He nearly had his prey. A tender, juicy human with sweet meat and plenty of blood to quench his thirst. The human he had been waiting so long to rape and tear apart, to drain her blood into his mouth and savor the taste. He had her cornered. In reach. There was no way in Hell she could escape. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.

And then something distracted him...

A voice...so far away, yet so close...

The same voice that had calmed his rage before when he had nearly lost himself to his instincts.

"Xervexagon?" The voice called.

His name...the voice knew his name? It didn't call him the Executioner, or the Red Pyramid, or the name he hated most: Pyramid Head. It called him by his name.

Who was this voice?

"Xervexagon?" The voice called again.

The voice seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite identify it. He associated feelings with the voice; hunger, sexual desire, interest, irritation, and something else...something he didn't recognize. This particular feeling was a mixture of wanting and possessiveness. He didn't know what it meant or what he could do to satisfy the emotion. This bothered him slightly, but he had more important matters at hand.

A name was dancing around the voice, slowly becoming clearer. Ma...May..Mayra...Mayra!

Mayra...his memory gradually returned to him. Mayra was human, but not exactly prey. She could be raped, killed, and eaten, but that wasn't exactly his intentions with her. He was keeping her around so he could...

"Xervexagon? Can...can you hear me?" Mayra finally got through to him.

His eyes slowly came into focus. Through the mesh of his helmet, he could see Mayra huddled in a corner, tears rolling down her face. He felt a prick of annoyance at this; he hated it when humans cried. But why was she crying this time?

"Mayra?" He spoke her name clearly.

She full-on burst into tears.

"Xervexagon...please...don't do it." She cried.

"Don't do what?" He could barely understand her through the tears, but then realized that his arm was raised and holding the knife. He slowly lowered both and tried to recall why he had them up in the first place. His memory was dark and shaded red with broken images and poor sound.

Mayra daringly leapt to her feet and kept her back pressed to the wall as she scooted past him, her eyes bright with fear and her heart pounding.

'What the Hell happened? What did I do?' He wondered.

'You nearly killed her, that's what you did. You chased her and cornered her, and were just seconds away from splitting her in two.' Instinct summarized.

'You...YOU BASTARD!!! You made me do this!!!' Xervexagon screamed in his mind.

'I didn't make you do anything. You chose to attack her. You could have restrained yourself, but you didn't.' Instinct shifted the blame. 'And SHE is partly to blame as well. If you weren't having to care for her, you would be well fed and satisfied. Look at her. Those tears; you know you hate it when humans cry. And her fear...they always taste better when they're terrified. She's TEMPTING you.'

'Shut up.'

'You know I'm right, don't you?'

'I SAID SHUT UP!!!' Xervexagon swung his blade in a half circle, slicing off the tops of surrounding dry-wall mounds.

Mayra dropped to her knees, wrapping her head with her arms defensively and sobbing again.

'You're only making things worse. You've probably shot her trust to Hell and now she's scared of you.'

'Damn it...' Xervexagon dropped his knife with a loud clang. How the Hell was he going to fix this?

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Just when Mayra thought he had calmed down, Xervexagon swung his knife blindly, sending more gray dust and debris flying. She dropped and covered her head and started crying again.

What was wrong with him?! One minute he's actually trying to take care of her, and the next he's trying to hack her to pieces! What made him change his disposition so quickly? She didn't understand...

Xervexagon now stood panting, chest heaving and his blade on the ground. But that made him no less dangerous. He was still incredibly strong and fast, and undoubtedly intelligent enough to outsmart her. She decided to remain sitting just in case he decided to bring his knife swinging around again.

Xervexagon took a few steps towards Mayra. She remained still, partially from fear, partially from lack of energy. There was nothing she could do if he decided to finish her off. He drew closer until he stood over her. She could only stare up at him with tearful eyes and hope for the best.

"Mayra...I can't control myself. I am the Executioner, and that cannot be changed. As long as you are around me, you are at Death's door. If you want to stay with me, I'll allow it. If you want to leave, feel free. But that won't mean I won't try to track you down when I'm hungry. Either way, I can't guarantee your safety." He warned her.

Mayra lowered her eyes and exhaled, relieved that he wasn't about to reach down and crush her throat. After gathering her wits, she took his offer into consideration. She believed every word he said. He was unpredictable and dangerous. But as terrified as she was of him right now, she had no where else to go...

"I...I really don't have anywhere else to go..." She admitted.

"Then so be it." He turned away from her and grabbed his knife. Mayra cringed instinctively but knew that she was safe...for the moment.

She stepped out of his way and allowed him to take the lead. She followed him a few steps but stumbled when her foot caught on something. She stepped back and looked down at the large jar that nearly tripped her. Mayra picked it up and dusted it off.

"Holy shit, peaches!!!'' She shrilled in delight. She tore of the lid and shoved her hand into the jar, pulling out wet slices and greedily shoveling them into her mouth.

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Xervexagon turned around to see what she was shrieking about. Mayra was tearing some vile-looking yellow mess out of a jar and shoving it into her mouth.

'She eats like you. Look at that.' Instinct pointed out.

Xervexagon didn't argue with that. She really was eating in much the same fashion that he did. She crammed food between her jaws, apparently swallowing it whole, and then flicked her tongue out to gather remnants that remained on her hand or lips. For some reason, he enjoyed watching her eat.

'Interesting...'

Mayra ate enough to satisfy her for the day and followed Xervexagon back to the room.