| Warning: Though several of my past Gundam Legends have been on the goofy side, please be forewarned that this is not one of them. I did my very best to make this one as creepy as I could. ^_^v |
Relena Peacecraft sighed, and sniffled, and finally finished chopping the last of the onions. Her boyfriend would be coming over soon, and she wanted to surprise him with homemade okonomiyaki... but she hadn't realized that the onions really *would* affect her the way they did; she'd thought it was all just a cliche used in comedies. Yet here she was, sniffling, her eyes red and stinging from the onion fumes. She only hoped she'd have time to repair her appearance before he showed up.
The phone rang. She jumped in surprise, dropped the knife onto the cutting board with a clatter, then quickly rinsed her hands off and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
*Hello.* The voice on the other end sounded muffled, warped somehow. There was a long moment of silence.
"Hello?" Relena repeated a little impatiently, then sniffled again. She needed to get back to work!
*Why are you crying?*
"Who is this?" It was rude to ask, but the caller should have identified himself.
*I asked you a question first. Are you crying because the onions are getting to you?*
"How did you..." Relena gasped, then glanced toward the large picture window. It was dark outside, so she couldn't see anything through the glass... but anyone on the outside could see *her.*
She hung up the phone.
It rang again. Two rings. Hesitantly, she picked it up.
"Hello?"
*Don't hang up on me again, Relena.*
"Who is this?"
*Tell me. When you're curled up in bed with your boyfriend, does it turn you on to know that he's a killer?*
"What do you want?"
*Since you ask so nicely, I'll tell you. I want to rip your heart out and feel it beating in my hands.*
She hung up the phone, and quickly lifted it back off the receiver, dialed 911 with shaking fingers.
*911.*
"Please, I need you to send the police over," Relena sobbed, shaking.
*Calm down, miss. Tell me what's the problem.* The man on the other end of the line sounded calm enough to be practically comatose.
"There's a man calling me on the phone. I think he's outside my house."
*Why do you think that?*
"Because he knew I was chopping onions."
*Well, you are sniffling. That could've been a lucky guess.*
"He says he wants to kill me!"
*Were those the exact words he used?*
"What?"
*Wasn't it more like... I want to rip your heart out and feel it beating in my hands?*
"How did you-?"
*I told you not to hang up on me, Relena. It pisses me off.*
Relena screamed, then hung up the phone and ran to the living room. There was a large window in here as well, and she quickly pulled the drapes closed before picking up the extension and dialing the one number she *knew* would get help; Heero would never let her down.
*Bad move. Stupid.* Relena whimpered, sinking to her knees on the floor, as the voice continued. *Were you trying to reach your boyfriend?*
"He's coming to see me," Relena said, trying, and failing, to sound confident.
*It doesn't matter what number you dial, you'll always get me. I've blocked your phone lines.*
"You'd better go away before he gets here," Relena said, and at the thought of Heero her voice stopped wavering; he had always been her strength.
*Who? Hee~eero? You think he's gonna come to your rescue?*
"He'll wipe the floor with you," Relena hissed, dashing the frightened tears from her face angrily.
*Sweet sentiment, Miss Pacifist. But I'm not afraid of Heero. I ate his heart some time ago.*
Relena screamed again, and hung up the phone, pressing her hands to her ears. The phone started ringing again, but she didn't answer. She already knew who it would be.
There was a knock at the door. She screamed again, then cut it off. It had to be...
Oh, please let it be...
"Relena? Let me in," said a familiar voice. Heero's voice.
She peeked out the peephole, and then threw the door wide and threw her arms around Heero. Somehow they got in the house and she locked the door and bolted it and then she threw herself at him again, burying her face against his neck and crying so hard with relief her whole body shook. She spilled out the whole story in one long ramble broken by hitching breaths, while Heero held her and stroked her back soothingly.
"Heero, what are we going to *do*? He's out there," she said at last, still trembling slightly but grateful for his warmth and his support and the sheer solid reality of him.
"No, he isn't."
"What?"
"He's not out there."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Relena sighed, and relaxed against him at last. "He said the most terrible things."
"And all of them true."
"What?"
"I still want to rip your heart out and feel it beating in my hands."
Relena's eyes went wide, and she pulled back to look at him. She hadn't told him what the exact words were...
"You shouldn't have hung up the phone, Relena. I told you, it pisses me off."
"Heero... I don't... I don't understand..."
"You never did understand. Which is why." Heero got up, and pulled out a hunting knife, tossing its sheath to the floor.
"Heero!"
"You wanted this. You wanted it all along," Heero said, closing in on her even as she scrambled back towards the staircase. "You knew I was a killer the first time you met me, and you followed me. And now..."
"Heero! I thought you loved me!"
"You're not paying attention. That boy you thought you knew? The one Dr J said was so sweet and gentle? He doesn't exist any more. Not since the first time a mission went wrong."
A scream. The slash of a knife. The wet gurgle of blood.
"I ate his heart a long time ago."
THE END