Party Games (Frerard)

Twenty

The glass exploded into the building, scattering across the tile floor. Gerard slowly lowered his weapon, focusing on keeping his breathing even and calm. As cool as that moment had felt, fear also threatened to overtake him.

"Holy shit, Party." Gerard couldn't distinguish which killjoy behind him gasped. "You're a madman."

"Feels like it." Gerard muttered, scanning the room he had just created access to. No one came running out. Nothing but the glass and a small scortch mark on the wall looked out of place. Could it be so simple?

Northern Downpour came up beside Gerard and stepped past him. Before he could get too far, however, Gerard put a hand on his shoulder.

"Not yet." He said as the rest of the group stepped forward as well.

"Do you think someone is coming?" Rebel asked, nervously looking around. She still held her weapon close to her chest.

"Better question is whether or not someone knows we're coming." Demonic countered, scanning the area around them with narrowed eyes.

"Hard to miss the sound of that." Fun Ghoul laughed. He had somehow made it to the point of the group and was stepping onto the broken glass. "No blasts raining down on us yet."

"We need to find the stairs." Gerard instructed. "Elevators may be compromised."

"Scouting for stairs." Demonic nodded. He grabbed hold of Rebel's wrist. "You with me so we know you won't run."

She turned to him with a scowl on her face. "Where exactly would I go?" She snapped, yanking her wrist from his grasp. "I'm safer with you lot, even with Party's noise." She cast a glance in Gerard's direction, but he didn't meet it.

"Stay alert." Gerard said as he slowly made his way across the glass on the ground. "We don't know who or what could be waiting for us."

Demonic and Rebel both nodded. Northern followed the two, holding his weapon at the ready.

Gerard kept moving forward until he was just a step away from the wall that had caught his laser blast. He reached out, letting his fingers graze the dark mark. It felt so real. What if all of this was real?

"Party, check this out." Fun Ghoul drew his attention to the elevator that he was pulling open. The shorter killjoy grunted as he pulled at the doors, struggling to separate them. Gerard hurried over to help, pulling from the other side.

On the other side of the door, lights flickered in the elevator shaft. Both boys peered inside, looking up and down for the elevator. "There." Fun Ghoul pointed down to a sparking mess at the bottom. It looked as if the elevator had been cut and dropped.

"Guess elevator was never an option." Fun Ghoul chuckled nervously as they pulled back.

"They wanted to limit how we went up." Gerard said, trailing his eyes up the wall and to the ceiling. "Like mice in a maze."

Fun Ghoul wore a worried expression as he looked back at Gerard. "Why does this guy have it out for you?" He asked as the others hurried back over to them.

Northern gave a quick salute. "Party! We found the stairs. Dark but accessible."

"Are you sure about this?" Fun Ghoul spoke under his breath, low enough for only Gerard to hear.

Gerard nodded. "Excellent work." He gulped back the fear he felt building in his chest. "Lead the way and I'll take point once we're on the stairs."

Northern nodded. "Yes, sir." He turned on his heel and began to backtrack. Demonic and Rebel followed his lead. Gerard began to follow, but a light grip clasped around his wrist. He turned, locking eyes with Fun Ghoul.