Fortune Favors The Brave
BitterLeaves
Johnny & all related characters are property of Jhonen Vasquez of Slave Labor Graphics. Arliss belongs to BitterLeaves and shall stay that way.
Four months after the Arliss incident, Johnny had finally said to hell with it and convinced himself to leave the safe haven of his home to the big city. He took his entire knife collection, which took up a good sized backpack, knowing that he'd have a good deal of blood to take home and paint the wall with, as the city was made of Assholes. He didn't feel like driving, so he opted for the nice long walk to the city.
Nny had realized that she wasn't coming back and had slowly begun to heal. But his contempt and affection for her had not lessened, as much as he tried to ignore it. In some ways he hated her, but in others, he wanted to take her away and never let her leave him again. It was a strange feeling that he had attempted to reduce by many murders and lots of Brainfreezies, but it had always stayed there in him, nagging him when he had nothing to do but stare out of his feeling and think about HER.
Halfway down his street, Johnny seriously considered turning back, but he knew he had nothing better to do, so he started whistling The Funeral March and slid through the darkness like a spider, down the hill towards the loud, noisy, and confusing city.
Once he got there, he could swear that he could see Arliss crouching behind every Dumpster, crouching in every dark alley. For some reason, he could feel her eyes on him, but could not see her. The first fifteen minutes he wandered around aimlessly, studying the numerous dance clubs scattered about. The loud music, rock, rap, techno, and pop, merged together in the street and pounded in his head.
Arliss had been right about the city. Johnny felt like he was choking the entire time, and his mind swirled with the image of her face.
Maybe she was just a figment of your imagination.
That can't be. I know she exists.
And these voices exist too, eh? Nice people are hard to find, and you don't usually find them in a shithole like this.
Exceptions can happen.
Rarely, and since you're cursed with miserable immortality, there is no exceptions for you. You're a murderer, not a boyfriend.
Never said I was her boyfriend.
You sure acted like it that night on the couch and on the car.
Shut up.
Tsk tsk, Nny, you DO run away from the truth.
Suddenly he felt like he was going to die. With lack of oxygen mentally and physically, Johnny frantically searched for a dark alleyway to dive into. His hand delved into his backpack and withdrew a glass knife without realizing it.
Feeling like he was going to die, Nny spun around and around, looking for a safe, dark place where he could be always from the music, the people, and the crowd of people he hated to be around. He finally saw a dark street promised behind an alleyway, and he pushed people aside as he ran towards it.
Once he was out of the choking street, Johnny leaned against a damp, sticky brick wall and sighed in relief.
His lungs were working again and the fit of insanity had dissolved. Taking a deep breath, he studied his surroundings.
It was your basic ugly alleyway-littered with trash, dead bugs, and rats. Johnny took no interest in that as he loped through the debris and emerged onto a dark street. Lit by few weak streetlights, the neighborhood was basically a slum. Starving cats darted from trash can to trash can, pieces ripped from porno magazines blew with the wind, and Johnny wished he had stayed home.
"This place looks like what I must in my head." He thought to himself, running his fingers over the knife in his hand absentmindedly, only noticing when the sharp blade pricked his finger.
"OUCH! Dammit..." He raised the knife up to the light.
Glass, a good seven inches long. Arliss's knife.
How had it gotten in his private collection?
The last time he had seen this knife was when Arliss had fainted. It was beautiful, like Arliss herself. When Johnny raised it to his eyes to look through the stainless weapon, the slum had become afflicted by beauty. It was truly a masterpiece, a thing meant for murder.
As he pocketed the knife, Johnny decided to keep it, because Arliss apparently wasn't going to come back for it. He knew he wouldn't use it on just anyone, no. An insane grin spread across his face. No, she was going to die by beauty. Death by beauty on her own weapon. Of course, he'd have to find her first, but God, sometimes he was wicked.
Deciding that the slum held nothing for him except for a brief look into his own head, Johnny turned around to find the alleyway. Bracing himself to go back on that crowded street, Johnny began to stride towards it. But just as he reached the entrance, a door flung open on the side on of one of the buildings and a girl flew out of it, back first. She hit the brick wall hard, letting out a soft, "Ughh". Almost immediately after she was thrown out, a guy stormed out and pinned her against the hard wall.
Johnny quickly jumped behind a trash can.
The swinging lightbulb above the door provided enough light for Johnny to see the guy hold a gun to the girl's head.
"Think you're gonna trick me, you little bitch?" The guy growled.
The girl didn't answer, but Johnny could hear her ragged breathing.
"Well, I'm gonna show you that you can't fuckin hide from me ever again...thinkin you can outsmart me, dumb little whore..."
Johnny slowly reached into his backpack for his meat cleaver, preparing to jump out from behind the trash can and save the girl's life, for what, he didn't know, but there was nothing better to do.
There was a soft ripping of fabric and Johnny noticed that the boy had torn off the girl's shirt. Her face wasn't visible because a curtain of thick black hair fell across it. There was a TWACK sound, like the sound of a hand coming in contact with a cheek, but before Johnny could jump in and interfere, the lightbulb from the alley flickered out, and he could no longer see the two.
He heard soft sounds of ripping fabric once again and the guy grunting. They had moved now, his senses told him that much, because he could hear them rolling across the hard ground on dead leaves and newspapers. He tightened his hold on the knife and crept forward silently.
It was quite apparent that the girl was being raped, and even though the busy city street was ten steps away, the techno music drowned out her pleas for help. Johnny stood up slowly, knowing he had to do something soon before the girl was killed. There was a moan from her-not from pleasure of course, but from pain...
Something about that moan was oddly familiar, except it had been set to a different tune.
Johnny remembered suddenly how he had kissed Arliss's neck, copying a move from some guy on a movie he had watched months before. Apparently it had worked, since he had heard that same moan...
It couldn't be.
It was all too easy...all too freaky. There was no way in hell that a wanderer like Arliss could be in that exact same alley at that exact same time as Johnny was. But just in case, he reached again for the glass knife, just in case.
It was obvious that the guy was almost done, judging by his moans of sick pleasure and finally a sigh of completion.
Johnny's muscles finally unlocked and he saw his chance while he heard the guy climbing to his feet. He jumped high enough to hit the light wires of the lightbulb, and sure enough, they flickered on almost immediately.
The guy had his pants halfway up and turned his head quickly at the intrusion.
"Hey, what the fu..." A few minutes later, Johnny swung the meat cleaver and the guy's head fell on the ground, in an expression of half rage, half shock. The girl was lying on the concrete, her mouth bleeding, her raven hair over her face. Johnny stepped over to her side.
Her shirt had been left in tatters and her pants had been ripped down the front to the point where they didn't show anything, but could be pushed down for anything.
"Get up." Johnny heard himself say.
The girl uttered a soft groan and turned her head, the hair falling away and exposing her face.
The face that haunted Johnny in his daily routines.
Arliss.
"Johnny?" She gasped in a barely audible voice.
The moment he had been waiting for. She was lying on the ground, defenseless and weak, the perfect target for that glass knife.
"Yes, it's me." His voice was cold but shook slightly. Nny fought to restrain himself.
The pained violet eyes strayed to her glass knife in his hand. They widened in understanding, and Arliss turned her head to the ground, closing her eyes.
"Just kill me, Johnny." She said hoarsely, and so quietly that he had to strain to hear it.
He knew that it wouldn't make a difference if he did. She'd just come back. But he wouldn't deny himself the pleasure, and she was obviously in pain.
"Please, just kill me." She pleaded softly, a tear running down her face.
In an age old act, Johnny slowly dropped the meat cleaver and with both hands took a hold of the glass knife and raised it over his head. He couldn't feel anything. There was no pleasure in this, but he couldn't leave her suffer.
He stared over Arliss's broken, used body, the body he had held in his arms only a few months ago and loved the feeling of it. Now she looked like a cracked china doll.
Nny saw her bloodstained hand tighten into a fist, preparing for the pain that her knife would bring. She knew she deserved it.
The knife came down, faster then Johnny wanted it to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a horrible SQELCH noise, and Arliss's soft weeping ceased almost immediately. The blood welled over the knife and onto the ground. The glass had broken into shards when it had entered her body.
Johnny stood down staring at her dead body, tears filling his eyes.
He didn't feel so great anymore. He was suddenly aware on how loud the Earth was, how the techno music, appropriately blaring "do you think you're better off alone?" pulsed in his very veins, how the shame built up inside of him. Before he could stop himself, he fell to his knees on the bloody ground and grabbed Arliss's dead body in his arms.
"I'm sorry, Arliss...I'm sorry." He cried into her hair, hugging her limp body tightly.
But there was no hug back.
And once again, he was alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Arliss's butt hit the hard dirt ground of hell and she scowled, picking leaves out of her hair.
"Dammit, I hate it when I do that."
She climbed to her feet, brushing off the dirt on her jeans. When she looked up, she screamed. A mirror had appeared in front of her, showing her bloody, ragged appearance.
There was a laugh behind her, and Arliss spun around to see Pepito, Señor Diablo's son, watching her.
"What's so funny, punk?" She snapped, and Pepito laughed again. "It's funny to see how they look in the mirror and scream like that. Gives me a thrill."
"Get out of here, you little..." Arliss made a swipe for the little "boy", but he jumped aside, calling in a sing song voice, "Daddy, the wench is here!"
"The wench!? Why I oughta..." Arliss started forward, but she found herself staring at the familiar black robes of Satan, or Señor Diablo, as he liked to be called.
"Now, Pepito, we have enough 'hell' here enough without you terrorizing the wench." The devil smirked.
"Where do you get off calling me a..."
Señor Diablo pointed a red finger at her sternly. "Watch who you're talking to, Missy."
Arliss immediately silenced herself.
Pepito peeked from behind his father's robes and snickered. "Now, Pepito, run along and go play with your Demon Dolls." Señor Diablo said, amused. Pepito, wanting to stay but knowing he couldn't, stuck out his tongue at Arliss one last time and skipped away into the fiery pits of hell to his room.
"So, got yourself killed again, eh?" The devil asked, once again amused.
"Yeah, raped too." Arliss looked down warily at her tattered clothing.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Good thing Johnny showed up." Señor Diablo offered.
"Yeah, I'm glad he did. Feel kind of bad, leaving him like that." Arliss commented sadly.
"Ah, well, Johnny WANTS to be a normal person, and normal people DO suffer heartbreak," he admitted. "Another stupid rule of HIS ..." The devil stared broodingly up at the "sky", which was made up of thousands and thousands of human souls, a red blanket of death.
"I wanted to stay, but I guess...that just isn't in the cards right now." Arliss sighed.
"No, what's in the cards, my dear waste-lock, is that you are now pregnant." Señor Diablo smiled.
"Pregnant?! What the fook..."
"You know, you just sounded like Johnny on another of his tyrants." The God of Evil commented.
"Glad to know." Arliss was in shock. Pregnant? Damn, the devil sure worked better then a home pregnancy test, seeing the future and all that.
"I can't be pregnant. I can't handle a kid, look at the way I live!" Arliss pointed out angrily.
Señor Diablo nodded thoughtfully. "I see your point, but what happens happens, Arliss. Fate, or ME, decided that a few minutes ago, you would happen to not have your knife on you at that crucial point to fend that little fucker off. Johnny had it, another one of my brainchild, excuse the pun, ideas."
"So you mean, this was supposed to happen?!"
"My dear, you are a wastelock. Bad stuff was MEANT to happen to you." Señor Diablo replied, crossing his arms.
"Well, is it a boy or a girl? Since it was partly you who gave me this stupid job, I think I should take advantage of the fact that you can tell the future in any rage of time." Arliss snapped.
"Fair enough. The child will be a boy, a boy who will grow up with the mannerisms of its father and the spiritual complications of its mother. It's life will have no point. Someone's life crossed with yours, and the fates got confused. Someone else was supposed to get pregnant, but since you died by Johnny's hand, which plays a very part in this puzzle, you ended up getting knocked up."
"So who was supposed to get pregnant?" Arliss wanted to know, dazed.
The devil's eyes gleamed. "Devi."
"You mean the last girl Johnny liked? Didn't he try to kill her?" Arliss asked, confused.
"Yes, he did. That's why it's such a big deal. Since Devi didn't get to die and you did, and she's not a wastelock, you are inclined to bad luck. Maybe the fates just got confused or they were on a PMS trip about you, but like it or not, kid, you're gonna be a mother. Any questions?" Señor Diablo finished smartly.
A million questions swirled around in Arliss's head and she cleared her throat to get the most important one out.
"Is there any way you can stop being a wastelock?"
Señor Diablo's evil eyes narrowed in thought as he squinted, as if trying to see the question.
"Yes, but you'd have to trade a life to stop being one." He said slowly.
"How many lives can we trade?" Arliss wanted to know.
"Two. What in hell are you talking about, so to speak?" Señor Diablo raised an eyebrow.
"You're the devil, don't play stupid. There's a loophole in that law." Arliss cried, her heart feeling a lot lighter.
The devil smiled in amusement. "So what if there is? Maybe I like ya, kid."
"You're not so bad either, Lucifer." Arliss replied playfully.
"Heyyyy...Señor Diablo, and I like to be bad...I have that whole DEVIL thing going on, if you didn't notice. Now, tell me what you want to do, and maybe we can work something out."
Arliss hesitated. "Okay, but before I say anything, how is Johnny?"
Señor Diablo regarded her gravely, then sighed as he flicked his fingers. An orb appeared in midair, like a crystal ball. The picture was like a blurry TV, slowly coming into focus, as if someone were adjusting the tracking. The colors of dark red, black, and gray molded together to show a small dark alleyway. There were two figures in that alley way.
Arliss took a step closer, squinting to see.
She watched herself bleed on the pavement, dead to any mortal's eyes. She saw Johnny hugging her tight as he cried, whispering that he was sorry, so sorry.
Arliss pulled back and gulped, not wanting to see the image anymore. Noticing this, the devil snapped his fingers and the orb disappeared into thin air.
"Well, if you want me to do something for you, Arliss, I'm advising you to say it now, because at the moment, Johnny's clock is ticking." Señor Diablo warned.
Her throat constricted. "You mean...he's going to kill himself? Or try to?"
The devil nodded and rolled his eyes. "Isn't any sense in it, really, cause we're just going to send him back."
"Not if I have anything to do with it." Arliss whispered softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Her body would have been a trophy in his basement, the only beauty among the ugly, but Johnny didn't want her hanging in his basement. That place was for the people who were assholes. Arliss wasn't an asshole. The devil controlled all wastelocks, so whatever had driven Arliss to leave him had been part of Hell's elaborate plan. A plan, he hated to admit, made lots of sense when it was unearthed.
So he left her abused, broken body in that alleyway, glad that she was dead so the irksome music could not drive her crazy. Anger swirling inside of him like a tornado, Johnny growled and whipped out twin butcher knives and held them out at his sides, then dived into the sea of party-goers. The faster he ran, the deeper the cuts that his victims got. He didn't stop until he had reached the beginning of his street, the knives dripping a path of blood behind him. The tears dripped down his pale face as he ran, his appendix starting to hurt. He didn't stop until he got to his front door.
Once inside, he didn't bother turning the lights on. Johnny sprinted like a track pro towards the basement door, down the steps, and into his basement. He proceeded to behead, gut, cut, and shish kabob every person he had down there, blood spraying the walls and floor until the room was colored red. He stood in the middle of the mess, panting like a crazy dog, the tears dripping and never stopping.
He thought of the gun upstairs. He wondered if he could blackmail Señor Diablo into letting him stay in Hell forever.
He doubted it, but he needed to get far away from that image in the alleyway. Hell should do it.
Johnny left the slaughterhouse and slammed the basement door behind him angrily, heading straight for his room, tossing the backpack of knives on the ground as he did so.
He wrenched his door open, strode over to his cabinet, and flung open the doors. Grabbing the handgun, he held it to his head and squeezed his eyes shut.
I'm going over the stars...
Someone knocked on the door.
Johnny's shaking hand slowly withdrew the gun from his head. Seething, he threw the gun down on the floor, causing it to go off and shot a hole in his bedroom wall. The person knocked again, insistently.
FUCK! Why is it always on the last bullet when it does that?! And who the fuck is knocking on my door at this hour...they're gonna fuckin DIE...
He ran to the door and flung it open, preparing to turn the knocker into fishsticks.
But who he saw there made his knees buckle.
"Ar...Ar...Arliss?" He choked, barely believing his eyes.
Arliss stood on his porch, looking scared and worried. She nodded.
"But...I...what..."
"Thank God I got here before you did anything, Johnny, I heard the gunshot and I was scared to death." Arliss explained quickly.
"What does it matter if I did anything? I'd come right back." Johnny pointed out, holding open the door for her, still in shock.
Arliss shook her head sadly. "No...you wouldn't have."
"What..."
She reached inside the purple bag she wore on her back and brought up a rolled up piece of parchment, stained in blood. She handed it to Johnny and he unrolled it, confused.
I, Señor Diablo, (The devil) hereby appoint Johnny C. the full right to mortality, under the request and trade of Miss Arliss Keys. Upon dying, Johnny will either go to hell/heaven, and never come back to Earth, so is the curse of mortality.
(Signed)
Señor Diablo
A.K.A.
Lucifer
A.K.A.
Satan
A.K.A.
Michael Jackson
(No, just kidding)
A.K.A.
The bad red guy down THERE.
His breath left him for a second.
"So does that...does that mean I'm not a wastelock anymore?" Nny stuttered.
Arliss nodded and smiled at him softly. "Your brain was altered somehow so that you have no more homicidal tendencies. Any murders you've ever committed were not your fault, so I advise you start sinning as soon as possible."
"Why would I sin?" Johnny asked.
Arliss arched an eyebrow. "Flying angel bunnies?"
"Let's start sinning."
She laughed. "Not so fast, Nny."
He gestured for her to sit down on the couch. She did so, gratefully.
"How'd you find me here?" Nny wanted to know, sitting down beside her.
"Followed the huge trail of blood." Arliss replied.
"Oh yeah..." He smiled shyly.
"Johnny, would you mind if I...well...if I stayed over here tonight? I mean...I'll sleep on the couch..."
"You can sleep in my bed-I don't sleep. Of course you can stay." Johnny answered.
"You sleep now. Remember, you're mortal now. You're not as dark as you were before, so you don't have to worry about bad dreams or anything if you sleep." Arliss explained.
"Oh."
She grinned at him.
"How the hell did you manage to make me mortal?" Johnny blurted out finally.
"Well...you see...I was pregnant. Originally Devi was the one that was supposed to get pregnant, but since she escaped you, the fate jumped a line and it was supposed to end up on the next girl you liked. Well, it turned out to be me. Señor Diablo foreshadowed and saw that the baby, who was a boy, was destined to be a wastelock and a mistake, and really had no reason to live. I gave my son's life to save yours." Arliss explained quietly.
Johnny was seriously beginning to wonder if he had any sanity left.
"But why...but why would you..."
Arliss smiled at him. "I knew how miserable you had to be, Johnny. I wanted you to be happy, because when I saw you happy months ago, it looked right, even though you were a waste-lock. Everyone deserves to be happy."
"But what about you?" Johnny wanted to know.
"I'm half mortal. I traded half my life to be mortal. Unfortunately, I can't get killed or kill myself, because I don't know if I'd come back or stay down there, and I want to hang around to see you enjoy your new life."
"But that's not fair! You deserve to be mortal." Johnny exclaimed.
"We're not dealing with God, Johnny. We're dealing with Satan, and well, he did a good thing for us, but there had to be a catch somewhere. Nothing is too good to be true in hell." Arliss pointed out.
Johnny was quiet, pondering this, knowing she was right.
"I want you to have something." Arliss said softly, reaching inside of her backpack. Johnny watched in disbelief as the handle to an elaborate glass knife came into sight. She presented it to him.
He looked at her in question. "But how..."
She held up her free hand to stop him. "Not for killing, for remembering. Since you have so many knives, I figure you add this one to them, but only for a collection. You kill someone right now and you'll get caught like anyone else.
This is...well, this is a knife from heaven."
"Heaven?" He echoed.
"Heaven, not hell. It shows how bad I really was when it shattered inside of me, because I was too bad to handle something so beautiful. I brought it into hell and it fixed itself because it's stronger than Señor Diablo's power. You need no hell anymore. Minus God's lazy ass and the flying angel bunnies, it's not so bad. It's good luck, Johnny. I want you to have it-you need it."
She took his hand and set the knife gently into it.
Johnny closed his fingers around it slowly, knowing she was going to leave and that the little piece of heaven that was only second best would be the only thing he had to convince himself she wasn't a dream.
Arliss's violet eyes were shining with tears as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"Goodbye, Johnny. Good luck with your new life, and don't mess up."
Johnny's voice was stuck, and he had so many things he wanted to say. One of those things would have been something he had never said before to a person, and for the first time, he'd mean it. But he never got to.
The only thing he could say before she opened the door was "So....you said you were chicken about dying?"
Arliss's eyes focused on his. "I didn't kill myself, I'm glad I didn't. I died cause I needed to do something right."
"You'll be okay." Johnny told her, almost believing it.
"Why do you say that, Nny?"
"Fortune favors the brave."
One last smile, and then she was gone.
BitterLeaves
Johnny & all related characters are property of Jhonen Vasquez of Slave Labor Graphics. Arliss belongs to BitterLeaves and shall stay that way.
Four months after the Arliss incident, Johnny had finally said to hell with it and convinced himself to leave the safe haven of his home to the big city. He took his entire knife collection, which took up a good sized backpack, knowing that he'd have a good deal of blood to take home and paint the wall with, as the city was made of Assholes. He didn't feel like driving, so he opted for the nice long walk to the city.
Nny had realized that she wasn't coming back and had slowly begun to heal. But his contempt and affection for her had not lessened, as much as he tried to ignore it. In some ways he hated her, but in others, he wanted to take her away and never let her leave him again. It was a strange feeling that he had attempted to reduce by many murders and lots of Brainfreezies, but it had always stayed there in him, nagging him when he had nothing to do but stare out of his feeling and think about HER.
Halfway down his street, Johnny seriously considered turning back, but he knew he had nothing better to do, so he started whistling The Funeral March and slid through the darkness like a spider, down the hill towards the loud, noisy, and confusing city.
Once he got there, he could swear that he could see Arliss crouching behind every Dumpster, crouching in every dark alley. For some reason, he could feel her eyes on him, but could not see her. The first fifteen minutes he wandered around aimlessly, studying the numerous dance clubs scattered about. The loud music, rock, rap, techno, and pop, merged together in the street and pounded in his head.
Arliss had been right about the city. Johnny felt like he was choking the entire time, and his mind swirled with the image of her face.
Maybe she was just a figment of your imagination.
That can't be. I know she exists.
And these voices exist too, eh? Nice people are hard to find, and you don't usually find them in a shithole like this.
Exceptions can happen.
Rarely, and since you're cursed with miserable immortality, there is no exceptions for you. You're a murderer, not a boyfriend.
Never said I was her boyfriend.
You sure acted like it that night on the couch and on the car.
Shut up.
Tsk tsk, Nny, you DO run away from the truth.
Suddenly he felt like he was going to die. With lack of oxygen mentally and physically, Johnny frantically searched for a dark alleyway to dive into. His hand delved into his backpack and withdrew a glass knife without realizing it.
Feeling like he was going to die, Nny spun around and around, looking for a safe, dark place where he could be always from the music, the people, and the crowd of people he hated to be around. He finally saw a dark street promised behind an alleyway, and he pushed people aside as he ran towards it.
Once he was out of the choking street, Johnny leaned against a damp, sticky brick wall and sighed in relief.
His lungs were working again and the fit of insanity had dissolved. Taking a deep breath, he studied his surroundings.
It was your basic ugly alleyway-littered with trash, dead bugs, and rats. Johnny took no interest in that as he loped through the debris and emerged onto a dark street. Lit by few weak streetlights, the neighborhood was basically a slum. Starving cats darted from trash can to trash can, pieces ripped from porno magazines blew with the wind, and Johnny wished he had stayed home.
"This place looks like what I must in my head." He thought to himself, running his fingers over the knife in his hand absentmindedly, only noticing when the sharp blade pricked his finger.
"OUCH! Dammit..." He raised the knife up to the light.
Glass, a good seven inches long. Arliss's knife.
How had it gotten in his private collection?
The last time he had seen this knife was when Arliss had fainted. It was beautiful, like Arliss herself. When Johnny raised it to his eyes to look through the stainless weapon, the slum had become afflicted by beauty. It was truly a masterpiece, a thing meant for murder.
As he pocketed the knife, Johnny decided to keep it, because Arliss apparently wasn't going to come back for it. He knew he wouldn't use it on just anyone, no. An insane grin spread across his face. No, she was going to die by beauty. Death by beauty on her own weapon. Of course, he'd have to find her first, but God, sometimes he was wicked.
Deciding that the slum held nothing for him except for a brief look into his own head, Johnny turned around to find the alleyway. Bracing himself to go back on that crowded street, Johnny began to stride towards it. But just as he reached the entrance, a door flung open on the side on of one of the buildings and a girl flew out of it, back first. She hit the brick wall hard, letting out a soft, "Ughh". Almost immediately after she was thrown out, a guy stormed out and pinned her against the hard wall.
Johnny quickly jumped behind a trash can.
The swinging lightbulb above the door provided enough light for Johnny to see the guy hold a gun to the girl's head.
"Think you're gonna trick me, you little bitch?" The guy growled.
The girl didn't answer, but Johnny could hear her ragged breathing.
"Well, I'm gonna show you that you can't fuckin hide from me ever again...thinkin you can outsmart me, dumb little whore..."
Johnny slowly reached into his backpack for his meat cleaver, preparing to jump out from behind the trash can and save the girl's life, for what, he didn't know, but there was nothing better to do.
There was a soft ripping of fabric and Johnny noticed that the boy had torn off the girl's shirt. Her face wasn't visible because a curtain of thick black hair fell across it. There was a TWACK sound, like the sound of a hand coming in contact with a cheek, but before Johnny could jump in and interfere, the lightbulb from the alley flickered out, and he could no longer see the two.
He heard soft sounds of ripping fabric once again and the guy grunting. They had moved now, his senses told him that much, because he could hear them rolling across the hard ground on dead leaves and newspapers. He tightened his hold on the knife and crept forward silently.
It was quite apparent that the girl was being raped, and even though the busy city street was ten steps away, the techno music drowned out her pleas for help. Johnny stood up slowly, knowing he had to do something soon before the girl was killed. There was a moan from her-not from pleasure of course, but from pain...
Something about that moan was oddly familiar, except it had been set to a different tune.
Johnny remembered suddenly how he had kissed Arliss's neck, copying a move from some guy on a movie he had watched months before. Apparently it had worked, since he had heard that same moan...
It couldn't be.
It was all too easy...all too freaky. There was no way in hell that a wanderer like Arliss could be in that exact same alley at that exact same time as Johnny was. But just in case, he reached again for the glass knife, just in case.
It was obvious that the guy was almost done, judging by his moans of sick pleasure and finally a sigh of completion.
Johnny's muscles finally unlocked and he saw his chance while he heard the guy climbing to his feet. He jumped high enough to hit the light wires of the lightbulb, and sure enough, they flickered on almost immediately.
The guy had his pants halfway up and turned his head quickly at the intrusion.
"Hey, what the fu..." A few minutes later, Johnny swung the meat cleaver and the guy's head fell on the ground, in an expression of half rage, half shock. The girl was lying on the concrete, her mouth bleeding, her raven hair over her face. Johnny stepped over to her side.
Her shirt had been left in tatters and her pants had been ripped down the front to the point where they didn't show anything, but could be pushed down for anything.
"Get up." Johnny heard himself say.
The girl uttered a soft groan and turned her head, the hair falling away and exposing her face.
The face that haunted Johnny in his daily routines.
Arliss.
"Johnny?" She gasped in a barely audible voice.
The moment he had been waiting for. She was lying on the ground, defenseless and weak, the perfect target for that glass knife.
"Yes, it's me." His voice was cold but shook slightly. Nny fought to restrain himself.
The pained violet eyes strayed to her glass knife in his hand. They widened in understanding, and Arliss turned her head to the ground, closing her eyes.
"Just kill me, Johnny." She said hoarsely, and so quietly that he had to strain to hear it.
He knew that it wouldn't make a difference if he did. She'd just come back. But he wouldn't deny himself the pleasure, and she was obviously in pain.
"Please, just kill me." She pleaded softly, a tear running down her face.
In an age old act, Johnny slowly dropped the meat cleaver and with both hands took a hold of the glass knife and raised it over his head. He couldn't feel anything. There was no pleasure in this, but he couldn't leave her suffer.
He stared over Arliss's broken, used body, the body he had held in his arms only a few months ago and loved the feeling of it. Now she looked like a cracked china doll.
Nny saw her bloodstained hand tighten into a fist, preparing for the pain that her knife would bring. She knew she deserved it.
The knife came down, faster then Johnny wanted it to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a horrible SQELCH noise, and Arliss's soft weeping ceased almost immediately. The blood welled over the knife and onto the ground. The glass had broken into shards when it had entered her body.
Johnny stood down staring at her dead body, tears filling his eyes.
He didn't feel so great anymore. He was suddenly aware on how loud the Earth was, how the techno music, appropriately blaring "do you think you're better off alone?" pulsed in his very veins, how the shame built up inside of him. Before he could stop himself, he fell to his knees on the bloody ground and grabbed Arliss's dead body in his arms.
"I'm sorry, Arliss...I'm sorry." He cried into her hair, hugging her limp body tightly.
But there was no hug back.
And once again, he was alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Arliss's butt hit the hard dirt ground of hell and she scowled, picking leaves out of her hair.
"Dammit, I hate it when I do that."
She climbed to her feet, brushing off the dirt on her jeans. When she looked up, she screamed. A mirror had appeared in front of her, showing her bloody, ragged appearance.
There was a laugh behind her, and Arliss spun around to see Pepito, Señor Diablo's son, watching her.
"What's so funny, punk?" She snapped, and Pepito laughed again. "It's funny to see how they look in the mirror and scream like that. Gives me a thrill."
"Get out of here, you little..." Arliss made a swipe for the little "boy", but he jumped aside, calling in a sing song voice, "Daddy, the wench is here!"
"The wench!? Why I oughta..." Arliss started forward, but she found herself staring at the familiar black robes of Satan, or Señor Diablo, as he liked to be called.
"Now, Pepito, we have enough 'hell' here enough without you terrorizing the wench." The devil smirked.
"Where do you get off calling me a..."
Señor Diablo pointed a red finger at her sternly. "Watch who you're talking to, Missy."
Arliss immediately silenced herself.
Pepito peeked from behind his father's robes and snickered. "Now, Pepito, run along and go play with your Demon Dolls." Señor Diablo said, amused. Pepito, wanting to stay but knowing he couldn't, stuck out his tongue at Arliss one last time and skipped away into the fiery pits of hell to his room.
"So, got yourself killed again, eh?" The devil asked, once again amused.
"Yeah, raped too." Arliss looked down warily at her tattered clothing.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Good thing Johnny showed up." Señor Diablo offered.
"Yeah, I'm glad he did. Feel kind of bad, leaving him like that." Arliss commented sadly.
"Ah, well, Johnny WANTS to be a normal person, and normal people DO suffer heartbreak," he admitted. "Another stupid rule of HIS ..." The devil stared broodingly up at the "sky", which was made up of thousands and thousands of human souls, a red blanket of death.
"I wanted to stay, but I guess...that just isn't in the cards right now." Arliss sighed.
"No, what's in the cards, my dear waste-lock, is that you are now pregnant." Señor Diablo smiled.
"Pregnant?! What the fook..."
"You know, you just sounded like Johnny on another of his tyrants." The God of Evil commented.
"Glad to know." Arliss was in shock. Pregnant? Damn, the devil sure worked better then a home pregnancy test, seeing the future and all that.
"I can't be pregnant. I can't handle a kid, look at the way I live!" Arliss pointed out angrily.
Señor Diablo nodded thoughtfully. "I see your point, but what happens happens, Arliss. Fate, or ME, decided that a few minutes ago, you would happen to not have your knife on you at that crucial point to fend that little fucker off. Johnny had it, another one of my brainchild, excuse the pun, ideas."
"So you mean, this was supposed to happen?!"
"My dear, you are a wastelock. Bad stuff was MEANT to happen to you." Señor Diablo replied, crossing his arms.
"Well, is it a boy or a girl? Since it was partly you who gave me this stupid job, I think I should take advantage of the fact that you can tell the future in any rage of time." Arliss snapped.
"Fair enough. The child will be a boy, a boy who will grow up with the mannerisms of its father and the spiritual complications of its mother. It's life will have no point. Someone's life crossed with yours, and the fates got confused. Someone else was supposed to get pregnant, but since you died by Johnny's hand, which plays a very part in this puzzle, you ended up getting knocked up."
"So who was supposed to get pregnant?" Arliss wanted to know, dazed.
The devil's eyes gleamed. "Devi."
"You mean the last girl Johnny liked? Didn't he try to kill her?" Arliss asked, confused.
"Yes, he did. That's why it's such a big deal. Since Devi didn't get to die and you did, and she's not a wastelock, you are inclined to bad luck. Maybe the fates just got confused or they were on a PMS trip about you, but like it or not, kid, you're gonna be a mother. Any questions?" Señor Diablo finished smartly.
A million questions swirled around in Arliss's head and she cleared her throat to get the most important one out.
"Is there any way you can stop being a wastelock?"
Señor Diablo's evil eyes narrowed in thought as he squinted, as if trying to see the question.
"Yes, but you'd have to trade a life to stop being one." He said slowly.
"How many lives can we trade?" Arliss wanted to know.
"Two. What in hell are you talking about, so to speak?" Señor Diablo raised an eyebrow.
"You're the devil, don't play stupid. There's a loophole in that law." Arliss cried, her heart feeling a lot lighter.
The devil smiled in amusement. "So what if there is? Maybe I like ya, kid."
"You're not so bad either, Lucifer." Arliss replied playfully.
"Heyyyy...Señor Diablo, and I like to be bad...I have that whole DEVIL thing going on, if you didn't notice. Now, tell me what you want to do, and maybe we can work something out."
Arliss hesitated. "Okay, but before I say anything, how is Johnny?"
Señor Diablo regarded her gravely, then sighed as he flicked his fingers. An orb appeared in midair, like a crystal ball. The picture was like a blurry TV, slowly coming into focus, as if someone were adjusting the tracking. The colors of dark red, black, and gray molded together to show a small dark alleyway. There were two figures in that alley way.
Arliss took a step closer, squinting to see.
She watched herself bleed on the pavement, dead to any mortal's eyes. She saw Johnny hugging her tight as he cried, whispering that he was sorry, so sorry.
Arliss pulled back and gulped, not wanting to see the image anymore. Noticing this, the devil snapped his fingers and the orb disappeared into thin air.
"Well, if you want me to do something for you, Arliss, I'm advising you to say it now, because at the moment, Johnny's clock is ticking." Señor Diablo warned.
Her throat constricted. "You mean...he's going to kill himself? Or try to?"
The devil nodded and rolled his eyes. "Isn't any sense in it, really, cause we're just going to send him back."
"Not if I have anything to do with it." Arliss whispered softly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Her body would have been a trophy in his basement, the only beauty among the ugly, but Johnny didn't want her hanging in his basement. That place was for the people who were assholes. Arliss wasn't an asshole. The devil controlled all wastelocks, so whatever had driven Arliss to leave him had been part of Hell's elaborate plan. A plan, he hated to admit, made lots of sense when it was unearthed.
So he left her abused, broken body in that alleyway, glad that she was dead so the irksome music could not drive her crazy. Anger swirling inside of him like a tornado, Johnny growled and whipped out twin butcher knives and held them out at his sides, then dived into the sea of party-goers. The faster he ran, the deeper the cuts that his victims got. He didn't stop until he had reached the beginning of his street, the knives dripping a path of blood behind him. The tears dripped down his pale face as he ran, his appendix starting to hurt. He didn't stop until he got to his front door.
Once inside, he didn't bother turning the lights on. Johnny sprinted like a track pro towards the basement door, down the steps, and into his basement. He proceeded to behead, gut, cut, and shish kabob every person he had down there, blood spraying the walls and floor until the room was colored red. He stood in the middle of the mess, panting like a crazy dog, the tears dripping and never stopping.
He thought of the gun upstairs. He wondered if he could blackmail Señor Diablo into letting him stay in Hell forever.
He doubted it, but he needed to get far away from that image in the alleyway. Hell should do it.
Johnny left the slaughterhouse and slammed the basement door behind him angrily, heading straight for his room, tossing the backpack of knives on the ground as he did so.
He wrenched his door open, strode over to his cabinet, and flung open the doors. Grabbing the handgun, he held it to his head and squeezed his eyes shut.
I'm going over the stars...
Someone knocked on the door.
Johnny's shaking hand slowly withdrew the gun from his head. Seething, he threw the gun down on the floor, causing it to go off and shot a hole in his bedroom wall. The person knocked again, insistently.
FUCK! Why is it always on the last bullet when it does that?! And who the fuck is knocking on my door at this hour...they're gonna fuckin DIE...
He ran to the door and flung it open, preparing to turn the knocker into fishsticks.
But who he saw there made his knees buckle.
"Ar...Ar...Arliss?" He choked, barely believing his eyes.
Arliss stood on his porch, looking scared and worried. She nodded.
"But...I...what..."
"Thank God I got here before you did anything, Johnny, I heard the gunshot and I was scared to death." Arliss explained quickly.
"What does it matter if I did anything? I'd come right back." Johnny pointed out, holding open the door for her, still in shock.
Arliss shook her head sadly. "No...you wouldn't have."
"What..."
She reached inside the purple bag she wore on her back and brought up a rolled up piece of parchment, stained in blood. She handed it to Johnny and he unrolled it, confused.
I, Señor Diablo, (The devil) hereby appoint Johnny C. the full right to mortality, under the request and trade of Miss Arliss Keys. Upon dying, Johnny will either go to hell/heaven, and never come back to Earth, so is the curse of mortality.
(Signed)
Señor Diablo
A.K.A.
Lucifer
A.K.A.
Satan
A.K.A.
Michael Jackson
(No, just kidding)
A.K.A.
The bad red guy down THERE.
His breath left him for a second.
"So does that...does that mean I'm not a wastelock anymore?" Nny stuttered.
Arliss nodded and smiled at him softly. "Your brain was altered somehow so that you have no more homicidal tendencies. Any murders you've ever committed were not your fault, so I advise you start sinning as soon as possible."
"Why would I sin?" Johnny asked.
Arliss arched an eyebrow. "Flying angel bunnies?"
"Let's start sinning."
She laughed. "Not so fast, Nny."
He gestured for her to sit down on the couch. She did so, gratefully.
"How'd you find me here?" Nny wanted to know, sitting down beside her.
"Followed the huge trail of blood." Arliss replied.
"Oh yeah..." He smiled shyly.
"Johnny, would you mind if I...well...if I stayed over here tonight? I mean...I'll sleep on the couch..."
"You can sleep in my bed-I don't sleep. Of course you can stay." Johnny answered.
"You sleep now. Remember, you're mortal now. You're not as dark as you were before, so you don't have to worry about bad dreams or anything if you sleep." Arliss explained.
"Oh."
She grinned at him.
"How the hell did you manage to make me mortal?" Johnny blurted out finally.
"Well...you see...I was pregnant. Originally Devi was the one that was supposed to get pregnant, but since she escaped you, the fate jumped a line and it was supposed to end up on the next girl you liked. Well, it turned out to be me. Señor Diablo foreshadowed and saw that the baby, who was a boy, was destined to be a wastelock and a mistake, and really had no reason to live. I gave my son's life to save yours." Arliss explained quietly.
Johnny was seriously beginning to wonder if he had any sanity left.
"But why...but why would you..."
Arliss smiled at him. "I knew how miserable you had to be, Johnny. I wanted you to be happy, because when I saw you happy months ago, it looked right, even though you were a waste-lock. Everyone deserves to be happy."
"But what about you?" Johnny wanted to know.
"I'm half mortal. I traded half my life to be mortal. Unfortunately, I can't get killed or kill myself, because I don't know if I'd come back or stay down there, and I want to hang around to see you enjoy your new life."
"But that's not fair! You deserve to be mortal." Johnny exclaimed.
"We're not dealing with God, Johnny. We're dealing with Satan, and well, he did a good thing for us, but there had to be a catch somewhere. Nothing is too good to be true in hell." Arliss pointed out.
Johnny was quiet, pondering this, knowing she was right.
"I want you to have something." Arliss said softly, reaching inside of her backpack. Johnny watched in disbelief as the handle to an elaborate glass knife came into sight. She presented it to him.
He looked at her in question. "But how..."
She held up her free hand to stop him. "Not for killing, for remembering. Since you have so many knives, I figure you add this one to them, but only for a collection. You kill someone right now and you'll get caught like anyone else.
This is...well, this is a knife from heaven."
"Heaven?" He echoed.
"Heaven, not hell. It shows how bad I really was when it shattered inside of me, because I was too bad to handle something so beautiful. I brought it into hell and it fixed itself because it's stronger than Señor Diablo's power. You need no hell anymore. Minus God's lazy ass and the flying angel bunnies, it's not so bad. It's good luck, Johnny. I want you to have it-you need it."
She took his hand and set the knife gently into it.
Johnny closed his fingers around it slowly, knowing she was going to leave and that the little piece of heaven that was only second best would be the only thing he had to convince himself she wasn't a dream.
Arliss's violet eyes were shining with tears as she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"Goodbye, Johnny. Good luck with your new life, and don't mess up."
Johnny's voice was stuck, and he had so many things he wanted to say. One of those things would have been something he had never said before to a person, and for the first time, he'd mean it. But he never got to.
The only thing he could say before she opened the door was "So....you said you were chicken about dying?"
Arliss's eyes focused on his. "I didn't kill myself, I'm glad I didn't. I died cause I needed to do something right."
"You'll be okay." Johnny told her, almost believing it.
"Why do you say that, Nny?"
"Fortune favors the brave."
One last smile, and then she was gone.