Damp, dark, musty, and dirty…..

The house was exactly as Johnny had left it. Not a single dagger out of place. He sat on the edge of the moth-eaten sofa in the living room and waited for Todd to return with the glass of water he promised just earlier. There were so many bad memories that clung to him here, like a thick, red coat of blood. Johnny heard soft footsteps and Todd emerged from the dreariness of the house with a glass of water.

"It's tap water…I don't have anything else," Todd said, sitting next to Johnny.

The couch made a dull moan of withered protest as he sat. Johnny accepted the glass, taking note that there was quite a bit of blood smeared on the sides, which prompted him to bring up the question he had wanted to ask Todd in the car. He didn't want to, but he saw, standing in front of him, the very thing that he was in his own past. Johnny just didn't know how to begin to confront him…

"Squee…," Johnny started, looking down at the floor, unable to look the teen in his face,

"Squee, how did you get so bloody?"

Todd, too, looked down, but at his hands, all covered in blood.

"I was cleaning up," he said dismissively.

"Cleaning up? How did that get you all bloody?" Johnny said skeptically.

Todd's face broke into a small smile that chilled Johnny to the bone. It was the smile of a maniac, the smile of someone lost and uncouth….it was the same smile he'd seen in himself when he was in despair… Without even having to hear it, Johnny knew what Todd had meant by "cleaning up"…He blamed himself. All those years of torment he caused this little child ; he just wanted Todd to grow up wise and able to take care of himself… never did he imagine this.

"What's wrong Johnny?" Todd said, smiling that treacherous smile.

"Don't you want to know what I do for fun?"

Johnny balked and stared hard at Squee. "Todd, killing innocent people isn't fun, it's wrong and sick…, what happened to you? This isn't what I wanted you to become… not at all…how-?"

Todd narrowed his eyes at the former murderer.

"Nine years, Nny…." Todd started.

Johnny winced as his old nickname was said.

"You left me alone for nine years…Do you even remember the last time we saw each other? I do….You had smashed my father over the head with a toy robot…then you left…DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA WHAT HE DID TO ME WHEN HE WOKE UP?" Todd yelled suddenly, causing Johnny to jump.

"I'll tell you what he did, Nny…He blamed me for it….I remember holding onto Shmee and hearing him whisper to me 'Your daddy's going to kill you Squee! You have to get him first! Take a knife…just take that knife that the bad Neighbor man left and…..' and I did…"

Todd fell silent, closing his eyes and allowing two tears to fall down his cheeks. He held himself and shook, just like the little Squeegee he remembered, but he wasn't done.

"After I had…cleaned up in the bathroom, I heard my mom from her bedroom; She'd overdosed on some medication she always took…she didn't even know who I was when I came to her bedside… Shmee said it would be like being reborn. Like feeling free and unchained to my disgusting mother… I would have no mother, he had said… I could be my own parents…"

Johnny felt sick to his stomach again… "Killing is sick and wrong, Squee…I didn't want this…"

Suddenly, without warning, Todd was on his feet. "Who are you to tell me what's wrong or sick?" Todd shrieked at him. "Johnny, I've lived my life in your footsteps! I found your journals and I've read your life front to back….I wanted to be just like you, and now I am… It's wonderful! I agree with your every thought…The world is full of scum…disgusting, writhing, sick, twisted, selfish people who would backstab each other at any given time, and I, like you once were, will be there to clean up after them!"

Todd's unpredictable temper was out of control and Johnny could all but hold onto the edge of the seat to protect himself.

Todd finished his rant and stood staring at Johnny, daring him to judge and criticize, but Johnny had something else on his mind. He stood up and walked into his old bedroom hoping against all hopes he would find what he was looking for. Todd stood in the doorway, peering in at him with a confused look on his face. It was damp and dusty in this room, as if it hadn't been touched in years.

"I never came in here…" Todd said quietly.

"Maybe you should have, because you've missed out on an important part of me," Johnny said.

He finally seemed to remember where he'd stashed what he was looking for and lifted the dusty old mattress, and lifted an old frame from the floor.

Blowing the dust off of it and wiping it clean, he brought it over to Todd, who waited curiously by the door. Johnny looked down at the old picture and smiled…

"Look, Squee, something you missed," he said handing it to the teen.

Todd looked over the girl with purple hair in the photo.

"I don't get it? What's this supposed to prove?" Squee said indignantly.

"Love, Todd! Love and lust! I was head over heels with this girl…her name is Devi," Johnny said somewhat awkwardly.

"You…loved this girl?" Todd said incredulously…

What Todd said next would throw Johnny over the edge with guilt, frustration and fear…

"Didn't you try to kill her too? You can't escape your past Nny….I am your past…and I'm going to see to it that your legacy remains."