Chapter 2

Zombie Movies, Fried Brain Cells, and High School

~Cemetery's POV~

We were sitting on the couches in the living room. Blair had just finished telling her story, and everyone was staring at her. I looked over just as Mikey hugged her.

"I didn't know." he whispered.

"It's not your fault." she whispered back, hugging him.

Everyone just sat there for about three minutes, Blair and Mikey still hugging. no one noticed that Ray was flipping through channels until Gerard screamed "ZOMBIE MOVIE MARATHON!" and hit me in the back of the head when he pulled his arm from around my shoulder.

"OW! GEE!" I yelled, rubbing my head.

"Sorry baby." he said, leaning down and kissing the top of my head.

"I KNEW IT!" Ray yelled. "Fork over the money guys, I knew they'd be together by the end of the night!"

I laughed, watching Mikey and Frank dig ten dollars each out of their wallets.

Blair stood up and, stretching, said "I'm gonna go take a shower. I'll be back in time for Dawn of the Dead." She walked toward our room. I heard her walking around. All of a sudden I heard her yell "CRAP!"and then I heard our suitcase slam closed. She shuffled back out into the livingroom, pajamas in one hand, the other messing with her hair.

"Frank?"

"Yeah?" Frank answered. Blair looked up.

"Where's the bathroom?"

"Next to the kitchen."

"Okay. Thanks." she muttered, and disapeared into the bathroom.

As soon as we heard the water turn on, Frank turned to Dr. D. "They're going to school."

"You can tell her." Dr. D said.

For about the next ten minutes everyone just sat there, except for Gerard, who was making popcorn and cookies and setting them on the coffee table along with 20 Monsters. Then the water shut off in the bathroom and, after about 3 minutes, I heard her blowdrier click on.

Mikey left the room long enough to put on his pajamas: long, black flannel pants and a 'Dawn of the Dead' t-shirt.

No one noticed as he shuffled to the bathroom.

~Blair's POV~

I had on my PJs: loose, long, black flannel pants and a 'Dawn of the Dead' t-shirt; and was almost finished drying my hair when the door opened. Mikey walked in, totally oblivious of me, and shut the door. He looked up right as I pointed the blow-dryer at his head, making his hair fly back.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" he yelled.

"Secretly frying your brain cells. You?"

"Using the bathroom." He stepped by me and did what he had to do while I turned the other way and finished drying my hair. When I finished, he was sitting on the bathroom counter. I started brushing my teeth.

"Nice pajamas." he said.

I looked up, noticing we matched, and grinned. "Shanksh." I said around the toothbrush. He laughed. I spat my toothpaste into the sink and, quickly pulling my long hair into a ponytail, walked out the bathroom door.

"Race you to the couch." I said, and ran towards the living room. I jumped over the back of Mikey's favorite couch, but he was already there and pulled me down by the waist.

"Stop fooling around, guys." Frank said, then looked at me. "You have school tomorrow, Blair."

"Cool." I said, and leaned against Mikey as the movie started.

~Mikey's POV~

About halfway through the movie, Blair screamed and buried her face in my chest. I rubbed her back until her breathing slowed and her heart rate returned to normal. The next thing I knew she was asleep, her head still resting on my chest. She looked so sweet when she slept. Like nothing was wrong. Like nothing would ever be wrong.

But as soon as I moved my hand from her back to cover her with a blanket, her pretty face contorted in fear as she screamed. As I covered her with the blanket, a looked at Cemi.

"What do I do?" I asked.

"Just put your hand back." she answered calmly.

As soon as I put my hand back, her screaming stopped. I didn't dare move it for the rest of the night. And I really didn't want to.

...next morning...

I woke at about 7 the next morning. Blair was still sleeping, her head on my chest. I shook her shoulder. "Blair, honey. You gotta get up."

"I dont wanna get up mommy. I'm with my boyfriend." she muttered, shifting her position.

"And who would that be?" I laughed.

"His name is Mikey. You would like him." she murmered. I grinned.

"Blair, honey. It's Mikey. You gotta get up."

"I dont wanna." she moaned.

I laughed, and started saying "Blair. Blair. Blair. Blair. Blair." over and over. After about the twentieth 'Blair' she started poking me, starting at my head and working her way down. When she poked my eye I said "What are you doing?"

"Looking for the snooze button." she said and I laughed as she kept poking me.

By the time she got to my waist I grabbed her hands. "Okay, thats enough." I said, and gently kissed her forehead. "Get up."

She sat up, yawned, stretched, and looked at me. "Will you take me to school?"

"Sure." I said, and she got up, walking to her room. I made her an egg sandwich and she walked out of her room. She had been wearing baggy clothes before, and I just noticed how slender she really is. Her hot pink t-shirt said 'I'm with the bassist.' and she was wearing black skinny jeans and hot pink Converse hi-tops. She had on a tight black jacket that was rolled up to her elbows, allowing me to see the thick, black and hot pink stud bracelets that covered her wrists. "Nice shirt." I laughed.

"Thanks." she said, smiling. I watched her as she ate her sandwich, brushed her teeth, and fixed her hair. Soon we had climbed into my simple black car and were driving down the road way too fast blaring 'NANANA' way too loud. When the song changed, I turned the volume down.

"You do know we cant..." I said, but she cut me off.

"Be in a relationship because of some dumb law that says teenagers and adults cannot be in a relationship? Yeah. I know."

"Yeah..." I said. I really liked her. But I didn't know if she liked me like that, and it hurt like hell. "Your real name is registered at the school. Jennifer Wayde." I said as we were pulling up to the school.

"Okay." she said, then looked at me. "Mikey?"

"Yeah Blair?"

"Will you go in with me? I'm nervous."

"Do you WANT me to die before you get old enough for us to have a relationship?"

"No..."

"Well, you have to go to class." I said.

"Pick me up later?"

"Umm... can't gotta go scan the zones. Either Ray or Gerard and Cemi will pick you up."

She looked me directly in the eyes, concern covering her beautiful face, making her look extremely pale against her black eyeliner. "Stay safe." she said.

"I will. I PROMISE." I said, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.

She climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind her, and walked up to the school. I watched. She looked like a normal teenager. Like she had a normal life. Like she wasn't one of the rebels who fought against the BLI everyday. Like nothing had ever gone wrong, and like nothing ever will.

As I drove away, I could only think of her. How she will never be normal, just because she is a Killjoy. How her life will never be normal, because I wanted her to be mine. And I could see in her eyes that she wanted that.

~Blair's POV~

I walked into my first class as the teacher called my name. "Jennifer Wayde."

"Here." I said, walking through the doorway just as the bell rang. One of the emo boys turned around, the look on his face saying 'really? ANOTHER prep.' but stopped when he saw me. He started gaping like the rest of the boys. I sat down in the corner.

Nothing really happened for the rest of the day, except someone asked me to the prom. I said no. Turned out he had a girlfriend. She slapped me. HARD.

At the end of the day I walked outside, looking for Ray's dilapidated land rover or Gerard's 'Danger Mobile'. When I saw Mikey's simple black car my heart jumped. I waved at it, and it pulled up to the curb. I looked in...

...to see Ray driving. I climbed in, throwing my stuff in the back, and said "Hi Ray. Whats up?"

"Gerard and Snow were called to the zones but Mikey said I had to come pick you up from school and take you to base and make sure you get ready cause he's going to take you somewhere when he gets home."

"Oh...okay...?"

"So, what do you want to listen...HOLY MARGARITAS GIRL WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" he yelled, just noticing the light bruises and red marks standing out on my pale skin.

"Oh...I kinda sorta got into a little fight."

"Kinda sorta?"

"Well, I actually got beat up by some chick whose boyfriend asked me to prom. I said no."

"Why?"

"I'm just going to see the live music."

"Oh yeah...we're playing that prom. I totally forgot."

"Brilliant, Ray. Brilliant."

We sat in silence for a while, until I said "Ray?"

"Yeah Blair?"

"Mikey really does care about me, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he does. He has ever since that firat day way back in Belleville."

"Wow."

"To him, you are the most special girl in the world."

"Special...how?"

"We know about you and Cemetery. Your powers. Your ability to see into the Otherrealm*."

"That doesn't mean I'm special. It just means I'm a psycho."

"Mikey doesn't think so."

There was a few more minutes of silence, then Ray said "You know he would do anything to keep you safe, to give you a normal life."

"Like what?"

"Blair, last night you fell asleep during the movie. You had screamed and buried your face in Mikey's chest, but he put his hand on your back to make you feel better. Every time he moved his hand you screamed. So he stayed like that, his hand on your back, all night."

"He was keeping them away. Even the touch in real life kept them away in the dream..." I muttered.

"Huh?"

"Ray, I was dreaming that the dracs were after me. In the dream, Mikey put his hand on my shoulder and it kept them away. But when he took his hand away, they got SO CLOSE to me, and I screamed."

"Weird."

"Yup."

After five more minutes of silence, I looked out the window. "Ray?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we headed for the zones?"

"What?" he said, just now noticing where we were headed. "Well, I guess we'll turn around."

"NO WAIT!" I yelled. "Lets go see Mikey." We stopped the car at the edge of the road. The rest of the guys were walking to their car, which was parked in front of ours.

When Mikey saw me, he popped the visor to his 'GOOD LUCK' helmet up, then ran to me. He squished me to his chest when he reached me. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at base!"

"Cant...breathe..." I said, and he put me down. "Ray forgot to turn into the driveway and...I wasn't paying attention."

"Well, we need Ray here and Cemi keeps disracting Gerard so..." he turned to Cemetery "Will you take Blair to the base?"

"Sure."

"Have her ready by six."

"Okay." she said, then turned to Gerard. "Bye baby."

He leaned down and kissed her. "love you."

"Love you too."

~Cemetery's POV~

Blair and I climbed into Mikey's car. I started the engine, turned up the volume on the stereo, and drove towards base. We were listening to their Danger Days demo. They wanted two more songs on it but they couldn't think of any.

"What does Mikey want me to get ready for?" she asked.

"A surprise." I answered.

"Yeah, I KNOW that, but what KIND of surprise?" she whined.

I sighed. "If I TOLD you, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, now would it?"

"Mean." she said.

"I'm doing your makeup when we get home."

"Yay." she moaned sarcastically.

I was in the middle of doing her makeup when I saw him. I had been brushing red eyeliner over her lids. My hand was hovering mid-air.

"Blair?"

"Yeah Cemi?"

"Devin's back."

"Wha-what do you mean?" she said shakily.

"I mean..." I started, then breathed deeply. "I mean he is right behind you..." I whispered. "His ghost."

She kept her eyes closed but I knew she could feel the ghost's hand on her shoulders, slowly sliding down to her chest, sliding under the shirt as they went. Tears flowed down her face.

"STOP IT DEVIN" she growled, her voice cracking as she choked on the tears.

"Why, Wayde? Your my little girl. My little Jennifer Wayde."

Her eyes flashed open when she heard her real name.

She stood up quickly, jerking away from him. "You hurt me. Broke my heart."

"I only showed you what you deserved, bitch! You were MINE, but you thought you could practically WORSHIP those girlfriend-stealing, gay, emo FAGGOTS!"

Both Blair and I were miffed. We let our true selves show: the horribly beautiful demon-like creatures that were Thea's daughters. I heard our ghostly voices ring out in unison. "LEAVE!"

And he was gone.

We sat back down and I finished her makeup, covering the marks on her face and arms. Mikey hadn't noticed them yet. She put on a short black dress with chains all over it and red ribbon laced up the sides. She wore black armwarmers that matched the sides of the dress and red ballet flats that had ribbon up to her knees.

At 5:45 we heard Mikey thumping around downstairs.

At 5:50 we heard Mikey screaming at Ray. "THEY TOOK GRACE AND I TOLD YOU TO WATCH HER!"

"DON'T YELL AT ME IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"

"I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE NEVER BROUGHT HER! WE SHOULD HAVE SENT HER HOME WITH THE GIRLS! ALONG WITH YOU!"

I heard two sets of feet running up the fire escape. Gerard was yelling "Mikey! MIKEY!"

The door slammed open and Mikey stormed in. "Ghoul, get ready to leave. You, Party, Jet, and I will leave first, then Dr. Deathdefying will go with Rainbow Pause and Newsagogo after a 15 minute time lapse."

Blair looked at him. "What about Cemi and I?"

~Blair's POV~

He looked directly into my eyes. "I'm NOT putting you through any danger." he paused. "Good-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME GOODBYE MIKEY WAY!"

"Why not?" he said.

I turned my head down, tears flowing down my cheeks. "B-because g-goodbye is...goodbye is forever." I stuttered. He put both hands on my cheeks and raised my face.

"Look at me, Blair. I'll never leave you. But this is something I don't want you involved in."

"Stay safe." I whispered.

"Anything for you." he answered.

~Cemetery's POV~

The whole time Gerard and I were kissing. We parted, and I stared into his eyes. He hugged me tightly to his chest, then let me go and walked off, Mikey following. Blair followed them to the door and watched them descend the stairs of the fire escape, then disappear.

We sat in silence for twenty minutes, hearing Gerard's car leave, then Dr. Deathdefying's van. After 5 more minutes I walked over to the door and slammed it against the wall. Blair's head jerked up. "Where we goin'?"

"To save the Danger Squad, cause you KNOW they're going to get hurt."