Welcome to California 2019

“Mikey… Mikey we’re home” Gerard prodded at the sleeping man’s hallow cheeks. A small, childish grin spreading across his pale face.
“This is home?” my jaw dropped, actually dropped as I surveyed the building from my seat.
“Yeah. It’s not much but it’s somewhere to go.” Gerard shrugged, continuing to poke the now awake Mikey as I took in as much of the scenery as possible.
The place appeared to be a small roadside café with an equally small garage and gas station. The painted, white wooden walls contrasted against the brick-red window frames perfectly. Thin white blinds hung behind the panelled windows built either side of the matching door.
Outside were the two gas pumps we were parked next to with a large red and white ‘Dead Pegasus’ sign above them, a metal water stilted on a bulky wooden platform and a ‘Better Living’ vending machine.
Plastered across the garage doors were ‘exterminate’ posters, three of which I recognised as the men currently with me. It was a strangely intelligent idea to place their own posters up; after all who’d look for you anywhere near your own poster?
Well, it was either that or they were vain…

“You comin’ in or do we have to take shifts babysitting you?” Gerard must have gotten out of the car ‘cause he poked his head in the ‘window’ and cocked his head slightly, one eyebrow quirked, a joking smirk on his thin cherry lips.
Do I really want to sleep in the same place as the people who technically kidnapped me? Ordinarily, no.
But… I’m not sure why, and I hate to admit this; I kinda like ‘em.
At least, I probably would have been instant friends with them if: a) they hadn’t done what they’d done and shoved me in the back of their car and b) if it was actually safe to make friends in my situation.
“I’ll… come in?” the uncertainty in my voice scared me. I’m not used to being so… so… human.
He smiled and placed a hand on the handle, pausing before he opened the door. “Behave, please? We aren’t as bad as you might think.”
The lock clicked and the door swung open slowly before I pushed my feet out onto the ground.
“I’ll take that as an agreement,” he grinned, grabbing my hands and pulling me closer to him, face to face as he spoke “so I’m trusting you won’t try to kill us, at the very least.”
The bandana around my wrists slipped away and my palms became twin magnets, pushing one arm as far as it could from the other.

“Now come on in.” He took one of my freed hands in his own with a grin. Guiding me from the car through the café door, Frank and Mikey following close behind like shadows.
As soon as the door closed behind us the dark consumed us and fear creeped over my skin. When you’re on the run you learn to avoid plenty of things, from mains supply water through to flies. Two of these things were the dark and being in enclosed spaces.
My heart picked up pace at the sound of shuffling feet and my hand automatically tightened around Gerard’s, probably cutting off the circulation to his fingertips in the process.
“Doc? Hey, Doc you in?” Frank’s voice echoed around the room. “Matt?”
Lights exploded into life, spewing colour into everything it touched. “Finally!” a man marched into the room through another doorway huffing before making his way over to our little group. Each step he took making his fro bounce in time to the tap of his boots on the linoleum floor. “Kat’s been worry like mad! We thought you’d got caught aga-”
“Okay, okay! Chill it Ray. We’re back aren’t we?” Gerard smiled stepping further in front of me.
“Anyway I can explain…”
As he continued to talk I inspected the new man from behind his stick-thin figure. Ray? The same Ray they mentioned earlier in the desert?
His mouth was currently a small line of annoyance bordered with thick lips. His eyes were half narrowed beneath his furrowed brow, a deep chocolate brown circling his pupils. He was tall, fairly slim and well muscled. No wonder they were so worried about upsetting him…

“- And so we brought her back with us.” Gerard stepped aside, exposing me to Ray’s critical gaze. “This is Twitch.”
His dark eyes scanned up and down me, silently analysing. Once he was finished his eyes flashed to mine. “Where’re you from?”
“New York.” The back of my neck heated up beneath my ebony hair as his eyes burned hotter than coal.
“You haven’t got a New York accent. Where’re you really from?”
“England… originally.”
It’s true, I never did manage to pick up a full-out New York accent like I wanted to, instead I was stuck with a mix of my original Yorkshire accent and every other accent I’d picked up in America.
His eyes narrowed further as he continued with his analysis. His brow smoothed out and a small smile spread over his lips. “Alright, come on then.”
The four men began filing through the door, chatting quietly among themselves as I stood rooted to the spot, utterly confused as to what had just happened. He just… trusted me? Just like that?
“You coming? ‘Cause you’ve got people to meet.” Ray stood in the entrance to the next room, his mouth stretched into a smile.
“Yeah… sure.” I took a hesitant first step, eyes fixed firmly on the muscular figure in the door, even as I passed I kept them glued on him as he shook his head chuckling. He walked quickly into the next room, opening the door and let the noise fill the small corridor.

“- So worried! I thought they got you; it’s only a matter of time ‘til your brother’s cocky attitude gets you in trouble!”
Ray laughed as Mikey’s cheeks flushed. A slim, red haired girl placed small, light kisses over as much of his face as she could reach.
“Kat…” Mikey whined when she pulled him into a tight embrace “we’re always careful, you know that.” She released him with a small smile.
“I know but that doesn’t stop me worrying now does it?"
Everything was so quiet for a moment that the sound of my shuffling feet was amplified and the girl’s head snapped in my direction. Her smile grew in size and warmth.
“Hey” she skipped over, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me into a tight hug.
“I’m Kat, what’s your name?” she continued to beam as she took a step back, brushing her black fringe from her emerald eyes. “Erm…”
“She didn’t give us a name, so now she’s called Twitch.” Frank’s grin glowed with pride, an innocence to it that was as rare as the situation I was now in.
“Frank Iero. Did I ask you or did I ask the young lady in front of me?” Kat’s voice took a motherly tone despite the fact she was clearly younger than him, closer to my age by appearance than any of our current company. “So honey, what do I call you?”
“Twitch?”
“Cool! So I’m guessing you’re joining the family?”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good question at the moment” Gerard spoke up, a nervous chuckle escaping him as he ran a hand through his thick locks “we haven’t had the best of starts to be honest.”
“Well then, let’s all start afresh!” Kat turned back to me, pulling my hand gently until I was in the middle of the room where she let go and cleared her throat.

“Hi, my name’s Katherine, I prefer Kat. And I can already tell we’re gonna be the best of friends!” And she hugged me again.
Once she let go she stood there for a moment before turning around and raising an eyebrow at the others in the room. “Introductions everybody?”
“Fine, I’ll do this again” Gerard rolled his eyes. “Hi, I’m Gerard. And I really hate the fact my brother’s girlfriend can boss me around.” I giggled and he smirked, extending a hand and shaking my own. When he let go he turned to Kat. “That good enough?”
Kat nodded and Gerard moved to lean on a work desk, watching as others slowly began to introduce themselves.
“Hey, I’m Frank. I can play guitar and… like skittles?” He smiled, pulling me into a hug, clearly one of the more affectionate men in the group.
“Hi… again. I’m Mikey. And… sorry for earlier?” we shook hands and he moved to stand beside Kat, taking her hand and placing a small kiss on her lips. So I’m gathering that Mikey and Gerard are brothers… nice?
Ray stepped forward, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes.
He extended a hand to me, speaking when I mimicked the action. “I’m Ray. And I hope Gee didn’t scare you earlier in desert, he looks like a fucking vampire.”
I laughed. “Yeah he does, but pale’s good in my book.”
He chuckled releasing my hand but not moving. “I might as well introduce someone while I’m here. Nadine?”

There was a quiet shuffling as a small figure emerged from behind him.
The child was petite both in height and weight. She had wide, innocent eyes of the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen, sun-kissed skin and a mass of fluffy brown hair.
She was the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time, just being in the same room as her forced a genuine smile onto my face.
“Hey, I take it you’re Nadine? Well I’m Twitch” I smiled, extending my hand to her. For a moment she stood, half hidden behind Ray, one eyebrow quirked before she stepped forward and shook my hand without a word.
“You don’t talk much do ya?” I giggled letting go of her hand.
“Neither do you.”
A deeply accented voice boomed from another man’s smiling mouth. “I’m Matt, preferably Dr Death Defying or Doc.”
He was intimidating to say the least. A black beard and moustache outlined his strong jaw and thin lips, thick black sunglasses hid his eyes and a grey bandana held the messy strings of black hair out of his face. His confidence did nothing to make him less scary.
“Doc’s the one who owns this place, he lets us crash here and helps us out-”
“So you better stay on my good side” he lifted the sunglasses perched on his broad nose and winked, black lashes closing together over his dark eyes. An uneasy chuckle and an awkward handshake later and apparently there was one more person to be introduced to as the door I’d first entered through swung open. “I am not doing that again! I managed to get some food, it’s in front, but I‘m not walking down that fucking hill one more time!”
“And that’s Ryan.” Kat giggled as the boy’s head snapped to each person in the room finally landing on me.
“Erm, hi?” I giggled raising a hand in welcome. He continued to stare and I was getting a little freaked out. “I’m Twitch…”
“Yeah, sure. Ryan.” His lips pulled into a flash of a smile before dropping again.
An awkward silence fell in the room, slowly beginning to smother every individual in the room.
“Alright. Now you know everyone, how ‘bout I show you ‘round?” Kat fidgeted with the zip of her faded grey pilot’s jumpsuit, pulling it up and down repeatedly until I nodded “all righty then!”
She skipped over, grabbing my hand and guiding me back into the first room.
Once the second door closed behind us and we were stood in the café area her hand relaxed and fell to her side. She walked to one of the booths and sat down, resting her feet on the table.
“Right. Now we’re away from everyone can I ask you something?” her voice was still light as she looked up at me for a response. Nodding I sat opposite from her, making sure my eyes rested anyway but on her.
“Do you want to be here? I mean do you actually want to stay?” my breathing stalled for a moment, puffing back to life in a sigh.
“I don’t know” my head fell into my hand and my eyes closed as I took a deep breath.
“Twitch, honey? Come on, you can talk to me-”
“I’m just so confused right now!” our eyes flashed to one another’s, glued in place as I spoke “I got kidnapped, and now? Now you’re all treating me like a guest!”
“I understand, that’s gotta be confusing. But you are a guest, and it’s your choice whether you stay or not.” Our eyes stayed fixed, serious masks securely in place. “So, are you staying the night or are you gonna leave?”
The way she spoke to me… I don’t know. It made her sound trustworthy. Like she wasn’t going to stop me…
She seemed kind, fun to have around, a future friend if I stayed. And I need friends, preferably before I lose all social skills.
One night can’t do any harm. Right?
“If I stay the night… can I still leave in the morning?”
Her smile re-appeared as she looked at me.
“Sure. Stay or go, it’s up to you.”
So, for at least one night I have a roof to sleep under, for one night I can act like the last few years never happened, for once I have a choice.
For once I’m in control.