I think with my heart and I move with my head

I open my mouth and it's something I've read

I stood at this door before, I'm told

But a part of me knows that I'm growing too old

Confused what I thought with something I felt

Confuse what I feel with something that's real

I tried to sell my soul last night

Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite

Come With Me Now – The Kongos

"You're gonna have to kill me."

I stared at Mark, a blank expression on my face and my jaw slacked. He only stared back, not adding anything else, and I couldn't help but start laughing. The statement itself was so ridiculous, and with the tiredness catching up on me I just couldn't avoid the fit of laughter from escaping.

Holding my chest lightly I giggled on, glancing at him for a reaction to see the moment where he'd start laughing at his own joke as well, but that moment didn't come. His expression was still the same, now just with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Why aren't you..." I breathed, half a smile on my lips. "Why aren't you laughing? I'll admit it, it was a pretty good joke, but on the other side we're still in a serious situation, you know!"

Hearing him sigh made me go quiet. Did that mean... he was being serious? That couldn't be the actual plan he had! My smile fell completely and I shifted in place, suddenly feeling a lot less comfortable.

"Mark... You were kidding, right? There's no way... There's no way you actually mean that, it has to be, you're just-"

"Jack." He cut me off, holding his hands up in front of him as if he was calming down a scared puppy. "I'm... I wasn't kidding, but let me explain. This plan actually makes sense, even though it doesn't seem like it."

"Makes sense?! Mark, do you realise how insane that sounds?" I protested, desperately trying to wrap my head around what he just said.

"I know, but trust me!" He defended. "Just let me explain it to you! We don't have much time, so please let me show you the logic behind it before Killjoy gets back here."

He looked pleadingly into my eyes, a weird mixture of yellow and blue in his irises, and I could see he really meant what he said. My expression softened and I ran a hand through my hair, trying to stay cool and collected.

"Okay, go ahead. I really hope you have a terrific explanation for this..."

"Okay, thank you." He started quickly, and leaned a bit forward. "If we get a hold of that dagger we could trick the employees into getting me out of this cell. You could stab me, but I won't die, remember?"

The realisation hit me, a bit late, maybe, but now at least I saw how this plan could make sense. Still... He may be immortal, but it would still hurt him... He paused for a second, but I didn't interrupt and let him explain everything first.

"So, when the employees see me here with a blade stuck in my chest, they'll think I'm dead and take me out of here! We wouldn't have to try and open these cuffs, and they'll just open the door and bring me out. That way I can either wait until they leave me somewhere or try to subdue them, and then I can come get you from the outside!"

A smile sat on his face, and he seemed to wait for a reaction from me. Honestly, I didn't really know what to say. This idea of his was crazy to say the least, it spelled bad news all over it, but I could see the logic behind it. That didn't make it any easier, of course, was Mark actually expecting me to... to stab him?

"Well..." I began hesitantly. "It seems just a bit less of an insane plan now, but... You do know what it means to get stabbed, don't you? It means you're gonna get a knife stuck into you, and I can't really see any fun in that!"

"Of course I know what it means!" He replied, rolling his eyes at me with a slight smile. "I never said it would be pleasant, but I really think that that's the fastest and easiest way to escape."

"Can't we just, like, pry those cuffs open with that dagger?"

"Uh... Maybe? Though, I don't think..." He lifted his right hand in front of his face and studied the metal band around his wrist, turning it until he found the lock. "Yeah, see this? That blade would barely fit in these keyholes..."

He held his wrist so I could see the lock, a tiny opening in the thick cuff where the two metal halves were almost seamlessly shut together. I hadn't seen the dagger myself, but to fit in between those halves it'd have to be really thin...

"Okay, you might have a point there..." I mumbled. "But, you know, it wouldn't hurt to try it either, I'd like to go through any other possible way to get out before I..."

Mark nodded, so I didn't have to finish that sentence. "Yeah, I uhh... I understand..."

"Shouldn't we be able to get the door open with it though? That could work, right?"

"Well..." He began, rubbing the back of his neck above the restraints. "That might work, but... I'd still be chained to the wall then. We wouldn't get very far with the-"

"I could go out." I interrupted. "I could look for the keys to unlock those and then we could get the fuck out of here!"

"Jack, I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Why not? Your plan is almost the exact same, only this time I'd be the one going out and coming back for you!"

I crossed my arms and gave him a questioning look. Why was he making such an issue about this? We had an opportunity to get out without having to do anything drastic, he should be excited! Instead, it seemed like he was trying to defend himself and his plan, but he didn't really know what to say. After another moment I got sick of it.

"What's the matter?" I asked eventually, losing my cool more and more as time went on. "Why is this a bad idea?! It's practically the same as yours, except for the fact that in this scenario I won't have to fucking murder my friend!"

Mark flinched, the sharp metallic clanking of the chains bouncing off the walls along with the sound of my voice. I didn't want to lash out like that, but it'd been out of my control. Just when I started to calm down some more I felt the slight burn in my eye, and I looked up at Mark again as soon as I got the red hue out of my iris.

"I, uh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, but..."

"It's fine." He interjected, with that faint smile on his face again. "I do get what you mean, I just don't want you to put yourself in danger for me. It's true, you might be able to pick the lock and go out, but if they find you... They could kill you, and I would never forgive myself if that happened. I've lost my friend a year ago, and I've feared he was dead two times by now... I don't want to risk losing him for real this time."

I remained silent, taken aback but also really moved by what he'd said. I'd never thought much about how Mark would've felt when I got dragged in here yesterday, or when I passed out from that 'medicine', but now I understood why he didn't want me to sneak out. Still, I really hated his version of the escape plan, there's no way I'm gonna hurt him if there's even the tiniest chance of getting out of here without having to.

"Okay, I get why you don't want me to go, but you got to understand that your plan asks a lot from me too..." I began. "Can we at least try to pick the lock first? We'll see what we do then after, but if we could get away from here without me having to, you know, cause you pain, I'd rather go for that option in the first place."

Mark sighed, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. "Alright, we'll check the door first." He gave in, but held up his hand before I could say anything. "But, we still need to actually get our hands on that dagger."

He was right, if that thing was on Killjoy's belt we'd have to steal it from him. Though, I guessed that that couldn't be too difficult to do.

"Leave that to me, snatching that blade off of him probably won't be a problem."

He looked back at me in confusion, and only then I realised he doesn't know of my... experience in that area of skills. Well, that's mostly because I only remembered it recently as well, but also because I wasn't really proud of it, either.

"I uhh, I used to be quite good at... stealing..." I admitted, looking down at my knees. "Before I got... to the nebula, I used to hang out with Kal-... a friend of mine, and sometimes we spent our time seeking thrills in the usually rather boring town where we lived. We would give each other a challenge, like, he once dared me to take a melon from the market's fruit stand without getting caught, and I would lie if I said I wasn't pretty damn good at it..."

"You... You really did that?" Mark asked, not in disdain or anything but more in disbelief. "I never would've thought you used to... you know, rob people..."

"I know... I felt so awful when I remembered! Back in the day I didn't worry too much about it, I was fast and nimble, and almost never got busted. And even then, every time I started doubting our actions, my companion would convince me again."

I took some time and sighed, dreading those memories of the fun times I had with him , those happy moments that had turned bitter ever since I learned the truth about him and his fake friendliness. I never told Mark what actually happened the night I died, I'd decided that I never wanted to think about it again as soon as I woke up on the nebula.

He did ask me once, a while after he had died himself, but even then I didn't have the guts to relive that moment, to say his  name out loud. And now, after so long, I still couldn't bear speaking his name, the mere thought of it made the words get caught in my throat and a shiver to go down my spine. All I told Mark back then was that I fell to my death from up on the village's tower, and how that had caused my acrophobia. So, I was pretty sure he didn't know that this 'friend' I was talking about now was that same guy who killed me all those years ago. Though, this really wasn't the time to tell him, and I shortly shook my head.

"But anyway, leave the dagger to me, now we should be dealing wi-"

The sound of the door to our cell being unlocked made both of us jump a little, and I turned my head towards the noise. Killjoy walked in, carrying a small tray with one hand and carefully closing the door behind him with his other hand. We must've spent a lot more time talking than I thought...

As he came closer I couldn't tell what was on the tray just yet, but when he lowered it to the floor near me I saw an apple, a couple of carrots, a piece of bread, and to my surprise I saw the two sandwiches I made at home on there too.

"Yeah, uhh... I hope you don't mind, but I took those from your backpack. There wasn't much food left, so I thought I'd add those sandwiches too." Killjoy admitted, and he sounded so... respectful towards us.

It weirded me out a bit, the way he acted now. He asked if I was okay with him taking the food I brought, he didn't address us with 'freak', or anything like that... What had gotten into him?

====================

They both looked at me as if I just told them that horses could fly, confusion and even slight disbelief shown on their features. Especially the winged one studied me intently, maybe trying to search for a sign that proved I was only joking or something.

"Stop acting like this!" I internally scolded myself, almost as if another voice was speaking to me. "Stop being so nice, stop this stupid guilt trip you're sending yourself on, just treat them like you know you should! They're getting suspicious already!"

I couldn't help it though, I started feeling bad for these two ever since they actually began listening to me... It's not the first time I've felt remorse for whatever I did in this park, not by far, but it's been a long while since the last time it happened. They can't know... They can't know about this 'soft' side to me, or they will use it against me. They've shown to be aggressive, and to be capable of fighting when they feel like it, I shouldn't risk getting hurt again.

Merely thinking about what happened so long ago made my arm tingle, as if the ugly, half-healed bite wound there wanted to remind me of its presence. My hand started shaking slightly, threatening to lose its grip on the tray. With a low, barely audible groan I set the tray on the floor, close by the green-haired guy. Jake, or something like that, right? Or may-

I stopped that train of thought abruptly. No, his name- its name, doesn't matter, it's not a human. I need to stop thinking about this! Quickly I stood upright again and looked down on them, catching both their gazes. The green-haired one let his gaze fall for just a second, seemingly unintentionally, to somewhere near my side, but looked me in the eye almost immediately after. I decided not to make anything from it and leave as fast as possible, to avoid me saying something stupid or something I will regret later, and made my way to the door.

"Now you see what happens when you behave. Let's keep it this way, shall we?" I spoke mockingly, shortly turning my head to face them. "Don't take my kindness for granted, because you will regret defying me again. Understood?"

They gave me a weird look, but both just nodded without talking back.

"Good." I said with a forced smirk, and walked out of the room.

After I locked the door again I took a deep breath, trying my best to calm my racing thoughts. I couldn't lose my bearings, I needed to keep my reputation as leader of this park or else no-one would treat me with respect anymore. I won't make the same mistake twice, I won't let anyone like her trick me again...

Repeating these words over and over like a mantra I went back to my office and sat back in my desk chair, holding my right arm close to my chest. Carefully I lifted my sleeve to right above my elbow and over the wound, exposing it fully. It still looked almost as bad as on the day I got it, despite everything I tried to do about it.

Two curved rows of deep indentations were visible in the flesh of my forearm, forming a perfect imprint of her teeth, and the skin around those was shiny like scar tissue but torn and irritated at the same time. Underneath the damaged skin my veins were visible, black lines spreading from the wound up to the rest of my arm. I could remember the pain very vividly, I almost felt it spread through my arm again when I thought of the moment she'd bitten me. I'd thought about the possibility of her having a venomous bite, but that day I found out that my suspicions had been correct.

"You see what happened when you let that soft side of yours show?" I soundlessly said to myself. "You're only setting yourself up for something like that happening again by acting nice..."

As much as that soft side wanted to say otherwise, I agreed with that. All of these freaks could have the power to cause me harm, so I had to stay on top of things and make it known that I  am the one that's to be feared, and not the other way around.

I pulled my sleeve back to my wrist, slowly smoothing the fabric over the wound, and relaxed a bit. Maybe I could distract myself from all this with some paperwork, there's always enough of that lying around here...

As if it was destined to be my eye fell on the description I wrote for the greenie, and I read over it a couple of times. "Dendron, the forest demon"... It did have a nice ring to it, and the traits I gave him, no, the traits I gave it  really fitted its looks...

A sigh escaped my lips, followed by a faint smile. This was probably one of the best ones I've written so far, and I bet it would look great on an information sign. That being said, I should probably get this put on a sign soon. It shouldn't take long before both of our attractions get moved into their cage outside, they seemed to have calmed down a lot by now...

I pushed my chair back, got up from it and walked around my desk with the sheet of paper in my hand. Why should I postpone getting that sign made? Why not do it now? It was something I enjoyed doing anyway, so it'd be a good way to get back into the swing of things.

With a newfound kick in my step I went out to get that work done, the pain in my arm reduced to a lingering thought at the back of my head.