The sun shone red through my eyelids. I rolled over and opened my eyes. I was laying behind a gas station that was, for the most part, abandoned. It lay just outside of Battery City. Upon opening my eyes, I saw four people standing above me. The sun made them silhouettes, but I was sure they were all men.

I started to lift my hand to shield my eyes from the bright light, but stopped as one of them said "Don't move." in a hushed yell.

I wasn't sure whether they were good or bad or in between, so I laid there on my back with my hand raised halfway into the air.

"Name?" another one asked. "Venom. Midnight Venom." My other hand twitched towards my gun.

"I told you she was a Killjoy. She looks exactly like one," the shortest one spoke.

"Yes, I know. But she doesn't have a mask or anything, and I wasn't sure if the Dracs had gotten her or not," the first one to speak replied.

The snarky remark about how 'she' was sitting right here died on my tongue. What did they mean I don't have a mask? Where was my mask? I was sitting up before they could say anything. The move caused four ray guns to be pointed at my head. This new position offered a better look at the men. From what I could tell, they were all Killjoys. I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt my face. It was true. I wasn't wearing my mask. I reached into my shirt and pulled out my purple bandana, quickly raising it so it covered the bottom half of my face.

"Can you tell me which part of 'don't move' you're having trouble understanding?" The one who had spoken first asked in a voice filled with so much sass my lips twitched and I almost laughed out loud. He had bright red hair and a yellow mask with blue circles and black markings around the eyes. Mask or no, I could tell he was quite good-looking. I gave him a look dripping with sarcasm.

"Sorry, but it seems I can't understand the concept at all. Mind explaining over dinner, sweet cheeks?"His lips turned up in a smirk.

"Now, if you don't mind, the ground is kind of dirty and I'd like to stand up."

The four of them shared a look. Red Head held his hand out to me, and I ignored it completely as I stood up. As soon as I was up my eyes were on the ground. I spotted something purple peeking out from under the white trash disposer. I bent over and picked it up. My mask. The knot had come undone as I slept on the dirt-encrusted pavement surrounding the building. I pushed down my bandana and tied it snugly around my head, careful not to get any of my bleach-blonde hair caught. This done, I turned to look at them.

"I'm Party Poison," the red-head said.

The short one next to him waved a little. "I'm Fun Ghoul."

The guy next to him, who had the best Afro I'd ever seen, called himself Jet Star.

"Kobra Kid." The last one said, holding his hand out to me. He had awesome blond and brown hair and a shy disposition. I shook his hand gingerly.

"You'll take his hand." Party Poison said, sounding kind of jealous. I smirked.

"Yep. He doesn't have cooties." I said.

"Well, he's my brother, and we share the same cooties."

Jet Star snorted at our immature conversation. I grinned at him.

"Anyway, you already know my name."

"Yeah."

We stood there silently for a minute, looking at one another. Then Fun Ghoul jumped and said, "Shit! Missile's still in the car!"

They turned and darted around the corner of the building. I followed because, well, what else was I supposed to do?

Rounding the corner I saw an old Trans-Am sitting at one of the pumps, and inside was a little girl with a 'fro almost as cool as Jet Star's. I walked over and smacked the hood lightly.

"Sick ride you got here. Much better than using your own two feet, I'll tell ya that."

The girl, 'Missile' I presumed, stared at me with wide eyes. I offered her a small smile. She grinned at me.

"Thanks. It's pretty nice to speed along in. Speaking of speeding along, we should get going." Party Poison replied, speaking to his group when he got to the last part.

"Cool. Nice meeting you." I gave them a little salute and turned to walk away. Where I was going, I had no clue.

"Don't go!" a high-pitched little voice called after me. I paused and glanced over my shoulder.

"She's right. I mean... do you- are you with anyone?" Party Poison asked."Nope. I'm a bit of loner, lately." Well, that wasn't technically a lie.

"Well- do you want to come with us?"

I pursed my lips. These guys seemed nice, and I really didn't want to drag them down with me. But then, if the Killjoys weren't united, what were we? Slowly, I nodded.

"Okay. For now, I guess, I can go with you guys."

Without a word, Missile jumped over to sit in the front seat between Party Poison and Kobra Kid. I climbed in next to Fun Ghoul, who sat in the middle. Tires squealing, we roared out of the gas station and into the open desert, heading east

When we'd reached the beginning of Zone 3, I spoke up.

"Hey, this is where I stop."

I met Party's eyes in the mirror.

"Here? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Yep." Hesitantly, he slowed the car down. When it stopped, we all sat silently for a minute.

"Thanks for the ride," I finally spoke, "once again, it was nice meeting you all."

I hopped over the door and started walking away, then I turned around.

"And remember keep running!"

I then turned back around and left them there, not looking back. I didn't even here Kobra ask, "Wonder where she's going?" Or Party's reply, "I don't know. But I'm gonna find out."

After walking about a half a mile, I came to a group of abandoned warehouses. Stealthily, I tiptoed around corners until I found the building with the door open partway. Pushing the rest of it up, I was shocked to see red high-topped Converse sticking out from under an absolutely humongous dog. I mean it. This thing was a monster. And it heard me. It barked one loud, booming bark, and I glanced back at the door. It was abandoned, but someone could still be out there. I looked back at the dog, who was still sitting on the girl. Had it killed her? It looked to be a feral mutt, so I didn't think so. Suddenly, the shoes moved.

"Ugh, get up Shiloh!"

The dog moved at the sound of her voice, and then I was staring into the beautiful face of my sister. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and dropped to my knees, opening my arms. She ran into them.

"I thought you were dead!" I scolded.

"Sorry. But Shiloh makes a great blanket.

"Mm-hmm." I looked over at the spot where 'Shiloh' lay.

"So where'd you find this one? He couldn't have been in here, even though I told you not to leave."

Sasha, at just 8, was the most adventurous person I knew. She was always getting into trouble, which was funny because she looked as much like an angel as any painting in a church. She had creamy white skin, big hazel eyes, long, wavy dark brown hair and a sweet face.

"He was wandering around the buildings. I called him over from the doorway. So technically, I didn't leave."

"You still could have been see. And then where would we be?"

My question was rhetorical, and she ignored it completely.

"Guess what?" She asked, changing the subject. She looked so eager to tell me whatever she wanted to say, though, I let it slide.

"What?"

"I came up with a Killjoy name!"

I sighed. She didn't understand just how dangerous being a Killjoy could be. She thought it was all a big, brightly colored adventure.

"What is it?"

"Arsenic Bubble." I smiled. It was actually a pretty good one. Not that I was surprised. Sasha was very creative.

"Cool. But you know you're way too young to be a Killjoy."

"How could I forget? You tell me everyday."

I studied her suddenly serious face. She seemed so mature sometimes.

"Can we keep Shiloh?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I've told you before, no pets."

"Please? Pleasepleaseplease? He could be a guard dog!"

I looked at the mutt. He was pretty big. About four feet at the shoulder, and about three feet long. Definitely some St. Bernard in there. Maybe Great Dane. But he looked more like a Teddy bear than a vicious attack dog. But still... he might scare off some people. And I'm a sucker for big, cuddly dogs.

"Fine."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" She wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight hug and damn near choked me. When she pulled back, I looked at her face again, this time seeing all the dirt there. And the grease in her beautiful hair. And the grime on her oversized bright yellow sweatshirt and black leggings. Her sneakers were caked with mud.

"You're filthy, child." She giggled.

"So are you."

Suddenly, she stopped giggling and stared over my shoulder. Before I could ask what was going on, I heard a familiar voice.

"So this is where you ran off to."

I whipped around to look at Party Poison.

"You followed me?" I managed to choke out.

"I was curious." Curious like a student dissecting a frog?* I wondered. I still didn't know this man that well. How could I know if I could trust him? You can hardly trust anyone out here.

"So who is this?" He asked, walking over to us. He held his hand out to her, and she very gently shook it.

"She'll take my hand."

"Really? You're starting this again?"

He gave me a lazy smile.

"Who are you?" I looked down at my sister, who was studying Party's face very hard. "Party Poison. What's your name?"

She seemed to consider this question carefully, then replied, "Arsenic Bubble."

"Ah. A young Killjoy I see."

"No, she's not. This is my sister, Sasha. And we really need to be going."

I stood up. We'd been in one place too long. Sasha slowly stood up, too, and Shiloh trotted over next to her. "You're leaving again?"

"Yes." I was confused. He was a Killjoy. He knew we had a nomad-like living style.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Then why don't you come with us?" I stared at him for a long while, deliberating.

"I don't think there's enough room in the Trans-Am for the three of us."

"Sure there is." he said calmly, though his eyes lingered on the dog. I sighed. I wasn't getting out of this.

"Fine." He laughed.

"Don't sound so happy about it." We followed him out to the car, which was parked outside the group of warehouses.

"We got some hitchhikers." The group stared at Sasha and Shiloh. Missile and Sasha stared at each other in wonder.

"Alright. We're burning daylight, here." Missile and Sasha were packed into the backseat between Jet Star and Fun Ghoul, with Shiloh squeezed in at their feet. Party drove, and Kobra got shotgun. And I was shoved between Kobra and Party. Which I shouldn't have minded, but it made me feel strangely giddy to be so close to Party, which was ridiculous.

"So how old are you, Sasha?" Missile asked.

"Eight. How about you?"

"Eleven."

"Ah, I remember what it's like to be your guys' age." Ghoul said.

"Yeah, I think that's when you stopped growing." Jet joked. We all laughed.

"Hey! I am a normal-sized twenty-year-old man."

"Keep telling yourself that." I shot back. I watched him stick his tongue out at me in the mirror.

"And how old are you, Venom?"

"Nineteen." Party's head snapped over to look at me.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing. You just seem a lot older."

"Yeah, this life kind of does that." I muttered under my breath.

"Hmm?"

"I asked how old you were." I lied.

"Oh. Twenty-four."

"You're old."

"Hey! Jet's the same age!"

"Yeah, but you're the one who's old." I realized the only person who hadn't made their age known was Kobra Kid.

"How old are you, Kobra?"

"I'm twenty-one."

"Hey, you're old enough to drink. Oh, wait." Ghoul said, half-joking, half angry. I felt the same. BLI had recently outlawed alcohol.

The silly banter continued the whole car ride. When we finally got to where we were going, it was dark. Party led us to the back of an old building where we walked in through loose boards in the back. He took us into a room that had a lot of desks covered in newspaper clippings and other papers and a lot of furniture. Farther on, there was another room that had a two twin beds and a king bed and a bunk-bed. They had been squeezed in just perfectly to allow space to walk around each bed. There wasn't any other furniture in here. I doubted there was room.

"C'mon, Sasha, you can share the top bunk with me!"

Missile exclaimed. The scampered up the ladder and were asleep in seconds. Ghoul and Jet retired to their separate twin beds. Kobra collapsed on one side of the king bed.

"You can have the bottom bunk," Party murmured. I thought for minute.

"You know, I think it's been almost two years since we've slept in real beds."

"Damn. That must be rough. Well, good night."

He started to walk out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, I'm a night person. I won't go to bed for another hour or so."

"Can... Can I come with? I'm a night person, too."

He smiled.

"Sure."

I followed him out to the room we'd just passed through. He plopped down on a ratty (but comfortable-looking) couch and patted the cushion beside him. I sat down much more gently.

"So..." I began, then stopped.

"So..." he repeated. We sat in awkward silence for a bit. Then, he scared me half to death by reaching for my neck. Well, in reality he reached for my hair, but I thought he was reaching for my neck. I let out a small shriek.

"Sorry! I was just looking at your hair."

"Yeah? I didn't know you looked with your hands."

He rolled his eyes. "It's really interesting."

Interesting? I didn't think it was so interesting. It was straight, cut in layers and bleached white with the tips dyed black and just reaching my shoulders. I had a long fringe that cut diagonally across my hazel eyes. Eyes just like my sister's and my mother's. Not that interesting. "Hm. It's not as interesting as, say, bright red," I replied, looking pointedly at his head. He grinned.

"Well, it's obviously not your original color. What was it originally?"

"Dark brown, the same shade as Sasha's. And it was long, too. What was your hair color before you dyed it?"

"Well, I've dyed it a lot before it was red. But I was born with dark brown hair as well. Only it was quite a bit darker than yours."

"I see. So what were you doing... before?" I didn't have to clarify 'before'.

"Well, I was seventeen, so I was in school. I drew a lot. I wanted to write comic books."

"Oh. Well, that's cool. Do you still draw?"

"Sometimes."

"Maybe you could show them to me sometime?"

"Yeah. That'd be cool. So what were you doing?"

"Well, that was seven years ago, so I was only twelve. Mostly, I did school work. And played guitar. I wanted to start a rock band."

"Really? That's always been sort of a secret passion of mine."

I laughed. "Nice."

He laughed, too, and started to run his fingers through his hair, but stopped when he felt his mask. He took it off, and I held in a gasp. He was beautiful. I reached up and touched my own mask gingerly.

"You can take it off. It's safe." I supposed it was. Of course, he'd seen my face before, so it really didn't matter. I untied it. I compared the two of them in my head. His was much smaller, covering only his eyes while mine covered half my face and my other eye.

"So I'll bet Sasha was just a little kid, huh."

"Yep. She had just turned 2."

"Oh, really? When's her birthday?" I swallowed hard.

"December 20th." The day before the world collapsed. The day of her birthday party... I suddenly felt tired, and one look at Party told me he felt the same way. We didn't say much else, and both drifted off into, for me at least, and uneasy slumber.

I dodged a little kid as I walk over to pour Sasha some punch. She wore a flowy white party dress, and her brown curls bounce when she looks up at me and smiles.

"Having a good time?"

"Yes, Cassie!"

"I'm glad. In a little bit you can open your presents."

I laugh at the longing look she gives the packages. I'm not sure if she understands the concept of presents, but they are bright and shiny and I know she wants to investigate. Just as I twist off the cap of the punch jug, I hear an explosion and the room shakes. I drop the jug, and the juice spills out onto Sasha. The last thing I see before hearing a voice in a microphone say, "You are under my control, now," was the red spreading across her white dress. Red that looks so much like blood...

The next thing I know, Sasha is crying and people are screaming and running and my mother is shouting at me to run as men in black suits bust the door down. I grab Sasha into my arms and run down the hall, hoping to hide in our room. I set her on my bed, then hear gunshots echoing from the living room. Tears start dripping down my face, and I bite back my scream. It occurs to me that we can't stay here. I run to the closet and grab my backpack from the closet and start throwing things in it, things of both of ours I think we might want and need. I grab Sasha's hand and we run out of the room, towards the back door in my parents' room. I glance at the wall, and without thinking, I grab our parents' wedding picture.

Luckily, in all the commotion we hadn't been discovered, and we ran out the door and away from that house forever.

I woke up with a start. I'd dreamed that dream again. It wasn't really a dream, it was a memory. The memory of our world as we knew it ending.

I blinked and saw that Ghoul, Kobra and Jet were staring at me and laughing. Well, staring at Party and I. When we'd fallen asleep, we'd fallen into each other, ending up with our bodies turned into each other, my head on his shoulder and his head on my head. I sat up really quickly, causing Party to fall over and wake suddenly. I snickered while the guys burst into full-out guffaws of laughter. This woke the girls, and they came running out into the room, both barefoot. I stood up and walked over to Sasha and Missile.

As I did, Ghoul leaned in and whispered in my ear, "What a cute couple," and made some kissing noises.

I shamelessly admit I smacked him upside the head. Party stood up and stretched.

"Alright, alright. Knock it off." He rolled his head around and winced.

"Ah, gotta love sleeping on the couch."

"Are you kidding? That was heaven. Especially after where I slept the night before last."

Sasha pounced on me.

"What happened? You never told me!"

"Not much, maybe I tell you later."

"Right," Kobra broke in, "because right now you guys have to meet the others."

"Others?" I asked warily, stepping closer to Sasha.

What others?

A/N: So after a long, perilous fight with the document manager I finally managed to give this the format that I desire. This took me a lot longer to post than I expected, simply because I took so long trying to perfect it. (Well, after I rescued the file off of my now defunct laptop.) "The Way Into A Demon's Heart" felt very rushed to me, because I felt rushed and I'm not the only one who noticed. I was on a writing schedule. (Well, those of you who read it saw how well that worked.) So I won't be putting this one on a schedule like I did last time, but I promise that I won't let there be too much time before chapter updates. I'm not sure how long this will be, but we'll have to see.

And I just want to say that, yes, I am devastated by the fact My Chemical Romance split up. That band was (and still is) everything to me. A lot of the time, the guys and their music were the only ones there for me. When I had lost myself, I found me again through them. But, even though I'm upset they're not together anymore, I'm not really sad. (Well, I lie. Today was tough.) But I'm not sad because My Chemical Romance isn't just a band, to restate what Gerard said, it's an idea. An idea I try to live my life by. These guys will always mean the world to me. I will forever be part of the MCRmy and be a Killjoy.

I love you, Ray, Gerard, Mikey and Frank. Thanks for everything you've done and continue to do for me.

Okay, now that I've written that I just want to say when I started this story I never envisioned myself having to write that in the author's note. And I'm sad that I do.

But anyway, thanks for reading!

Oh also, I will not be asking for reviews, because I know how annoying it is and how much it turns you off from the story. I hate it when people do that. Ugh, it feels like I'm repeating myself even though it's a different story.

But I do appreciate all reviews, favorites and follows. X3