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It hurt when Miki moved into her fiance's house.We were always the best of sisters. Of course, it was expected for her to move in with Ryan, to start her life with him and pursue her career in psychiatric therapy, but it still hurt. While she was living the life of her dreams, I just sat alone in the house. I hated the empty house. It brought back memories of the aftermath of Mom and Dad's death, how the house was so quiet after the funeral dinner, how the house echoed with ghosts of the past that I could never go back to.I never did like being alone. Sometimes I'd even call Miki and pretend it was a buttdial or a misclick just to talk to someone. I mean, I didn't mind my house, it was perfect for me. It was next to a beautiful forest, where I could go on long walks for thinking, and there was a hill with a perfect opening on the top to look at stars with my telescope. It was just the lack of people within my house that made me hate it.It was rather big for just me living in it. My career in drama and music creating had allowed me to easily pay for it. I didn't even get to see Atisuto at my job, since she worked at a different office than me. I was more of the acting, singing, dancing, and painting person, while she was the building, sculpting, and dirty work type of person, but we always got along... but I guess the love for the arts wasn't strong enough to continue building the relationship. I was alright with some of my co-workers, but I couldn't find the will to try and increase my relationships with them. Ever since my parents death, I had pulled away from people, thinking that they would leave me just like they did, sudden and unexpected.Each day was just like a useless loop of the last one. Wake up, get ready, go to work, come home, go to sleep, and repeat. On the weekends I just sat around and watched T.V, sometimes doing chores I needed to do to keep the house clean. None of my friends ever came for visits anymore; they were all busy themselves as well. Kettei was a high school senior, so he never came over because of school and his job at the cafe. Kyoshi, his mom and a close friend to our parents, was teaching at a middle school, so she was always busy with lesson plans and couldn't bring Kettei over to hang. Miki was in living with Ryan now, so she was always with him, planning the wedding and their life without me in it. Keisatsu was the chief of police, so he was always busy with new cases to work on and with murders in town increasing, he's been super busy. Atisuto was working on a new clay robot statue, and Seijika was working on political things, with him being a politician. No one even remembered me anymore.I had recently found out that a few months ago, after seeing Miki's Facebook, looking for news of how the wedding planning was going, that they had a rehearsal dinner for the wedding, where Miki had invited everyone. Everyone but me. It hurt so much seeing that post. No one thought of even texting me?! Emailing me?! Sending me an invitation?! Sure, I had thrown myself into my work, but I was just trying to distract my mind from how lonely I truly was. They could have at least found a way to invite me to my own sister's wedding rehearsal dinner! I then found out a few days ago that Miki and Ryan were already happily married, and hadn't even bothered to invite me. They had invited everyone else, all of our friends and the relatives, everyone but little old me.Maybe that was the final string that pushed me over the edge, or maybe I was already there when my parents died. I don't even know anymore. All I knew was that I didn't care about anything anymore, including myself. A big shard of glass embedding into my chest after my mosaic window shattered? Eh, whatever, everyone gets hurt. I didn't bother telling anyone about it, pulling it out and bandaging it like it was nothing. It hurt like hell, and now there was a scar there. A few people attacking me for getting in their way? I just stood there and took the beating, even getting knocked to the ground and taking a kick to the face, getting a bruise, but once again not telling anyone. I had wanted to believe Miki would still love me, would maybe call me on her own to talk with me and apologize for not telling me about the wedding without me having to "accidentally" call her number. I really wanted to, but I was just having a harder time believing it.And that's why, a few months afterwards, when I found a white hooded teenager, probably no older than 17, standing in my kitchen with a knife and covered in blood in the middle of the night, I just said this."You want some food?"The boy looks at me, his bright blue, eyelid-less looking eyes widening in surprise and maybe a little wistful. His skin was white, almost like it was bleached of all color, and each side of his mouth was cut to his cheeks, making it look like a permanent smile, even though he was frowning at present. He was wearing a white, blood covered hoodie with black sweats and torn up shoes, the knife clenched in his hand dripping blood on my tile floors."If you want me to, I can clean that knife of yours."He stares at me, even more shocked. "And why would you want to do that?" His voice is raspy and dry, sounding like he doesn't use it often."You're getting blood all over my tile floors, and I cleaned those only a few minutes ago. And I don't think you would want the police to catch you with blood on a knife that isn't yours. That would look suspicious, wouldn't you agree?"He just stares at me, looking me up and down as if searching for any sign of deception. He then sighs, and hands me the knife. I grabbed the knife instinctively, not realizing he had accidentally handed the weapon to me blade first. As the knife slices into my palm, I only wince, and reposition the knife so that I'm now holding the handle of the weapon, the boy watching me closely as I walk over to the sink and turn on the water and start to wash the blood off the knife with care. After I clean it, I hand it back to him, the blade cutting into my palm again as I hand it to him. He grabs the knife from me and just looks around as I move over to the fridge."Are you hungry?" I ask as I pull out the leftovers from dinner last night, which was just the pizza that I ordered but never ate. I didn't eat as much as I used to anymore, ever since finding out my sister was married, so now my body has grown thin and tired, the bags under my eyes almost black now, my skin pale but still keeping its color. My once bright, bluish-green eyes were now dark and dull in comparison. My black hair had turned from shiny and curly to straight and addled, clinging to my neck and face like the tentacles of a squid.The boy stared at pizza box wistfully, then looked up at me like a deer in headlights. "I can really have some?"I giggle. "Of course you can. Take the whole box, if you want. I already ate." I lied to him, actually having not eaten since yesterday, but he didn't need to know that.He hesitantly reaches for the box, setting his knife down on the counter as he grabs the box and opens it, practically inhaling the entire pizza like he hasn't eaten in days.I laugh, unable to help myself. "Slow down! It's not gonna run away from you." I smile at him, then gesture to the couch. "You wanna watch a movie with me?"He nods eagerly. "Can we watch Chainsaw Massacre?" He asks excitedly.I smile at him. "Why not? I've been meaning to watch it anyway, so why not now?" I walk over to the couch, hearing his silent footsteps behind me. I plop down on the couch, and reach for the remote, turning on the TV, which automatically opens up to Netflix. I pull up the movie, and we start watching it, the boy complaining about how he could do so much better than the killer could, that's not how that actually looks like, and so on and so on. I just nod as he talks, happy for the company, even though he was going to probably kill me after this, which I didn't mind at all. It would be better if I just left the world that never cared about me to begin with.After the movie-and after he finished the entire pizza- he looks at me and smiles. "That was the most fun I've ever had in years."I nod. "It really was fun, I'll admit that much." I grin, something I don't do often nowadays."I should probably go. The others will start to worry that I got caught or something." He stands up, walks over to the counter, and grabs his knife, but instead of coming for me, he walks to the window and opens it, turning back to look at me. "I'm Jeff, by the way. Jeff the Killer. And you are?"I smile. "I'm Kazai."He grins widely, and nods. "Well, I hope to do this again sometime. See you around, Kazai." I nod and he climbs out the window. "Also, you should really start locking your windows. Don't want a killer climbing in, do you?" He jokes, and closes the window before breaking into a sprint and disappearing into the forest.
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And he did come. He always came through the window, which I left unlocked, sometimes covered in blood, sometimes just looking for a place to crash. He made me forget all about Miki and my friends, my thoughts solely focused on him. Until one day, he came through the window, covered in blood that wasn't someone else's this time."Oh my God..." I say as I sprang from the couch and ran to him, catching him as he practically falls through the window. As I drag him to the couch, a red and black furred dog with a huge, unnatural smile jumps through the window after us. I only look at the dog, stunned at his appearance, before I gently place Jeff on the couch.He was bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, and two deep gashes, one across his stomach and the other down his arm, ripping through his hoodie and shirt. "Jane... didn't expect it... god damn it...""Who's Jane? What happened? Why did she do this to you?" I ask in a rush, taking off my jacket and pressing it on his wounds."Jane is one of his old enemies. He kinda sorta burned her and killed her entire family. Ever since then, she's wanted revenge on him. She usually tries to kill him, but he always manages to get away unharmed, but she surprised the both of us. They had a fight and then she pulled out a gun from nowhere and shot him, then managed to get some slashes in before she bolted. I knew he couldn't make it to the mansion, so I suggested he come here." The dog explains in a rush, and I turn to stare at him in shock."YOU CAN TALK?!" I shout at it."Of course I can talk. I don't exactly your average dog, now do I?" The dog sits and extends his paw towards me. "I'm Smile Dog, Jeff's companion in this hellhole we call our home." I hesitantly take his paw and shake it, then turn back to Jeff. "Just... watch him, ok? I'll be right back."Smile nods, and I take off to my bathroom, rummaging through the cabinets until I find the first aid kit, and rush back to Jeff. I then notice that he's bleed through my jacket, so I instantly take off my long-sleeved shirt, leaving me in my tank top and revealing my scars from when I cut and stabbed myself after finding out that my sister got married without inviting me. I ignore the stares from both dog and boy as I peel my jacket off of Jeff's wounds and replace it with my shirt. I then get out the needle and thread, and look at him. "This will definitely hurt, trust me." I warn before tying the thread through the needle and thread it through the gash on his chest. He winces, but doesn't complain as I continue to work."When did you learn how to sew like that?" Smile Dog asks me, staring at the cuts and stab wounds covering my wrists,I smile sadly. "I used to have a little brother named Orthos who always used to get hurt a lot, and many of the times the wounds needed stitches. We were always tight on money back then, so we couldn't always afford a doctor. Me and my... my older sister Miki," I practically spat out her name in anger, still pissed she forgot about me for so long, since she didn't seem to care if she invited me to the wedding or not-"We decided to learn how to sew and stitch wounds shut so that we could take care of him. He ended up dying from cancer when he was only 10. But I never lost the skills of sewing at least!" I laughed. "You should have seen the amount of clothes I went through when I was 15." I grin. "You should see the clothes I go through now!" Smile snickers, and Jeff groans as I pull the stitch a little too hard. "Sorry, Jeff." I mutter to him and continue my work in silence. Once I finish stitching the slashes on his chest and arm, I then look at the bullet wounds more closely. They weren't deep, but the bullets were going to have to be pulled out."Ok, so the bullet wounds don't look that deep, but they will have to come out." I tell him as I reach for a pair of tweezers in the first aid kit.He shakes his head. "No, no, it'll be fine, I've dealt with worse." He groans as he tries to sit up, but I push him gently back down."You aren't going anywhere with bullets inside you, ok? I'm not having it." I say sternly, holding the tweezers steadily in my hands.A few hours later, he was passed out, his wounds patched, the sun beginning to rise above the trees as I sat on the roof, a cup of chamomile tea in my hand as I gazed into the woods thoughtfully. I always came here to relieve my stress-or to think about jumping off-and the view always made me feel better and helped sort my thoughts.I suddenly feel a presence next to me, and turn, seeing Smile Dog sitting next to me, staring at the sunrise. I then position my gaze back to the sunrise, sinking back into my thoughts."So, why did you help him?""I'm sorry?" I turn to Smile Dog, surprised by the question."Why did you help Jeff? Know that he's a mass murderer and has ruined so many innocent lives, all because it makes him happy. Why help someone like him?"I turn away, and sigh, looking down at the ground. "It's just... he seems so young, and yet he's seen too many of the horrors that life has to offer. He acts as if he has nobody left in this place to care for-besides you-and he reminds me of how I used to think when I was younger, after my parents died in the car crash." I pause, and take a deep breath. "Ever since that day, I've felt as if the world had forgotten about me. Like it didn't care I existed. My friends don't talk to me, they don't visit anymore, even my own SISTER didn't even invite me to her WEDDING. HER WEDDING!!!! I mean sure, when she moved in with her fiance-well, now he's her husband-I got lonely here now that the house was empty. I dove into my work to distract myself, waiting for her or ANY of my friends to get the message that I was lonely. Then I find out they had the rehearsal dinner without me. But the wedding was the last straw. I realized that I was truly alone in this world; I mean, who cares about little old me? Might as well rid myself from the world while I can. No one will notice!"I laugh with no humor behind it. "I was actually hoping-no, praying-that Jeff was there to kill me the night he broke into my house. I just didn't care about anything anymore. That's why I offered him food and to clean his knife. I honestly was tempted to use the knife to end my own life, but when he just left, and said that he's come back... I dunno. It just... it felt like I finally had something to care about, someone who actually wanted to be around me again. It felt... nice, in a way." I laugh. "Sounds weird, huh. Me, caring about a notorious, smiling killer and his dog. Ironic, huh? Two worlds that were never meant to be in the same place, and yet here we are." I sigh. "What is wrong with me?" I groan as I tuck my legs into my chest and bury my face in my knees.