Special Like Me

Title: Special Like Me
Author: anothercontusion
Genre: Fanfiction, Heroes, horror, one-shot
Rating: T
Warnings: Could be kinda scary or violent. Not really though. OFC. Unbeta'd. And there's a bit of language as well.
Summary: During the first season, a hunt from the hunted's point of view.
Note: Just something I wrote off the top of my head and thought I'd publish.
Word Count: 1,588

Walking through her sparse neighborhood at night was one of the few things that ever calmed Gee. A cigarette in the shade was another. Perhaps it was strange to enjoy the darkness, to cherish the near silence, but it was where she felt most welcome. It was part of her. She loved the gentle sound and scent of the river that rushed by the paved road; she loved the lack of anything that might bring back the pain.

Gee pushed the thought of it away and instead concentrated on the sound of the rubber soles of her shoes as they crunched along across the decrepit asphalt.

She sighed in release and stretched out her hands to feel the darkness, running her fingers through it. It was pure, untainted even by artificial light. She opened her eyes wide, relaxing finally after the long, bright summer day.

After a moment of simply breathing, she looked around. She could see easily in the pitch black, and she stood at the dead end of her street, spotted every now and then by deserted houses and the looming shadows of pine and cedar trees.

There was no wind tonight. The trees and the river reeds were silent and still, looming shadows. Even the birds and the insects were quiet, which was odd. She felt a sudden chill, and looked back over her shoulder. The silence began to feel oppressive, and she took a deep breath to shake off the feeling. She had never been afraid of the dark, and was not going to start now.

There was just something about the silence that was unnerving. It was as if something was scaring all of the animals. Even the wind was hiding from this mysterious presence.

Gee couldn't see or hear anything, but she was becoming increasingly convinced that there was something there.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard a small sound behind her. Like a shoe shuffling slightly on the sandy pavement. She turned around quickly and gasped when she saw there was a shadowy figure looming on the street, three yards away from her.

She could see that it was a man and he was wearing a baseball cap. His head was turned down enough that the brim of his hat shielded his eyes and nose from her view.

His stance was threatening and he was breathing deeply and menacingly. She took a step back in fear at the same time that he stepped forward. His shoulders slouched and his hands came forward, palms outstretched. His face turned up and he smiled shyly.

It was a completely disarming smile, which went along with the rest of his face. She relaxed a little when she took in his exaggerated features and bright eyes and maybe the way he held his sleeves halfway up his hands so that only his fingers fiddled with the frayed edges. In a split second he had transformed from a shadowy nightmarish monster to a timid stranger in the dark.

Nonetheless, she demanded, "Who are you?"

He said, "I'm -- my name is Sylar." She looked at him expectantly in the ensuing pause, then he spoke again, "I'm looking for someone named... Georgiana Preston?"

"You're looking for someone on a deserted street in the middle of the night?"

She could she his blush even in the dark and he looked at the ground sheepishly, "Yeah, I'm kinda lost."

She considered running like mad back for her house, but she didn't really want to look like an idiot in front of this guy. His manner put her almost entirely at ease, even though the situation was completely creepy. The fact that she trusted him automatically made her wary, but she wasn't scared shitless. Whatever she felt, she was definitely not going to let him know that she was who he was looking for until she knew what he wanted.

So she asked, "What do you want with Georgiana?"

He looked up at her and grinned slightly, "You know her?"

"...A little. What do you want with her?"

His grin widened and he looked to the side and back playfully, "Well, uh, I need to talk to her about something. I think she's...special."

"Special?" She asked skeptically. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uhm, I think she may be extraordinarily gifted. Special." His eyes locked on her's. "Like me."

A chill ran down Gee's spine, and she shifted backwards again, "Well, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'll tell Georgiana that a weird guy on the street was looking for her." He opened mouth to reply, but she turned to go.

She had taken barely half a step when a hand grabbed her arm. She gasped and looked to see Sylar right there next to her. He had moved freaking fast and silently.

"Just - wait," he said.

"Let go of me," she said icily and yanked her arm out of his grasp, starting to hurry back towards her house.

"No, wait! It's you, isn't it?" He followed close behind her, and she stopped and faced him again.

"Just piss off, okay? I don't know what you're talking about or why you're looking for her, but leave me alone."

Sylar sighed, "Look, you have an ability, right? Something that you can't explain, and that no one would believe. That no one would want to understand, but I understand." Gee paused to stare at him as he spoke. "Something like maybe telekinesis or flight. I have an ability, too. And there are others."

"And why do you think she's one of these people?" Gee demanded.

"Your name was on a list of people who might have abilities. I work with a geneticist who traced the genetic trait that produces these abilities through the Human Genome project." Sylar stepped closer again, reaching out a hand. "Just let me show you - "

She gasped when he beckoned with his hand and a nearby mailbox pulled out of the ground. She watched, wide-eyed, as it hovered over to where they were standing.

Gee backed up, and his grin was almost feral. Just like that the nervous, friendly man was gone, and the menacing shadow was back with a psychotic glint in his eyes. She tensed to run away. She was in the middle of nowhere, and no one would come to her aid if she screamed. And there was no way she could outrun him.

"Are you special, too, Georgiana?" He stepped forward again, releasing whatever hold he had on the mailbox. It clattered to the ground.

"It's Gee," she whispered. "And you have no idea." Just as he was reaching his hand towards her, she turned and took off in the direction of her house.

She heard him chuckle behind her, but there weren't any footsteps following. Looking back, she saw him just standing there, completely motionless except for his right hand, which was slowly reaching out in her direction.

She shrieked in panic and stopped short on the pavement, breathing hard. She closed her eyes, and spread out her fingers in the darkness. She could feel it moving around her, in her, and out of her. When she opened her eyes again, any light that the stars and moon may have been producing were completely gone, blotted out. It was truly pitch black. She looked back over her shoulder, and she could still see his shadowy form. A benefit of belonging to the darkness.

She heard him curse and saw him freeze.

There was a long silence, and she started to run again. He called after her in a sing-song voice. "Gee? Where are you, Gee?"

She kept running, breathing heavily, her feet pounding on the pavement.

"I can hear you, Gee." His voice was suddenly much closer than it should have been. She stopped in her tracks and looked back again. He was half the distance closer to her, crouched slightly and head cocked to the side. As if he were listening intently. She tried to silence her panting, and looked around wildly for a hiding place.

"Is this your ability, then? Producing darkness? Killing the light? Fascinating." He was closer again, pausing to listen.

She ducked behind a grove of trees, hands shaking wildly, and peeked out to watch his movements.

"And a perfect distraction. If I can't see you I can't catch you." He chuckled again. "Perfect, only I have another ability you haven't seen yet..." He trailed off, and he was suddenly ten yards away from her position. She gasped.

"I can hear really, really well. I can hear people running away..." From where she was she could see him grinning to himself. "And I can hear people gasping in fear..."

Suddenly he was gone, nowhere to be seen.

She shrieked when his warm breath brushed her ear and he whispered, "I can even hear someone's heartbeats."

She pushed him back and screamed, but it was too late. He had her up against the nearest tree, without even using his hands.

He stood back and smiled, even though he couldn't see her. She struggled against the force that pinned her there, but to no avail.

"I am so looking forward to playing with your delicious ability." He reached out a finger and she screamed at a sudden intense pain in her forehead. The worst pain she had ever felt.

The last thing she saw was his horrifying grin, and then she lost all sense of anything except the welcoming arms of ultimate darkness.

END

Note: Feel free to lemme know what you think. I'd appreciate it :)