’t tell,” Avery fell back a few feet, Frank’s closeness apparently making him nervous.

“Avery, I need to find him,” Frank replied calmly, moving closer to him again, and he smiled a little as Avery all but jumped away in response.

“Come on Frankie, this isn’t funny.” Avery frowned and circled above Frank as the merman lowered himself to let his fluke tips brush the sandy floor.

“I know it isn’t, Avery. Just tell me where he is so I can get my affairs in order and leave.” Frank furrowed his brow and sighed in frustration. He opened his mouth to add something to his statement, when very suddenly his vision became hazy, and before he could ask Avery what was going on, his world went black.

~*~

Frank awoke several hours later with a nauseated groan. His hand moved to his forehead and he felt that it was burning hot. “Augh, I feel awful,” he mumbled, while blinking several times in an attempt to clear his vision, marred by great black splotches, as if he had been hit in the head by a two-by-four. His vision soon began to clear, and Shadows and Avery came into focus above him, concern etched upon both their faces.

Frank blinked once in confusion, then slowly began to sit up. When he did, his eyes widened and he gasped as a white-hot jolt of pain shot through his lower body and he all but threw himself down against the cold stone beneath him. He breathed slowly, his gills just a little more than gaping holes on the sides of his neck, exposing his pumping blood vessels beneath the thin layer of skin, seemingly engorged in his moment of panic. Avery and Shadows watched him silently as he gasped for breath, the corners of his eyes damp with frightened tears. He rolled his head to the side, and looked at Shadows. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

Shadows pursed his lips, then he hesitantly rose from where he rested and swam to Frank, who lay still on the cold stone. “Frankie,” Shadows began slowly, a hand moving to rake through the boy’s hair as he spoke, “do you know how close you came to dying?” blankly, Frank stared up at him, but did not vocally reply. Instead he slowly shook his head, though it was painful to do so. Shadows frowned and took a gentle hold upon his shoulders. “I am gonna sit you up. It’s going to hurt, but I can’t help you unless you can see the damage,” Frank visibly paled, but he did not speak as Shadows quickly sat him up, while Frank yelped from another sharp jolt of pain.

When Frank looked down at himself, he felt physically sick. His black fishtail, his pride and joy, was covered in black scabs, which greatly resembled misshapen barnacles. “I—what…” Frank could barely put together a coherent sentence, he reaching for one of the barnacles near his belly button, one of the few that had migrated from his fish-like lower half to his human skin. His fingers brushed over it gently, and he hissed in pain, pressing himself back against Shadows as he trembled almost violently.

“This is your skin’s reaction to living in your human form and the lake water for such a long period of time,” Shadows answered, while he gently rubbed Frank’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. “Unlike the Naiads, we are not accustomed to the harsher conditions of the freshwater. We are more delicate in this form, and we cannot survive in fresh water for long periods of time. Added to that, we do not get the nutrients our body needs from fresh water, so we become weaker.” as Shadows spoke, he had gently begun to pet Frank’s hair, a sign of affection Frank easily recognized. “Do you understand? We need to get you back to the sea,”—Shadows’ hand faltered a moment at the back of Frank’s neck—“or I fear that you may die.”

Frank tensed and he slowly turned to gaze up at Shadows, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Thankfully, Shadows seemed to know what he was thinking. “We’ll get you back to Jersey so you can say your good-byes to Gerard,” Shadows began, his voice rigid as if he was not speaking freely. “But for now, I forbid you from leaving this cavern, the salt water will help heal the wounds.” Unwillingly, Frank nodded. He turned very slightly and pressed his cheek against Shadows’ broad chest and closed his eyes.

“You never told me where we are,” Frank commented with a faint smile.

“Cabot Strait,” Shadows answered with a mirroring smile of amusement, “in a blue hole at the very bottom, so we won’t be found.”

~*~

A month passed, and Frank had come to find that Shadows was right. He had spent a great portion of this time resting in the blue hole, where Shadows would bring him food, if he was too weak to hunt on his own. Avery had left not long after Frank had begun to show signs of recovery, as the seawater was doing to him what the fresh water did to Frank, weakening him and making it difficult to fend for himself. After that first month of taking time to recover, Frank began to venture out of the blue hole and into the Atlantic regularly, but he kept in mind to stay well below the surface, to avoid being seen by whale watchers, or caught by fishermen.

One warm day in May, Frank was lazing in the blue hole, patiently waiting for Shadows to return. He did so an hour later, licking his lips, as if he had just finished feeding. He looked down at Frank and cocked a curious brow, then swam down to his level with a quick flick of his hunter green tail.

“Frankie?” he asked uncertainly, a hand moving out to instinctively comb through the young merman’s hair, “is everything alright?” Frank nodded but bit his lip, and he rested his hands flat against his tail, as if preparing himself for something. Frank kept silent, and Shadows moved closer, resting beside him while he waited for a reply.

“I—I want to say goodbye to Gerard,” Frank said finally, his voice trembling, and as a result Shadows had to strain to hear him properly. “I just…” Frank sighed, then tried again, “I just want to tell him that—that I love him, and I want the best for him, and living a secret life with something like—like me is not what he deserves.” By this point, he was crying softly, his tears invisible within the water. Shadows smiled, but he did not speak. Instead, he nodded and pulled Frank into a hug, letting Frank release the heartbreak that was slowly taking a toll on his mental state.

The following morning, Frank and Shadows set out on their small journey from the Cabot Strait to the shores of New Jersey in just under a day. They rested at the bottom of the sea, inside a shipwreck and the following morning Shadows navigated Frank through several small streams and rivers that led into the freshwater lakes. The arrived in the lake facing Gerard’s home at sundown, but Shadows refused to allow Frank to go to the house until they were sure the sun was completely set. At this time, Frank was all but bouncing, itching to go find Gerard.

“Frank!” Shadows said suddenly. The sun was set, and Frank, like an ADHD rabbit who forgot his Ritalin, was begging Shadows to let him go, at mach speed. Shadow’s sudden yell silenced him, and he looked up at Shadows, his head cocked to the side a little. “Calm down! Yes you can go, but promise me you won’t be long. I do not want to be here any longer than we need to be—if not for my sanity, than for your health.”

“I’ll be quick,” Frank whispered with a smile, his hand moving to grasp Shadows’, who squeezed it reassuringly. Frank glanced around for a moment, then he moved forward and planted a gentle kiss upon his lips, “I promise.” Frank slipped his hand out of Shadows’ grip, and in a flick of fair skin and black scales—he was gone.

When Frank surfaced in silence mere feet from the shore leading up to the Way household, he felt his stomach muscles tighten nervously. Sitting on the shore was Gerard, looking as if he had not slept since Frank had left. Great bags hung under his bloodshot eyes, and his skin was a shade paler than Frank remembered. He was trembling and staring longingly out at the water, though he seemed to have not noticed Frank’s return.

Frank kept still for a moment, watching him silently, staying in the five and a half foot-deep water, his fluke tips barely brushing the bottom of the lake.

“Frank, Frank…” Gerard whispered in a cracked tone of voice, “Please come back—I’m sorry, I’m sorry…I—I know you’re out there—S-somewhere, I just h-hope you can hear me—“ Gerard’s voice was on the verge of cracking, and Frank knew he had to cut him off.

“I can hear you perfectly, Gerard.” Gerard gasped and almost lost his balance, turning his gaze to Frank. He stared out wide-eyed at Frank, as if only noticing his presence and hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. He jumped to his feet and tore into the water, almost knocking Frank over with the force of the hug, and he clung to Frank as if his life depended on it.

“Oh God, Frank—I’m so sorry for—for everything I put you through, all—everything! I’m sorry Frank, I’m so sorry. I fucking love you, p-please don’t leave me again,” by this time, Gerard was sobbing against Frank’s chest, while Frank, with his vision clouded by tears, stroked Gerard’s hair and whispered reassuring words to him, his own voice just as cracked by his anguish—if not more.

Frank finally managed to pry Gerard off of him, and gently wiped the boy’s face, before he kissed Gerard gently, tears still streaming down his cheeks, and gently dripping into the water. “Gerard,” Frank whispered, his voice becoming more and more difficult to comprehend, from his trembling lower lip and tear-flooded eyes, it was clear this was very hard for Frank. “I love you, with all of my heart and all of my soul,” he gently kissed Gerard again, a small sob escaping him before he continued, “b-but this isn’t fair to you, or to me. I am not a lake-dweller; I almost died, staying here for you. And you are not a water-dweller. If you tried to visit my world, without the proper equipment, you would d-die,” Frank sniffled, and he roughly rubbed his eyes. “I-I’m letting you g-go G-Gerard,” Frank let out another sob, and Gerard began to slowly shake his head, his own eyes again flooding with tears. “L-Live your life, fall in l-love with someone m-more deserving…B-but p-please,” Frank kissed Gerard again, “D-don’t forget me.”

Slowly and unwillingly, Gerard nodded. “I could never forget you, Frank,” Gerard whispered, fearing that raising his voice would cause it to crack, “I love you, more than anything else in the world. I’ll never, ever forget you.” Gerard gripped onto Frank, as if fearing he would take off, and he kissed him. Their tears mingled together and their arms twisted around each other, holding on tightly as if their lives depended on it. When they broke apart, Gerard tearfully began to sing, “But this time, I mean it, I’ll let you know just how much you mean to me, As snow falls on desert sky—until the end of everything.” Frank slowly backed away from Gerard, the tears continuing to streak his cheeks, and he smiled weakly as Gerard sung, a smile Gerard returned.

“Until the end of everything,” Frank whispered, “I love you,” and without a moment’s hesitation, Frank was gone, disappearing into the inky depths of the water.

Gerard did not know how long he stood there, watching the ripples, the only remains of Frank’s presence. He smiled in spite of himself, and looked to the sky, “Until the end of everything.” Gerard echoed in a whisper, with that same odd smile. “We’ll meet again, Frank Iero.” Without another word, Gerard turned and stepped out of the water, knowing that one day, though he was not sure when, he would see the merboy that stole his heart again.