Let me start by saying that I didn't go with them last night, though I did hang out with them for a few hours. They were fun if you could ignore the terrifying atmosphere around them. David, the leader it seemed with bleached hair and probably the best sense of fashion in the group, was actually pretty funny the few times he spoke, but Dwayne, the one with long dark hair and no shirt, didn't speak at all. Marko, who seemed to be the one Paul latched onto, was very sexual, but never enough to make me uncomfortable, just enough to make me blush a bright red. Altogether, though it was definitely a new experience, it wasn't uninvited.

My mom got mad at me for being out so late as I got home around midnight. It was confusing because she told me to be out until at least ten, but I didn't argue with her, just accepted that I wouldn't be going out tonight.

That led me to where I am now, sitting on my windowsill, my legs hanging out and a lit match in my hand as the wind cooled my body. I was staring between the woods, looking for them, the masked people, and my hand, but I couldn't make out any figures. Well, I didn't until I almost fell asleep, my head leaning against the side of the window and the match successfully put out by the wind. Through my hazy vision, I could make out a fox mask.

They were here.

I sat back up slowly, watching as another two exited, all three staring up at me. One with a deer mask reached their hand out to me, inviting me to join them.

"I can't come out today," I spoke, trying to be quiet but loud enough for them to hear me. After all, it was around one in the morning, and everyone else in the house was asleep. "I'll get in trouble."

They lowered their hand, but they still stood there, watching. One with a raccoon mask turned to the fox and rolled their head. The fox nodded, and I watched as the deer and raccoon left back into the woods, leaving me with the fox.

I fiddled with the match in my hand as I stared down at the fox. "How did you follow me?" They didn't move. "Are you even real?" The fox nodded, a slow nod that sent chills down my spine. "Did you guys set the last house on fire?" The fox nodded. "Are you going to set this one on fire." A pause and then a shake of the head that meant no. "Are you going to hurt me." The fox shook their head again. "Are you-"

I was cut off at the sound of someone running through the woods, disrupting the quiet atmosphere. My head snapped to where the sound was coming from, and I looked back at the fox to see them staring where I was as well. "What is it?" The fox turned to me before turning around and running away from the noise. "Wait!"

"Ivy," a voice called out from downstairs. "Ivy, is that you?" It was my aunt's voice, and I could hear her climbing the stairs.

I quickly stepped into the room and rushed toward the door. I opened it and stuck my head out just in time to see my aunt reach the top step. "Hi, I'm sorry, was I too loud? I haven't been able to sleep."

She shook her head. "Were you talking to someone?"

I shook my head quickly. "No, just reading a book out loud. Helps me clear my mind."

She nodded her head, though she didn't look convinced. "Okay, well, uh, tomorrow, your mother and I are going on a small trip to a few towns over. We'll be gone for two days, so there's food in the kitchen, and money if you want to go into town or to the boardwalk. I won't tell your mother as long as you don't get into trouble."

I let a grin slip onto my face. "That'd be nice. Thank you. What're you going for?"

"Now that is a secret." She let out a small chuckle and tapped the wall. "Now, try to go to bed. It's late."

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Have a good time."

"You too."

Getting out of the house after an entire day of being stuck inside it was something I absolutely loved.

I was wearing one of the new outfits I had bought the first night on the boardwalk. It was a pair of high-waisted leather pants that crisscrossed up the sides and an oversized, maroon shirt that I had cut up and turned into a crop top. I also had black ankle boots on my feet, and I had done my makeup with winged eyeliner and dark lipstick, something minimal but nice.

I could definitely say that I was feeling good, and from the stares I got as I made my way around the shops, I knew I looked good as well.

I was only walking around for a few minutes before I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. I looked up quickly, preparing myself to have to fight, only to meet the smiling face of Paul. I rolled my eyes and smiled back at him.

"Well, don't you look nice tonight," Paul stated, turning us around and leading me to where I believed was the rest of the guys.

I hummed. "Yeah, I normally do."

Paul laughed loudly. "Can't argue with that."

"You've only seen me once before."

"And you looked nice then, as well." I shook my head. "Where were you yesterday, anyway?"

"Mom locked me in a big tower because she just read Rapunzel for the first time and took ideas from it."

Paul laughed again. "Well, if you were ever locked in a tower, I'm sure the others and I would love to come and save you."

"Ah, that makes me feel so much safer."

"Good." I laughed loudly and bumped my shoulder against him, looking up as I heard a semi-familiar voice.

"Hey, angel. Just couldn't resist us, could you?" Marko was leaning against the railing of the boardwalk, a lazy grin across his face. To the side, David and Dwayne seemed to be speaking to each other, though I couldn't hear anything. However, their hands were moving incredibly fast, so maybe they were talking in sign language.

I pulled myself from Paul and gave Marko a quick hug that he reciprocated easily. "Yeah, that's what it is." As I pulled away from him, I turned to see David and Dwayne looking at us. "Hey, guys." Dwayne nodded at me, his lip twitching like he was going to smile, but he didn't. David seemed to ignore me, but I could tell he acknowledged me.

"Where were you last night, angel," Marko questioned, placing his hands on my waist.

I slapped his hands in a friendly way and stepped away from him only to get pulled back into Paul, my back to his front. I groaned quietly but ignored it. "Our princess got locked away in a castle by her wicked mother," Paul stated in a cheerful tone. "Which still doesn't explain why she's here today." He placed his head on my shoulder, his face slightly turned to mine. "So, how did you escape your tower tonight?"

I sighed and leaned into him a bit. "My mother is going to be gone for two days with my aunt."

"So, you're all alone," Marko leered, leaning forward a bit while raising his hand so he could bite at his thumbnail. My eyes followed the movement of his mouth before I snapped out of it.

"Just because I'm alone doesn't mean nobody's waiting for me. I'm not entirely helpless."

"Of course, you aren't," Paul mumbled, "but it's nice to know we can have you all night." I didn't miss the slight sexual undertone of the sentence, but I ignored it, knowing they wouldn't try anything. Well, I didn't know, but I was beginning to build trust with them, and that was something I would have to trust them with. Not hurting me.

Paul nipped at the side of my neck, another sexual motion in my mind that I knew made my face blush a bright red, but I looked up quickly as I heard David call Paul's name sternly. He was staring at Paul with a frown, and I raised my eyebrows, wondering why he was so worried about it.

Paul let out a loud whine and pull himself away from my neck, and I watched as David's eyes moved from him to me. He met my stare, and we both stood still for a moment. In my mind, this had turned into a staring contest, and I did not want to lose. I didn't know what David was thinking, but I hoped it was the same thing because after a few moments when I blinked and cursed, I heard him laugh quietly to himself.

He looked kind of cute when he laughed.

Though, after a moment or two of watching him laugh, Paul pulled my attention back to him by shaking me slightly. "What do you want to do tonight with your new-found power of freedom, huh?"

I rolled my head and hummed quietly. "I don't know. What's there to do around here?"

"Well, there are the rides and shops. There're places to eat. There might be a concert tonight. Those happen quite a bit. There's our hangout. There's-"

I cut him off before he continued. "Your hangout? Where's that?"

He paused, and Marko spoke next. "It's easier to show you that than explain to you, but we should do that another night. You don't know even half of the boardwalk. Why don't we start with that? There's a really good Chinese restaurant down that way. That's the first thing I always recommend to people."

"Well, then, why don't we head there? I haven't eaten all day."

Marko grinned and nodded, holding out his hand for me to take. I paused but complied, letting him pull me from Paul who groaned at the action. "Then, off we go," he said while wrapping his arm around my waist.

We made our way down the boardwalk, and I could hear the others walk behind us, and from a quick glance behind me, I could see Paul grinning at people as they passed by, and David and Dwayne were talking in sign language again.

People were staring at us as we passed and avoiding us as we walked through, basically clearing a path for us, and it put a little thought in the back of my hand. Maybe they actually were really dangerous and I was just ignoring all the signs. This could be the day I died, and it would have been because of my stupidity.

"Hey, angel," Marko stated, "you okay there?"

I hadn't even noticed that we had made it inside the shop. Paul was in front of us, staring up at the menu, but I had a feeling he already knew it by heart. On the other hand, Dwayne was sitting in a booth, still talking to David – who was standing on the other side of me - from across the room. It was crazy how fast his hands moved, and I was surprised they understood each other.

I blinked a few times, trying to zone back in. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, totally okay."

Marko looked unconvinced. "You zoned out like Paul does when he's high. You sure you're all good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I promise. Are there any art stores around here?" I drowned out the terrifying thoughts that they might hurt me with a small necklace idea I had. I didn't create art or anything, but I sometimes put together jewelry for my outfits, and I had always wanted to learn how to make charms.

Marko nodded. "Yeah, there's one a few stores down if you want to go after this."

"That'd be nice."

We were disrupted again as Paul turned to face us. "What do you guys want?"

"Oh, I'll pay for my own, so you guys order first." I said this as I reached into my back pocket, trying to grab my money.

Paul rolled his eyes and shook his head. "We're paying for your food, doll."

"No, it's fine, I got it," I persisted, but Marko grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand from my pocket. I didn't have enough time to grab ahold of my money from shock. "Hey! C'mon, mine is probably more expensive than yours. Let me pay."

"I don't think so," Marko stated, pushing me forward a bit. "Now order."

I huffed but complied, asking for the honey chicken meal as nice as I could while Paul laughed beside me. The cashier nodded, completely ignoring the others. "Is that all, miss?"

I nodded. "Thank you," I said to her before turning to Paul. I pulled his head down to my height so I could mumble, "you better tip her well if she has to deal with you guys," before walking away. Paul laughed again, so I knew he took it as a joke.

I walked away from them and sat across from Dwayne in the booth, giving him a small smile. He put his full attention to me. "Hey, sorry if I'm annoying you by, uh, being here." Honestly, he intimidated me quite a bit, but I tried not to let it show too much.

His lip quirked up a bit in a tiny smile. "You're not annoying." His voice was a lot deeper than expected. To be honest, I was surprised he even spoke at all. I almost believed he was completely mute. "It's nice to have Paul's attention diverted from me from time to time."

I let a quiet laugh slip from my lips. "He's, well, he's something."

"I hope that's a good something," Paul stated loudly as he slid into the booth right beside me, handing me a box filled with the food I ordered and chopsticks.

I bumped his shoulder. "I guess it is."

And the conversation rolled smoothly as we ate. Dwayne and David spoke more than they had the night before, and I could see them slowly begin to get comfortable around me. It was nice.

Marko did take me to the art shop like he said he would, and Paul seemed to have a great time looking at all the fabrics in the fabric section and wrapping feather boas around himself and prancing around with it. I pretended not to notice Dwayne picking up a few new patches, holding it up in the air to see if it would look good on Marko's jacket when he wasn't looking. Marko had ended up picking up a few new sketchbooks and pencils, and I - after insisting that yes, I am going to freaking pay for my own stuff – got a new chain and a bottle charm big enough to hold what I wanted it to.

Then, around three in the morning, I made my way back home after arguing for the third time that night with Marko and Paul; this time over the fact that I could, in fact, make my way home by myself, and no, I was not going to get killed. It was probably the hardest argument to win, though, as even Dwayne was on their side, stating that it wasn't safe at night around there when you were by yourself, and David had nodded along with him.

Overall, I did end up walking home by myself, and I didn't die in the process, so, in my head, I won.