AN: Hey there, this is my first JTHM fic so... yep. The Points of View (or POV, for short) change every chapter. You can tell who is narrating it by the 'name' in bold. Please review when you're done. I need to know if you LIKE it!

Todd

On the dawn of my eighteenth birthday, my father kicked me out of the house. I was surprised it lasted that long, actually, considering the fact that he'd always resented my existence.

My mother didn't do anything about it either. It made me sad that I'd half expected some maternal instinct to kick in at the last second. I should've known better. Neither of my parents ever loved me. I'd learned that time and time again.

So I really should've seen this coming… or at least had the experience to know they wouldn't be nice about it.

Sometimes I wonder why they bothered to have me in the first place. It's not like birth control is that expensive, anyway. It's incredibly cheap if you compare it to the price of raising a child.

Wow, one night of wearing a condom could've bought them eighteen extra years of happiness. I almost feel sorry… Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying sorry because of the… you know, me factor… I meant more of the holy shit, my parents were stupid factor.

And they really were.

"Not my problem anymore," was the last fragment of a sentence my father muttered to me before literally shoving me out the front door and slamming the door behind me.

My first action as a free man was to drop my hands into my pockets and inhale deeply. Because I was free, in a sense, just as free as my parents were. I was free from them and they were free from me.

I stepped off the family welcome mat, the one that had never held any sense of welcome in the first place, and onto the cement walkway that led off down the street.

I would go back later to get my things, of course, if I decided I wanted any of it. My parents had always avoided buying me things when they could.

But for now I had to figure out what I would do until then, when I would sneak back in through my window just as if I was…

Nny… That was perfect! I should've thought of that before… He lived right across the street. I was positive he wouldn't mind my company for a while.

I mean, Nny was always a little… off… But we're all a little off when we want to be, right? I wouldn't let the fact that Nny wasn't the most helpful of people get my hopes down. I thought I recalled him saving my life once. He couldn't be that bad.

And it wasn't like I had many others for a choice of where to stay. Pepito, the only guy I could ever have called a friend throughout my years at school, had moved away the year before. His father had to transfer cities because of his job or… something like that. Everything about Pepito had always been a little vague… a little scary.

Maybe everything in this town was just weird.

I looked out from under spikes of dark hair towards the dusty city skyline. The mauve light of early morning was turning the normally grey-toned buildings a weird rust color. I wondered whether that's where I would head next… after Nny's place.

Speaking of, the place seemed smaller than I remembered it. And it may have gone to shit even further when I wasn't looking. I mean, I had never really been over here… Johnny's house was always really foreboding when I was younger. Even now, standing at his front door, occasionally ringing the bell, I was a little nervous.

But that may have just been the fact that he could reject me, just as both my parents had done.

I shivered in the cool morning air, pulling my black jacket tighter around me and continuing to buzz at Nny's door. The windows of the house were dirtied up with dust or something of the like, almost like the way stores cover their windows with soap when they close up for the season.

"Come on, Nny," I muttered quietly to myself. "Answer your door…" I rang the doorbell a few more times. I wondered if there was a limit to how many times one could ring someone's doorbell. Well… there was the off chance that it was broken.

I knocked loudly on the door which chose to issue a loud and hollow thud. I probably could've bashed the door open if I'd wanted to, it sounded so thin.

At the verge of giving up, I plainly reached for the handle, only to find it easy to turn, completely unlocked. I looked behind me. None of the neighbors were out on their lawns. It was too early, anyway. The only person who would venture out this early in the morning would be Mrs. Pauset, widow who lived up the street and walked all six of her cats at dawn every day.

So I was positive no one would notice me enter the house.

And I stepped inside.

I remember the disappointment that hit me was immense: The room was empty. I closed the door behind me quietly, sweeping my eyes through the front room. The light of daybreak settled through fine slats in one of the windows and came through gaping holes from the other two. My eyes adjusted quickly in the subtle light, and I groped for the light switch experimentally.

As the pale bulb flickered on, I stepped forward, realizing my boots were leaving shadowy footprints in the dust that had settled on the hardwood floor. I opened my mouth. The little furniture that had once taken up residence was gone, only shadows in the dust were left in their places.

"Johnny?" My voice was muted. He had to be here, he had to… He couldn't have left without saying goodbye! That was just unlike him! He must be… He had to be playing a game with me. Hide-and-seek or something! And any moment he would pop out from behind some crazy cupboard or maybe a dresser with that crooked smile of his and say, "Long time no see, Squee!"

Hope blossomed in my chest as I thought of the possibility. It might be true. No! I shook the thought away. Don't tell yourself that! I told myself. After all, what if it wasn't?

I moved through the ranch-style home quickly, ripping open doors and running through small rooms; a bathroom, a kitchen, a bedroom. All of it was gone. All of my hope was gone.

"Nny!" my voice broke as I held back a sob. Memories of a childhood without help crawled through my brain. A childhood without anything… A childhood without—

I ripped open the last door.

That last, terrible door that should have perhaps stayed closed for all eternity. The secrets and haunts and mysteries it held weren't meant for me. Well, they weren't meant for anybody, but most certainly not me. I don't think… Johnny wouldn't have wished that upon anyone.

"Nny…" My eyes widened, searching the blackness. I inhaled… "Nny, are you down there?!" My voice was almost a holler. Probably the loudest I could be without screaming in terror. Because that was it: I was terrified.

The silence that rose up to greet me from the basement's dark depths was no less than devastating.

I closed the door.

I turned around.

And I fell to the floor.

…

How could he?

AN: Review please. PLEASE. Jeez... I wrote it for you, now REVIEW!

To my more dedicated watchers: Just so you know, my Naruto fanfics will probably be on hiatus indefinitely. I had been working on updating Carved but that basically involved revamping the story which I just DON'T have time for right now. Also, check me out on my fictionpress account: /u/523220/ It's under Finder77, too. I've got After Jack and Virza going, and those are both pretty boss.