Safe and Sound?
Vincent twirled the knife around in his fingers. His bloody red eyes admired the girl on the floor next to him, her jagged breathing ringing in his ears, as the makeup on her mouth slowly dripped to the wooden floor.
"It wasn't nice of you to play that prank on your father," he spoke softly, though he had a small smile on his face. "But it was funny as hell! You sure scared the shit out of him!"
He gently placed his knife down, picked up the female, and sat her in the chair that was placed near the door. He then gently slapped her face, making her groan in discomfort and open her violet eyes. She looked at him in confusion, not knowing who he was.
"Hey there, sweetheart!" Vincent greeted, a large but sick smile upon his face. "Glad to see you're finally awake! Man, you're a heavy sleeper!"
The girl refused to look into his crazed eyes, and went to wipe away the makeup on her, though he stopped her by grasping her wrist.
"Ah ah ah~!" He slowly lowered her arm, making sure she wouldn't raise it to wipe away her hard work. "That looks beautiful on you, sweetheart! You did an excellent job with that! Really looks like you sliced your mouth into a permanent smile! Tell me; where'd ya learn to do that?"
"I learned it on YouTube," she spoke, her voice soft and quiet, though it was loud enough for Vincent to hear. "My friend gave me the supplies, and I followed the instructions."
"That's great!" He gently touched the third degree skin makeup, feeling its texture. "Really great! It looks real, and you managed to scare you father! Beautiful! Now, would you mind telling me why you did it?"
"Well..." The girl kept her eyes on the ground, still not wanting to face the male in front of her.
"Dammit! Why don't you get off that fucking laptop and do something?!" The black haired girl looked at her furious father, an uncaring expression on her face.
"Because there's nothing to do," she started calmly, before going back to coloring in the picture on her computer. "And I like the internet. I'm actually doing something, other than being bored to death."
"Well, too fucking bad! Get up and go out! I'm tired of having you here!" Sighing and saving her work, she closed her laptop and went upstairs, swearing under her breath as she went.
"Such a prick," she sighed, placing her laptop on the bed and looking around. "I guess I can call Danny. Getting that stuff he promised me would be awesome!"
The teen grabbed her Hollywood Undead jacket, light blue jeans, black converse, and her gray beanie. After putting her outfit on, she grabbed her phone, switchblade, and keys. She then exited her room, locking the door behind her.
"Where are you going?" Her father asked as she went down the stairs.
"To see my friend," she told him, still having the same uncaring expression she had earlier. "He's going to give me some things I need for an experiment I'm doing."
"Fine. Just be back by ten!" Nodding, the girl quickly exited the house, walking down the street, texting her friend as she went down the familiar sidewalk.
"JENNIFER! Hurry up and get in here!" Both Danny and Jennifer looked at the enraged man, who was standing at the door. Rolling her eyes, Jennifer gave Danny a hug, said goodbye, and walked into the house. "You know I don't like that boy! He's a horrible influence!"
"And you're any better?!" she spat, turning around to glare at him, placing a hand on the wall that was by the stairs. "You smoke in front of me! At least he has the decency of asking if it's okay! And when he does, he stills walks away from me to do it! You sir, on the other hand, don't care about your daughter!"
Before he could say anything, she was already walking away and into her room. She took the supplies out of her pocket and placed them on the bed, smiling to herself. This would be good.
"DADDY!" Jennifer raced down the stairs, covering her mouth and crying. Her father looked at her with a worried look, quickly going to her and removing her hands. There were two cuts on the corners of her mouth, blood gently trickling down from them. "I'm sorry! I was being stupid, and I was playing with my knife, and this happened!"
He seemed to scared. This was the first time he had ever seen her cut herself. Usually, she was always careful with her weapons, and would never get them so close to their face. But, as he continued to freak out, he noticed something. Jennifer was actually... smiling!
"Why are you smiling?!" he asked in a panicked voice, still freaking out about the wounds on her face. "This isn't funny, goddammit! You're seriously hurt!"
"It's makeup, dad!" she confessed, laughing as he stood there to process what she had just said.
"Makeup?" he repeated, gritting his teeth in fury. "MAKEUP?! YOU SCARED THE LIVING HELL OUT OF ME BECAUSE YOU DECIDED TO PUT ON THIS FUCKING MAKEUP?!"
"See? This is what happens when you're not nice to me," she spoke, still smiling, though she knew she could possibly end up in the grave for this little joke. "I get angry and do this!"
"You fucking bitch!" He threw a punch, but Jennifer already knew it was coming, and had enough time to jump out of the way. Her father continued to lash out at her, managing to get a few good shots in, but she dodged the rest. As the attacks continued to come, Jennifer noticed something. The back sliding door was open. That wasn't good. They always kept it closed, especially at night. Why was it open now?
Letting her guard down to wonder why their sliding door was open, her father managed to punch her to the ground, and didn't stop. She figured he wouldn't give up until she stopped moving, so that's what she did. Though, he didn't seem to stop. He kept going until she was slipping in and out of consciousness. Finally, though, he suddenly stopped. Whatever made him cease his actions wasn't known to the girl, since she had given up long ago and was now falling into a deep slumber.
"So, you did it for revenge, huh?" Vincent questioned. She just nodded, making him smile. "Splendid! But, why a smile? Why not a cut on the cheek or hand?"
"Well, I did a smile because that's what I like doing," she told him, giving a small smile of her own. "It's rare for me to actually smile when I'm near that man."
"Well, you won't have to worry anymore!" he spoke happily, patting her head. "You see, I've been watching you for a while! Both you and your father! I've seen him shout at you, beat you, make you do everything around the house. Really, I didn't think that was fair! So, when I saw him trying to kill you, I decided to do something! Right now, he's in a graveyard, bleeding his pathetic life away, but no one cares about him. What's important right now is you! How are you feeling?"
"My ribs hurt... so does my stomach and back... but I'm fine," she replied. Vincent just chuckled more.
"I'm not surprised! But, I'm glad you're actually sucking it up and not crying like most people would!" He gently grabbed her hand, holding it firmly when she tried to flinch away. "Can you stand up?"
Nodding, Jennifer slowly stood to her feet, only reaching Vincent's shoulders. He just, once again, laughed at this.
"You're so short and cute!" he teased, smiling as she pouted. Holding up a finger, Vincent slowly let her go, making sure she wouldn't fall over. Seeing she would stand on her own, he went over to his laptop, and put on a song, one that was familiar to Jennifer.
"You know 'Kagi Ga Akanai', right?" he asked, smiling even more when she nodded. He pressed play and went back over to her, grabbing her left hand and placing his right on her waist. Catching on, she placed her right hand on his shoulder, both slowly dancing to the soothing music, Jennifer twitching a bit whenever she felt a jolt of pain race through her body.
"You know, you seem to smile a lot," Vincent tilted his head at the girl's words. "Why is that? What makes you so happy?"
"A lot of things, actually!" he explained, looking down at her, seeing nothing but a false smile. Slowly, he wiped away the makeup. "I guess I'm just naturally happy in my own sick way. I mean, killing makes me really happy! But, then again, seeing someone else almost like me... now that makes me extremelyhappy! Lets me know I'm not the only one!"
Vincent's smile disappeared as he finished wiping off Jennifer's makeup. Now, he saw a different girl. The once smiling and confused girl was now replaced with a broken, dead, and regretful one. She looked as though she would break down at any given moment without that painted on smile.
"But, see you like this..." He gently stroked the side of her mouth with his thumb, making her flinch once more. "Just breaks my little, black heart."
His smile soon returned though as he kissed her forehead, making her grunt in surprise.
"What was that for?!" she hissed, glaring at him. He only laughed at her reaction.
"I'm just showing you that I care for you!" he told her. She rolled her eyes and let go of him.
"Whatever," She made her way towards the door, surprising him. "I'm outta here. See ya later, dude."
"Hold up!" Vincent harshly grabbed Jennifer's arm, making her yelp in pain and shoving her against the wall. "I did not just spend my night killing your father and making sure you weren't dead for nothing! You have nowhere to go, anyways! Your best bet to stay with me, understand? Or else Mr. Knife will find his way into your throat!"
He grabbed a sharp knife off the table next to them, holding it up closely to Jennifer's neck. Sighing, she nodded.
"Fine... what's your name, anyways?" she asked, looking at him.
"Tell me yours first." He smirked as she looked down once more.
"Jennifer..." Vincent grabbed her hand, shaking it a bit violently.
"Nice to meet you, Jennifer!" he spoke, startling her. "My name's Vincent! But, a lot of people call me 'Habit'!"
"Why do they call you Habit?" she asked quietly.
"Because I have this habit where I have to kill people!"