The Notorious Nine: Vampires Will Never Hurt You (FINISHED)

Chapter Three - And If The Sun Comes Up

It was finally morning, Shattered and I watched the creatures of the night disappear as the sun began to rise. We got up and started to head back to where the group was. Everyone was asleep, I found Tiger and sat down by her.

Shattered looked down, did she still have feelings? Wretched awoke almost sensing she was back. "Shattered, are you okay?" She nodded, I've never seen her act like this. Almost frail, weak and unsure of herself.

The others started to wake up, Tiger wrapped her arms around me. I wiped away her tears, "I'm sorry Tiger, I love you so much." I looked around the group, I noticed a new face. "Who's this?"

Shattered walked over to her, "this is Skye Blu and her partner Phoenix." I noticed a body lying on the ground, he looked injured. "Wretched and I found them in a cave, they needed our help."

I got up from Tiger, grabbed Shattered and went to talk to her in private. "Why did you bring them here? We have no idea who they are or what they want and you just bring them into the group."

"They needed help, she ran away from Battery City and her partner needed Blue Sky. I'm sure they'll tell us whatever we ask, but I wasn't going to leave them there to die."

A little fire came back into her eyes as she spoke. One thing she was passionate about was helping people and saving lives. Shattered always thinks she can save everyone, "alright I'm trusting you on this."

We made our way back to the others, as I watched them all gather together I could truly see. They were all tired, tired from the fight and tired from the past catching up. Dramatic was holding a tiny turtle and Phoenix was awake and looked fresh.

Tiger put her hand on my shoulder, "Party are you okay?"

"It's December, right?" She thought about it and then nodded. "We should celebrate Christmas, I think we all need a break."

I positioned myself in front, "alright Killjoys listen up. I know we don't have much, but for the first time in a long time I want to have a Christmas. So go get presents from around the area and let's celebrate. We deserve it!"

---------------------------------------------------

Of course with Sparkling's gift we were able to make gifts. We all drew names, I got Party and at first I wanted to draw again. Of course I had to draw his name. I went up to Sparkling, "so what am I making for your secret Santa gift?"

"I want a pocket watch please." She drew and brought to life a beautiful pocket watch. It worked perfectly, "thank you."

With my pocketknife I started to etch a message into the back of the watch. We all helped decorate the area. Deathwish, Harlequin and I gathered lightning bugs into jars and hung them from a tree. Tiger made a star from desert flowers and placed it on top.

Dramatic made a tiny Santa's hat for his new pet turtle Sheldon. Authority and Skye wrapped the presents in anything they could find. Unbroken made all the guys go around and gather supplies. They came back with wood and rocks and little things.

I saw Wretched, Horror, Kobra and even Phoenix carving the wood. They were making little decorations. Everyone was getting excited and helping out. By night we all gathered around the fire and the decorated tree. The presents were laid underneath and we made Party be Santa since this was his idea.

Party took Sheldon from Dramatic, "I need a little helper." He patted Sheldon's shell and smiled. "Alright little Killjoy, which present first?" He placed Sheldon on the ground and he moved around the presents.

Sheldon stopped and licked one of the presents, "alright first one goes to Sparkling." She opened it to find a sketchpad and charcoal.

She smiled, "now I can draw on something rather then dirt, thank you."

Party turned to Sheldon, "okay next one." Sheldon moved around and bit one of the presents. "Next goes to Unbroken." She opened it to find a crow necklace, "I love it so much thank you,"

With the help of Sheldon, Party continued to pass out the presents. Dramatic received a belt buckle in the shape of the dramatic masks. Deathwish got a bracelet engraved with "know how much I want to show you you're the only one."

Harlequin received two watches which could be used as walkie talkies, she gave one to Ghoul. Skye got a necklace with a silver phoenix on it, "this is perfect thank you, I appreciate it. Authority got a notebook to write down people's stories when she saw their past or future.

Horror received sunglasses that could view people's vitals. Phoenix got his very own raygun, he didn't have one from what we saw. Relapse got a journal to write down his ideas. Wretched.

Kobra got a frame with a picture of him and Toxic together, he stayed silent but his eyes started to tear up. Ghoul received a lighter and a pack of his favorite smokes, "Sparkling your gift is going to be very useful to me." Jet got a book about the past of Battery City, it showed the city before BLI and all the zones in the desert.

Finally it was my turn, little Sheldon picked my present to unwrap. I unwrapped it and inside I found a locket. Inside the locket was empty, waiting for a picture. However there was an inscription, "you only hear the music when your heart begins to break." I knew who it was from, Party. Tears started to fall, Wretched wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

Next Sheldon picked the last present under the tree, my present to Party. He opened it up, "wow this is amazing. It has an inscription, it says can I be the only hope for you because you're the only hope for me." I looked down at my feet trying not to make it obvious.

Tiger stood up and picked Sheldon off the ground, "hey little guy where's my present at?" Party walked over and took Sheldon from her. He gave him back to Dramatic and smiled.

"Thanks for all the help little Killjoy but I'll take it from here." We all watched as Party got down on one knee and took Tiger's hand in his.

"War Tiger, there's an army of them but you'll never fight alone. The world is ugly but you're beautiful to me. I'm empty when you go, I just wanted you to know I'm thinking of you every night, every day. Stop your crying, helpless feeling, dry your eyes and start believing. My precious Tiger, will you become my partner for life?"

Party pulled out a ring and placed it on Tiger's hand. She squealed with delight and shouted yes. They kissed and the others cheered.

A burning filled me inside, I wanted to scream and cry. My body wanted to run away, Party asked Tiger to marry him.