Danger Days; the True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.

“Look what I found,” Jet said, meeting us outside by the Firebird. He held up a brown leather jacket that was slightly faded. It had yellow lines around the front, and yellow stripes going down the sleeves. It had many buttons and zippers in the front, and looked rather heavy, “that’s not the best part,” he said, turning it around. On the back was a sun, its light shining out. It was very detailed, with a variety of oranges, pinks, yellows, silvers, and golds.

“That looks like the old brown jacket that use to lay around all the time,” Fun pointed out, and a hint of pink was visible on Jet’s face.

“Alright, maybe I spent all night making this, but I have no regrets,” he said, then handed me the jacket. I looked up at him gratefully.

“I could hug you,” I said, slipping into the jacket, sending a smile to him.

“Please do,” he smiled back, opening his arms. I walked into them, wrapping my arms around his neck, thankful for the gift.

“Now we have to find her a helmet,” Party said, slipping into the Firebird. Kobra, Jet, and I crawled into the back, while Fun was the last one to get in, slamming the door behind me, “guess we’re gonna do a little shopping,” he said, starting up the car, and backed out, sending us all flying into the road. The town seemed relatively empty, leaving me to wonder if anybody else lived around here. I think most of the rid was reckless and aimless driving, for Party’s sake. I was still trying to decide if I was having fun or if I was in the middle of having a panic attack, because I wasn’t sure if I’d make it out of the car alive.

It was about an hour until he stopped in an area I was sure would take five minutes to only walk to. Once we got out, I fell to the ground, trying my hardest to hug the ground. I never knew how much I loved it until now.

“You get used to it,” I heard Kobra’s voice from above me, and I rolled onto my back, “It’s scary at first, I know, but you get used to his driving,” he said, holding a hand out to me. I grabbed it, and he pulled me up. I looked around to see a junkyard. The rest of the three were already walking around, trying to find what I guess would be used as a helmet for me. I started looking in a separate pile, when I heard Fun start yelling out.

“FOUND ONE,” he said, causing all of us to look at him. He held up a motorcycle helmet, which broke, half falling to the ground as he held it up with a huge smile on his face. We all started laughing at him, until a playful frown played onto his lips. We all went back to searching, until I came across a pair of old, simple steam-punk goggles. The strap and metal part had an American flag type of design, the lenses were huge, and completely black. A white spiral design played on the right lens, a star on the other, a hole in the middle so somebody could still see.

I cleaned it off before I put it on my head, quite happy with them. I took them off, only being able to fit half of them in my jacket pocket, since they were so huge. I walked over to Jet, since he had been closest to me, and I tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump about ten feet in the hair, his face full of relief as he looked at me.

“You scared the shit out of me,” he exclaimed, clutching the skin around his heart, and I giggled, pulling out the goggles, and showing them to him. A smile grew on his face as he looked at me.

“You like them?” I asked, and he nodded.

“These are fucking perfect. Put them on, I want to see what you look like,” he said, giving them back to me, and I fit it over my head, watching him as he gave me a thumbs up.

“You think they’d suffice?” I asked, and he nodded eagerly, turning me around and walking me to Fun.

“She found it,” Jet said, causing Fun to turn around looking at me, a smirk growing on his face.

“Those are spectacular,” he agreed, instantly, “Now the question is if we tell Kobra and Party, or let them keep looking,” he joked, and we looked at them before looking back at each other, agreeing to let them continue looking. The sound of another car was audible, and everybody turned their heads to look at a black car, the same sign on the BL cans on the sides of this car as a white decal.

“Shit,” I heard Party say, and he instantly spotted where I had been with Jet and Fun. Kobra noticed as well, causing them both to gather up with us, watching as a tall bald man stepped out of the car, putting his gun in a holster. His white trench coat blew in the wind as he walked over to us, his black boots squeaked under him.

“Aw, fuck,” Fun muttered. The realization hit me. This was the Exterminator. This was the man I’ve been running from my whole life, and here he was, right in front of me. I looked around to see everybody had on their helmets, or masks, and looked back to the Exterminator, to see two Draculoids on tow. He stopped about five feet away from us, looking at all of us like we were less valuable than what you’d find in the sewers.

“The fabulous Killjoys,” he said, snorting, “what are we doing here in the junkyard,” he asked, his eyes scanning over me, sending a very uncomfortable feeling through my bones.

“Doctor E,” Party said with sarcastic enthusiasm, “I almost forgot how shiny your head was,” he joked, and I did my best to stifle my laughter.

“You’re right,” he said, with a smirk, “I haven’t had the displeasure in seeing you in a while,” he said, scanning the boys before his eyes landed on me again.

“Well lucky you, we’re still pretty,” Party said, seemingly the only one who cared to say anything to the creepy guy.

“So who’s your friend,” he said, finally done with beating around the bush, “I haven’t seen her before,” he said, impatiently waiting for an answer.

“She’s my little sister,” Fun piped up, lying about my identity, which I guess was a given, since they were trying their best to keep me from this very man. It needs not be said that so far, they weren’t doing a really good job of it.

“Really, now? What’s your name?” he asked me, obviously suspicious.

“Funner Ghoul,” Fun lied, earning a laugh from Kobra, who quickly composed himself.

“Why don’t you let her answer,” he spat at Fun, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Because she gets scared easily,” Party piped up, “So why don’t you stop picking on her,” he said, leaning closer to me

“I’ll be seeing you all again,” he said, eyeing each of us, “Especially Funner, here,” he said, glancing at me before her turned back to his car with his two Draculoids. We stood in our place, carefully watching as they drove away. I wasn’t sure whether I had pissed my pants or not, but I was on the verge of freaking out. Was he on to us? Did he know it was me? I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked over to see Party giving me a knowing look, squeezing my shoulder.

“Well,” he said, removing his hand, “I think that is our cue to leave,” he said, and we all walked towards the Firebird. I was starting to get a nauseous feeling, so I turned around, leaning over, and letting the contents of my stomach out.

“Oh, shit,” I heard Kobra, and I heard his footsteps approaching, and he held my hair. When I was done, I composed myself, removing the goggles, and wiped my mouth with my jacket sleeve, “are you alright,” he asked, looking at me, and I nodded.

“I think she should sit in the front,” Front suggested, and I shook my head at him, watching him nod his head in reply. Kobra threw his arm around my shoulders as he led me over to the car, and I watched as Jet, Fun, and Kobra all crawled into the back seat. I sighed before putting the seat up, and stepping into the car, closing the door behind me. Party started driving, this time, a lot less like he was trying to flip the car over for shits and giggles, and as I thought, were right at the diner within five minutes. I quickly got out, wanting to get into the cool air of the building, the four staying behind, talking about who knows what.

I walked into Party’s room, removing my jacket, and placing them on the bed along with my goggles. I paced around in my loose fitting tank top, its navy blue cotton sticking to my skin. I removed my white fingerless gloves, a spare that Kobra had, which looked like his, but he never wore. I threw it all down on the bed, pacing back and forth, wiping my green hair from my face, staring at the drawing, and calming myself down.

“Hey,” Party said, entering the door, causing me to turn around and look at him, “everything’s going to be fine,” he gave me a reassuring smile, and I found myself wrapping my arms around him in a comforting hug that I needed from somebody right now. I had the urge to cry on his shoulder, but I kept myself from doing so. I wanted to prove that I was stronger than somebody who was just on the run. I built up so many walls within the last seven years, and I wasn’t about to let all of my hurt out now.

That’s what I was telling myself as I was sobbing into his shoulder, tears coming out freely, mixing in with the sweat of his bare shoulder. He rubbed my back, offering some sort of comfort I haven’t had in so long. I could hear him whispering things like “It’s okay” and “you have us, we won’t leave you” which nearly made me cry harder. I calmed myself down, slightly pulling myself away from Party, looking down as I wiped off my face, and looked up at him.

“I’m sorry,” I told him, not sure what to say, really. I wasn’t used to people seeing me like that. I wasn’t used to them seeing me at all. His hand found its way to my shoulder, then fell, a small smile growing on his lips.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” he assured me, and I sat down on the mattress, crossing my legs on the floor, and putting my head in my hands. He sat down next to me, looking at me as I tried to regain sanity, “we’re all here for you. You’re one of us, now. I mean, we’ve been searching for you for a long time, there isn’t any way in hell we’d just let you go,” he said, rubbing my back again, and I nodded, my head still not leaving my hands.

“I appreciate all of this,” I mumbled through my hands.

“We appreciate you staying with us. Now, I’m going to go get you some water, maybe you should get some rest,” he suggested, and I nodded, my hands still on my face. The mattress shifted as he stood up, and I listened to him as he left the room. I removed my hands from my face as I untied my combat boots, slipping them off, and throwing them to the other side of the room. I slipped off my belt, finding it was relentlessly uncomfortable. Party walked back into the room, a bottle of clean water in his hand, and he passed it down to me, which I was thankful for.

I opened the bottle, trying not to chug the whole thing, and looked at him, ready to thank him again, but he started to talk, “If you’re still asleep when it comes time that I decide to go to bed, is it alright if I just slip in,” he asked, and I nodded.

“Things like that really don’t bother me,” I informed him, and a smirk crawled on to his face.

“Just making sure,” he said, “Now get some rest, you look like death,” he joked, and I put the cap back onto the water bottle, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically, causing him to chuckle.

“You know I didn’t really mean that,” he said, and I waved him off as I got under the covers, hoping that if I did fall asleep, I wouldn’t be out for too long. I heard him walk to the door, waiting to hear the door close, “sleep well, Sunshine,” he whispered, and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to hear that or not, but I did. I started staring at the drawing that was becoming all too familiar with me. I traced the lines with my fingers, something I had enjoyed doing with images. It helped me get the full aspect of it better, so I could take in every little detail the picture had. I hadn’t really been tired, and if I were to be honest, I didn’t want Party to leave me here in his room. I’d rather he stayed. A smile found its way to my mouth as I thought of the four guys, still mysterious to me, but already so close. My mind then wandered to the Exterminator. ‘Dr. E,’ Party had called him. He looked a lot more cynical, and a lot more mean than I had remembered. It was almost as if he knewit was me, like it was a feeling.

Then I started thinking that maybe my mark had something to do with this whole ordeal. All he’d have to do was look at my forearm, and his question would be answered. He’d take me from the Killjoys, and I’d be his key to whatever evil plan he was plotting .I was thoroughly disgusted with myself, for being the evil device that some creep would use to take over the world. The idea haunted my mind, and I couldn’t do much to think of something else. I decided to close my eyes, the light still creeping through the skin of my eyelids. I didn’t know much I really needed rest, because it wasn’t long until I was out like a light.

©Shannon

Notes