Disclaimer: Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and all of his head voices (Nail Bunny through Reverend MEAT), his favorite smiley face knives, his house and underground labyrinth of torture, his traumatized little neighbor, his mentally-ravaged potential (ex) girlfriend, and the city in which he lives are © the Almighty Tallest Jhonen Vasquez
Fang Cromwell, Kathina Marie Cromwell, for short © Me
Warning: This chapter is rather lengthy so feel free to take an intermission whenever you need one. Also, it is very description heavy, so if you don't like it, don't read it. A fair word of warning, this WILL be a Nny/OC fic, because I'm the Authoress and decided that it should be so, and the fact that there aren't enough of them out there. I believe that everyone, Nny included, needs love. And just like real love, it will take a while to develop so the Nny/OC-ness won't happen till later chapters.
Regarding Flames: I WILL NOT accept flames; they shalt be laughed at, extinguished, and then hidden. Flames will do nothing but prove that Nny's work is far from finished for there is still ignorance and intolerance in the world. I WILL accept compliments and constructive criticism, so that I may feel good about my work and the time I've put into it and also to learn how to improve it so that others can get the same enjoyment out of my work that I do.
Credit Where Credit Is Due: This fic was partly inspired by a fic called 'Stockholm Syndrome or Love?' that I read here on .
The Odd One Out
Chapter 1: I Always Knew I'd Die This Way
….
….
….
…Uggh…
'Did anyone get the license plate number of that truck?' wandered lazily through my head as I slowly faded into consciousness
I lay there for a few moments more, allowing my senses to return to me, before attempting to move. The first thing I noticed was that the chain of my sun pendant was pinned painfully to my neck; I could feel it biting mercilessly into the delicate skin with each breath I took.
'Wha…?' I mused incoherently to myself
That question was answered when I felt something aside from my sun pendant's chain pressed tight against my neck. It was cool against my flesh and smooth to the touch and a small 'clank-clank' sounded every time I shifted. Finally managing to pry my eyes open, I saw what appeared to be a heavy-duty chain lying on the edge of my vision, its metallic links leading up to and ending in the vicinity of my neck. Well, that would explain the 'clank-clank' I had been hearing earlier, but what in the world was clamped around my neck?
I reached up to discern what it was when I found that my hands wouldn't quite reach all the way. It was at this time I discovered that my hands were shackled together and so were my feet as well. After a few minutes of determined squirming and wiggling, I managed to work myself into a comfortable sitting position. Now that I was no longer lying upon my side where only a swath of the floor and a corner of the room were visible, I had a chance to take in my surroundings.
The room around me was made of cold, grey stone and splattered with a mysterious reddish-brownish substance; a heady coppery, metallic smell pervaded the air, bitterly stinging the inside of my nose before proceeding to nip at my throat, where I could actually taste it. The manacles and chains that bound me were so marred with rust that it was a surprise whoever had done this to me had managed to get them open and closed again. Just ahead of me was a wooden door with a sign upon it that read 'Please Wait' written in an untidy hand. All in all, I must say I liked the motif of the room; it was like being in an episode of The Addams Family or The Munsters.
Throughout my entire examination of my new domicile, I could hear screams of pure, unadulterated Rated R agony, the heart wrenching sounds of sobbing, crying, and weeping, and harsh voices, some screaming, some cursing, and still others pleading for mercy. I could also hear the grinding of gears and the turning of cogs, the clanking of parts and the whirring of mechanisms in amongst the cacophony, some of them producing the aforementioned sounds in their wake. Whatever it was that I had done to end up here had spared me the impersonal use of machines in favor of being dealt with by hand.
It was at this time that I decided to take the sign's advice and settle in for a long wait. I waited, not for the impending doom that the sign, the room, and the noises I heard foretold, but for the things I knew I should be feeling. Where was the wild sense of panic that was supposed to be prickling at my brain? Where was the cold sense of fear that was supposed to be creeping up my spine? Where was the all-consuming despair that was supposed to be gnawing away at my soul?
I took a deep, cleansing breath and closed my eyes tightly, shutting out the world around me and willing the questions whirling inside my brain to come to an abrupt halt. The latter proved to be quite difficult as there were many questions and they were all moving very fast. I think I may have actually heard the screech of brakes and the hiss of smoke resound inside my skull as I went about this.
Now in a self-imposed quiet, I could hear my heart beating, the rhythm which kept me alive and the rhythm to which I lived. As I listened to the steady, repetitive drum, it slowly transformed into a four-count beat. It wasn't long after that that a melody sprang forth from the four-count; it was wordless yet gentle and serene in nature. The missing lyrics began to tickle at my throat once the melody had time to lilt through me for awhile. Soon enough, I was warbling along aloud to the silent song I heard.
"When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, what will I be?
Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?
Here's what she said to me.
Que Sera, Sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be…"
Once I had sung the song through in its entirety, I felt an odd sense of calm wash over me. Well, continued calm I should say, I hadn't been panicked in the first place.
So, that's how I felt, huh?
Must be.
My song had never once failed to reveal to me how I truly felt.
Hmm, I thought that one book by that one famous author person said that there were five stages to death.
Deceitful famous author person!! Where were the other four stages?! Acceptance was supposed to be the last thing you felt, not the first and only thing!!
Ah well, I suppose that one famous author person tailored their research to the many instead of the one; I mean, what were the chances of running into an individual such as myself??
Deciding not to ponder on it any longer, I let out an airy sigh and lied back down in the position I had awoken in, trying to get as comfortable as possible in my new surroundings.
"I got cabin fever
It's burning in my brain!!
I got cabin fever
It's driving me insane!!"
I sung quietly to myself as I lie there in my newly acquired room, staring at the walls and trying to make patterns out of the stains in an attempt to keep myself amused. Here I was, facing what was most likely my doom, and I was bored out of my mind. B-O-R-E-D. Wasn't I an all-expense paid trip around the globe, or what? I suppose I could be a one-way ticket on a crowded bus that is choked with unidentifiable smells and crowded claustrophobically tight with people as well. Whatever I was, I finished my song and worked myself into the sitting position I had managed to achieve earlier. Once I had done that, I sighed heavily at my predicament. I wished I had a magazine or something; anything to help pass the time.
Creak…shh…shh…Creak
My thoughts were detoured off the main highway and onto a bumpy dirt road when an odd sound cut through the raucous of my surroundings. Turning what had been a symphony into mere white noise, I focused on the sound that had pricked my ears.
Shh…Creak…Shh
It was getting closer.
CREAK…SHH…CREAK…SHH
I received a small jolt of surprise when the door of my new domicile swung open on rusty hinges, groaning in complaint as it did so, and a cart nearly overflowing with a plethora of knives, saws, hooks, scythes, daggers, swords, axes, hatchets, hammers, mallets, cleavers, and various sharp and/or dangerous miscellany trundled into the room. Pushing the cart along was a rail-thin man not much older than myself; he had his head down so that shadow eclipsed his face and he kept on going until he had pulled up even with me. The cart squeaked to a halt on my right side and the man began to rummage through its contents without even looking up or getting so much as a nick from the implements.
"Konnichiwa!!" I greeted brightly, voice full of sunshine
At this, the man slowly lifted his head.
"Hullo" he replied a little dully, seemingly surprised by my greeting
The man had skin that was of a sickly yellow hue, a gaunt face (but not too gaunt), high, defined cheek bones, sunken eyes surrounded by dark, bruised flesh, a nose that disappeared into a black triangle when he lifted his head, midnight blue hair that mimicked a pair of an insect's antennas (I decided right then and there to call them hair-tennas), long fingers that resembled claws, and a scar above his left eye that looked suspiciously like a bullet wound. He was clad all in black and variations thereof, his shirt was solid black (well, it had been solid black; the moment I'd greeted him a large question mark had appeared on the front), and the sleeves of the shirt were elbow length and had alternating black and white stripes, the back of the shirt split into two tails, his shorts were also black and went to his knees, the ends of his shirt sleeves and the hems of his shorts were badly tattered, and black boots with three metal buckles and cloven metal toes finished off the entire ensemble.
"What? Wwhhaatt?" I inquired when his gaze didn't waver from me and the flummoxed expression didn't leave his features
"Did I sprout a second head? Get a third arm graphed on?" I asked as I did my best to check myself over despite my confinement
He shook his head.
I sighed in relief.
"That's good to know; I don't think I could handle extra appendages. I can barely keep track of the ones I have now." I stated
The man leaned back on the cart, placing his hands on the edges, and tilted his head to the side, eyeing me all the while.
"You're not reacting the way I'd expect a person in your situation to react," he commented
"Oh?" I questioned coyly
"Is there some sort of written protocol for the proper way one should react when in a situation like this?" I continued my inquiry
"No" he informed me rather bluntly
"I see… I see…" I said. "And what exactly were you expecting?"
"Sweating, screaming, crying," he replied with a shrug. "A barrage of questions like 'Who are you?' and 'What am I doing here?'."
"I'm terribly sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not really feeling any of that. And chances are, if I'm not feeling it, I'm not going to be doing it." I informed him
"Oh!" I cried when a bolt of realization struck; I twittered high and sweet in the manner of a song bird after my exclamation.
"Do forgive my complete lack of manners. Here I am chattering away and you don't even know my name yet. My name is Fang Cromwell, but you may call me Kathina Marie Cromwell for short." I told him as I inclined my head respectfully as best I could
He stepped away from the cart and swept into a low bow.
"My name is Johnny C., but since we're having such a pleasant conversation, you may call me Nny." he stated
"Is that like the all-powerful word of yore?" I questioned
"No, but it's pronounced the same." Nny told me while stretching a little after his bow
"Ah…" I said, letting him know I understood, before speaking once more
"Sooooo….How are you today?"
"Just as she goes quiet, trying to be so stoic,…HER EYES SHOOT OUT OF HER HEAD!! And she just SCREEEAMS!!" Nny finished, both of us dissolving into laughter at this point
It was several minutes later before we finally managed to calm down.
"Ooohhh, my sides…" I commented as a tear leaked out of the corner of my eye. "I can't breathe…"
"The last guy I told this to didn't find it as funny as you did." Nny informed me, still chuckling lightly
"I can see why, it's only funny until someone loses an eye…Then it's freakin' hilarious!!" I stated
We both shared another short laugh before settling down into an awkwardly comfortable silence.
"I always knew I'd die this way," I piped up suddenly, reminding us both of why we were here
"You did?" Nny questioned from his place near the cart, my statement seeming to jog his memory
"Well, not this way specifically; no one could predict this. But I'm a bit of a rolling stone, you see. Though I can stay in one place, I'm almost never there; too busy wandering off and roaming afar. And I always knew there'd be that one thing that would put an end to my errant ways. But I'm glad it was you Nny, instead of some random person or tragic accident. At least I got to talk to someone before my demise. Not many people get that kind of opportunity." I told him
Nny rose from his seat and began to rifle through the contents of the cart once more. I did my best to lean this way and that so as to see what he was picking up. When he turned back around he held a blade that had a black-and-white striped handle and a smiley face for the hand guard. My gaze flickered up from the blade to Nny's face where I locked eyes with him.
"Aren't you the least bit frightened?" he inquired of me as he approached, his voice almost a whisper
I achieved a motion that held some semblance to a shake of the head.
"I live for adventure and to die…would be an awfully big adventure…" I stated just as softly as I allowed a small smirk to curl my lips
He came to a halt in front of me and tilted his head to the side, regarding me with half-lidded eyes as his hair-tennas flopped in front of his face. Finally, he raised the blade above his head. Though I could see the blade glinting at the top of my vision, I didn't allow my gaze to waver from his eyes.
After what felt like an eternity, the blade fell and struck with a dull 'thuk'.
I blinked for a time, not feeling anything.
Had it happened so fast that nothing registered? Was I dead and just didn't know it yet?
I finally looked down to see what had become of me when Nny began to work the blade back and forth. Instead of my flesh, the blade was embedded in the metal of the shackle around my neck. One push forward and one push back and the rusted restraint fell away. Now free from its confinement, my sun pendant slipped back down to its normal position and my neck let me know just how stiff it really was in those shackles.
"It was a bitch to get open," Nny explained gruffly before he went to work on the shackles binding my hands and feet
Once my hands and feet had been loosed from their confines and I had gotten shakily to my feet, Nny and I stood facing one another. Before either of us knew what was happening, I had closed the short distance between us and wrapped Nny up in a warm embrace. Even though I knew that there were over 500,000 words in the English language, not one could describe the emotions being broadcast over the transistors that were my arms. Almost as soon as it began, it was all over and we stood apart once more.
Looking around, I spotted my pack and purse lying haphazardly in a corner. I walked over and picked up my belongings. Upon turning I found that Nny was still standing there, looking quite shell-shocked. I strode back over to where he stood and waved my hand in front of his face, snapping my fingers a couple of times for good measure.
"Umm…Hello? Are we gonna go?" I called to him
Nny blinked several times and his vision focused on me. He scrutinized me for a moment, as if trying to discern if I was some sort of hallucination, before grunting and nodding. He tucked the knife away somewhere on his person and made for the door without waiting for me to come along. I had to trot swiftly to keep with his long strides but I managed all the same.
The atmosphere of the hallway was reminiscent of a tunnel, so dark you could barely make out your hand in front of your face and so narrow that you could only progress in single file. Or perhaps it more closely resembled a subway car, deafening with multiple sounds assaulting the ears and damp with its various drippings of questionable origin. Whichever one it was more like I didn't have the time to discern as Nny was on the move and I was already falling behind in our trek.
I hurried forward and caught one of the tails of his shirt, not wanting to get lost in this subterranean labyrinth. Nny froze in his tracks, causing me to crash into him; I couldn't help but notice that he flinched when we collided and gave a shudder as I stumbled back from him. Nny's head turned slowly so that he could peer at me over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed nearly to slits and his entire frame tensing.
"I didn't want to lose you because it is pitch black down here and I was likely to be eaten by a grue." I offered as an explanation to my actions. "And why are you looking at me like that? Unless you plan on walking slower, this is the only way I can keep up."
We stared at each other for awhile before Nny finally started on his way again, at a noticeably slower pace than before. I loosened my hold right away but didn't let go, just in case he chose to speed up again. After I was certain that Nny wasn't going to leave me behind, I let go of the tail of his shirt and followed along after him. Now at ease with the traveling arrangements, I took the time to inspect my new surroundings.
By the light of the naked bulb that dimly lit the path to the stair well we were approaching, I noticed that rickety wooden doors with numbers crudely carved into their faces flanked us on either side. I took careful note of the fact that except for rusted knobs, the doors lacked a lock of any kind. Of course, with the chances that the occupants of the rooms behind the doors were either chained up or strapped in being sky high, I doubted that the doors actually needed locks. Once I finished with my inspection, I began to hum a little tune to myself as we walked along.
"Are we there yet?"
"Almost."
"You said that two hours ago."
"…"
I sighed when Nny didn't reply to my statement.
"I don't know why you're being so uncommunicative. I was just asking a question and stating a fact." I told him while folding my arms across my chest
We had been wandering around in this subterranean labyrinth for the better part of two hours and we had yet to see the light of day.
"Hm?" I wondered aloud when a door came into view at the top of the flight of stairs Nny and I were approaching
We had come upon and crossed the thresholds of many different types of entrances and exits during our travels, but never had we encountered a door barring our path.
Nny and I took the stairs together, him walking while I skip-hopping. Nny opened the door and, to my surprise, let me pass by first. I chirped a 'Domo' before stepping past him and into the room. I stopped short once I caught sight of the room and was dully aware of the door shutting with a click behind me. The room that stretched before me held nothing that was recognizable to the eye, but something within me sensed familiarity and knew that it was a kitchen.
The miniature compartments that I knew to be cupboards had doors that were either missing entirely or hung limply, desperately clinging to what remained of their hinges. There was a rusted out basin that resembled a sink sunken into one of the crumbling surfaces that could be called a counter at best. There were three large appliances in the room, all of them heavily stained and badly rusted, that I took to be a refrigerator, a stove, and a microwave. A small cylinder with many buttons at the base sat near the microwave; the inside of its glass container mirrored the stains on the other surfaces and something told me that I didn't want to know what had been inside that blender. A deteriorating structure sat in the middle of the room and had a smaller structure near it falling into ramshackle as well.
"Why are you staring around the kitchen like that?" Nny questioned from beside me, forcing me to peel my gaze away from the kitchen table and chair
"Oh, I'm just…admiring…your 'interesting' kitchen." I replied
I turned to face him fully and met his eyes; I smiled gently before beginning to speak.
"No words could ever describe how grateful I am that you decided not to kill me. But I find that I am in another predicament; I just moved here to the big city from the little town of Sunny Side. I don't know anyone here in the city, I don't have a place to live, and I don't even know where my car is. I am sorry for the lengthy exposition, but what I wanted to know was if you wouldn't mind continuing to not kill me." I informed him
His eyes searched my face for a time and I briefly wondered if he was able to see through the veil of words to what I was really saying. Finally, Nny folded his arms across his chest, one hand on the opposite elbow and the other hand on the opposite shoulder, and cocked his head to the side while eyeing me critically. He had seen through the finely woven garment of eloquence as if it were made out of the finest crystal. Now, the question was if he would do anything to help aide in my plight with what he saw.
"Why would I want that?" he inquired simply
"I could help you" I returned
"How would you help me?" Nny asked
"I could do things that you can't do. Or at least things that you can't do by yourself." I replied
Nny shifted his eyes to a stain on the refrigerator and stared at it intently as if it would provide an answer for him. Silence reigned before he shifted his gaze back to me and spoke once more.
"Fine." he grunted
I practically beamed at him.
"Follow me." Nny said
He turned on his booted heel and walked off into the living room.
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to live here, Nny. And don't you worry about a thing, I'll be the best housekeeper you've ever had…WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT?!" I began while scurrying after him, only to stop short again and exclaim aloud, at the sight of what lay in the room
"It's a couch." Nny all but growled
"Are you sure about that?" I inquired skeptically
"What else would it be?" Nny snapped in return
"Um, well…" I said
Though it may have resembled a couch, I wasn't so sure that it really was a couch. In all honesty, I believed that it was a conglomerate of disease that had managed to congeal itself into a recognizable form and live undetected in the house.
Nny cast me a sideways glance before continuing on down the narrow hallway situated between the kitchen and the living room, not even sparing a moment for me to formulate a proper reply. Eerily luminescent in the moonlight streaming through the slats in the boarded up windows, the couch seemed to growl a warning at me now that I was no longer in Nny's presence; I gave the deceitful piece of 'furniture' one last look, showing it that I would not be easily sent aquiver, before scampering after Nny. I found him standing before the first door on the left, looking quite displeased at my dallying.
"This will be your room," Nny announced
I poked my head into the room to find a tattered and stained mattress in the middle of the bare floor with multiple gashes in the plain fabric, matted stuffing and rusted springs spilling out of the lacerations. There was a chest of drawers with a mirror affixed to it in front of the mattress; though I knew the proper term for such a thing, I didn't think 'vanity' was of correct use in this case. The mirror sported a spider web of fissures across its surface with shards of it lying in glimmers on the floor. It looked as if something had struck the mirror…and struck it hard. There was a picture of a decomposed bunny head sitting on the chest of drawers and there were two pastry display stands stabbed to the wall, one with a knife through its head and the other with a knife through its torso. Despite the atmosphere of the room, it had that certain lived in feel about it.
"This is your room, isn't it?" I inquired after I completed my inspection of the room
"Yes," Nny replied shortly
"I don't want to put you out…"
"I barely use it,"
"I'd feel better if I had my own room." I told him as I turned to face him
"What's wrong with this one?" Nny asked while sounding a little miffed
"Nothing is wrong with it."
"Then why don't you want it?"
"Because I'm a girl."
"I know that." Nny defended
"And girls need their own rooms" I informed him while folding my arms across my chest
"Then. Take. This. One." Nny hissed between gritted teeth, almost snarling at every syllable
Nny's fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, his shoulders hunched up around his neck, his bottom lip jutted out sharply, and one eye narrowed while the other eye widened as his entire frame seemed to quake from the very core. I rolled my hips so that my left hip rocked out and my right hip tucked in, lowered my head slightly so that I peered out through my bangs, and gazed back at him unflinchingly, showing him that I was adamant about not displacing him, no matter how unused his room was. Finally, Nny spun around with a low growl and stalked further down the hallway. I had to hide a smile as I followed him and I tried not to flinch when he practically slammed a door open on the right side of the hallway seven paces down from his room.
"Here, this will be your room. Make yourself at home." Nny stated with a certain sense of finality
Having said as much, he left me there.
The room before me was illuminated both by the soft glow of the moon cascading in through the window on the far wall and the naked bulb that swung like a menacing pendulum from the ceiling. The abode was barren except for two crates, a black telephone with a white receiver and key pad, a Robo-Arm from Radio Shak with a hand gun attached to it, a large reddish-brownish stain in the middle of the room complete with various doodles, and splatters over all of everything else that were of the same color as the stain. I stood there surveying the room for a time before clicking off the light and heading back down the hallway to see where Nny had gotten himself off to.
"What ever happened to 'I barely use it'?" I inquired of Nny as I leaned against the doorframe of his room, quirking a brow and dipping my head conspiratorially as I did so
Nny looked up from the black book he was writing in before mirroring my actions and fixing me with a penetrating glare.
"What ever happened to 'I'd feel better if I had my own room…Because I'm a girl…And girls need their own rooms'?" Nny returned my inquiry with a bit more vehemence than I anticipated
"While that is indeed what I said; I never mentioned that I wouldn't share a room." I stated while I strode in to deposit my things on the chest of drawers
I was grateful that I had been given a room of my own, but there was no possible way I would be able stay in it for quite some time. As I mused on how much work would be entailed in renovating my room so that it was fit for human inhabitance, I stopped in front of the chest of drawers and leaned closer to get a better look at my distorted reflection in the cracked mirror. I was admiring the way it threw various scraps of me in all different directions when I caught sight of the dark expression Nny was wearing in one of the crystalline fragments.
"Now don't look at me like that," I chided as I reached up to undo the strip of cloth around the end of one pigtail and began to unweave the plaits once it was free. "It'll only be until my room is ready and I get settled in. You told me to 'make yourself at home', remember? Mi casa es tú casa?"
I turned to Nny for confirmation to find his mouth open in an incomplete retort. He shut it slowly, eyes narrowing in the process, before he gave me a small inclination of the head. I turned back around to face the mirror and glimpsed Nny attempting to drill holes in my vitals with his eyes in a jagged shard as I undid the strip of cloth around the end of the second pigtail. I pulled apart the braid without even a hesitation and by the time I had gathered up my hair with one hand and fished my brush out of my purse with the other hand, Nny had returned his attention to the black book he had been writing in before I had interrupted him. Once I finished with my hair, I replaced the brush and pulled out a hair tie, fastening my tresses up into a loose bun with it without ever letting all of my hair loose from my grasp.
I smiled at the shattered image of myself before I scampered over to the mattress and flopped down onto it. I spent the next few minutes rolling, squirming, and twisting on the mattress; I did this partly out of a strange habit of mine and partly because the mattress was a tad uncomfortable.
"Finished?" I heard Nny inquire of me from somewhere beyond my line of sight when I had finally managed to achieve an odd, yet comfortable, position on the mattress
"Yes!" I chirped lightly. "And comfy too!"
Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he was eyeing me.
"I just want to thank you, Nny…" I began in a more even tone
"I know, I know." Nny interrupted impatiently
"You didn't let me finish what I was going to say. I want to thank you for trying to kill me this time around." I informed him as I snuggled into the mattress, yawning slightly after I did so
There was a moment of silence in which I took the opportunity to continue.
"If you hadn't have tried to kill me, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet you, Nny. If I hadn't gotten the chance to meet you, I wouldn't have been able to live with you here. If I hadn't gotten the chance to live with you here, I would still be out there somewhere…And the city is an awfully big place to be alone in…" I informed him as sleep began to creep in at the edges of my mind
Somewhere in that little haze of reality between asleep and awake, I thought I heard Nny mumble something along the lines of "You have no idea…", but I did not have the time to be sure before I fell into the blissful abyss of unconsciousness.
ROCK and ROLL! (Read and Review!)