LIFE IS STRANGE. She'd come to realise that very quickly. Sometimes, on her saner days when she knew her brain could handle it, Jay liked to figure out how and why she'd gotten where she was.
It was harder than you'd think given the fact she'd suppressed most her life and memories into the basement of her mind, but she was getting better at remembering. She was getting better.
Somehow, the woman who called herself Jay - just Jay, no one could ever get anymore than that - had been born to a well-off, fucked-up family in 1901 London, and by the age of about fifty-seven - she wasn't one hundred percent sure of that - had wound up in Dallas Texas, 1963, as a thirteen year old girl.
Like I said, strange.
November 15th, 1963
The day was hot, the car even more so. Sat in the backseat, Jay rested her chin on her fist and her elbow on the open window. The world blew past in a haze of orange, brown and the occasional green. The wind whipped at her hair and sent it flying into her face no matter how many times she tucked it behind her ear. Jay couldn't find it in her to complain.
The car rolled to a stop to absolutely no one's surprise. Smoke slipped from the engine like a forest fire. It reminded her of a cigarette. Jay shuffled away from the window.
Klaus exited the car slowly and without a word. Jay sighed, then followed him. The front passenger seat opened too, despite the fact no one seemed to be sat there. Klaus looked at the empty air where Ben stood, visible only to him, then Jay behind him. His shoulders sagged.
"Now what?" He groaned.
"Remember when I told you the engine was overheating?" Jay and Ben said in unison, arms folded and bodies leant against the side of the car.
"Stop doing that." Klaus said, walking around to the front of the car. He pointed at Ben. "And you know being smart doesn't make you interesting."
"Niether does your beard."
Klaus stared at him dully. "Jaaay."
"What?"
"Do you like my beard?"
"I hate all beards. You know that. Why?"
Klaus waved her off and opened up the engine. Jay slowly walked round to stand beside him, heels sounding against the tarmac.
"You know it would help if I knew where we were going, Mysterio." Ben said, tapping his fingers against the side of the car.
"He's right." Jay shrugged, looking at Klaus.
He threw up his arms in a sulk. "Stop doing that! Only I get to talk to ghosts."
"Then you shouldn't have let me teach him morse code." Jay bent over the exposed engine, tucking a strand of white hair behind her ear again. The sleeves of her red shirt were already rolled up to her elbows, the undone buttons scandalous for the time. The shirt was tucked into simple black trousers, adorned with a black and gold belt. Her shoes were black and shiny, slightly heeled. Her necklaces hung down as she poked about the engine. "Answer the question."
"Back to Dallas." Klaus shrugged, leaning against the side of the car.
"That far? For how long?" Ben asked.
"Why?" Jay asked.
"None of your beeswax, Benerino." Klaus grinned. He turned to Jay, twirling the end of her braid round his finger. "Because I know you wanna go on a lover-boy hunt."
"I will close this bonnet on your head."
Klaus stepped away.
"You think I'm just gonna keep following you everywhere for another three years?" Ben said, following Klaus away from the car.
YOU ARE READING
Ruins (Five Hargreeves)
Fanfiction"You've ruined me, Five." Jay had spent what felt like her whole life at the Commission. She couldn't remember anything else, anything different. She didn't know how to do anything but follow orders and kill. She'd never leave, and she was okay wit...
