Devi approached the door leading to the source of the commotion with anticipation. She paused a few paces away, checking for any sounds which might give her excuse to flee – which was what sense told her to do. She gently pushed the door open, peering around its edge to set eyes upon the scene it shielded.
The room looked as though it had been ransacked by vandals or thieves; several unrecognisable objects had been flung at the walls and lay shattered in pieces on the outskirts of the room; numerous floorboards were in splintered states where they had been ripped upwards; the residues of wallpaper, which had originally been applied carelessly, now bore rips resembling fingernail marks where the walls had been clawed frantically. In the far corner of the room lay a styrofoam figure which was suspended a couple of inches from the floor by a dagger which nailed it to the wall.
In the centre of the chaos sat the almost stick-lick figure of Johnny, breathing deeply through gritted teeth whilst looking poised as though dormant to strike again. He sat in the pose that had become custom for him now; legs drawn up against his chest with his chin resting on his knees, arms cradling his shins. His eyes were distant and glazed over; his shirt was ripped slightly at the shoulder; his electric-blue tinted hair ruffled even with the vast amount of gel he'd previously applied to it.
[A.N. Would this be where all the girls start swooning?]
Devi slowly approached him, meandering past any broken artefacts obstructing her path. She knelt down beside him.
"Johnny?"
No reply. His eyes didn't even focus.
"Nny? What's going on?"
He sighed lightly, yet didn't make any gestures towards being brought out of his state of comatose.
"Nny… what happened?"
She lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder gently.
His reaction was instantaneous; he jerked his shoulder back and leapt to his feet. Devi backed away slightly and their eyes met. He stood over her for a while, eyes boring into her as though noticing her for the first time.
"What's going on, Johnny?" Devi asked, trying to disguise her fear.
"I- erm… Sorry."
"What?"
Johnny's hand instinctively went to the back of his neck and his eyes averted, Devi could see this was something he didn't want to discuss with her. "I- well… I sure could go for a brainfreezy right about now, how about you?"
Devi eyed him uncertainly, "um.. well sure, Ok."
"Just don't try to escape. You're a smart girl, you know how foolish that would be."
Devi nodded.
Seizing Devi's wrist, her strode out of the door and down the hallway towards the front door.
After a brief walk, they reached the 24/7 down the street. Grasping Devi's hand tightly, as he had been since they left the house, Johnny pushed through the door. The shop assistant's head darted upwards from the comic he was currently reading. Johnny smiled, this shop got through assistants faster than any other he knew of; though it was largely due to his frequent visits.
Johnny turned to Devi, "Anything you want in particular?"
"Nah, I'm not too hungry."
"Sure? If you want, we can grab some Chinese food after…"
Although Devi really didn't want to eat, she couldn't turn down this offer, "Well…"
Johnny ginned, "You know you wanna."
"Ok."
Johnny strode up to the counter, "Two brainfreezies, please. One cherry, and…" He turned to Devi, eyebrows raised.
"Um… yeah I think mine'll be cherry too, please." Johnny reached into his pocket and handed the assistant the correct change.
"Very well." The assistant, who didn't look much older than Johnny, grabbed two brainfreezy cups and put them under the machine. When he was done processing the gooey beverages from the machine, he thrust one at Johnny, barely paying him any attention, and smiled at Devi. "Here ya go, Miss," he said pleasantly, making to hand the drink to her, but keeping it slightly out of her reach. Devi leaned forward over the counter making to grab the sickly sugar concoction, and Johnny noticed his eyes dart to her chest area, which he had a convenient view of from where he was standing.
Unaware of what was going on, Devi clasped hold of the drink and brought it to her lips to take a sip. Just as she was doing so, the assistant, leaning over the counter feigned tripping over a non-existent object below the counter so that his elbow jerked forwards, knocking the beverage out of Devi's hand and soaking her top.
"Shit!" Devi brought her hands away from herself to prevent any more slurpy spillage and surveyed the damage.
"O, Jesus! Look what I did! I'm so sorry, let me help you there," he persisted to swipe his hands across Devi's chest as though being helpful. Devi leapt backwards, looking vexed, "Get off me! Idiot!"
Johnny stepped between the two of them threateningly, "What the hell do you think you're doing, asshole?!"
"Really, I'm sorry! It was an accident, I was just trying to help!"
"Help my ass!" He bellowed.
"Look, I'm real sorry, this has just been a terrible misunderstanding. Would you like to use the bathroom back here to clean up?"
"Yeah, I'm sure it's the least you could do." Replied Devi, coldly.
The assistant lifted up part of the counter surface to allow Devi to pass through. "It's just back there," he instructed, pointing.
Devi made to walk past him, he didn't move so that she had to slide between him and the edge of the counter, brushing up against him. Muttering curses to herself (aimed at him), she disappeared into the back rooms.
Johnny glared at him, "You dick, that was deliberate!"
The stranger merely sneered, "Don't tell me she's your girlfriend. Guys like you don't score with chicks like that. I'd do her any day though…"
Whipping out a dagger from the inner pocket of his trench coat, Johnny darted forwards, leaping over the counter and landing one of his fists between the pervert's eyes.
"You make me sick! You think guys like you who are stuck serving me slurpies are any better than myself? Well the only thing you'll be getting any of tonight is this." He screamed, driving the blade of the knife through the assistant's abdomen. This was met with an ear-piercing scream from the victim. Johnny then proceeded to slash repeatedly at the guy's chest and face, until the floor around them became saturated with the blood now oozing from the many wounds inflicted.
When the damage was inflicted, Johnny was brought back to his senses. He stood up, alert and calm, brushed down his clothes and followed Devi's path through the door which stood ajar.
"Devi," he called. "Let's go out the back way, that shop assistant's a psycho, he attacked me as soon as you'd left!"
[A.N. Well, there wasn't really any point to this chapter, but I thought I needed some quick violence!]