Devi was lying in her bed. She had been awoken by a dream, the same dream that had woken her up every night for weeks. She remembered that it involved Johnny and his house, but little more. Shaking her head, she tried to put it out of her mind. It's just a dream, after all, she thought. She glanced over at her clock.
"Damn it..." she muttered. 3:17 AM. She'd only had maybe 4 hours of sleep, and she knew she wouldn't get any more than that, she was too awake. Maybe Tenna's awake, she thought. There was no telling at what odd hours Devi's neighbour would wake up, overcome by an urge to squeak Spooky. Devi listened. Silence. Tenna was still asleep. Devi thought she could maybe start painting. Her best inspirations sometimes came at these times. But her bed was so warm and comfortable, and the air was so freaking cold, she observed, sticking her foot out from under her blanket. Mentally she put a curse on her landlord and all of his kind for stubbornly refusing to fix the air conditioning. Content now, she lay her head down, shut her eyes, and tried to fall asleep.
Scrape.
It was just the slightest noise, but Devi caught it. Her eyes flew open, straining to see in the dark. It was a metallic sound, such as would be made by... oh god, don't think that it's... a steel-toed boot. In that long, black, brass-buckled, cloven-toed boot, Devi mentally placed a long, thin, gangly-looking leg, and placed a twin right beside it. She tried to stop her mental imagery, but she was tugged along, unwillingly, as an equally long, thin, gangly-looking torso, cloaked in black, formed in her mind on top of the legs. Two long, thin arms materialized on either side of it, and on top, there appeared a head. A somewhat sharply- featured face was drawn on the head, dominated by two large, bright blue eyes. The head was crowned with spikes of medium-length, messy-looking jet-black hair. But Devi couldn't mentally place any expression on the face. After all, one footfall can only tell you so much.
"Johnny... is that you? What do you want?" she called out into the darkness, wishing her eyes would adjust.
"To finished what I started, first of all," came a thin, soft voice, devoid of any extreme emotion. Devi's face blanched in the darkness, making her stand out even more. She drew back, her jade-green eyes wide with alarm. Her eyes were beginning to adjust, and Devi could make out a shadow moving in the darkness, drawing closer to her. Devi was so terrified, all she could manage to do was to raise her arm up to shield herself and turn her head away, squeezing her eyes shut. Just go away, please, she thought. Johnny stopped when he got close to her, and studied her for a while. Her pale skin was in sharp contrast to her hair, which was becoming much darker, fading with the ravages of time and a thousand washings from its artificial fuchsia colour to its natural glossy black. It was an intermediate dark purple. Devi's eyes- Johnny's favorite feature about her- were shut tightly, but he remembered the deep green colour of them. They reminded him of an evergreen forest in the winter. Carefully taking Devi's defensively raised arm, he gently moved it down to her side. With his other hand, Johnny slowly lifted his hand to her face and cradled her chin and jaw, making sure not to exert too much pressure that she couldn't escape if the wanted to, then turned it until it faced towards him, then tilted it upwards slightly. Shit, he's going to slit my throat, Devi's mind screamed at her, but she was too paralyzed- or hypnotized- to move. Then Devi almost jumped when she felt pressure on her lips. Was that a... kiss? She felt a hesitant brushing of lips, and let it register in her brain. It was very quick, fleeting, but in that split second all of Devi's fear and anger at this man vanished. So that's what he meant, she thought. He had been the one to leave, after all, when I tried to kiss him... but he left... and...
"Johnny!" yelled Devi, remembering herself. Everything, the memories, the fear, came back to her. She turned on her bedside lamp and stared at him as he stood there, rubbing his eyes.
"What the fuck are you doing here in my apartment? I told you I never wanted to see you again!!!" she was almost screaming at him now. At first Johnny looked alarmed, but as the words began to mean something, the shock turned to a look of pure pain. He looked so hurt, so vulnerable, backing away from her, shaking his head in disbelief, his eyes cast down submissively. He stopped halfway across the room, and looked at her again.
"Devi... I'm so sorry that you still think that I want to hurt you..." he whimpered. Devi met his eyes with a scathing glare, but soon the angry light in her eyes went out. An apologetic sadness crossed her face.
"Johnny, please don't give me those eyes," she pleaded. He had the most expressive eyes of anyone she knew, and the look of pain in his tear-filled eyes tore her heart. She was completely baffled why this man, whom she had been living in fear of for more than a year now, could shake her, fill her with so many emotions, with just a look in his eyes. She remembered the look of pure gratitude when she had asked him out... the shy, hesitant, slightly fearful look when she meant to kiss him... but most of all, the clouded, almost alien-looking eyes full of malignant glee when he drew the knives. Those eyes looked like they had been taken from someone or something else, but incredibly seemed to blend in with the whole of him better than his other eyes. Those eyes sent a shudder of fear and revulsion through her every time she recalled them. But now, simply on the basis of the look his eyes held now, she was ready to forgive and forget it all. What was this guy, anyway? How could he do that? Even back at the bookstore, when she had seen him looking at her longingly, on the verge of tears, it had taken every last ounce of willpower she could gather to turn away. But then the fear was still fresh; now it was just a way of life. She had numbed to it. But now, his eyes had spoken so eloquently, they had accomplished what words could not.
"Please don't cry, Johnny. I didn't mean to yell," she said. Johnny looked at her, hopefully. "I'm not afraid, Nny," she added softly.
"Are you sure? You actually trust me, after what I did? You believe that I won't hurt you now?" he asked, hoping it would be true. Devi smiled, but before she could say anything, her eyes flew open.
"No..." she whispered. "I got rid of you..." she said to nobody in particular. Then she suddenly screamed, "SHUT UP! Just GO AWAY!" Then she just stood there, rigid and tense.
"Damn it..." she muttered. 3:17 AM. She'd only had maybe 4 hours of sleep, and she knew she wouldn't get any more than that, she was too awake. Maybe Tenna's awake, she thought. There was no telling at what odd hours Devi's neighbour would wake up, overcome by an urge to squeak Spooky. Devi listened. Silence. Tenna was still asleep. Devi thought she could maybe start painting. Her best inspirations sometimes came at these times. But her bed was so warm and comfortable, and the air was so freaking cold, she observed, sticking her foot out from under her blanket. Mentally she put a curse on her landlord and all of his kind for stubbornly refusing to fix the air conditioning. Content now, she lay her head down, shut her eyes, and tried to fall asleep.
Scrape.
It was just the slightest noise, but Devi caught it. Her eyes flew open, straining to see in the dark. It was a metallic sound, such as would be made by... oh god, don't think that it's... a steel-toed boot. In that long, black, brass-buckled, cloven-toed boot, Devi mentally placed a long, thin, gangly-looking leg, and placed a twin right beside it. She tried to stop her mental imagery, but she was tugged along, unwillingly, as an equally long, thin, gangly-looking torso, cloaked in black, formed in her mind on top of the legs. Two long, thin arms materialized on either side of it, and on top, there appeared a head. A somewhat sharply- featured face was drawn on the head, dominated by two large, bright blue eyes. The head was crowned with spikes of medium-length, messy-looking jet-black hair. But Devi couldn't mentally place any expression on the face. After all, one footfall can only tell you so much.
"Johnny... is that you? What do you want?" she called out into the darkness, wishing her eyes would adjust.
"To finished what I started, first of all," came a thin, soft voice, devoid of any extreme emotion. Devi's face blanched in the darkness, making her stand out even more. She drew back, her jade-green eyes wide with alarm. Her eyes were beginning to adjust, and Devi could make out a shadow moving in the darkness, drawing closer to her. Devi was so terrified, all she could manage to do was to raise her arm up to shield herself and turn her head away, squeezing her eyes shut. Just go away, please, she thought. Johnny stopped when he got close to her, and studied her for a while. Her pale skin was in sharp contrast to her hair, which was becoming much darker, fading with the ravages of time and a thousand washings from its artificial fuchsia colour to its natural glossy black. It was an intermediate dark purple. Devi's eyes- Johnny's favorite feature about her- were shut tightly, but he remembered the deep green colour of them. They reminded him of an evergreen forest in the winter. Carefully taking Devi's defensively raised arm, he gently moved it down to her side. With his other hand, Johnny slowly lifted his hand to her face and cradled her chin and jaw, making sure not to exert too much pressure that she couldn't escape if the wanted to, then turned it until it faced towards him, then tilted it upwards slightly. Shit, he's going to slit my throat, Devi's mind screamed at her, but she was too paralyzed- or hypnotized- to move. Then Devi almost jumped when she felt pressure on her lips. Was that a... kiss? She felt a hesitant brushing of lips, and let it register in her brain. It was very quick, fleeting, but in that split second all of Devi's fear and anger at this man vanished. So that's what he meant, she thought. He had been the one to leave, after all, when I tried to kiss him... but he left... and...
"Johnny!" yelled Devi, remembering herself. Everything, the memories, the fear, came back to her. She turned on her bedside lamp and stared at him as he stood there, rubbing his eyes.
"What the fuck are you doing here in my apartment? I told you I never wanted to see you again!!!" she was almost screaming at him now. At first Johnny looked alarmed, but as the words began to mean something, the shock turned to a look of pure pain. He looked so hurt, so vulnerable, backing away from her, shaking his head in disbelief, his eyes cast down submissively. He stopped halfway across the room, and looked at her again.
"Devi... I'm so sorry that you still think that I want to hurt you..." he whimpered. Devi met his eyes with a scathing glare, but soon the angry light in her eyes went out. An apologetic sadness crossed her face.
"Johnny, please don't give me those eyes," she pleaded. He had the most expressive eyes of anyone she knew, and the look of pain in his tear-filled eyes tore her heart. She was completely baffled why this man, whom she had been living in fear of for more than a year now, could shake her, fill her with so many emotions, with just a look in his eyes. She remembered the look of pure gratitude when she had asked him out... the shy, hesitant, slightly fearful look when she meant to kiss him... but most of all, the clouded, almost alien-looking eyes full of malignant glee when he drew the knives. Those eyes looked like they had been taken from someone or something else, but incredibly seemed to blend in with the whole of him better than his other eyes. Those eyes sent a shudder of fear and revulsion through her every time she recalled them. But now, simply on the basis of the look his eyes held now, she was ready to forgive and forget it all. What was this guy, anyway? How could he do that? Even back at the bookstore, when she had seen him looking at her longingly, on the verge of tears, it had taken every last ounce of willpower she could gather to turn away. But then the fear was still fresh; now it was just a way of life. She had numbed to it. But now, his eyes had spoken so eloquently, they had accomplished what words could not.
"Please don't cry, Johnny. I didn't mean to yell," she said. Johnny looked at her, hopefully. "I'm not afraid, Nny," she added softly.
"Are you sure? You actually trust me, after what I did? You believe that I won't hurt you now?" he asked, hoping it would be true. Devi smiled, but before she could say anything, her eyes flew open.
"No..." she whispered. "I got rid of you..." she said to nobody in particular. Then she suddenly screamed, "SHUT UP! Just GO AWAY!" Then she just stood there, rigid and tense.