Chapter Text
“Happy birthday Frankie!” The three young men yelled in unison.
Frank peeled open his sleepy eyes to see his friends standing ominously at the foot of his bed in pitch darkness.
He turned to look at his alarm clock on his side table, and discovered it was exactly midnight. Fantastic.
”Thanks guys.” He tiredly said, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.
Don’t get me wrong, he was grateful his friends would stay up late just to wish him a happy birthday, but he had been finding it difficult to sleep lately, so he really didn’t love getting woken up in the middle of the night when it had taken him so long to fall asleep in the first place.
”Happy birthday Frankie!” They said again.
”Yep, i get it. Thanks.”
”Happy birthday Frankie!”
Dear god, not again.
Frank froze in his bed. It all felt so real. His warm bed sheets, the gentle breeze from the cracked window, the looming darkness covering his ‘friends’ faces. But he new it wasn’t. He had been having terrible nightmares every night for weeks now, but none as vivid as this.
He lingered in that position for god knows how long, just staring at them, until they started to change. Until everything did.
The room went cold, and somehow darker than it already was. He could hear trickling all around him, and when he touched the wall, he felt it was slick with a thick substance he guessed to be blood. The creatures at the foot of the bed changed too. Their faces went dark, and their eyes turned jet black.
The creatures began chanting in hushed voices. ”Mors cadet, sanguis pluet, spiritus intrabit.”
Fear ripped through Frank like a knife. He started shuffling into the corner of his bed that was pressed against the wall, but became soaked in blood. The creatures multiplied and began surrounding the bed, still chanting those awful words.
”Go away!” He screamed at the entities.
They didn’t listen, they never did. He grabbed his rosary from the bedside table and held it close to his chest, covered his ears and buried his face into his knees.
”Its just a dream, it’s just a dream, it’s just a dream.” He whispered to himself like a mantra.
Darkness encased him. The creatures were screaming now. It was as if they were inside his ears, encapsulating him in their awful sound.
When he couldn’t withstand it anymore, he thrashed his arm through the air, and screamed, “Get away from me!”
He woke up with a gasp, and immediately sat up in his bed.
His room was warm again, with golden sunlight peeking through his window. He could smell pancakes being cooked downstairs, and could hear the dull buzz of morning news from the tv.
He sighed before pulling himself out of bed. If this shit kept happening, he would die from lack of sleep.
He went straight to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face, hoping it would ground him.
When he looked in the mirror, he saw a shell of who he used to be. Ever since the nightmares started, his skin had gone pale, the crescent moon shaped bags under his eyes had gotten darker, and he looked unusually gaunt. He had told his friends it was just anaemia, but he knew it was something else. Something darker, that couldn’t be fixed with medication.
He splashed his face a few times, then turned off the tap. He left the cold bathroom and headed down the creaky wooden stairs, to find his friends — who were also his roommates — hastily sticking up black and red streamers, while a plate of burnt pancakes sat on their table.
Gerard glanced back at him, and quickly whispered something to Ray and Mikey.
“Happy birthday Frankie!” They all said in unison.
Frank had to slap on a fake smile to hide the utter fear that snaked its way onto his face.
It was exactly what those things had said to him in his dream, and he had to pinch himself to make sure he was really awake.
”Thanks guys.” He said with a small laugh.
”Oh, and happy Halloween!” Mikey chirped.
Frank gave him a genuine smile in return. Despite the horrors he was having to endure every night, he still loved Halloween. He had always found an eccentric beauty in scary things, and he wasn’t going to let whatever was torturing him change that.
They all sat down and started eating, striking up casual conversations about work and music, before finally, Gerard decided to reveal the surprise.
”So, Frank.. We were all thinking that as a sort-of birthday trip, we could drive down to that abandoned church in Warren county tonight.”
Franks eyes lit up. “Are you serious? Iv’e been wanting to go there for ages!”
”Yeah, we know. It’s kind of all you’ve been talking about for the past year.” Mikey said with a smile.
They began discussing the details, and decided that they would leave at around eight o’clock tonight.
The four of them went to their rooms to start packing, Gerard and Ray still having a loud conversation through their shared wall.
Frank hesitated in his doorway before stepping into his bedroom, immediately getting a shiver down his spine. His room had started to freak him out, even during the daytime.
He pulled an old backpack from the bottom of his cupboard and threw whatever clothes where within arms reach into it. They decided to stay the night at a nearby motel, so he thought it best to bring pyjamas and a toothbrush as well.
Mikey had the same idea, and was already in the bathroom grabbing his stuff when Frank got there.
”Hey,” Mikey said with a warm smile.
“Hey” Frank said back as casually as possible, though everything inside of him was screaming. He did not want to be alone with him.
He tried to grab his stuff and get out of the bathroom as fast as possible, but ended up tripping on the bathmat and falling right onto Mikey.
”God- fuck, sorry.” He quickly said, standing himself upright and turning his face away to hide the burning red blooming on his cheeks.
”No big deal dude.” Mikey said, completely oblivious to Franks pining.
Frank quickly left the cold room and practically ran back to his bedroom, where he promptly collapsed on his bed and scream into his pillow.
He hated himself for it. He felt like a sick dog that needed to be put down. He didn’t choose to be gay, and he certainly didn’t choose to fall in love with his best friend of 10 years. In his mind, he knew it was wrong to feel this way for another man. But every crevice of his soul and his body wanted it so badly that he ached every time he saw the tall, scrawny man.
He stopped wasting time on moping, and finished packing.
He went back down stairs and sat next to Gerard on the couch, who had presumably gotten Ray to pack for him.
”You excited?” Gerard asked.
”Yeah, hopefully it’s not haunted or anything though.” Frank laughed.
”Nah, that would make it more fun!”
Frank wanted to agree. But he felt like he was already being haunted, so he really didn’t need anymore evil spirits to deal with.
He was silent for a few moments, but decided to ask his friend a risky question.
”Gerard? Do you ever get… like, um- nightmares? I don’t mean regular nightmares, I mean really bad, vivid ones.”
Concern spread across Gerards face. “No, not bad ones. Why, do you?”
Before Frank could think of a lie to respond with, Ray slumped himself down between them.
”What’re you guys talking about?”
”Nothing!” Frank quickly said
Gerard shot him a concerned look, but didn’t push any further.
Frank breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t know why he decided to bring it up in the first place.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Between rushing around the apartment looking for things to pack, and birthday phone calls from family members he hadn’t talked to in years, by the time they were leaving, Frank wanted nothing more than a fun night with his friends.
Darkness crept through the sky as they drove deeper into rural New Jersey, passing hoards of kids dressed up as monsters with tired looking parents lagging behind. The roads were winding and gravelly, which Ray constantly complained about, despite insisting on being the one to drive.
The headlights lit up the church as they drove up the narrow road. It was a large, gothic style cathedral, with giant stained glass windows and sculptured ceilings. It looked completely out of place for a town like this, as if it had been stolen from a European city.
”Okay, this looks way creepier in person,” Gerard said. “Maybe we should come back in the morning.”
”No way! Don’t be a pussy Gee, we’re already here, and I do not feel like driving all the way back into that creepy ass town already.” Mikey replied.
Gerard sighed and nodded in reply. The four of them got out of the car and grabbed their bags from the trunk, double checking to make sure they brought everything they needed.
Mikey went a bit overboard, and brought holy water and a crucifix. “Dude, fuck are you gonna need those for?” Ray asked him.
”Im not taking any chances.” He replied while walking off from the car and towards the church.
They all gathered in front of the large double doors, which happened to be boarded up.
”Well, I don’t think we can pick the lock.” Frank said somewhat sarcastically.
The four of them stared at the door for a few moments, before Mikey got a stupid, wonderfull idea. He dropped his bag in front of him and fell to his knees, rifling through it to find the crucifix.
He pulled it out and held it up to the group.
Ray shot him a suspicious look. ”What, you gonna pray the door open?”
”Nope. Im gonna smash a window.”
”Dude, messing with a church? I think you’re going to hell.” Gerard laughed at him.
”Well I guess i’ll see you guys down there.” and with that, he walked up to a red stained window, and smashed it through with the cross.
Glass shattered everywhere, and they would have to put a jacket over the window sill to not get stabbed when they climbed through, but at least they found a way in.
Frank was the first to enter the church, which his friends said it was because he was the birthday boy, but he knew it was really because they were all scared shitless.
The air was still, and the moonlight cast a bright light directly onto the giant cross that stood upon the alter. He started looking around, and saw that the pews had wood-rot and were covered in dust. It looked like nobody had been in here for a hundred years. The ceiling was tall, with intricate sculptures and paintings in abundance. Stained glass windows lined the walls, and a long, red carpet ran from the large double doors up to the altar.
As he walked further through the church, he started to hear whispering. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but he recognised the voices. They were the same ones from his nightmare.
He had somehow ended up standing in the middle of the alter without realising it, and nearly screamed when Ray tapped him on the shoulder.
”Dude, you deaf or something? We’ve called your name like five times,”
”Oh, uh- sorry. Sound must not travel well in here.”
”Frankie, this is the most echo-ey place iv’e ever been in, I think the sound travels fine.” Ray said, but now he sounded concerned rather than annoyed.
”Yeah, sorry.” Frank replied, walking back over to Gerard and Mikey with Ray.
Gerard smiled at the two of them when he saw them approaching, but his face quickly turned worried.
”Frankie, you okay? You look really bad.”
”Thanks Gerard, thats so nice of you to say!” Frank sarcastically replied.
”No, he’s right. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Mikey said.
Frank rolled his eyes at them and walked over to a window to see his reflection. He was horrified to learn they were right, he did look bad. His eye bags were darker, his skin got paler, and his hair looked like it was somehow thinning.
He swallowed the panic that was rising in his throat, threatening to crawl out of him. Maybe this was a bad idea. Going to a haunted church when he already had supernatural shit going on? How stupid was he.
He hid his terror behind a fake smile, and walked back over to the group. “Iv’e probably just got a cold or something,”
The three of them exchanged glances, knowing that whatever was wrong with Frank wasn’t a cold, but not wanting to push him for the truth.
”Alright, lets just look around.” Gerard said solemnly.
The four of them split up. Mikey sat on the rotten pews and dug through his bag for his cellphone and holy water. Gerard went to the front of the church to look at some creepy paintings of Jesus on the cross, and Ray flipped through an old bible that was laying on the floor. Frank however, felt drawn back to the alter.
As he started walking back to the tabernacle, the whispering returned, only louder this time.
“Mors cadet, sanguis pluet, spiritus intrabit. Mors cadet, sanguis pluet, spiritus intrabit. Mors cadet, sanguis pluet, spiritus intrabit.”
It chanted this over and over again, growing louder by the second. Frank was standing on the alter, staring up at the cross, unable to hear anything but the whispering.
He felt his body go cold. His vision went fuzzy, and his eyes turned from hazel to black. He fell to his knees, then to his back. He saw the creatures from his dream surround him. they looked like shadows, staring down at him with beady eyes, still chanting that horrible mantra.
He didn’t notice until now, that his friends were also surrounding him, yelling his name and trying to shake him out of this trance, but to no avail. His body started to convulse, and screams of bloody murder ripped through his throat.
He couldn’t feel anything but the cold, and couldn’t hear anything but the whispering.
“Make it stop,
dear god make it stop!”
He didn’t know if that was his thoughts, his own voice, or his friends yelling.
Then it all stopped. He stopped shaking, stopped screaming, and dried the tears from his face that he didn’t even know where there. But it wasn’t him. He couldn’t control his own body. He could feel something in him, something dark.
“Frankie! What the fuck just happened, are you okay?!” Ray yelled down at him.
”Ha! I can’t believe you guys fell for that! You should’ve seen your faces!” Frank said while laughing
The three of them stared at him in disbelief.
”Are you fucking serious?” Mikey spat, anger in his voice, to which Frank just started maniacally laughing.
Gerard gave him a hard shove, and they all got up off the floor, leaving him to his own devices.
Frank fell in and out of consciousness, and each time, he was doing something different. The first time, he saw himself laying on the floor and laughing while his friends walked off. The second time, he was standing in a dark corner of the church, staring at Gerard.
Gee was grabbing a water bottle out of his bag, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Frank in a corner, staring daggers at him.
He offered a small wave, which was not reciprocated. He was starting to get really concerned about Frank. With the stuff he was saying about nightmares earlier today, the constant look of fear on his face for the past few weeks, and now the little stunt he pulled on the alter, he was beginning to think something may be really wrong. He turned back to his bag and put his water bottle back, too on edge to drink from it, and when he turned back around, Frank was right behind him.
“Jesus!” He yelled in shock. “Dude, don’t sneak up on me like that!”
Frank smiled at him crookedly, seemingly pleased at the reaction he got out of him.
Gerard knew there was something different about Frank, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was, so he just shrugged it off. He walked over to Ray, and Frank lingered behind. He decided Gerard would be the first.
Frank hadn’t even noticed that he lost consciousness again. It was like he was fighting sedation, and failing miserably. He could barely even think, not with that thing occupying his mind.
”Hey, Ray?” Gerard asked, and put a hand on the curly haired mans shoulder.
”Whats up?”
”I think theres something wrong with Frank… He’s acting really.. Strange.”
Ray looked over Gerards shoulder at Frank to see what he was talking about, and was horrified to see blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, and a sick, amused look on his face.
”Jesus fucking christ…” Ray muttered.
Gerard turned to see what had warranted this reaction in Ray, and met the same awful sight.
Mikey got up of his seat in the pews and walked over to the two of them, concerned about the terrified looks on their faces.
”Whats wrong?” He asked.
They both pointed at Frank.
Mikey's jaw dropped to the floor when he saw him.
The three of them were frozen in place, watching as blood dripped off their friends face and onto the floor, still with that uncanny smile on his face.
Frank started rapidly approaching them. Not running, but not quite walking either. It was as if his limbs weren’t his own, and he had to fight to control them.
When he reached them, he raised his hand, which was now holding Mikey’s crucifix, and thrashed it down on Gerards head.
He fell to the floor with a yelp of pain. Mikey quickly bent down to help him, and Ray shoved Frank backwards, hard.
The eerie smile was gone from his face now, replaced by wretched sneer.
”What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Ray yelled at him.
When Frank opened his mouth to speak, blood poured down his chin, and his eyes flashed with anger. “Mors cadet,” He said in an animalistic voice.
Confusion spread across Rays face, before he came to a horrifying conclusion. That isn’t Frank.
Frank blinked back into consciousness, and saw himself punching Ray in the gut, making him double over in pain. He then kicked him aside, and walked over to Gerard.
”Aren’t you lucky? Im letting you die first, that way you wont have to see what i’m going to do to your brother and your… ‘friend’” Frank said, blood dripping from his mouth into Gerards hair, who was staring up at him with a petrified look on his face.
Gerard was struck with fear. The possibility of getting killed was now very real, but what he was more worried about was what that thing possessing Frank was implying when he said the word ‘Friend’. Frank wasn’t supposed to know.
As Frank was about to raise the crucifix to strike again, Ray grabbed him from behind, and threw him to the floor. It was lucky Frank was so small.
Mikey quickly helped Gerard back on his feet, and they went to stand next to Ray. The three of them stared down at their friend—no, the shell of their friend, and waited for him to try something else.
He didn’t though. He laid there on the floor, propping himself up on his elbows.
”I think i’ll let Frankie say one last goodbye.” And with that, he started convulsing again, screaming at the top of his lungs.
The three of them ran towards him and bent down beside him.
Frank stopped screaming and shaking. His eyes snapped open and returned to their usual hazel. He immediately started dry heaving.
His friends helped him onto his knees as he started spitting out blood.
”Frankie, oh god,” Mikey said, his voice shaking.
Through retches and spits of blood, Frank started speaking in broken sentences
”Please… don’t let it in me again,” He was sobbing now. “It’s so scary.. Its so so scar-“
His sentence was interrupted by a wave of nausea. He heaved deeply, and spat up more blood.
The three of them gave each other solemn, terrified looks. What the hell were they going to do?
Suddenly, Frank fell to his side and started screaming again. Blood poured from his mouth as he violently shook. They could hear screaming coming from all around them, not just from Frank, but something else. Something raw and dark. Something with a blood lust.
He stopped convulsing, and stared up at the ceiling. His face was covered in blood, and his white shirt now had deep red splatters on it.
”F-frankie?” Ray cautiously said.
”Sorry, Franks on sabbatical.” He tore off the floor and onto Gerard. “But don’t worry, i’ll make sure he sees this.”
He began bashing Gerards face with his fists, and thrashed when Mikey and Ray pulled him off.
”Let go of me! I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking kill you!” Frank screamed, his voice dripping with pure rage.
”Get the holy water!” Ray yelled at Mikey, who promptly pulled it out of his pocked and doused the possessed man in it.
His skin sizzled and smoked as he screamed in agony, momentarily ceasing his thrashing.
”We need to tie him up or something!” Mikey yelled over the screaming.
”With what?! It’s not like we brought a fucking rope!” Ray yelled back.
An idea sparked in Gerards head. He pulled himself off the floor, steadying himself with a pew when the dizziness reached his head. He stumbled as quickly as he could over to his bag, and pulled out his zip up hoodie. He threw it over to Mikey, who shot him a confused look before understanding.
”Get him to the cross!” Mikey yelled.
They dragged him towards the alter, having to dig their hands into Franks wrist so he wouldn’t get lose. He was still thrashing as they threw him against the cross and quickly tied him to it with the hoodie, knotting the sleeves together as many times as possible.
”You really think this will hold me?” Frank asked, looking up at them through his brow, his voice raw and abrasive.
”No. I think it’ll slow you down though.” Mikey replied in a taut voice.
The three of them slowly backed away from the thing tied to the cross, not stopping until they were far enough away to be unheard.
”We need to figure out how to get that thing out of Frank,” Ray whispered.
”We could start by finding out why it chose Frank of all people.” Gerard replied.
”Yeah, like it would just tell us that.” Mikey scoffed.
”Well what do you propose we do Mikey?” Gerard spat, with annoyance and sarcasm in his voice.
Mikey kept quiet. He didn’t know what to do, but he also didn’t think that the spirit was just going to cooperate with them.
The three of them slowly walked down the dark aisle back towards the altar.
Surprisingly, Frank wasn’t trying to fight the restraints. In fact, he was barely doing anything at all. His head was tilted downwards, and he was staring at the blood that dripped from his chin to the floor. He looked almost peaceful, which made his friend’s stomachs turn with unease.
“Why are you doing this? Why to Frank?” Gerard asked with contempt in his voice.
Frank raised his head to answer, staring Gerard right in the eyes. “Well, i’m going to kill you all anyway, so I suppose I can share my reasonings.” His voice was mocking, and it made their blood boil. “I heard from a little birdie that a man called Frank Iero wanted to come to my church. Of course, that was weeks ago, but i can be very patient when I need to be. Its been so terribly long since iv’e possessed someone, and it just so happened that Frankie was the perfect candidate.”
The three of them listened intently, Mikey fighting back the nausea he was beginning to feel.
”What do you mean ‘perfect candidate’ ? And what fucking little birdie could you have possibly heard that from?” Ray spat.
”Spirits are everywhere, and they like to talk. Word gets around when someone like your friend wants to visit my home. See, Frankie hated himself so much that it weakened his soul. All I had to do to break it was send him a few nightmares.” He said with a malicious laugh.
“Thats a load of bullshit, Frank didn’t hate himself!” Gerard yelled bitterly.
Frank started to laugh again. He found it hilarious that Franks own best-friends couldn’t see the amount of disgust he had for himself.
”If you keep laughing, I’ll kick you in the head.” Ray said in irritation.
“Oh, oh i’m sorry-“ He said while still laughing. “It’s just too good! I mean, how could you not see it? It was so fucking obvious!”
Mikey clenched his jaw. He wanted to scream so badly. To grab Frank by the collar of his shirt and yell at him until he left Franks body. But he knew that wouldn’t work, and trying would be a waste of their time. He decided to ask a question instead.
”Alright, well tell us why he hated himself.”
Frank stopped laughing, and let a depraved smirk spread over his bloodied face. “Frankie was a fag.“
The silence was deafening. None of them knew what to do, or what to say. Frank just sat there with that smug look on his face, all too pleased at what he had just revealed.
Mikey was struck with pure shock. How the hell could Frank be gay? They all knew that Frank was a catholic, so they made sure to never bring up the fact that all of them were queer. They didn’t think that he would hate crime them or anything, they just didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.
A few more seconds passed and none of them said a word. Creaking wood and an owl hooting could be heard, but apart from that, the silence was like an all consuming vacuum. Stealing every last word from their throats, rendering them mute from consternation.
All of a sudden, Frank broke lose from the restraints, and jumped on Mikey, pulling him to the floor.
He straddled Mikeys hands to his side using his knees, making sure the scrawny man had no way to escape.
As Ray and Gerard ran to pull him off, they slipped in a pool of slick, dark red blood that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
Frank raised his fists and brought them down hard on Mikey’s face. His glasses immediately snapped, and a small trickle of blood poured from his nose.
He raised his fists again, “You wanna know something Mikey?” His voice was contorted and facetious, echoing through the dark cathedral.
”Fuck you!” Mikey screamed in his face.
Frank slammed his fists back down, Mikey letting out a sharp cry of pain.
”This faggot’s in love with you! How pathetic is that?” Frank laughed, now pulling at Mikey’s hair.
With all of his force, Mikey rolled to the side, throwing Frank off of him in the process.
Ray and Gerard were still disoriented from the fall, and were trying to crawl their way out of the blood, clawing at the cold tiled floor.
Frank was writhing around on the floor, thrashing his head as his face became distorted by shadows. He started yelling out in pain, while more blood dripped from his mouth. Mikey stood above him, shivering with fear and unease, not knowing what to do.
”Get it out! Dear god, get it out!” He screamed through sobs.
His eyes were flashing from hazel to black, as if he was fighting the spirit for control. The three of them crowded around him, watching in horror as their friend choked up blood while tears poured from his eyes, still convulsing in agony.
Mikey was the first to break from the trance they were caught in. He ran to the back of the church to where his bag was. He threw everything out of it, and grabbed the rosary he stole off Franks nightstand before they left.
He ran back to Ray and Gerard, who were now kneeled next to Frank, trying to still him from shaking, but to no avail.
He ushered them out of the way, “Move, I need to try something.” And bent next to Frank, who’s eyes were still flashing, and body still convulsing.
”I’m so sorry,” He whispered, before pushing the rosary to Franks chest.
Frank screamed out in agony, sounding as if he had just been stabbed. He tried to push Mikey away, but the pain rendered him weak.
Mikey turned behind him and grabbed the half-empty bottle of holy water that was laying on the floor. He opened the cap with his teeth, keeping one hand still on Frank. He prayed that there was enough liquid for his plan to succeed, and whispered another quick apology.
He poured the liquid all over Frank, making him scream louder and harder than before. His eyes turned as black as coal, and he slowly turned his head to Mikey.
”Ultio veniet.” He snarled in a dark voice through clenched teeth.
Mikey was left unnerved, but his attention was quickly turned when Frank started to scream again. Black smoke shot out of his mouth and into the air, dispersing about 10 metres up.
His eyes turned back to hazel, and the writhing finally stopped. He stared up at the ceiling, panting heavily. He turned his gaze to Mikey, giving him a soft, yet scared look.
“Frankie? Is… is it actually you?” Mikey choked out.
He didn’t bother answering, just sat up, crawled into Mikey’s arms, and weeped heavily.
Gerard and Ray lingered behind them, watching the situation carefully, and wondering when they should interject.
Ray took a single step forward, causing something to snap under his foot. Frank immediately recoiled back in fear at the sudden noise, breathing heavily and staring up at him like a deer in headlights.
”Hey, hey.. Its okay,” Ray said gently, kneeling down next to him.
”S-sorry,” Frank whispered. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
Gerard sat down next to his brother, and hesitantly asked what they were all wondering. “Is what it said true? About you… Being Gay?”
Frank looked even more scared now, like someone had a gun to his head. “What? No, of course not!” He rushed, voice still shaking.
They all gave him gentle looks, not wanting to push him, but wanting him to feel safe enough to say it.
After a long moment of silence, Mikey was the first to speak. ”Frankie.. Theres nothing wrong with it—being gay, I mean. God won’t love you any less.”
Frank lowered his head in shame, “Yes he will. It’s a sin. It’s a disgusting sin! That thing should’ve just killed me. I- I’ve tried to change, I tried so hard. But I can’t atone for my sins. Not this one. I’ll never be forgiven.” He was sobbing by the time he finished his sentence.
Mikey felt a pit in his stomach. How could he think like that? How was it possible to hate himself so much?
He gently took Franks hand and wiped the tears from his face. He didn’t know how, but he was going to make this okay. They were going to leave that god-forsaken church and never go back. He would help Frank move on from this horrific night, and he would help him learn to love himself. Then, maybe in time, Frank could let himself love Mikey too.