She awoke screaming, clutching her pillow, a cold sweat coating her pale face. Her eyes searched the dark corners of the room for any sign of him. After convincing herself that it was safe and that she was indeed the only person there, her body relaxed and she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Brushing a few stray strands of purple hair away from her eyes, Devi wondered if she would ever get a good night's sleep again.

Wrapping her arms around her thin body, she walked into her living room. Making her way to the door, she flipped the light switch. She carefully checked all the deadbolts on her door before moving to make sure that her windows were locked securely as well. As soon as she felt s that her apartment lock system was safe, she made her way back into her bedroom. She threw open the wardrobe door, half expecting to find him lurking in the shadows, but all she found was the familiar clothes and the canvases propped up against the back of the wardrobe. Shutting the door, she flopped back down onto the mattress, tucked the blanket around her body once again, waiting for the chills running through her body to subside.

The pain, apparently kept at bay by her frantic focus on checking the locks, now made a reappearance, and for some considerable time, Devi knew no more.

A few hours later, when the pain finally dulled, Devi found that she had somehow migrated from the bed to the sofa. This wasn't the first time this had happened, but it still unnerved her. She had no recollection of even considering moving, let alone actually doing it. Running her fingers through her hair, Devi briefly wondered what to do next. Luckily, right at that moment her brain reminded her that she hadn't had a coffee in over eight hours. Sighing, Devi stood up from the sofa, still a bit unsteady on her feet, and walked over to the kitchen.

Her faithful coffee maker was sitting dutifully on the counter top. Reaching into the cupboard, Devi pulled out the jar and the sugar. Having only recently discovered the joys of sugar in coffee (after an incident at the coffee shop with a wrong order) Devi now took hers strong and black, but with two sugars. The sweetness seemed to melt away the thoughts of the pain. Pouring the granules into the machine, Devi flicked the switch on the side. The sun was rising as Devi walked over to the window and stared out at the city. It really was beautiful when you looked down on it. Devi recalled a long ago conversation, then pushed the thought quickly away before she had time to remember exactly who the conversation has been with. Snapping back to reality, Devi sighed as the scent of hot coffee began to fill up her tiny flat.

She was just beginning to smile slightly when a knock at the door jolted her out of her reverie. Crossly, Devi slammed her mug down on the table with rather too much force; hot coffee spilled over onto her hands. The girl who opened the door was therefore not in the very best of moods.

A small red-headed girl stood with her hand in the air, presumably from where she had previously been knocking on the door. Awkwardly lowering her hand, the young lady beamed at Devi, her pink lips spreading in a wide inviting smile that was obviously forced.

"Hello, I'm Miss Rigby and I'm here to introduce you to an exciting product. May I come in?" Without waiting for an answer, the peppy female danced right passed Devi into her living room, dragging her box of samples with her.

Devi whirled around to face the intruder, now seated on her couch. The girl had reached into the box and had started unpacking various bottles onto the table. She pulled out her phone and proceeded to text. Some time later, she put away her phone and she turned around to face her potential client. Her eyes widened as she took in the murderous form before her. Devi's hand was hovering over the hammer she always kept near the door in case of 'emergencies'. Her head was lowered and the look in her eyes was not what one might call friendly. Miss Rigby's dark eyes were wide as if she was suddenly getting the idea she was some place very wrong.

Quickly packing everything back into the box and accidentally knocking over the coffee cup, the girl rushed to her feet. The dark liquid was crawling over the edge of the table and onto the carpet. Devi's eyes widened in horror as the elixir soaked into the fibres. She wanted to scream; she wanted to cry. Her fingers subconsciously grasped the heavy handle of the hammer. Taking slow, deliberate steps, she advanced towards the girl, who was now backing away towards the door.

'Is it so much to ask to be left alone? To have some peace? To have a single cup of coffee?' Devi asked the cowering figure, fire blazing in her eyes.

'I...I...I'm just here to sell make up! I didn't mean it! Honest!' the girl stumbled over her words pleading. There had definitely not been any mention of having to deal with psychopathic women in her contract; no training for what to do in this situation.

'I didn't invite you in and you just assumed that I wanted to buy your stupid product! Do you know what that's made of? Chemicals and dead animals! No! I do not want to smother your over-packaged, over-priced crap on my face! Is self esteem so low that women feel the need to cover their faces in make-up before leaving the house, because they're so scared of people seeing what they really look like? You know what! You're an ugly person! You spend your life trying to convince people that they aren't pretty enough and they need make-up to be a beautiful person! Then you spend the rest of your time texting your little friends about stupid irrelevant, unimportant, materialistic nonsense!' Devi screamed, punctuating her sentences occasionally with a wave of the hammer.

Meanwhile the girl had reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone again. Realising that she was about to call 911, Devi threw the hammer with deadly precision and the glass screen of the phone shattered on the floor as the terrified girl dropped it.

'Ha! You missed me!' the girl cried out hysterically. Devi could feel the rage still burning through her veins and clouding her mind. She was practically shaking with the force of it all.

This ignorant waste of flesh doesn't deserve to live!

There it was again, the raspy yet deafening voice in the back of her head.

There are simply so many ways to do it! Look at the floor, it's covered with glass. One small cut, and the life of this pathetic waste of a human being is ended. I'll protect you Devi! You'd never get caught, not if we work together. The voice was seductive and Devi was sorely tempted to just give in. It would probably stop the migraines...Devi stooped down and picked up one of the larger shards of glass. She turned it over in her hands, marvelling at the refracted light casting rainbows on the wall.

The ginger girl had backed into a corner and was sobbing uncontrollably.

'Oh silence, you crying waste of space!' Devi took a step closer, looking deep into the terrified girl's eyes. Raising the sliver of glass above her head, Devi exhaled deeply. The voice was practically shouting now.

Yes! That's it! You can do this, you're so close. Cut her throat! Kill her! You're perfect! Just like him!

The universe came flooding back to Devi, and she threw the shard of glass to the floor.

'LEAVE! Go now while you still can!' Devi shouted hysterically at the girl, shoving her towards the open corridor. The girl ran out and Devi slammed the door behind her collapsing onto the floor.

Damn it, Devi! You were so close. You could have been reunited with your friend! You could have been together. Finally happy! You two are so similar... The voice trailed off as Devi screamed towards her empty apartment. With all the mental force she could muster, she screamed back internally:

I AM NOTHING LIKE JOHNNY!