We Come out at Night

“I’ll see you in less than two weeks for sound check and all those wonderful tasks that must be taken care of for a perfect show.” I said kissing Caleb and Ray on the cheek.

I looked at Caleb as Ray said goodbye to the others, “He’s not mad at me still is he?” I asked.

“Eh, I think he’s just more upset with his choice in women. He needs to find a girl like you. And I think he wants a good girl like you and your friends, he just needs help. I think I’m going to try hooking him up with my friend Kayla.” He said putting his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, she’s nice. Well I’ll see you soon.” I said with one more kiss on his cheek and a quick hug.

Today, the guys as well as us girls, were heading to Jersey for a few days to visit Aden’s family. We were going to be staying with her sister and her roommate. At some point today, we would be going to a carnival that only took place today, and according to Aden, this was one you’d regret missing for the rest of your pitiful, meaningless life. And none of us could possibly live with that on our conscious’s.

We had gotten a few rental cars and left Jake with the van. Aden was going to be driving with Brian, Lexi, Jimmy, Katie and Johnny in a black Chevy Tahoe. Then there was the black Yukon we rented that I was driving with Zacky, Lucy, and Matt. Since there was so much extra room in the Yukon, we took all of the luggage.

“Take me down
To the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Take me home”

Lucy and I were singing as we pulled out of the drive way. Matt and Zacky soon joined in as we made our way to the Long Island Expressway.

We were about 45 minutes into our trip when we hit traffic. We could see the George Washington Bridge and were so close to getting onto it, but there was so much traffic. I got tired of the radio and plugged my phone into the radio.

I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Lucy rest her head on Matt’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. They looked terribly bored. I looked over at Zacky. He had his head resting on the window whistling something.

I scrolled through the songs on my phone; I only had about a little over 380. I smiled as I tapped the screen and heard the intro come on. I looked back in the rearview mirror and saw Lucy smile.

“Gravity
Don't mean too much to me
I'm who I've got to be
These pigs are after me, after you
Run away, like it was yesterday
And we could run away, if we could run away
Run away from here!”

Lucy was in between Zacky and I as we screamed the lyrics. When the song got heavy, we were head banging and tapping our hands on any surface we could reach. Once we got on the bridge, the traffic was moving and we were well on our way to Jersey.

Once we got over the bridge we got to a toll, I hung out the window and looked back at Aden’s vehicle and screamed out the window. “We’re in Jersey bitches!!”

I heard them laughing over the sound of horns blowing, and we laughed along with them.

Once we got further onto the highway, Aden went in front to lead the way to her sister’s apartment. We listened to a few more My Chemical Romance songs then moved onward to Metallica, Pantera, Escape The Fate, and Falling in Reverse.

Once we pulled into Aden’s sisters driveway, we all took a good stretch. Lucy was wearing a Black Veil Brides t-shirt underneath a Bullet For My Valentine hoodie, blue skinny jeans, black converse and a skull necklace. Matt was wearing a Metallica sweater underneath a Metallica hoodie, jeans, black boots, and a studded belt.

Aden was sporting a Bob Marley t-shirt underneath a hoodie that read ‘Cool Story Bro. Tell it again’, gray skinny jeans, black converse high tops, and a ring with a moustache on it. Brian was wearing a white v neck t-shirt, black jeans, black and white Nikes, a black Adam Kimmel and Carhartt Snap front jacket, and a hat with a hand flipping the bird.

Katie was wearing a t-shirt with a panda on it that read ‘Panda Power’ on it underneath a hoodie with a shark that said ‘ARGHH’, blue skinny jeans, blue and white Nikes, and a blue watch. Johnny was wearing and gray and blue striped t-shirt underneath a gray striped hoodie, jeans, blue and white Nikes, and a watch.

Lexi wore an Infamous cold shoulder top underneath a black hoodie with silver designs, black skinny jeans, black converse, and a large crystal cuff. Jimmy wore a Specials Punk t-shirt underneath a black hoodie, black jeans, black and white Adidas and a bracelet with skulls on it.

Zacky was wearing an A Day To Remember t-shirt underneath a red check hoodie jacket, jeans, black Etnies, and an LA Angels hat. And as for me, I wore a Sinful t-shirt underneath a Sinful sweat jacket, blue jeans, red and black Etnies, and a necklace with a heart and wings.

We unloaded our luggage as Amber came out and greeted us. We all gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. I was just grabbing my bag out of the back when I saw her roommate walk out the door. I dropped my bag and felt my blood boil. Lucy ran over to me immediately.

“What the FUCK is she doing here?” I whispered harshly at them.

“I don’t know dude.” Lucy said.

“Guys this is my roommate Kristin.” She said with a warm smile.

“Oh dear god.” She said with a sigh as she turned and walked back into the house.

Amber looked confused, “What was that about?”

“She hates Joanna.” Aden said patting her sister on the shoulder.

“Why?” she asked turning to me.

“She tried to cheat on my brother with Zacky.” I said as Zacky put an arm around me.

“Ohhh, that was you? Shit.” She said looking around. “Oh well, you guys are family. She will have to get over it. Come on in, we’re heading out to the carnival in about a half hour.” She said as she led us inside.

Her place was one of those places that looked ten times bigger on the inside than the outside. There would definitely be some squishing but nothing we couldn’t handle. We all freshened up a bit before heading over to the carnival. It was within walking distance, so we walked.

Kristin decided to stay home. No big surprise there, no one wanted her there anyway.

We walked up to the ticket booth and saw that they had bracelets for $25. We each got one. The other ticket vendor scared the piss out of us and screamed as a bracelet was put on Aden.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry I don’t mean to gush but you guys are my two favorite bands!”

When we recovered from our hearts pounding out of our chests, Matt spoke up. “Thank you, we all appreciate that….Laura.” He said reading her little name tag as he did one of his dimple-tastic smiles.

She blushed a deep shade of red, “Hey, my manager isn’t really paying attention right now, would you all mind signing my bag?” she asked holding it up.

“Sure thing.” Lexi said with one of her stunning smiles. We all signed her bag. It smelt brand new, which somewhat meant a lot. It looked pretty expensive, as if she was working for a quite a while to buy. The rest of us got our bracelets and we ran to the first ride.

“Oh my god I LOVE the Gravitron!” I squealed as Zacky wrapped his arms around me smiling.

“I know dude! I do handstands on this shit. Then I fall on the floor because I can’t flip back over.” Aden said.

We soon got on and it seemed a lot longer than it did when I was younger, and I had no problem with this. The majority of us sat on the wall when it spun fast enough. Aden did her hand stand and just as she said, once it slowed down enough, she fell over and we all laughed.

Next up was the Zipper. Not too many people wanted to go on it so Aden and I went on together and Lucy and Katie went on together. When Katie got off, she looked like she was ready to hurl. But she got herself together as we made our way to the roller coaster they had set up. I sat down with Zacky and took his hat off his head putting it on my lap.

“We don’t want to lose it sir.” I said with a smirk and a finger. He chuckled and the ride soon took off. The ride wasn’t as long as I would have hoped for but we had quite a few more rides to get on. Aden was definitely right about this Carnival, and I am happy we didn’t miss out on it.

We rode quite a few more rides. The Pharaoh’s ship, the swings, slingshot, even the bumper cars. We also played a few games, which resulted in 3 new pet goldfish, a giant panda, a few Angry Birds plushes, and a Thor pillow. It was starting to get dark and we were ready for some dinner food. So we decided to go in the Haunted Funhouse.

The first room we went into had glow in the dark skulls hanging around everywhere; at one point Jimmy said they should have bat wings and be called the ‘Deathbat Room’. The next room had people hiding and would jump out at you. A few of us screamed, but the best was when Lexi screamed. It was blood curdling, and we all laughed as we continued forward.

The last thing we had to go through was this tunnel that spun around us. It had demon faces all over it and it was one of the trippyest things I have ever seen. It started to give me a headache and I was relieved when we walked out.

We all went back to the entrance to get out prizes and such as we laughed at how good of a day we were having.

“Hey guys? Where’s Lexi?” Aden said.

We all looked around, but none of us saw her. We started to worry.

We walked up to the staff member at the end of the Haunted Funhouse, and all he said was that there was no one else in our group inside. We started to look around frantically.

“There she is! That guy is dragging her away!” Katie yelled as we saw a man dressed in black carrying her over his shoulder. She had duct tape over her mouth and she was kicking and punching trying to get down. We knew that she wasn’t strong enough to get away from him.

We ran towards him screaming for help. Security was immediately after the man. We knew to let them deal with the man but we were too worried and we continued to run after them. Jimmy was ahead of everyone, working his little drummer legs.

We ran out through and over the back gates, but we lost him. We couldn’t find him anywhere. One of the security guards walked over to us, he was out of breath.

“We lost him. But don’t worry too much. We already had police after him. They should catch him.” Despite the bad news, we thanked the man. He offered us a ride home but we told him we would be okay. He gave us a number to the closest precinct and we called and gave them all of our information. They said that if they found anything they would contact us right away.

The walk home seemed to take forever. Everyone was silent. Even Jimmy, which scared all of us. Once we walked in the door, he said he was going to take a shower and go to bed and that if any of us heard anything to wake him up.

We sat in the living room and watched TV, trying to keep our mind at ease. This was ruined when the news came on and there was a story about the “Missing Member of Shattered Halo”.

“Oh, sorry to hear about your little friend.” Kristin said as she walked through the door, dressed as skanky as ever.

“Oh come on Kristin, leave them alone.” Amber said. Kristin snorted a laugh and walked into the kitchen.

I got too irritated and climbed out of Zacky’s arms and went into the other room to put my pajamas on.

I started to pull out my clothes, sorting them out. I pulled out a shirt and a pair of gym shorts and took my shirt off. I unfolded my shirt and noticed there were tears in it. It was a brand new shirt, I wore it once. How were there tears in it?

Then I unfolded my shorts, they were all fucked up too. I unfolded more shirts, a pair of jeans and they too, were ripped, torn, and cut up. I let out a growl and screamed. “KRISTIN!!!!” I ran out of the room, I didn’t care that I didn’t have a shirt on. Everyone in the living room looked scared as I ran through. They all got up and chased after me despite their fears.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” I screamed as I ran into the kitchen.

She was sipping a wine cooler and looked me up and down. “See? You almost dress like me.”

“My clothes. Why did you fuck with my shit.” I growled glaring at her.

“You fucked with my life. I had Ray wrapped around my little finger. And you fucked that all up for me. Paybacks a bitch Jo.” She said taking another sip.

I felt a hand go on my shoulder. “Joanna let it go, you can borrow some of my clothes until we get you more.” Lucy said.

“No, fuck this bitch.” I said not taking my eyes off of her.

“Oh don’t worry, your brother already did.” She said, and that sent me over the edge.

I jumped across the kitchen and took her to the ground. I started swinging, connecting my fist with her face. She got a good shot in and I instantly felt my lip split open. She tried to put her feet up by my shoulders to push me off. She was partially successful and scratched my shoulders up pretty good with the heels of her shoes. I threw another punch, then I felt people trying to pull me off of her, they weren’t very successful.
I stood up, and pulled her up by her hair. I dragged her over to the back door and slammed her head into it a few times before I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and throw me over their shoulder. I started kicking and screaming as I watched the view of her slumping to the floor grew further and further away. “MY FRIEND IS MISSING YOU FUCKING SLUT! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I NEED YOUR SKANKY ASS ON MY CASE?! FUCK. YOU!”

I was thrown on a bed and saw Matt moving away from the bed as Zacky crawled on top of me and held me down. Matt asked Zacky if he needed help but he said no but he should watch the door to make sure no one gets in. Matt did as asked and left Zacky to deal with me as I tried to get away.

“Joanna. Calm down!” he said with a stern tone. I did as he said and looked up at him, me expression still angry.

“Joanna, stop. Just chill out. You got your point across to her. Just calm down for now, please?” he said doing his best to calm me down.

I calmed myself down a bit just as he pulled me up. “You’re bleeding.” He said looking at my shoulders, then checking the bed to make sure I didn’t get any blood on the bed.

“If I get up do you promise to not run for the door?” he asked me, I nodded. I wouldn’t move.

He walked into the bathroom to get some peroxide and paper towels and returned. He took a wet paper towel and started to wipe the blood away. I flinched as he went over the gash on my left shoulder. He inspected it a bit. “It’s deep, but it doesn’t look like it needs stitches.”

He then soaked a paper towel with peroxide and started to clean my wounds. He was gentle, and I was thankful for that. He was putting the last bandage on as we heard a knock on the door. “Who is it?” Zacky asked.

“It’s me Zee, Aden.”

He looked me over, “Okay hold on a second.” He said as he got up. He walked over to my bag and pulled out a bra and inspected it before handing it to me.

“Perve.” I said with a smirk.

“Nooo. I was making sure it was all together.” he said with a quivering smirk. “Put it on. The one you have on now is done.” I looked down and noticed that the one strap was torn and it was ripped up pretty good.

I quickly changed it and Aden was let in. She had a shirt and pair of shorts in hand. She looked me down.
“Dude, I haven’t seen you like that in the longest time.” She said almost barely audible.

“I know.” I replied looking down. “I’m so sorry. Your sister must be pissed.”

“No, not at all. She made Kristin leave too. And Lucy called Caleb, she told him not to worry. And to make tonight a bit better, the po-po called. They found Lexi, she’s in a hospital right now though. Amber took Jimmy up there, they said it’s nothing serious but they just want to look her over and run some tests to make sure she’s okay and that she wasn’t drugged or anything.” She said handing me the clothes.

“Oh shit. That’s great!” I said with a smile.

Well we’re all excited but the doctors said she won’t be released until the morning anyway. So we are going to bed. You two can have this room for tonight. So, goodnight.” She said as she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Clean up your lip pig fucker, it’s still bleeding.” She said with a smile. I smiled back.

I walked into the bathroom and cleaned up my lip and brushed my teeth. I looked like a wreck. I didn’t have a fat lip yet, which was a good sign, and my face didn’t look like it was bruising. My hair was a mess though. Nothing a brush couldn’t fix, or so I thought. I figured it could wait till the morning.

I walked back into the bedroom and saw Zacky laying down in just his shorts. I crawled into bed and kissed him on the lips. I rested my head on his chest and felt him wrap his arms around me. “You can be scary, you know that?” he asked with a small laugh.

I returned the laugh, “Yes, I am well aware.”

I felt him kiss my forehead, “Good night babe.” He said just as I fell asleep with the relief that my friend was safe and would be home soon.