A/N:

Voices, insults and running. Izzy is not having the best time is she? Onward with the reading folks! XD

That was a brave move Izzy, I'd keep running if I were you…

"Shut up." Izzy muttered, blood pumping in her ears as she raced down the streets.

Or maybe you should stop and turn back, face him?

"Shut up!"

It's not me you're angry with Izzy… Why don't you let it out again…

"I'm not a murderer! You made me do it!" Izzy ducked around another corner and behind what seemed like a café. Finally out of sight, she collapsed against a dumpster, panting with exhaustion. She couldn't believe that she had said those things to Johnny. Of all the things to call him, she'd called him wacky. And comparing him to Trent too was so unjust she could hardly register it. It hadn't been true, had it? No matter how much she tried to tell herself that, she couldn't agree. Trent had been distant, suddenly opening up and talking as an equal only to dismiss her and push her away in both the literal and figurative ways. She was on a constant battleground. And things were no different with Nny. But there was one difference. With Nny, she enjoyed the frustration and confusion it brought her. She saw it as a challenge and not a hindrance. Much like the way she liked to think her stubbornness irritated and humoured him. But she knew that it was a line she wasn't meant to cross, yet she jumped right over in how she put it.

And there was one thing she was certain of. No matter what she said before; she did not hate him. I t made her flush with anger to think this, but she doubted she could ever hate him.

"What are you?" Izzy demanded.

You killed, I assisted.

"What are you?" she repeated forcefully.

Take a guess…

"Doughboys?"

Nope.

"Nail Bunny?"

I'd like to say you're close but that would be a lie.

"Just fucking tell me!"

No need to be rude. Okay, I'll tell you. But I'm not so sure you're going to like it… The voice was so harsh, but entertained. Let's just say as of now, you are now on a personal level with your instability.

"That doesn't make sense." She hissed.

Actually it makes perfect sense. You see, you've been very angry lately, for a long time in fact. Let's face it, you've been lost in it. How long has that lasted, Izzy? Just over a year? Why is that? The isolation you experienced after moving away, the regret when that boy lingered at your side or vice versa, lets not forget the longing for something more and the anger at being so easily forgotten… You're angry at yourself, Izzy, you're angry at them all; you're angry down to the core. I'm just helping you unleash it. It's not good for your health you know, keeping it locked up like this.

Izzy sank to the ground at the mockery the voice bestowed on her. Anger, isolation, frustration, fear… instability. Insanity maybe? She didn't know. Yes, it was true, every word and she knew that. After graduation when she moved away, she had felt so alone, knowing that there was no scared soul that depended on her and no one watching over her and teaching her how to survive. When she met Trent, there had been some attraction to him, something familiar which she had only just managed to place earlier. But it was soon dead, but the fear of being alone again haunted her, so she stayed put. Regretting every minute. And that turned to anger.

Anger. Isn't that why she took up fencing? It was so that she could hold on to the past a little longer, keep that little skill to survival that she had been given. And it had taken so long to realise that she could actually just get up and go back. But there was always something holding her back, and the anger she felt for it was forced into suppression. Why should she succumb to it when there was no real gain? But seeing that the restraint had not only pulled her down, but the lives of two others, something just snapped.

You're understanding now aren't you?

Izzy gritted her teeth, "No one escalates that quickly."

True. But your mind hasn't exactly been the most difficult of things to infiltrate now has it. After all, you've just named three more who were here before me…

"I fixed it! Everything was back where it was meant to be! I… I fixed it…"

Looks like you're wrong.

"Leave me alone!"

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, Izzy."

Izzy snapped her eyes up at the shadowed figure looming over her. She screamed, only to have a firm hand slap over her mouth, another lashing downwards to grab her throat and force her to her feet. His pale face was contorted in rage as he forcefully slammed her head into the dumpster, her head colliding sickeningly against the metal. The whispers in her skull cackled wryly. As her vision came back into settlement, Izzy focused on the figure.

"Nny," she rasped through his grip, "Nny, help me it's-"

"Help?" he mocked, "Are you fucking serious?"

"V-voices, the voices a-are in my h-head and please -"

Johnny wanted to laugh. Sure voices made sense to him, and her hearing them too wasn't anything of a surprise. He figured that there must be something malfunctioning in her cranium. The sleep-murders being the major clue. But how could he be sure this was true, and not another pitiful excuse to spare her life? Not that he really cared, the blade in his pocked was calling to him, begging to be bathed in scarlet.

"Don't insult my intelligence, Izzy, surely you should know not to insult me at all."

"I'm sorry, it's not me I swear!" she sobbed, "Th-this voice it's making me do things and I-"

"Let me guess; it was the voice who made you say those things?" he asked sardonically.

She wouldn't lie to him, "No… No that was all me. And I'm not taking them back because that's really how I felt, but I honestly don't hate you."

"Is that meant to make me change my mind?" Nny demanded, nails digging into her throat.

"No." she shook her head as best she could, "It's not. I'm just… I…"

Nny waited impatiently. He watched as her eyes dart here and there, unfocused as if there was something he couldn't see distracting her. He'd seen it before, and the signs were loud and clear. She wasn't lying. But that didn't excuse her. He retracted his hand and let her fall back against the wall, eyes narrowed. Izzy drank in the air greedily. She didn't want to go through this again, she couldn't. She needed help.

I'm all the help you'll ever get, Izzy…

She whimpered as a fresh burst of panic rushed through her being. She tried to collapse backwards for support, but as she was so close to the wall anyway she simply bounced off of it and toppled forward weakly instead. Bumping against Nny's chest, her hands instinctively grabbing his shoulders for support. She felt too panicked about the echoing mockery inside her skull. Gripping onto any form of support she could get, Izzy forced herself to look at Nny desperately. He blinked in mild surprise, feeling his skin crawl at the sudden contact.

"Please, Nny, don't let this happen to me again…"

A/N:

I wonder how Nny is going to react to that one. It's Nny, so who knows really. Until next time! XD Don't forget to review!