My Harlequin Valentine
Valentine's Day was like any other day for Dr. Mohinder Suresh. His parents had never subscribed to the idea, and as such had raised him to disregard it as a purely superficial Western concept for which he need not concern himself over.
And this was why it surprised him that there should be a Valentine's Day gift on his doorstep. Moreover, ever since that Eden fiasco, none of the other tenants had sought to approach him, regarding him as the resident recluse and eccentric.
What was more curious about the entire situation was the manner in which it had been delivered: there had been no delivery person to meet him when he came to answer the door- it had simply been left there.
Picking it up (very, very cautiously), he examined the package. It was neatly wrapped in glossy paper, which had been printed with a pattern of little red hearts, and 'Especially for Yous', in cursive writing.
There was also no card.
Mohinder cleared a space on his desk, and set the present down.
He had his suspicions about the gift, and had contemplated leaving it in the hallway, or dumping it in the trash- but had thought better of it: what if some unwitting civilian had gotten a hold of it then, and it had been a trap meant for him? He hated involving more innocents in this entire conspiracy as it was.
Then again, he had thought, the contents of this package might have turned out to be something useful- some new information sent to him in this perfectly innocuous way; perhaps he had even been meant to take the little 'Especially for Yous' as an indicator of this fact?
Thus, after a bit more deliberation, he had taken it in.
As Mohinder unwrapped the package, he found himself both fearful and excited: could it be a bomb of some sort? A genuine gift?
What he discovered beneath all that paper (its sender had, for some reason, taken the trouble to wrap it five times over) was a plain wooden box: handmade, carefully sandpapered, with a slight yellow-orange tinge from its smooth shellac finishing.
Its golden clasp opened with a 'click' at his touch, and he found himself shocked beyond words: a human heart lay within the box; the velvet lining smeared with several dark stains of what was most probably blood.
And on the lining of the cover was pinned a note:
Mohinder,
Happy Valentine's Day.
-Sylar
A/N: Yes, I know that this ficlet is much too late for this year's Valentine's, and much too early for next year's -shrugs- Anyway, the standard disclaimers apply, and constructive criticism- not flames (which will be used by Sylar to make roasted brains) - is very much welcome.