Annette stood in Hot Topic a bit later, shyly staring at the customers and the cashiers. Raven was cursing under her breath, and Tenna had her little doll, Spooky, out and was zooming around, making airplane noises. It made for an odd picture.

"So, Annette, uh, how are you?" Raven queried awhile later, giving her best non-threatening smile.

"Bien, merci. Et toi?"

"Um, I'm okay. So Nny just left you here?"

"Yes..."

"God, he has to work on his parental skills. When's he going to be back?"

"I'm not sure. Whenever he finishes getting food."

"That can take hours. Come on, kid, let me show you how to price things. You know how to read, right?"

"Numbers are the same in English as in French."

"Okay, great. Let's go back here..."

An hour later, there was a number of large boxes of merchandise ready to be put on the shelves. Annette sat in the corner of the back room, listening to Linkin Park and putting labels on even more items. Raven had to come and drag her out of the room so that she could help set out stuff.

Nny appeared so suddenly that Raven turned and nearly collided with him. A knife was instantly at her throat, but Nny put the blade away when he saw who it was that had run into him.

"Oh, hello. Is Annette alright? I hope she wasn't too much of a trouble."

"No, she was great. I had her pricing things to keep her busy...Do you always do that to people? The knife thing?"

"Well, people make me a bit skittish. It impairs my judgment..." He trailed off and looked around for Annette.

"Salut, Nny. Ca va?" Annette popped up in front of the two and smiled even as Nny started to pull out his dagger.

"Oh. Ca va bien, merci. Et toi?"

"Bien, merci. How did shopping go?"

"Rather well. Only a few corpses."

"That's good. Did you get everything on the list?"

"Yes, but why did you want chopsticks?"

"I like them, and it's fun to eat ramen with them."

"Oh. Annette, why don't you go digging through the buttons?"

"Oui, Nny!" Annette gave a happy squeal and darted off.

Raven gave Nny a suspicious look. "So what was that all about?"

"What?"

"Leaving Annette here for an hour and a half."

"Oh, well, I didn't want her to get in the way should something irritate me. Now on to other matters. Annette's birthday is in a week or so. I need help planning a get-together in celebration."

"Dude. You planning parties? God, this scares me. But what did you have in mind? It's Annette we're talking about here. I want to make sure you're not going to traumatize her even more." Another suspicious glare.

"I'm not sure. I've never done this before. What normally happens at parties?"

"Um...People eat food, wander around, talk, and give presents to the birthday kid. At least that's what always happened at my birthday parties. Didn't you ever have them when you were a kid?"

A long silence. "I have a dysfunctional memory."

"Hmm. Sucks for you. Well, uh, yeah. Get a lot of food, invite people, and tell them to bring gifts for Annette. What does she like, anyway?"

Nny thought for a time. "Drawing, painting, the color black, Emily the Strange, writing, and...that's all I can think of."

"O...kay." Raven shook her head. "Whatever. You should probably get back to the kid. She was a little scared when you just dropped her off at the entrance, you know. She's just a little kid. Don't forget that."

"Raven!" It was Tenna. "Annette's climbing on the displays again!"

Raven sighed and turned to manage the damage. "Annette, come down! That shirt is right here! Let me see if it fits you!"

Nny watched the rescue attempt for awhile before turning away and scanning the shelves. What would Annette like for her birthday?

Soon, Annette was ready to leave, her curiosity and her huger for strange stuff satisfied. Nny paid for the items she'd picked out and left, closely followed by the now-hyperactive Annette.

Later, the pair reentered Nny's house to complete darkness. Nny must have neglected to pay the electric bill again. He lit a few candles and led the way to Annette's room, where there were many more candles and some matches.

"Use these to light the room. Blow them out if you're tired. And for God's sake, DON'T LET ANYTHING ELSE CATCH FIRE. I'll be downstairs. Night, Annette."

"Goodnight."

Annette watched Nny leave with the second candle, wondering in what place in his deranged mind Nny found it alright to leave a small child alone with matches. At any rate, she was alone. A quick strike of a match, and another candle lit up, bathing her area of the room in a dull yellow glow. She hummed to herself as she placed more candles around her room until she had achieved a lovely warm luminescence.

" Now what to do? " she wondered out loud, wandering around the small space and looking for something to occupy her time.

Nothing presented itself, so Annette turned on her CD player-thank God Nny had remembered to get batteries-and put on her new favorite CD, Rasputina's Frustration Plantation. The sweetly dark sounds of cellos filled the air like the wisps of smoke from the many candles, twisting upward and gently making their way through Annette's soul. A moment later, she was caught up in a song, doing a strange, swaying dance in time to the music.

And then there was a loud noise from the basement that sounded like something had been shot. Not a gunshot, but more like a crossbow. Annette snapped out of her trance and hurried to the basement door, only pausing to blow out all but one of the candles. This she took with her, the flame sputtering at the top of the wax in her shaking hands. There were more noises, and Annette opened the door.

"Annette!" came a distant call. "I need some help here!"

"What happened? Are you hurt?" For a brief moment, Annette wished that Nny had injured himself, that maybe the wound was even fatal. Then she could go live with...oh, she didn't know, Squee, maybe. Get out of this hellhole.

Then the thought passed, and Annette's breath quickened. Perhaps he had gotten hurt. And like it or not, he was her guardian. That would be bad. Annette might have to go live in a foster home somewhere, and she'd heard horror stories...And besides that, there were a few redeemable qualities in the man. Not many, sure, but it would still be a shame to have him dead.

It took a second for Annette to realize that Nny had gone on talking.

"What?" she shouted, trying to pay attention.

"I said I'm fine! Some of the...guests escaped! I'm going to need help rounding them up!"

"Oh. Alright! What do you want me to do?"

"Grab a weapon or something from the first room on the left and try to track them down! I've already gotten six of them. Hurry! They might try to destroy something! That would not be good."

"So I can assume..." muttered the girl, skipping lightly down the steps.

The room indicated was full of an array of diverse and versatile weaponry. Annette's eyes widened in awe of the dozens of shiny objects. She wandered around the racks and shelves, lost in the brilliance of it all.

Eventually, a large chorus of screams snapped her out of her daydream. She quickly picked up some daggers and a pouch of these little sharp things that looked like they'd be good to throw at people's feet. A glance around at the rest of the weapons, and she darted out of the room.

Where she ran into a very emaciated person that might have been female. The thing lashed out at her wickedly, rasping at Annette in a strange, inhuman manner. Annette shuddered to see that the woman's tongue was missing. Another lunge of the thing's ragged nails, and Annette retaliated with the dagger. A spray of scarlet, and the woman fell.

Annette just stood stock-still in front of it, staring at the red on her hands. The feeling of revulsion passed quickly, replaced by a strange fascination, but the lingering threads of terror still gripped her in a tenuous, yes, but still perceptible stranglehold.

But then there was another shriek, and Annette followed the sound to something that could have been male, which was running into walls repeatedly. A few of the sharp thingies slowed him down enough so that he finally cracked his head on a corner and was silent.

The stairs went down seemingly forever. Annette stopped to catch her breath, increasingly aware of the volume of sheer noise coming from all around her. Fear gained a firmer hold on the girl, and she took in deep, shuddering gasps of air. Another moment, however, and she was forced to go on. That, or face the terror head-on in that cramped stairwell.

A few minutes-eternity to a terrified child-later, Annette came upon Nny. He was impaling three creatures on a long spear, all of which were screaming obscenities at him. Annette gave a small squeak of fright, and Nny turned.

"Oh, hello, Annette. How are you? How many of them did you track down?"

"Um...hi. I'm okay...I found two of them."

"Good. Then they're all accounted for. I already-Annette, are you sure you're alright? You look rather pale..."

Annette trembled and threw out a hand to steady herself. "Y-yes. I'm fine. In fact-" She looked up, and her eyes were blank. "-that was rather exhilarating."

"Good girl," he muttered, pulling out the spear. "Let's go upstairs now, shall we? What happened to your candle, by the way? I thought you would bring one down."

"What? Oh...It must have gone out when I saw the second one. Why was he running into walls like that?"

"That's most likely the one that got his eyes gouged out with a spork a week ago."

Nny started back toward the stairs, and Annette followed. A slight hesitation, and her hand snaked out to grasp Nny's in a death-grip. He seemed surprised, but shrugged and said nothing.

"You're shaking, Annette. Something's wrong."

"J-just frightened a bit. Those people jumped out at me from nowhere..."

And truth be told, that's mostly what it was. True, there were some uneasy feelings about hurting people, but it had only been self-defense, so it didn't bother her much. Of course, this was most likely going to lead to intense therapy and repression of memories in a decade or two.

A small smile, and Annette concentrated on matching Nny's stride, a surprisingly difficult task. Though he was a good foot or two taller than the girl, he also walked remarkably fast. This made for a very mind-consuming undertaking indeed.

Upstairs, Annette busied herself with washing her hands and arms and face, getting off whatever blood she could. Nny simply stood there and stared off into space, lost in his own little world. Every now and then she glanced at him, but there was no change.

"Nny, are you alright?"

Nny almost absent-mindedly brought his hand to his mouth, tongue darting out to lap up the blood covering the skin. He paid no attention to Annette, still absorbed in whatever reverie that had captured him. Only when the girl failed to stifle a gasp did he register her presence.

"Sorry, Annette. What did you say?" he quickly dropped his hand to his side again, wiping off the remaining blood on the hem of his shirt.

"I asked if you were alright."

"Oh. yes, of course. I'm fine. If I scared you, my apologies."

This was strange. Nny's mind was definitely on other things. He was barely there, mentally. A glazed look was already returning to his eyes. Nny mumbled to himself, turning away and drifting off toward the living room.

Annette shrugged and looked around the kitchen for something to eat.

And so time passed. Not much time, for Annette's birthday was in the near future. If you didn't know that, you either haven't paid attention or are just REALLY slow. Anyway, the day arrived with barely a disturbance in the cosmos. That was probably a good thing, since a large disturbance could have resulted in something rather important exploding, and that could be bad.

Annette woke up as usual, slightly annoyed at the amount of light that managed to get into the room despite its decided lack of windows. But then she remembered that it was the day. It was her birthday. She sat bolt upright and was flooded with the familiar sense of joy a child feels when they realize that it's their birthday.

And then she remembered who it was that was taking care of her. All the happiness drained right out of her. She flopped back down onto the bed, defeated. Nothing to look forward to here, after all.

There was a shadow across the doorway. Nny quietly stepped into the room, his clothes utterly devoid of anything that looked like blood. Annette sat back up, wary, but he only smiled and held out his hands in the universal "I come in peace" gesture.

"Good morning, Annette. I just thought I'd tell you that I remembered what day it was. Happy birthday."

Annette smiled. "Merci, Nny."

"How are you feeling today?"

"Rather well, thank you."

"Good. That's how a kid should feel on their birthday."

"When's your birthday?"

A small silence. "I don't remember."

"Oh. That's too bad."

"I don't mind. Now, Annette, did you want to do something today? Anything in celebration?"

Annette thought for a long time. "I want to go back to that Japanese restaurant. It was jolie and the people there were nice."

"Alright. Anyone you want to invite along?"

"Not now."

Nny nodded. "Fine. Be ready in half an hour, alright?"

"What time is it?"

"Almost noon."

"Oh. Okay."

Nny left the room, closing the door behind him. Annette jumped up just after the lock clicked and ran to her "dresser." A black shirt with the anarchy symbol stitched onto the front and some random jeans flew on, complemented by several Emily and Zim buttons and a heavy dose of jewelry. Ten minutes later, her hair was tamed and she was putting on her trench coat in the kitchen, waiting for Nny to come upstairs.

When Nny did rise from the depths of the basement, he looked somewhat less terrifying than normal. There was no blood splattered on him, and he was almost friendly-looking. Well, if you could get past the severe emaciation and paleness and insomnia-induced dark rings under the eyes. But other than that, he was good.

The two made their way to the small restaurant, taking their time. It wasn't as if they really had anywhere to be that afternoon. Not as far as Annette knew, anyway.

Miyuki remembered them, something that surprised Nny. Suki and Hiro shouted greetings from the kitchen while their daughter talked to the girl and her guardian.

"So how have things been for you two? Getting along well?"

"Fairly well."

"Nny's nice. I like it here." Annette smiled. "It's my birthday today."

"Really? How wonderful! What can I get you to drink, birthday girl?"

"Cherry coke!"

"Okay, hon. What about you, Nny?"

"Same, I guess."

"Little early for sake, eh?"

"I don't drink often."

"I see. Well, it'll just be a minute. Suki will bring your drinks right out."

"Thank you."

Miyuki gave a small bow and darted off to another table.

An hour and a half later, the two left the restaurant as quietly as they'd come. Miyuki and her family had stopped by to wish Annette a happy birthday, but even their chatter went unnoticed. Nny liked it that way, personally. Less focus meant that it was easier to move about undetected, after all.

Annette refused to stop chattering. Nny let her talk, as it was her birthday, but the constant noise was, nonetheless, incredibly irksome. She went on and on about how nice Miyuki and her parents were and how wonderful the food was and how pretty the restaurant looked. Eventually he was able to tune it all out.

But then they reached the house, and Nny had something to get done.

"Annette, sorry to cut you off, but why don't you go visit Squee for awhile? I have things to do."

Annette fell silent, thoroughly taken aback. She nodded and left, hoping that she wouldn't start crying. That wouldn't be good to cry on her birthday.

Nny scarcely noticed her sadness. He immediately started in on executing his plans, pausing for nothing. Except to get rid of the rather irritating bible saleskid that wouldn't stop ringing the doorbell.

Meanwhile, Annette rang the doorbell, expecting to be met with her quiet, French-speaking friend. Instead, the door opened to reveal a dangerously thin woman who looked as if she was sleepwalking.

"Oh, hello...Who are you, little girl? I didn't think I had a daughter..."

"Um...I'm looking for Squee." Annette shivered but tried very hard to conceal it. "Um, I'm Annette."

"Oh...okay. I don't think Squee lives here anymore, though. Maybe he went to college. Or he died. I'm not sure which."

"Mrs. Casil, don't strain yourself. Squee's here. I'll take the kid. You go take some more pills or something."

The raspy voice of Squee's best friend came from just behind the woman. Annette looked around her to see Pepito standing by the kitchen table, a can of Coke in one hand and a wicked-looking metal spork in the other. This vision caused Annette's breathing to quicken, her heart to pound faster, and for other fear-related things to happen.

"Bonjour, Annette. Ca va?"

"B-bien, m-merci. What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just going to take care of Squee's parents for him, but talking to you will be much more amusing. Nny said you might be coming over."

Pepito grinned evilly and put the spork into his pocket, offering the free hand to the frightened French girl.

"Shall we, Annette?"

What else could she do? She took the hand offered and allowed the Antichrist to lead her upstairs to Squee's room. What was the world coming to? At this rate, Antoinette would be very lucky to get out of life alive.

"Oh, hi, Annette. Nny kick you out?"

Squee's opening statement was very direct. It took Annette by surprise, as she hadn't even stepped fully through the door before it hit her like the proverbial sack of bricks. She stopped, turned her head, and did the only thing she could: she glared and cussed him out.

The rapid-fire French dialogue slammed into Squee, and he took a stumbling step backward. A minute of non-stop screaming, and the girl fell silent, but though Squee only understood about half of what she'd said, he was not stupid enough to be unable of recognizing the fact that the chick was pissed.

"Oh, okay. I guess he did, then."

"No kidding, Sherlock." Pepito was staring, dumbstruck, at the kid. "Did you even think that something like that could come out of a nine-year-old's mouth? She's pretty pissed, all things considered."

"Yeah. I realized that. Um, Annette, sorry. I didn't mean-"

" Learn to say what you mean, American. "

"Annette, don't let Squee get to you. He was joking. You should be happy. It's your birthday, isn't it?"

Surprisingly, Pepito's attempt at calming her down worked. Annette smiled, nodded, and spoke again. And while it was still French, at least it wasn't sarcastic.

" Yes, of course. I'm nine years old today. Nny took me out to eat earlier. Have you ever been to that Japanese restaurant near here? The food is wonderful, and the family that owns and runs it is very nice. "

Pepito began to mutter to himself in Spanish, something about not liking fish much. Squee just shook his head, still unable to form a coherent sentence.

" Well, you should really go there. I've already gone with Devi and Tenna and Raven. Tenna was the one that took us there the first time. "

"Tenna did? Of course. Only she would know about a place staffed by three people. Who's Raven?" Pepito looked curious.

" One of Devi and Tenna's friends. She works at Hot Topic with Tenna. "

"Nice. By the way, I like the shirt."

"Merci. I think it's such a pretty symbol. "

"Anarchy is fun."

"Oui, c'est tres amusant."

"Pepito, quit corrupting the kid's mind, will you? It's already messed up enough." Squee glared at his friend, who simply smiled and gave a mock bow.

"Why bother? She's already warped, and it's fun to mess up people's heads. Besides, how much worse could she get?"

"She could end up like Nny."

"Annette, are you like Nny?" Pepito grinned, awaiting the inevitable answer.

" I helped him gather up some of the guests that escaped awhile ago. "

"See, Squee? Not much I can do to make it worse, is there?"

"You all disturb me. Hey, Annette, how about something to drink? Coke?"

"Non, merci. I'm fine, really. "

"Okay, then. Um...ever play videogames?"

" Some. What do you have? "

An hour later, Annette was happily throttling both Squee and Pepito at every first-person shooter game that Squee owned. Pepito was currently fighting against her, and he was losing badly. Annette had taken refuge in a high tower and was gunning down everything with a high-tech sniper rifle.

The phone rang. Squee answered, talked briefly with the person on the other end, and hung up. He was smiling when he interrupted the game.

"Hey, guys, all clear. We can go back to your place now, Annette."

" You and Pepito, too? "

"Hey, querida, don't talk like that. It's hurting my feelings. Don't you like us?" Pepito made a mock tragic face and fell, pretending to have been shot in the chest. "I feel so unloved."

"Get up, idiot. Let's go." Squee rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket.

Annette giggled and pulled Pepito to his feet, her strength surprising all, herself included. The three thundered down the stairs, startling Mrs. Casil and causing her husband to yell at them from the study. Out the door, and Annette led the way to house number 777.

It seemed that Nny had finally remembered to pay the electric bill. The light switch was already flipped on when they entered. And there was noise, but not the typical screams. Music was actually being played. Loud, wonderful music.

But that was nothing. There were people in the house. People talking, laughing. Nothing remotely hostile. Not even any arguments. Annette listened to the sounds and savored them, convinced as she was that they would not last.

"What is this?" she inquired, wandering into the living room to see Devi and Tenna chatting with Raven.

"Hey, Annette. Don't stare like that. Be happy, kiddo. Happy birthday." Devi smiled warmly and stood to give her a hug.

"This is my...party..." Complete shock.

"Yeah, Annie, that's why we're all here instead of working or at skool! Happy birthday!" Tenna gave Spooky a squeak and grinned.

"Nny told us to come, so we did. Hope you're happy, Annette, cuz Miyuki's mom is sure giving him hell in the kitchen," added Raven, contributing her smile to the collective.

"Nny put a...party...together." Still total shock.

"Yeah, and he kept calling random people to ask them what to do. He called me to ask what kind of decor to use." Pepito cracked up.

"Join the party, Annette." Squee laughed as well and sat down next to Tenna.

"Mon Dieu."

Annette darted off toward the kitchen. Everyone stared after her, but she offered no explanation. Nny was in the kitchen, cowering from Suki, who was ordering him and her family around as they cooked things. Annette gave Nny a long look, then ran up and hugged him.

Author's note: Okay, this is probably the last note I'll do before the end of the fic. But I just had to say this. If there's two things I hate, it's these: sappiness and overly serious stuff. I can't stand that. But around chapter three, I realized that I was in serious danger of both. This thing is too damned SERIOUS! And I HATE making it all "feel good" and crap like that. But it's so hard not to, because sometimes it seems that merde like that is the ONLY stuff out there. I'm trying to make it funny, here. I put the damned thing under HUMOR, after all. But at chapter three, I added drama to the thing to account for the, uh, drama...stuff.

Anyway, I'd better get back to the story. My demented best friend is very sleep-deprived and talking at me through the phone appliance, and we're discussing how one would go about sending a fan letter to everyone's favorite insomniac cartoonist. I'm very tired. I should be sleeping, but insomnia is too fun to ruin it with sleep this early. Eh, whatever. This thing'll be done soon, I promise. And I've gotten past thinking that me fic sucks; I've now moved on to thinking that it might be worthy of being called a fanfic. Yay! I'll beat that inferiority complex yet!

-Raven

Annette was having more fun than she had in a long time. Eventually, she got around to looking at the small pile of wrapped items on the table in the kitchen, and she finally figured out that they were her presents.

The others crowded around her, Annette opened her gifts. From Tenna, lots of pretty paints and soft pencils. Miyuki had found a lovely necklace with a very ornate roman cross adorning it, and her parents gave Annette an Evanescence CD and a Linkin Park CD. Squee had, in a strange bout of acceptance, given her a shirt with the words "Get Lost" and one of Emily's cats, Sabbath, adorning the front of it. Pepito presented Annette with a bound journal, very ornate and old-looking. Raven had found an enormous set of candles and incense, and there was a metal box of matches with the burnables.

Then Annette got to Devi's gift. It was a thick sketchbook, leather bound and with a black, silver-embossed cover. Inside the front cover was an extra sheet of paper, a heavy grade that was perfect for sketching. It was s drawing of a little girl whose eyes held both fear and happiness. Annette looked into her own face, at the pupils of the eyes, one of which held a skull, the other an ankh.

Nny handed her a package, and she opened it hastily. Three objects fell into her lap. Two daggers, identical in their hooked blades and carved bone handles-a skull completed the ends of the hilts-and a large silver ankh covered in hieroglyphics that were directly engraved into its surface.

"Merci, everyone," Annette murmured quietly.

"You like your gifts, Annette?" asked Devi kindly, a small smile gracing her features.

"Yes, very much. I'm...just very happy."

"Well, should we have cake, then?" Raven grinned and looked around at the annoyed faces around her. "What? Cake is good."

People just rolled their eyes.

Much later, after everyone else had left, Nny and Annette were cleaning up the house. Nny had volunteered to help this once, seeing as it was Annette's birthday and all. Anyway, the two were currently working on the kitchen, which, though Miyuki and co had done a relatively good job of cleaning up the mess, was still ghastly by Annette's standards.

"Did you have fun today, Annette?"

"Yes, everyone was very nice, and I'm very happy."

"Sorry if the knives weren't exactly the kind of thing you like, but I thought that it would be good for you to have something to protect yourself with-"

"No, really, I really like them. Beautiful carvings. And the ankh is very pretty. I'm hanging it up in my room. Either that or I'll wear it, if it's not too heavy. Thank you for putting this together, the party."

"I had a lot of help."

"But you still agreed to have it here. I really am thankful of that, you know."

Nny didn't answer. He just resumed sweeping the floor. Annette decided that it was best not to argue and went back to washing dishes.

Later, Annette sat in her room and opened her new journal. She stuck the tip of a new calligraphy pen into her mouth and waited for the words to come. Then she was off, whipping the pen out and down onto the paper, writing like mad.

Dear Dorothy,

You are my new diary. I don't think I'll bother much with physical descriptions, as those change over time, but I will say that I am Antoinette, however many times people have and will call me Annette. I turned nine years old today, and I'm still living with a homicidal maniac. The strange thing is, I don't mind.

I mean, he kills people, yes, but how can I hate someone so much like myself? We see eye to eye on almost everything except for the killing-mostly-and a few other things. I can hold an intelligent conversation with him, and he won't hold back because he fears that I'm too "young" to understand what he's saying. Perhaps that is the best thing about living with a man that has completely lost his grip on reality.

But I'm going on a tangent, aren't I? Ah well. I should be talking about my day. After all, it's not often that one turns nine. I can't help but think that I am much more advanced mentally than other humans my age. Perhaps that comes from contact with intelligent individuals; perhaps it comes from purely my own mind. I can't tell for sure. Either way, it doesn't change anything. Oh, no, I said I was going to talk about my day...

Well, I got many nice things today for my birthday. A sketchbook and a drawing, this journal, CDs, a shirt, jewelry, paints, pencils, candles, and Nny gave me knives and an ankh. Nny actually organized a party for me. Isn't that lovely? Anyway, everyone I know was there. Then again, I don't know many people, so maybe that isn't so impressive. Devi, Raven, Tenna, Nny, Squee, Pepito, Miyuki, Suki, and Hiro are the only ones I DO know.

Nny and I dismembered some old Barbies that we found at a thrift store. It's really very therapeutic. Barbies are so disgusting, in my opinion.

I really should be getting to sleep. The sun is rising. I can see the sliver of light under my door. I think Jack and Sally are tired, too. It's been as long a day for them as it had been for me. My new daggers are under my pillow. I'll sleep easy tonight.

-Antoinette

The sun rose, and a new day dawned. Nny was in the basement, unable to see or register any of this. Annette slept, also unaware of the sunrise. And around them, the world gradually began to awaken.

A knock on the door, and Annette woke up. Her head was pounding from the lack of sleep, and she did not really feel like facing anything at the door. But still, she knew that Nny would never hear the knock, and if she wanted any peace, she'd have to answer it.

There was a policewoman standing in the doorway, along with that horrid social worker. Annette started, then turned to slam the door.

"Antoinette, dear, you have to come with us."

" Go away. I do not understand- "

"You understand me just fine, honey. Is your guardian at home?"

"Um...Non, Madame."

"Go pack. We have to take you away for awhile. The state has determined that this is not a good home for you. We're leaving in ten minutes."

The social worker was done playing nice. The steely look in her eyes was enough to make even Annette submissive. She turned and went back to her room, gathering up what she could.

Jack, Sally, her journals, some clothes, sketchpad, candles, matches, CDs and a personal CD player, the daggers, the ankh, drawings, anything she could find went into a backpack that she'd gotten a few months ago. She paused to change into a shirt (Stop Lying to Kids) and jeans, then draped all of her jewelry over her. The button collection was pinned to a scarf and carefully stored in the smallest pocket of her bag. Before the ten minutes was up, Annette reappeared at the door with everything that she found worth salvaging.

"Good girl. Let's go-"

Annette suddenly turned toward the basement door and screamed at the top of her lungs the last English words that she would speak for some time.

"Nny, help me! Don't let them take me away!"

But by the time Nny stumbled up the last of the stairs, they were gone.

"Have you made any progress?"

"No, not really. She won't talk to me. Not in English , anyway, and even then, she never answers my questions."

"Odd."

"What?"

"The man, Johnny, the one that was taking care of her...he hasn't said a word since he was arrested."

"Strange. It's amazing that the girl isn't more damaged, considering the sheer volume of that creature's personality she seems to have absorbed."

"Yes...Are you going to try to talk to her again?"

"I suppose so. Care to stay?"

"Thank you, I think I will."

The social worker watched as the psychiatrist opened the door to the observation room. Annette was placidly drawing at the undersized table, silent and almost trance-like. The girl looked up at the approach of her psychiatrist.

"Hello, Antoinette. How are you?"

" The weather-how is it? I haven't been able to look outside today. "

"It's very cold out. Now answer me."

" You Americans and your peculiar expressions. Why do you feel it necessary to say 'it's cold out?' Shouldn't that be a given? After all, I hardly think it would ever rain indoors, so long as you had a roof, that is. "

"Antoinette."

"Oui?"

"Why are you being so hard on me? I'm jut doing my job. I'm not the one who took you away from Johnny, you know."

"Johnny?"

"Nny."

" You work for the state, Miss Chen. The state is who decided that Nny was unfit to care for me and took me away without me even being able to say goodbye. "

"What are you drawing, there?" New topic time.

Annette handed over the sketchbook, and miss Chen was startled to see a very terrifying ragdoll staring blankly up at her, ragged and burned-looking. She started, dropping the book, and Annette scooped it up before it hit the ground.

"No matter how many of those drawings I see, I never get used to them," sighed Miss Chen, her hand pressed to her chest.

" They bother you that much? "

"They're pretty, really, but I can't help but be a bit startled by them."

" Startled, is it? Rather an understatement, isn't it? "

"Antoinette, you are not being very cooperative today, are you?"

Silence. Annette had gone back to drawing. Miss Chen sighed and shook her head in defeat. A small smile was just barely visible on Annette's face when the woman stood and left the room.

"Did you see that?"

"You mean how she effectively snubbed you and scared you in one hit?"

"...Yes. If that's what you like to call it. I prefer the term 'hostility toward the case worker.' She's obviously dealing with severe aggression brought on by abandonment issues. The aggression manifests itself passively, in which she becomes antisocial and..."

Miss Tree's attention was already wandering. She smiled and nodded, eyes glazing over. These doctor types and their precious jargon. It would have been far easier to say that the girl blamed her for her removal from what was, in the girl's opinion, a perfectly fine home. It was the truth, plain and simple.

Annette looked up at the one way glass window, her eyes boring into the exact place where Miss Tree stood. She shivered involuntarily from the gaze, reminded again of that creature Antoinette called Nny. Miss Chen went on, either not noticing the stare or not caring enough to stop.

"Tree? Tree, are you listening?"

"What? Oh, yes, of course. But I think you ought to take a look at the patient."

Miss Chen turned with a grimace and glanced at the girl. then she did a double-take. Annette was standing right up against the glass, a drawing pressed to the window at the women's eye level. Her eyes burned, and the drawing was a startlingly realistic one of Miss Chen and Miss Tree being disemboweled with sporks.

The man hadn't said a word yet, but somehow he had frightened off all potential cellmates. They usually lasted for about an hour before screaming to be moved elsewhere. And still the man said nothing,

Nny had been arrested two weeks before for "fleeing officers of the law" and "resisting arrest." Though how he could be arrested for resisting an arrest that hadn't happened yet was beyond him. And he hadn't fled; he was just in the basement. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't heard the doorbell. But perhaps the "guests" had caused the police to think seriously about hauling him into prison.

But that was just a wild guess.

All Nny did was draw. he had taken his sketchbook with him and refused to give it up. Now he sat patiently in his cell, staring at the wall, drawing whatever came to mind. He hardly ate, never slept, and barely moved. He just sketched mindlessly.

Mostly the pictures were strange creatures with multiple glaring eyes and gaping, sharp-fanged mouths. Every now and then, though, a somewhat normal sketch would turn up. All of these were of the same thing: a small girl with huge, frightened eyes.

Periodically, Miss Tree would visit to see how he was doing. All she ever got in response was silence, but the drawings were telling enough. They were in eerie synchronization with Annette's sketches, the monster ones. But instead of herself, Annette drew ragdolls.

Presently, Nny had switched from drawing to writing. He used his sketchbook like a diary, scrawling whatever came to mind in a miniscule, untidy hand. There were small drawings to go with the words, but most of the stuff went down the page in wavering downhill lines, covering every bit of available space.

"Nny, how are we doing today?"

Silence. Nny kept writing without so much as a glance at the social worker.

"Antoinette's doing well. She's been drawing a lot as well. Yesterday she showed her psychiatrist a lovely picture of a ragdoll."

Nny paused. His grip tightened on the pen, and the faintest glimmer of anger flashed across his face. This was apparently a very sore subject and understandably so. He went back to writing at a more fevered pace than before.

"Sorry to bother you, but I just thought you could use an update. You will appear in court in a week, so be ready. You do plan to dress nicely, I hope?"

Nny paused again to look down at his clothes. Black, tattered, and bloodstained. He was fine.

"I thought you'd feel that way. Well, I just hope we can get all this sorted out. Goodbye, Nny."

She didn't bother to look at what he had been writing before she left. had she, she would have seen these words:

She's scared. I can feel it. Those bastards and their government are always destroying, never fixing. I DO NOT NEED TO BE REPAIRED. Annette hasn't spoken in English for a long time. That social worker will die. They must all die. They will die. DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE

Annette stifled a gasp when they brought him in. Nny was in chains, the handcuffs set as small as they would go and still loose around his wrists. It was time for the court hearing and the trial. Nny made no signs of recognition when he glanced up at the sound. Eyes empty, he viewed Annette as though she were another human, devoid of interest and worth. This crushed her more effectively than anything else she'd endured the past three weeks.

"This is the hearing debating the best placement for one Annette C." called the person near the judge's seat. "All rise."

The judge, a severe-looking woman with small glasses and even smaller eyes, took her seat and began to look over the case file.

"Sit down, idiots," she barked. "You all look like you're at a funeral. Now this case is about finding the best place for you to grow up, then, Antoinette? Is that how you say your name?"

"Oui, Madame. C'est Annette, s'il vous plait."

"Annette, then. And no, you big-shot lawyers, I'm going to talk to the kid first, not you. Now Annette, can you tell me what happened to land you in this 'Nny' person's home?"

Annette nodded. " In September, my mother and I came here from France because my mother wanted to give me a better upbringing or something. I don't know why. But I do know that it had something to do with finding my father. "

"Yes, yes, you can skip all the melodrama. Go on."

" Yes, Madame. Um, we eventually found the house, 777, and my mother attempted to talk to Nny. They had a disagreement, and my mother died. I've been there ever since. "

"Let me get this straight. He killed your mother."

"Oui."

"Does that make you sad?"

" Not really. "

"It doesn't make you think that perhaps Nny might not be the best person to raise you?"

" Why should it? She was annoying, anyway. She scared me. So Nny really did me a favor by killing her. "

There was a small gasp all around from the portion of the audience that had understood the girl's testimony. Annette looked around her, confused, and they all stared at her with a pitying look in their collective eyes.

"You see, your Honor, this girl has obviously been hideously warped and traumatized while in the care of this monster." Annette's lawyer gave a disgusted glare at Nny. "For this reason only, if nothing else, she should be placed in a foster home, and this, this thing be jailed for the maximum amount of time possible."

"Eloquent and still pathetic. Okay, Annette, you did very well. You don't have to talk any more. Let's talk to Nny now, okay?" The judge turned to Nny, who was absent-mindedly drawing on his hand. "Nny? You there?"

Nny looked up, but made no response.

"My, uh, client is going to make this difficult by not talking." Nny's lawyer looked nervous. "He, um, refused to talk to me earlier."

"Fine, we'll just say he pleads the Fifth. He's guilty."

" Wait! "

"Oh, great. Now what?"

Annette stood up and ran to the judge's table, tears streaming down her face.

" Nny's not a bad person! He kills people, yes, but he's a product of his environment! Don't let them put me in a home! Please! "

"Sorry, kid, but he's clearly guilty." The judge prepared to deliver the verdict.

There was a flash of silver, and a bone-handled knife was suddenly protruding from the woman's neck. She coughed, spluttered, and fell. Total silence for a long time.

"Nice shot, Annette."

Annette turned to see Nny standing up by the corpses of his and her lawyers. She smiled and ran, nearly running him over to tackle-hug him. The members of the jury were in shock, as were Miss Tree and Miss Chen. Nny looked over at the two and gave them a scary grin.

"Shall we, Annette?" he asked, fingering another knife.

"Just let me retrieve my dagger. Make sure the tall one doesn't get away. She's mine."

"Of course. Now will you let go of me?"

"Oh, yes, sorry about that." She stood up and brushed off her clothes.

She pulled the knife out of the judge's neck, then turned to the jury and bowed. They ran, not bothering to alert the police. As it was, the police were running with them, so they wouldn't have been of much help anyway.

"Now, then, Miss Chen, I believe that we have a certain score to settle. Annette, go to it."

Annette grinned and approached Miss Tree. She gave a glance at Nny, who was using his pen to disembowel the psychiatrist.

"I suppose I'm alright with the killing thing now," she muttered to no one in particular. "Mon Dieu, I'm messed up."

"Yes, well, at least you're not alone," Nny pointed out, ignoring Miss Chen's screams and bringing Annette's other knife to the woman's mouth.

"True."

Epilogue

"Nny, where's my dagger?"

"How should I know?"

"You had it last!"

"Check the basement."

"Where in the basement?"

"Where all the other weapons are, maybe?"

Annette sighed. She opened the basement door and stumbled down the steps, a bit unsteady on teenage legs. Adolescent awkwardness was a major pain in the arse. The stairs were dark as well as steep, so she slipped a few times on the way as was her custom.

The dagger lay on a pile of similar blades, the polished bone handle gleaming dully in the low light. She grabbed it and a few more, smiling at the feel of the weapons in her hands. Her ebony-painted lips curved upward further at the memory of her first real kill. She didn't kill much now, not after that day in court, but it was still fun to practice.

Back upstairs, Nny was painting. Annette paused to watch for a moment, and she smiled when he looked up.

"Going out again?" he inquired disinterestedly, dipping a brush into a small container of red paint.

"Yeah, Squee's driving. Everybody's going to Miyuki's restaurant for dinner. you wanna come?"

"No thanks. I'm perfectly fine here."

"What're you painting? Looks like one of the doughboys."

Nny gazed at the half-painted styrofoam figures. "Sort of. I found them in a store display. The owners were kind enough to allow me to take them. I've decided to call them Chaos and Destruction."

"Very artistic of you. Don't kill yourself now, okay? I need food, you know."

"Do you have money?"

"Not much."

Nny tossed her his wallet without lifting his gaze. "Take whatever's in there."

"Thanks. See you at ten."

Silence. Annette turned to leave, not really expecting an answer anyway. There was a sound behind her, and she stopped.

"Nevermind. I'm getting too reclusive, and it might be nice to see people again. I'm coming with."

Annette smiled. "Thanks."

"Now let's leave before I change my mind."

"Great. You'll love seeing everyone again. Miyuki had a baby, an adorable little boy, and he's almost two now. She named him after a samurai. Named him Kenshin."

"Wonderful."

Annette glanced at Nny again. Same unkempt black hair that went in all directions, same tattered black attire, bloodstains everywhere, emaciation galore, he hadn't changed at all.

"Thanks for coming, Dad. I really appreciate it."

"Don't call me that. It makes me feel old."

"You're not old."

"Still."

Annette laughed. Seven years and she still found it amusing.

Author's note: YAY! IT'S DONE! FINALLY! I had such FUN writing this. the ending was tricky; had to make sure it didn't drag out, but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with my work. And it's done before Tuesday! Go me for making a self-imposed deadline! Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews, guys. I really appreciate them. By the way, I've got some other fics on Jhonen's stuff if you're into that. I'm told they're pretty decent, which amuses me to no end. Anyway, I've got to cut this short for fear of going over sixty pages, so peace, all. Hope you liked the product of my headnoize.

-Raven