Chapter Two: Samantha's POV

That night, when Johnny thought we had gone to sleep, he started toward his window. I noticed him peer through it and at the house next door. Squee's house. As he reached out to hoist up the window, however, we decided to drop our facade. The four of us rose noisily to our feet and looked at Johnny disapprovingly.

"Where are you going?" Emma demanded to know.

"Can't I get a few moments peace from you?" he exploded. "God, Jade, even you're awake. And I thought you seemed like the most sensible one here. Why me...?"

Jade whimpered. "The screams coming from the basement woke me up," she said, shuffling her feet.

Johnny groaned loudly. "What the fuck do you want from me!"

"I want an answer," Emma said.

"I want comfort," Jade said at the same time.

Johnny pulled at his hair in frustration. "Just...go away. I'm going out. And where do I go at night, before you even ask, is none of your damn business. Go back to sleep...now!"

"It's not like you ever sleep," I pointed out. "Plus, I have chronic insomnia!"

"That's nice. I don't care. I'm going to visit a friend, okay?"

"Squee?" Madison guessed. I jabbed her sharply in the ribs, panicking. She wasn't supposed to know about Squee!

But it was too late.

"How did you know...?"

I could see Madison wracking her brain for an answer.

"...I have psychic powers?"

Johnny gave her a hard look, and then turned away abruptly. "I'm going out. Stay here." None of us moved.

I crossed my arms. "We're not leaving until you let us go. Come on, Nny...you know Emma and I. Do you really think we'll give up so easily?"

"Yeah, please?" Emma wheedled in a high voice.

"NO!"

"You're gonna wake the neighbors with all this screaming," Emma said smugly.

Johnny glared daggers at her, and then relaxed his shoulders in submission. "Fine," he said reluctantly. "But keep your mouths shut!" He hoisted the window open and climbed onto the drainpipe. "Come on, you won't fall."

"Can't we just use the front door?" Madison inquired. "Or that secret passage in the...I mean, aren't there any secret passages around here?"

"Don't come if you don't want to climb the fucking drainpipe!"

"Okay, okay, never mind!" She climbed onto the drainpipe, following Emma, Jade, and myself.

We shimmied down the pipe to the ground, and quickly crossed through the hedges to the yard next door. Johnny turned to us, his face only partially visible in the darkness. "You guys wait down here. Squee's a little jumpy around strangers."

We waited while Johnny climbed up the gutter system and through Squee's window. There was a faint squeak of fright, and that was all. Moments later, Johnny's face appeared in the window.

"Okay, you can come in now."

We started up the drainpipe, me in the lead, followed by Jade, Emma, and then Madison. Somewhere on the way up, Emma's foot slipped. She panicked, making a shrieking noise, and quickly jammed her foot down on the nearest thing.

It happened to be Madison's hand.

"Shit," she cried, biting the inside of her cheek. "Emma...would you please move your fucking foot..."

Emma uttered a short apology and continued up the drainpipe. We all climbed through the window and ended up in a heap on Squee's bedroom floor.

"Are these your insane friends, Mr. Scary Neighbor Man?"

"Yes...pathetic, aren't they?"

We disentangled ourselves from each other and stood up, brushing ourselves off.

"Hi, Squee!" Jade said brightly.

Squee gazed at her, blinking. "What's your name, lady?"

Jade melted. "Ohh, you're so cute...I'm Jade."

"I'm Madison!" Madison chimed.

"And...I'm Samantha."

"I'm Emma! Or you can call me Emmer. That's what Sammi calls me. Sometimes. And look, Squee – I brought you a squirrel!" From one of her coat pockets, she pulled out a gray squirrel that looked half dead. She shoved it into Squee's face. "Say hi to Mr. Acorns!"

Squee blinked. I gaped in open-mouthed horror. "Emma..." I said slowly. "Isn't that the same squirrel you saved from pig-boy the last time we were here?"

Emma grinned mischievously. "Yeees..."

"What was it doing in your pocket..."

Emma shrugged. Johnny ran a hand down his face in exasperation. Squee giggled a little. "I think I like your friends, Mr. Scary Neighbor Man."

"Great..." Johnny muttered. "Just great. Anyway..." He knelt down beside Squee. "I came to say goodbye. I have to leave again for a little while."

"Leave?" Squee blinked. "Really? For how long?"

"About a month. I'm going to be a counselor at camp Naifare."

Squee's eyes widened. "I'm going there, too..."

"Hey, whaddaya know!" Jade said brightly.

Squee got up from his bed and reached under the covers, smiling. "Hey, do you guys want to meet my friend?"

"Uh...sure," I said hesitantly. Still smiling brightly, Squee reached underneath his bed and pulled out a small brown teddy bear. He held it close.

"This is my best friend, Shmee. He was broken for a really long time, but I fixed him!" Squee hugged the bear. "Shmee makes all the bad things go away."

"Yes...it's the most excruciating thing I've ever had to do."

I groaned. "Oh god, not again..." This had happened to me last time. Late at night I had walked near Johnny's room while he was conversing with Reverend Meat. And I could hear every word between the both of them.

And now I knew everyone had heard Shmee, except for the small little Casil boy. Emma, Jade, and Madison looked extremely uncomfortable; trying to decide if they had really heard it or not. Johnny knew immediately what had happened. His eyes narrowed, and he took a step toward the seemingly-possessed teddy bear.

"I haven't heard from you in quite a long time, Mr. Bear."

The bear almost seemed to smile – no, that wasn't possible.

"Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it? An odd cackling noise came from the bear. "Listen, Nny, I know what you're trying to do here, and it's not going to work. Why don't you stop lying to yourself? You know the real reason. My job actually is to protect this boy from evil. Even I know it's not going to work – when he rows up he's going to be just like you, Nny. Just like you. There's nothing that can be done."

Johnny reached out and snatched the bear out of Squee's tiny hands, holding it out in front of him. He shook the bear vigorously as he spoke,

"FUCK YOU! You don't know what the fuck you're talking about! Don't you fucking tell me what my reasons for doing something are, as if it's any of your damn business, anyway!"

He drew back his arm and threw Shmee against the wall. The bear harmlessly bounced off onto Squee's bed. Johnny leaned against the wall and put his face into his hands.

"Dammit, dammit..."

The four of us shifted uncomfortably. I cracked my knuckles nervously, and then held out a comforting hand.

"Nny..."

He brushed my hand away. "Just forget it."

Squee stared up at his neighbor with frightened eyes. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Johnny said, trying to smile for the boy. "Shmee and I just had a little...disagreement. Everything's okay now. Don't worry about it."

"Okay," Squee said slowly. He retrieved the bear and lowered his eyes to the floor. "I guess I'll see you at camp?"

"Yeah." Johnny pat the small boy on the head. "Goodnight, Squee."

Obviously relieved that this visit had gone better than most others, Squee settled back into bed. Johnny sighed, looking at him almost lovingly, and climbed back down the drainpipe, followed by my friends and I.

When I was sure that Jade, Emma, and Madison were all asleep in Johnny's living room, I crept upstairs to his room. I knew he'd be awake.

I knocked timidly on the door.

"What the fuck do you want now?"

The door swung open, and I gazed into the eyes of a clearly pissed off homicidal maniac.

"Just wanted to tell you something," I said uneasily.

"What is it?" Johnny said impatiently. "I might not need sleep, but you're still a kid."

I shifted uncomfortably. I hadn't planned on telling him, but the guilt was too much.

"I, uh...feel like I let you down," I began. Johnny gave me a pained look. 'Okay, that wasn't the best way to start...'

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded.

"Well...remember how you said that the whole purpose of us killing everyone in the school here was so that we wouldn't kill anyone in ours?"

Johnny nodded slowly. "What's your point?"

I couldn't bring myself to say anything. It didn't matter – soon Johnny had figured it out for himself. I watched as the horror formed on his face.

"You didn't," he said quietly. I remained silent. "You didn't!"

I stared at my feet, unable to look him in the eye.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he hissed. "Don't you learn? Just because I make a living off of homicide, that doesn't mean you should! The whole point of that stupid escapade was so that you wouldn't end up like me!"

"I...had to."

"No you fucking didn't!"

"Yes I did!" I shouted, looking up. "When we got back, some nun started trouble with us, and Emma mouthed off to her, and she said she was going to get Emma and me sent to Juvenile Hall! I couldn't let that happen to me! I have plans, Nny!"

Johnny fell silent.

"I'm really sorry," I said quietly after a moment. "I was never found out."

Suddenly, Johnny grabbed my roughly by the shoulders. "If you ever do something like that...I swear to god." My heart rate suddenly skyrocketed. "If you do something like that again, you'll have me to deal with."

I swallowed hard. "Johnny, you...you wouldn't actually kill me, would you?"

Johnny turned his back on me. "Probably not. I'm not sure if I'd even be able to."

I shuffled my feet. "I have another question, then."

"What is it?" he said, oddly calm, turning back to face me again.

"You got so angry when you found out what I did. Does that mean you care about my well-being?"

Johnny sighed, falling into the chair at his desk. "Listen," he said, sifting through the loose papers that littered the surface of the desk. "I think it's time for you to go back to sleep."

At this point, I decided it would be pointless to push the matter. I nodded slowly, quietly closed the door, and went back to the living room. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw Emma sitting upright in her sleeping place on the floor. She peered at me devilishly.

"Where were you?"

"Talking to Johnny," I said slowly.

Her grin grew wider. "Oh were you? And were you in his bedroom?"

I crawled underneath my own blanket. "Emma, go back to sleep."

"Sammi's got a boyfriend!" she sang.

"Do you want Johnny to hear you!" I hissed. Emma continued to grin, but did as she was told.