Won't Change a Thing

I knelt on the dirt clutching my ribs. Struggling to breathe through the pain. Struggling to see through the tears.
Faceless figures lined up in front of me. Looking down on my pitiful existence.
Judging. Calculating.
The third figure bent down, iron dress rings protesting quietly as she doubled at the waist. She pulled away her gas mask, smiling at my broken spirit.
“Look upon your death and smile” she whispered, stroking a gloved hand across my cheek before standing straight.
The five other figures stepped forwards, circling me, shrouding her from me.
Metal kissed the flesh of my neck briefly, leaving a cold flame in its wake.
“Bella Muerte.”
There was nothing beautiful about this. Nothing.
Blood slipped down my neck as a gun sounded. A bullet running through me.
The red fluid filled my throat and mouth, leaking from the corners as the congregation moved. Five more figures in my view, faces glowing with clarity.
“Help me.”

My eyelids shot open with such a speed my eyes should have fallen from their sockets.
“Raven, are you okay?” Bob whispered, face illuminated by the lights through the door “you were crying. Me and the guys heard and…”
I scanned the room for any presence of the six figures. For my ‘bella muerte’.
“It was just a nightmare” my voice trembled.
A gentle hand squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. “You’ll be okay.”

*Time Lapse*

“You put the lime in the coconut and ya drink ‘em both up. Put the lime in the-”
“Jesus Christ, Frank!” Mikey chuckled as his pillow hit his target full in the face “how many have you had? You’ve been singing that song for two hours already!”
Frank stood immobilized, face blank, jaw slightly slack.
“You put the lime in the coconut and drink ‘em both up!”
“You aren’t helping, Gee![”
I stood in the doorway giggling to myself. “You’re all insane you know that?”
Lucy stepped into the room, Quinn and another boy in tow.
“Do you ever knock?” Ray chuckled, pulling the scarlet haired girl into a tight embrace.
“Hey Raven” Quinn raised a hand, a shy smile gracing his perfect lips.
“Hey Qu-” my eyes bulged out their sockets as a pair of strong, muscular arms wrapped tightly around my waist. “So you’re Raven?”
The boys swung me around; his white, toothy smile sparkling in my face. “I’ve heard all the rumours about ya and I’ve seen the uniform Quinn’s making for you. You’re gonna look good, trust me.”
“Thanks?” an uncertain smile crept across my face, “do I know you?”
“That is Danny,” Mikey giggled, sauntering over to us with a smile and a Quinn in tow “I haven’t seen you in ages.”

He stretched out his long, slender arms pulling the boy with an anaconda grip on me into a friendly hug.
Danny’s grinning mouth was only just higher than Mikey’s shoulder, his warm grey eyes scrunching slightly while he smiled like a Cheshire cat.
“You are staying here whether I have to tie you down or not.” They laughed, refusing to be the first to let go of the other.
“Well, when you put it like that, how could I resist?”
He’s gonna turn out to be either a terrible flirt or about as straight as a roundabout… I can’t tell which.
“So,” I finally spoke loudly, ignoring the two gossiping girls beside me, causing Quinn’s dark eyes to dart up from his shoes “you do speak English?”
I quirked an eyebrow, an amused smirk growing as he turned a light shade of pink.
“Sorry” he chuckled, running a hand through his chaotic red and black hair “Gerard called me and we… it was his idea, just a joke.”
I rolled my eyes at him, making sure he saw; the way he was talking you’d think I was gonna bite his head off. “It’s cool, it was a good joke. Ya got me.”

A clatter of ice and glass sounded from the small black bar.
Gerard, Mikey and Danny stood in a tight group. Eyes darting between Ray and Lucy as they laughed and flirted openly, Bob and Frank lounging out on the couch, and us.
Danny smirked as our eyes met, thin colourless lips tugged up at one corner before he turned to the other two.
“Sorry ‘bout him” Quinn broke into my bubble “he’s a little full on. It’s really kinda weird how different we are.”
“What?” as the word escaped my own lips I scanned his feature carefully. Comparing them to what I remembered of Danny’s, finally noticing the similarities between them.
“He’s my brother… Lui’s as well of course…”
“Oh…” The three of them were so different, but at the same time there was something in each of them that was noticeably the same.

Lucy seemed the strong, independent type. Red hair dyed such a beautiful, warm shade that contrasted with her cold, stone eyes.
Quinn was, from what I’d seen, the quiet, friendly, likeable one who probably spent his morning organizing his hair into an organized mess of red and black.
And Danny. Danny was defiantly the cheeky, probably flirtatious and irresistibly charming type. Shoulder length black hair flattened at the front into a neat side-fringe, with small grey eyes of a warmer tone than his sisters, a welcoming shade that Lucy’s seemed to lack.

“Hey, you okay?” Quinn waved a hand in front of my face, smiling again when my eyes fluttered back into full focus “you blanked out on me.”
“Sorry” a small chuckle escaped my throat as I looked nervously around the room, “you wanna grab a beer and see if the guys wanna play a game?”
He pulled a thinking face, fingers forming a tick under his chin.
“Please?” pink lips formed an easy, well rehearsed pout and he sighed.
“Sure, what’s the worst that can happen?”