Paint - Part 7

"I'd say we aim for the ice cream parlor." Daray said. "If they're not in it, they'll be around it."
"So be it." Cal nodded. Instantly, he broke into a run, Daray right on his tail.

As the ice cream parlor came into sight, Daray turned watchful, scanning all the people that she passed. A red jacket, black hair, dark sunglasses… She knew Robyn had to be around here somewhere. He wasn't easy to miss. Well not to Daray anyway. Vee would probably be with him. Find Robyn, find Vee. It never worked the other way around.
"I can't see them." Cal said. "There's nobody around. If they came out in the open, we would have seen them by now."
"It doesn't make sense." Daray sighed. "I was positive they would be around here."
"Well-"

Suddenly, somebody pounced on top of Cal, knocking him to the floor. They tumbled and rolled for a few solid minutes, while Daray tried to part the Cal from the stranger with little success.
"Give back the money you bastard!" The man yelled. "Give it here!"
"For heaven's sake Robyn, get off him!" Daray yanked the back of his sweatshirt.
"He stole our money! He stole you!" Robyn tried to lunge back at Cal, who scrambled to his feet.
"You've been missing for days Daray! Kelly's been worried sick." The stab of pain Daray felt on hearing those words was visible to everybody.

"Why don't we get an ice cream?" Cal suggested. "Then Daray can talk you guys through why she's been missing. I'll pay."
"Your money?" Robyn asked. "Or ours?"
"Mine." Cal held up a leather wallet. "I do have a job."
"Good enough for me." Vee grinned, racing into the shop.
"Wait up!" Robyn laughed, chasing after him.

Cal turned to Daray after her friends had disappeared through the parlors' doors.
"You better have some pretty damn good excuse for all this Daray." Cal said. "Or you're going to be just swimming in this shit. Up shit river without a paddle. Now come on. The ice cream awaits."  

After a lot of fluffing around at the counter, the small group sat down at a table to wait for the order to arrive.
"So Daray," Robyn said once the group settled down. "Why have you been away for so long?" The table instantly quieted, turning to the now nervous redhead.
"Well, you see," Daray began, leaning back in the chair. "I saw Cal running and I chased after him for a very long time. His stamina is like his hair – it can't possibly be normal."
"We get it." Cal said, smiling slightly. Daray poked his arm before continuing.

"So basically I'm chasing him. And then he leaps over this ditch, right?" The boys nodded, absorbed in the tale.
"And so this ditch is like, twice what anything I've jumped. So I decided to risk it. I jumped. And I land on  the other edge – just. But what I didn't count on was it crumbling beneath my feet. I feel back, whacked my head, and practically died in the ditch. I would have been a gonner if it wasn't for Cal."
"Oh really, it was nothing!" Cal laughed, but only Daray could see there was no humor behind the gesture.

"So anyway, I wake up, and I'm in this strange room." Daray said. "And there like all this really pretty paint-" Daray stopped for a second as Cal started shaking his head frantically. Daray bit her lip. "And so there's all this wood on the wall, and I thought to myself 'What pretty wood! I wonder why it's so... woody?" Robyn burst into laughter, with Vee not long behind him. Cal just raised an eyebrow.
"Woody? Seriously?" Robyn shook his head. "How hard did you hit your head again?"
"Obviously enough to make my brain spin out into overdrive." Daray replied.
"Well, you weren't the sanest of souls to begin with Daray." Vee said quietly. Daray gasped in mock offence.

"How dare you call me insane!" Daray said.
"She prefers the term 'mentally unstable' actually." Robyn grinned.
"Really? I was under the impression she was more of a 'dust bunny' sort of girl." Cal said, a grin spreading across his face. Daray narrowed her eyes at the two.
"Well, now that I think about it, that actually works!" The waitress placed their orders beside them as the conversation continued.
"Of course it's going to work!" Cal grinned. "I came up with it."

"Ahhh, but that's where you're wrong, my good fellow." Robyn grinned. "I know Daray so well, I could write a book about her." Daray rolled her eyes as she tucked into her frosty minty treat.
"Oh really?" Cal said, taking a bite of his own desert.
"Why would I lie to you, my friend?" Robyn grinned. "But I probably wouldn't want to write a book on Daray. Mainly because I want to have this mentally unstable person locked in my closet. She's just too damn hot to have anywhere else."
And that's when Daray swooped over and dumped her ice cream sundae on top of Robyn's head. Not a sprinkle was spared. And to complete the picture, Daray picked off the cherry and stuck it on to of Robyn's head.

"Well Robyn," Daray grinned. "If I'm hot, then you must be the sweetest thing on the planet."
"And that Robyn," Vee laughed "Is how Daray always get's the last laugh." Robyn swiped his finger along his hair, licking the creamy remains off.
"Mmmmm. Minty." He grinned stupidly. Daray laughed.
'You can find a way to make anything funny, can't you?"
"Na." Robyn shook his head, green ice cream splattering Daray's shirt. "I just pull out the obvious and make it even more so."

Cal interrupted, a slightly panicked look on his face. "Daray? We need to go now."
"You're not taking her anywhere." Robyn growled, stepping in between the two.
"Why not?" Cal said calmly, a cold stony look in his eyes. "I saved her life. I brought her to you. The least I can have in return is to take her out for a while longer."
"So you can murder her or something?" Robyn shot back. "I don't think so."
"He has a point Robyn." Vee said quietly.
"But I don't care." Robyn replied stiffly. "Daray, you are coming with me whether your little friend likes it or not."

"Bad move." Cal growled.
"How so? I got the girl Cal. You lose. Go home." Robyn smirked. Daray gritted her teeth.
"Robyn… She trailed off. "I promised I would go with him. It was a deal we made."
"A deal with the fucking devil." Robyn hissed. "I don't even know what happened to you Daray! For all I know, the madmen keeping you hostage could have peeled the skin off your back and used it for seasoning and I wouldn't know!" Robyn sighed. "Daray. I'm only doing this to save your ass."
"From what?" Daray laughed. "Cal couldn't hurt a fly!" Cal squirmed in place. "If you haven't noticed, they looked after me when I couldn't even walk."
"Who are they?" Robyn replied. "I don't even know who 'they' are! 'They' could be a race of man eating bunnies for fuck's sake!"
"They are they! That's all you need to worry about Robyn." Daray said, obviously wanting to say the complete opposite. "I'll be fine." Cal tugged on her sleeve.
"Now, Daray." He said.

Vee came around the table to give Daray a quick hug.
"Be awesome, won't you?" He smiled shyly.
"When am I not?" Daray replied, laughing. Robyn had sat down and wasn't moving, his head clasped in his hands as if he had a really bad headache. "See ya around Robyn?" Daray said, more of a question than a farewell.
"If you live." He said. A pained looked sliced through Daray's expressions as the words hit home.
"Robyn…"
"Just. Go." The two left the parlor, leaving the boys alone at the table, half finished ice creams littered around them.

Vee walked back over to the table, where Robyn sat brooding with his head in his hands.
"You alright man?" He asked, putting a hand on his friend's back. Robyn shoved it back at him.
"Does it look like I'm alright to you Vincent?" Vee gulped – when Robyn used his full name it always meant trouble. And unlike his friends, Vee didn't like getting into trouble at all.
"Seriously, what wrong?" Vee asked. Robyn grabbed a napkin and started furiously attacking his sticky hair.

"I don't know." Robyn growled. "I mean, well, I don't know." He threw down the napkin to again put his head in his hands. "It's just I feel so out of balance right now. Like one minute I'm myself, all happy and jokey. And then the next there's something inside me. It lurks in the back of my mind. I know so. It's been there ever since I can remember. But now it's decided to rear its ugly head.  And when it comes out I feel like shooting somebody. Anybody. And I turn into this fucking monster that wants to destroy anybody that comes into my path." He picked up the napkin again, wringing it tighter and tighter. Suddenly it fell apart in his hands. He growled, chucking it at the bin behind him before turning back to Vee.

"And when I saw Cal, I'm positive I haven't, but I know I've met him before." He gritted his teeth. "Daray's not safe with that guy. I know that for a fact."
"But it's just a gut feeling-"
"It's not just a gut feeling Vee!" Robyn yelled, grabbing Vee's collar and thrusting him against the wall. "I know it for a fact. That guy is dangerous. And Daray will be in danger if I don't do a fucking thing about it. Do you understand that? Do you?" The two stayed there for the longest moment in Vee's life. Suddenly Robyn dropped Vee, muttering an apology to him before stumbling back over. He slumped back into his chair, rubbing his temples. Vee walked over.
"I had no idea…" Vee said. Robyn and Vee stood there for a long time, Vee's arm wrapped around Robyn's shoulder.
After a time, Robyn looked up at Vee, tears welling up in his eyes.
"I don't feel like myself anymore Vee." He whispered coarsely. "And it's scaring me."