CHAPTER TWO: Thanatophobia

Night Vale had fallen into night, which was strange as it was, or had been, three in the afternoon, but PJ wasn't inclined to bring it up since Fairy hadn't seemed to notice. Not wanting to seem like the odd one, he accepted that this date was now at night. Threw off picnic plans, but he was sure a restaurant would be just as fine.

This was, officially, the third time he'd met with Fairy outside of 'accidental' meetings, and the first which he thought had potential for a romantic atmosphere. (Then night had happened, but he was confident he could recover it).

Fairy had skipped a few feet ahead of him, and had bent down, fawning over a beautiful purple flower of which PJ couldn't identify.

Fairy - today being male, PJ had noticed enthusiastically, - had a knack for getting distracted, wander off to some pretty bird or butterfly, a shiny shell tucked under something, often without warning or actively pointing out where they were going. It was an adorable trait, PJ decided, and he loved the way their eyes would light up in delight, they whole body relaxed and happy.

Dressed masculine today, the biggest difference was that his hair wasn't styled, left awkward and shaggy wherever it fell, and his pale blue checkered shirt was plain and normal. His Intern bag was still the same though, and his eyes hadn't changed colour either.

"So, are you really a musician?" Fairy as suddenly, standing up as the purple flower slithered away. PJ watched it go with alarm, and had to drag himself back to the conversation.

"What? Yeah. Why'd you ask?" he said, tilting his head a bit. Fairy stuffed his hands in his pocket, turning and falling into step beside PJ as they walked.

"Well, I tried to find your music online, and there wasn't anything," he explained.

"I haven't put anything online," came the obvious response.

"Yeah, but the Sheriff's Secret Police put all musician's work online," Fairy reminded him. "If you were really a musician, yours would be there."

Whether he should be insulted or pleased wasn't really a concern for PJ, but he was definitely unsurprised.

"They don't seem to follow me," PJ responded.

Fairy nodded, unconvinced, and crossed his arms.

"So, where are we heading?" he asked after a moment, the darkness seeming to break for him as he walked, leaving PJ to suffocate within. Maybe it wasn't darkness, so much as a sudden smog, PJ reasoned, it would make sense, as he hadn't previously thought Darkness had texture.

"I was planning a picnic, but I was think, with all this… whatever around, we could kill time somewhere then head over to the Moonlite Diner? It's not fancy, but I can't really afford anywhere else," PJ stammered, suddenly realizing how silly he sounded out loud. Fairy seemed Unfazed though, and nodded.

"Sounds great," he replied, then startled PJ by reached out suddenly and taking his hand, linking their fingers and making the boy blush, ducking his head but not wanted to pull away. He felt Fairy nudge his shoulder, before pulling him around the corner.

Immediately though, he shrieked, leaping back and bumping into PJ, nearly stumbling over had he not steadied him.

Pacing, heads down and cloaks drawn, were figures shrouded in darkness and fear, and Fairy was clearly ready to run or cry or scream or do something let him get out, emotionally or physically. He dreaded them, hated them, but didn't dare say anything, only averted his eyes as they passed, one on either side of them.

PJ, well, he didn't feel fear. He could see the muscles and body of whatever was beneath the cloaks bending and moving beneath them, he could hear the faint sound of their feet clicking on the pavement, and he could feel their presence the way one can with anything, as they got closer.

One looked, straight up at PJ, eyes, had he been able to make them out, boring straight through into his soul. But it passed without a word or movement of aggression.

Fairy was shaking by this time, shuddering and rolling in on himself, his eyes closed and his breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Oh god," he stammered out, "Oh god, oh god, oh god, they're going to kill us, aren't they? They're going to… something…"

"They're fine," PJ assured him, but he didn't seem convinced.

Fairy eventually regained his composure, but he now seemed jumpy. Slowly, PJ tried to coax him back into their walk, but his legs were shaking and his eyes were focused on far off places. His whole body screamed terror.

"They really got to you, didn't they?" PJ asked eventually, pulling Fairy down and onto a bench for the bus stop. The buses were unreliable though, so if they'd actually had wanted to go anywhere, they'd have been waiting for quite a while.

"I can't help it," Fairy stammered out, hanging his head in his hands. "Everytime they come near, everything…"

PJ waited, knowing prying or pressing wasn't a way to get him to open up.

"I can't help it," he repeated again.

"But what is it, exactly?" PJ asked, and he honestly was curious. He'd seen tons of locals interact with the Hooded Figures before, but none of them had reacted as badly as Fairy did.

"It's… I'm terrified," he began, "Of dying. Of death. Actually," he said quickly, "I'm terrified of Night Vale. Everything here, I love, I really do, and more than anything, one day, I want to run the radio station," he went on, and it crushed PJ to hear the beginning of tears forming in his eyes. "But every damn thing in this town wants to kill me. My internship wants to kill me, my cat clawed by neck the other day, Cecil dropped one of the bloodstones while carrying them and nearly killed everyone in the station, the Hooded Figures are around every corner, wheat turns into snakes and I don't even know what's wrong with the tap water recently," he rambled on and on.

Tentatively, PJ wrapped one arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer in the dark smog. He hadn't realized Fairy had had that sort of fear. Nothing in Night Vale had ever gotten to him.

"Well, maybe-"

Crash!

Both jerked up suddenly, scanning through the darkness, vainly trying to find the source of the sound. PJ felt Fairy tense against him, and instinctively moved his arm to protect him.

There was silence, then the slow, constant pounding of feet approaching. Then multiple sets of feet.

Someone appeared around the corner, in the darkness, PJ couldn't make out any sort of feature or descriptive word to assign them, but they approached the bench on lightning-quick feet, sliding in front of PJ, who opened his mouth to ask if he could help, but she - a detail about the person PJ had recently decided on - had already sat down beside him in one smooth motion, reaching forward and grabbing his face.

Before he could process what was going on, he was being kissed, fiercely, with no emotion or regard to what he was doing, but the pounding of boots surrounded him, and between the heat suddenly burning on his skin, and this girl, who was really going at it.

It was disorienting, and eventually he was shoved away from her, bumping against Fairy, who was as, if not slightly more confused, than PJ currently was.

Coughing, both of embarrassment and tension, he finally composed himself enough to talk.

"What the Hell was that?" Fairy shouted, beating him to the punch. He was, despite the current situation, was gratified to feel Fairy's hand twining with PJ's defensively.

"Sorry, sweetheart," the girl began, clearly out of breath.

She leaned back a bit, and as his eyes got used to her being there, and his mind came down from the pure adrenaline it had previously been at, he was able to get a better look at her.

Ripped black jeans, a deep orange t-shirt, a black leather jacket down up to about in the middle of the chest, and left in such away that gave anyone who may desire just enough of a look at her body. She was wearing a orange and black scarf, that was big and covered much of her chin and ears. Her boots were caked with dried mud, so she clearly did a lot of travelling, but not recently.

Her hair was pale orange, her eyes a narrow and startling green.

"I had to borrow your boyfriend for a moment. Secret Police members don't recognize those that participate in PDA as official residents, so it's a great way to get out of trouble," she continued, laughing a bit as she leaned back.

"That doesn't- why were you running?" PJ stammered out, shaking himself off.

She glanced around. "I can't really tell you," she said. "That was the point of running."

"I feel like after first-base I've got a right to know," PJ snapped.

She smiled, then laughed, in a full, honest, pure way that made PJ almost want to smile, if he wasn't so mad and confused at the moment. She brushed her hair behind her ears.

"My name's Autumn," she offered, standing up and swaying on her feet, spinning gracefully around to stick her hand out to him, PJ took it, shaking it lightly.

"PJ," he responded.

"I'm Fairy," Fairy interrupted roughly, glancing between the two aggressively.

"Fairy's a girl's name, if a name at all," Autumn snapped without looking at him.

"Well, whoop-dee-do," Fairy snarled.

"Alright, moving on," PJ said suddenly, standing up and pulling Fairy up with him, resting a hand on the pretty boy's back, leading him away slightly. Autumn watched them, tilting her head and letting her amber hair spill over her shoulder.

"It was great to meet you, and I'm just so glad I could help," PJ stammered. "But I think it's about time we went our separate ways, don't you think?"

"If you want," Autumn shrugged. "I was thinking that you two don't seem so bad, maybe you'd want to come down to the Jubilee with me."

The Jubilee was a bi-weekly event that was put on by Mayor Cardinal, or, at least, in her name, as the Mayor never said anything against or for the event. It also wasn't technically a festival or event of any sort, and usually consisted of a group of young adults standing in the gorge out in the sand wastes and screaming at the sun for a bit.

It was very hard to get it, as you had to be accompanied by someone you didn't know well, or at all, and in a small, close-knit town like Night Vale that was hard to achieve.

Fairy perked up though, despite the fact that it would include being around Autumn more, and would cancel their date. Night Vale residents were programed to feel inclined towards the Jubilee, but for some reason PJ had never been able to feel that.

"Sure," he said, noticing the way Fairy had regain some of his normal cheer.

"Yes!" Autumn exclaimed, leaping into the air, now we've got to hurry, otherwise we'll miss it," she added, and Fairy frowned.

"The Jubilee doesn't end," Fairy commented.

"What Jubilee are you thinking of?" Autumn scoffed. "Now come on, their about to start the pie-burning demonstrations!"

Oh, no, this was the Fruit Jubilee. A monthly occurrence that consisted of the destruction of various fruits. Not to be confused with the Egg Jubilee, a yearly event, or the Dog Jubilee, a bi-yearly event.

The Fruit Jubilee was much less intriguing.

"Oh, well, sorry, I misunderstood you," PJ said, trying to backtrack. "I don't think the-"

"You're the Sullivan Intern, right?" Autumn cut him off, turning to Fairy. "I heard Cecil loves the Fruit Jubilee. He'll probably be there, and it's a great way to show that you're better than the other interns, especially since Intern Rajwinder is already half-way through his second year, and you know what the interns who survive the internship get to do…" she taunted. Fairy huffed.

"Why are you so intent on us going?" Fairy snapped. Autumn glanced at PJ quickly, then back to Fairy.

"I'm not sure yet," she said quietly. "But I just got out of prison, and the Sheriff's Secret Police aren't actually that intelligent. They keep their security camera's on this one-" (here she beckoned to PJ) "-nearly twenty-four seven, and I'm very intrigued."

"Me?" PJ squeaked.

"Yeah, you, and I don't think they know why either," Autumn shrugged. "But why else would I escape at this time, on this day, and run here, if I hadn't already known where you'd be?"

"Why were you in jail?" PJ stammered, trying to switch the focus of the conversation away from it. It was unsettling to think that they'd been watching him - probably were still watching him, and likely always would. He… Didn't know how they were doing that. All the other recorders and cameras had never really worked for him. They must be insistent on keeping tabs on him.

She glanced around then smiled and leaned forward.

"I like to read," she laughed, before holding one delicate finger over her lips.

Fairy gasped and clung closer to PJ, glaring at Autumn like she was a monster, intently staring her down as if she expected this to defend her from catching the rebel-disease that Autumn carried - if that was a thing.

"And one more thing," Autumn laughed, before PJ was able to say anything. "We're not going to a Jubilee. You've got to come with me, because I'm about ninety-percent sure that the Sheriff's Secret Police are you going show up and take you for re-education."

Fairy shrieked, reacting so strongly again, but PJ felt fairly strangely numb to this information, nodding along. Maybe re-education would be what he needed. Maybe it would mean that everything would scare him, and he'd be able to cry on demand, and the invisible pie would actually be invisible, instead of normal pie that was actually pretty bad.

"PJ, we've got to go with her," Fairy stammered.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" PJ asked.

"Re-education is serious business. You don't come out of that the same, you'll be changed, permanently, forever, and not in a good way," he went on.

"Exactly, and while I don't really care for you, I've spent the last few weeks watching your entire life - watch you fumble uselessly over your affection for this one and the struggle that is your music," Autumn pointed out. "It was impossible not to want to help."

"Alright, fine, but I'm not going to any… Fruit Jubilee," PJ stammered, pressing his palms against the cold stone of the bench. It seemed like it as squirming beneath him, and the young boy felt bile rise in his throat.

"It's a good way to get their eyes off you for a bit, they'll be so much going on," Autumn explained, and Fairy nodded, the two reaching an almost agreement.

"No, you don't understand," PJ said, "that's not normal! You shouldn't have to evade the police for the time being. They shouldn't be watching me period! I should have my own damn privacy, my own life, I should be able to live without every god-forsaken ritual making me basically handicapped!" he shouted. "And their watching me?"

"PJ…" Fairy began, but the boy's mind had been decided.

"No, I'm sorry, Fairy, but I'm getting out of here. I can't live in this damn town anymore. It's not my world, couldn't you tell?" PJ said, his voice cracking. "I don't belong here. I belong where there sun works in a linear fashion, where money has a static value - and is used! I belong somewhere where I can trust the benches I sit on - and where a job won't kill me. I'm too… average for this town."

"Nobody is average, PJ," Fairy said slowly. "You're not average. You're fantastic, you're brilliant, you're your own star, by being so normal, so out-of Night Vale fashion, well, that makes you a Night Vale citizen! That's what weird about you, PJ," he tried, but PJ couldn't be swayed.

In fact, PJ had known this truth for most of his life. He'd always known that he wasn't fully part of the Night Vale community. Perhaps that's why he didn't know his parents. Perhaps he was just… born not in Night Vale. And if that was the case, he needed to find out what his world was like.

"No, I'm done, I won't have the secret police following me anymore," PJ decided.

"If you're leaving Night Vale, I'm coming with," Autumn declared suddenly.

"What? But I barely know you," PJ stammered, and Fairy glared at her.

"Did you not hear me, boy?" Autumn snapped. "I said I like to read. I'm not getting arrested again because I love the literary. It's legal out there, apparently. I've been wanting to get out for a while now, I've just never known how to start."

"Well," Fairy stammered. "I mean…"

"You don't have to come Fairy," PJ stammered, and he could feel his heart clenching. He'd finally been able to get to know him, and now he was volunteering leaving him? "I know this is your home, you fit in here."

"But there'll be a less chance of getting killed out there." Fairy said in an almost whispering voice.

"Are we actually going to do this?" Autumn said, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Oh god, I think so," PJ stammered out.

"Alright, we've just got one stop to make first then," Autumn declared. "Come on!" she grabbed PJ's hand, who, as he was jerked up off the slightly living bench grabbed Fairy's hand, dragging him up too. Autumn proceeded to drag them off down the dark street, and it took a moment for PJ to gather himself enough to ask any other questions.

"Where are we stopping then?" PJ asked.

"Carlos's lab, of course!" Autumn laughed back. "I've got a friend who'll want to know about this. Plus, we'll need a guide out in the outside world," she laughed again, and PJ heard Fairy catch her contagious laughter. "Oh my God, this is so exciting. I can't believe this is finally happening!"