Jenny Sever and Johnny Stitch

I started this blog a while ago and somewhere between then and now I began posting my stories over at Reddit No Sleep. Some of my stories would get really high ratings otherwise would get nary any. Jenny Sever and Johnny Stitch were my attempts to write stories that fit in the No Sleep style of writing and characterizations.

These are my second and third highest rated stories. That being said, they are not my favorite and I don't think they are written well, but this is a repository of work, so here they are. Despite my thoughts both stories fit into the No Sleep mythology. 

Jenny Sever

We're all connected to the things and people around us. The strings that bind us to family and friends are dark blue. Thick little bastards. Strum it and it thrums with potential. Smaller strings connect us to our things. Little and green.

Then there are the hidden threads. The ones that tie us to more conceptual ideas and memories. Lines that connect us to happy birthdays and embarrassing tumbles. To heartbreak and love. Then there is that tiny silver one. Life. So very delicate really.

Not many people can see the strings.

I can.

I can't remember where I found the Scissors. It has no strings attaching it to me, which is strange. I did manage to find a small black thread that was attached to me, but it had been cut. Maybe I forced myself to forget with a snip?

I knew I shouldn't have played with them. The Scissors. It started so simply. I cut the thread my father had of me failing that poly-sci test. As soon as I asked him about it, he responded with "What test, sweetheart?"

I kept it up from there. Sliding the the Scissors' blades under threads I wanted cut. Got into a fight with mom, so I cut her car keys. She still can't find them. Going to check out at the store, I had at least five hundred dollars worth of stuff. A few snips and I walked out of the store with a brand new wardrobe.

Johnny, Seri, Fred and I were out by the cliffs. I was trying to explain it to them. We were drunk. The water pounded away at the rocks below and the stars seemed like they were burning. We were laughing. They didn't believe me about the Scissors. Johnny and I started kissing . Seri looked away and Fred made a gagging sound, then turned to run toward the cliff. Seri shouted and Johnny and I looked up to see Fred stop just short of the edge and let out a laugh and scream.

"Wow! What a fucking rush! Johnny. Try it man. Just run, and stop. I mean. Fuck bro, this is great!"

"Dude, that’s lame. I don't wanna kill myself, man."

"No you won't kill yourself, c'mon!" Fred prods.

Johnny looks at me and I grin. "I'll do it with you." I half say into his neck. He grins. We stand and dash. The cliff comes up fast and it takes everything in me to not go over. Johnny and I both howl and let our toes just dangle barely off the edge.

"C'mon, Seri! It is pretty sweet!" I look down at the water slamming against the rocks. The spray of ocean foam glitters in the moonlight.

"It's ok guys. I'm ok over here." Seri smiles and indicates the tree she is sitting against.

"Stop being such a puss! Jenny, use those magic scissors on her! Haha." Fred is drunk. I don't like the way he says my name or the word magic. I slip the Scissors out of my coat pocket and look back at Seri to find...there it was. Fear. I snipped it.

"Yeah, c'mon Seri. The waves are practically glowing tonight!" Johnny yells out into the ocean. He doesn't see the way she stands. The way her brows are knit. Seri runs.

I scream too late and Johnny can't put out his hand fast enough. Seri doesn't stop. She plunges over the edge and we all watch as her body becomes a ragged and bloody doll against the rocks below.

"Shit!" Johnny drops to his knees. Fred is throwing up. I fumble with the Scissors. I'm panicking. I try and find Fred's memory of this, but I'm not sure what thread I'm cutting. Core threads are harder to slice.

Snip.

Fred drops to his knees and tumbles over the side to join Seri. No. No. I cut balance. No. Johnny is staring at me.

"...did you?" he tries. My mouth is trying to form words. I look back down and watch the waves tug Fred's crushed body under. I consider for a moment trying to find Johnny's memory, but I can't make another mistake.

My feet start going. I'm running. Johnny isn't following. The surrounding woods feel like it's working against me. Branches pull at my coat and hair. They rip at my skin. I don't see the rock.

By the time my body is done tumbling I feel the searing pain in my left hand. The Scissors have gone straight through it. My fingers spasm. Tears hot. So much blood. I pull the Scissors out and scream.

I sit there for a few moments, my body shaking. Slowly, with my right hand I find the string attached to my pain and cut it. When my hand stops shaking I find the thread that binds shock and sever that too. Then sadness. I take a breath and begin severing even more.

The person I was is now snipped and torn threads in the woods. I'm burdened by so much less now. Everything is strung together with such tenuous connections. Fragile really.

And there are so many threads I need to cut.

Snip

Johnny Stitch 

People in town had begun acting strangely after Jenny ran off. That whole night is a blur. I remember the way she stood there with those scissors. She killed Fred and probably Seri too. She didn't mean it. I told the cops that we were cliff running and something went wrong. They bought it. It's not the first time teens in this town died like that.

Then the strangeness started. The police chief came to work babbling and screaming incoherently. He couldn't communicate no matter how hard he tried. Jenny's dad was found wandering out in the woods. People assumed he was distraught about Jenny, but when asked he couldn't remember who she was. Her mother was discovered dead the next day. Papers haven't said what did her in, but my dad works at the hospital and he said she looked perfectly fine. Like her heart just stopped beating.

We were in class when Mr.Feldman, the poly-sci teacher, began burping. We all laughed, Mr.Feldman included, but then he couldn't stop. When he started puking everyone went silent. He stopped and Tina offered "Mr.Feldman...are you alright?"

He fell to his side and began again, but more came out. He was messing himself completely, like he couldn't control his body. Everyone ran out of the room screaming. I followed, but stopped right before going out the door. Outside was Jenny.

She was wearing the same coat from when I'd last seen her. Long red lines spread across each side of her face at the corner of her lips. The scissors held up in the air. Her eyes locked with mine and I ran.

My dad said that when they found Mr.Feldman he had purged all of the moisture out of his body. I knew it was Jenny. I knew what had to be done.

The cliff still had  police barricades up when I got there. I wasn't sure what I was doing or if it would work. I sat down and waited for night. Sure enough she came.

Her shape moved out of the woods almost silently and she stood before me. Her left hand was dark, like it was the blood in it was infected. The skin on her face was torn.. The red lines on the edges of her lips are deeper than I had thought. I stood.

"Jenny. Jenny, you have to stop this. You're hurting people." I reach out but manage to pull my hand away as she brings the scissors up and tries to stab me. I jam my hands into my pockets and produce something that makes her hiss. Her mouth opens wider than it should. She's cut away at her face. The lines split when her lips do.

I take the small thread and needle, liberated from my mother's sewing kit, and begin to advance again. She steps back and I watch her eyes begin to look around. Her scissors move and she cuts something in the air and my vision becomes blurry.

"Jenny, stop!"

I hear the scissors again and my tongue turns to lead. I leap at her.

****

STRANGE MURDER SUICIDE FOUND AT BRADSHAW CLIFFS

Jennifer Evans (18) and John White (18) were found dead this morning at Bradshaw Cliffs. The two were found entangled in each other by the cliff's edge. When police tried to separate them they discovered that they couldn't be pried apart due to their limbs being sewn together.

The cause for the both their deaths is a strange one. A needle and thread were found through both of their hearts. Police are unsure how such a feat is possible...