Chapter 4

Previously, we had Johnny, forced into making out with a drunk chick in San Jose after he came back to his hometown... Where the hell do I get these ideas? Oh well, sorry about the wait... DAMN YOU WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!!

(Author's note: *FLASH*= lightning) *************************************************************

After their little meeting, Nny and Ayane (a.k.a. drunk chick) started meeting more and more until they spent pretty much every day together. But, today was different. They were walking along the sidewalk late at night, about 3 A.M., when she looks over at him, "Johnny," she says. "Yeah," he replies. "I... I don't know how to tell you this," she says and pauses, "Johnny, I love you." Their eyes and her eyes sparkled with a new light, one he had seen before. He stops her. They stared at each other for the longest time, it seemed like an eternity. "Ayane, I love you, too," he had to choke the words out. Then they kissed, for the second time.

Their love kept them together for a long time and many things changed. Johnny stopped wearing black, Ayane stopped drinking. They both got steady jobs and rented an apartment uptown. But, like before, everything would change in a single night.
It was raining. Johnny was walking home with the groceries he had bought after work. Lightning began to arc across the black sky. Rain cascaded down and outlined him and his bag of groceries. He was humming to himself a tune he had heard on the radio. Ayane sat at home waiting for Johnny and watching TV.

*FLASH*

There is a knock at the door, she smiles, thinking it was Johnny, and switches of the TV as she gets up to open the door.

*FLASH*
He walks along the sidewalk. He spies his apartment and speeds up.

*FLASH*

She opens the door and the smile falls from her face. The eyes of the man bored into her like drills. They seemed to be like bottomless pits, lifeless and cold. He throws her back into the apartment and she trips and falls down. He pulls a knife from beneath his cloak and holds it above him.

*FLASH*

A scream fills the night. Johnny drops his groceries and runs to his apartment to see if Ayane was all right. His shoes slipped on the wet pavement as he almost crashed into the steps up to his apartment.

*FLASH*

He kicks the door open just as the knife comes down. Her blood splatters onto the white carpet. The man looks over at him with an evil, sadistic grin. He pulls the knife out and runs his tongue along it. He smiles again and disappears like a cloud of smoke leaving no trace behind of his presence. Johnny fell down beside her. "Ayane?" he whispered. "Johnny," she choked out as blood trickled down her mouth. "I... love...y..." she said as her last breath eased out of her body like a quiet whisper. "NOOOOOOO!!!" he screamed into the night as he collapsed sobbing onto her dead body.

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The next morning all the police found was a body and a murder weapon. But the weapon had one set of fingerprints on it, Johnny's. How is this possible? Only the murderer held the knife, Johnny only witnessed it. The police didn't know that. He was the number one suspect. Problem was, no one could find him. The police had searched the apartment and all of his things were gone. Every trace of Johnny was gone. Except one, a piece of paper was found taped to the mirror. It had the phrase Z? inside a square

******************************************************* Worth the wait, wasn't it? Told you I had some amazing stuff cookin'! Okay guys, get ready for the next chapter, The Origin of the Doughboys!

Signing off, Duelist of Roses