June 23, 1998
East 23rd Street, New York City
10:58 PM
Heru
It had been a week of stalking and Present was growing impatient. It wanted the man screaming and writhing in madness now, but Heru had long since given up immediate gratification, especially when it came to his presents. It was only once a year that he got to play with his food and after five hundred years, or was it six? He shrugged, he'd lost track of the years somewhere after eighty, after Andreas.
This still hurts, Past cried, he's gone forever.
"Shut up," Heru hissed. He hated Past the most, loathed his constant reminders of what was long gone and buried. He had done this long enough to know not to waste his yearly gifts on immediate gratification and this one was a special delight. He had been following the investor, Mr. Alexander Bradley, for the last week, allowing his presence to be felt but not seen. He had entered his apartment a few times while he slept, to fuck with him. He moved his cell phone from one night stand to the other. Adjusted the clocks by a couple minutes. Moved his keys from the table to the fridge. Tiny, little things to make him question himself but also make him question if someone else had been there. Yesterday, he had started on the next move: making sure the prey knew that he was definitely, without a doubt, being followed. He would let Mr. Bradley catch glimpses of his shadow, and he had started calling him and saying nothing as Bradley grew increasingly frustrated as he went from threatening to afraid. Heru grinned as he hit call again and lifted his phone to his ear. It rang four times before Bradley got the courage to answer it again.
"I told you to stop calling," he growled and Heru's grin grew even bigger, resembling the Chesire cat. He said nothing, just deepened his breathing so that Bradley knew he was there and listening. "You're going to regret this, whoever the hell you are. You have no idea who you're fucking with!"
'Hehehe', Present giggled excitedly.
[Oh, yes… yes we do], It purred. Heru felt the darkness rush against his skin, he knew his eyes had turned black as It fought against the little bit of Heru that remained in control. We're playing with it. The slow burn is the best so settle down, he whispered the reminder inside.
"You're dead!" Bradley spat before hanging up. He tilted his head to the side as he pulled the phone down, watching from his perch on the roof as Bradley ran a shaking hand through his hair and poured himself another drink. He spilled it, his hands were trembling so badly.
"You know…" an amused voice said from behind him, "nobody likes a peeping Tom, especially one that talks to himself." Heru spun around to see, no, it couldn't be, Past gasped. He opened his mouth to say something but was too dumbstruck to make the words come out. Had he really gone into this universe without realizing it?
{You're getting old}, Future scolded.
"I," he closed his mouth as he stared at the Merc with a Mouth, clad all in red and black leather with those large white eyes staring at him.
"Cat got your tongue?" he questioned as he jumped up on the ledge next to him, "are you a cat burglar? Did it run off with your tongue?" he asked dramatically and looked all around them as if expecting to see a cat snacking on said tongue.
"Deadpool," was the only word he could manage to get out. This was not something he had intended to happen. He hadn't even realized he'd entered the Comic Verse and he glared up at the sky, silently cursing his author for putting him in this universe. It was too cruel when Andreas couldn't come with him and meet his heros.
"Are you a fan?!" Deadpool squealed, his hands pressed against his cheeks in mock excitement and Heru cleared his throat.
"A bit," he said honestly.
'A bit?! Are you freaking kidding me? That's freaking Deadpool!'
[Get rid of him, he's distracting us from our prey], It growled angrily.
No talk to him! He reminds me of Drea, I wanna talk to him about his time with Spider-Man! Has he met him yet? Where are we in his timeline?! Past pleaded, and Heru felt him mentally pulling at him, attempting in vain to take over. His shoulder twitched, almost in a shrug, as if trying to shake something off.
"I'll uh, leave you to your…" Heru gestured to the roof, "whatever it is you're doing up here."
"Watching my client," Deadpool answered and pointed at the window Heru had also been watching. His thin eyebrow rose in surprise.
"That one?" he asked, pointing to confirm and trying to hide his expression as Bradley stood at the windows, the currants brazenly wide open.
'Oh shit, did Bradley seriously higher Dead-fucking-pool?'
{Well that certainly explains why he seems to have grown a pair tonight.}
[It won't matter, he's ours even if it means going through Deadpool].
"Well there's this whole client confidentiality thing that I'm supposed to respect and he really stressed the whole discreet thing," Deadpool explained hesitantly, adding air quotes to 'supposed to' and 'discreet', "but yep, that's my guy," he said wistfully and pretended to sigh and swoon over him.
"Alexander Bradley hired you or he's your mark?" he questioned, It making his voice far more threatening than he intended.
"He hired me to protect him," Deadpool's large orb lenses narrowed in suspicion, "hey now… you wouldn't happen to be my new boo's stalker, would you?"
[Push him off the roof]
'But tell him to back off first!'
{This is going to complicate things….}
I wish Drea was here, he would lose his shit over meeting Deadpool!
[I said to fucking push him off the roof!]
"Shut up!" Heru snapped, glaring over his shoulder as he blushed and cleared his throat. Shit, he was really taking this whole crazy person thing seriously. Deadpool was looking at him, somehow a curious but offended expression was etched into his mask despite not being able to see his face.
"I didn't think I was talking that much, but wow, ok," he held up his hands and backed off, "but I mean, if you are my guy's stalker, we're going to have a problem." Heru blinked, taking a moment to process what he was saying before jumping from the ledge onto the asphalt roof.
"You should drop the contract," he told him, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket.
"Can't do that sweetums," Deadpool said with a sigh, "that's not how the whole mercenary gig works."
"Did he pay you?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at him.
"Only half, insisted he'd give me the other half after I took care of his little problem," he shrugged, "I guess he wanted to ensure his safety. But I mean, I do find it kind of insulting, it's as if he doubts my reputation!"
"You can't," Heru sighed and turned back to him, "you'll get the rest of your fee, I can promise you that but this," he gestured at the two of them, "it isn't going to work. We're just not meant to be," he said teasingly. He knew it was going to happen, he'd known by the minute way Pool's muscles had tensed in his shoulders and legs, the way his fingers had twitched but he made no attempt to move out of the way. If he had to prove his point, he would. Deadpool pulled a gun from his thigh and emptied the clip into Heru's chest, the sound of gunfire echoed off the surrounding buildings and scared several pigeons from their perch across the street. Rude Heru sighed and looked down at his chest where smoke was rising from the seven bullet wounds.
"You know… I really liked this shirt… like, really liked it. It's like, over a hundred years old," he groaned as he looked at the now ruined HIM t-shirt he had dragged across realities since his human days. Deadpool looked at his gun and sniffed the end of the barrel, his deep frown comical.
"So, guess I'm working against a decent heal factor eh?" He challenged as he pulled Bea and Arthur from their sheaths.
"Nope," Heru admired the swords, looking at all the deaths they had and would cause, the way the soul imprints glinted off their deadly blades, 'so many beautiful colors', "Wade, seriously you can't win this round, just… stop."
"I don't know if anyone's told you, but sooner or later, I always get my man," he said the last part in a dramatically deep, scratchy voice before bursting into a fit of giggles and holding up a hand, "sorry, I just," he pretended to wipe a tear away, "couldn't resist the set up." He cleared his throat and straightened, everything about him changing to a dangerous serious as he lunged forward, katanas swinging through the air.
'This is so much fun! I can't believe we're dancing with Deadpool!' Present squealed in delight as Heru stepped out of the way of each strike, his hands still in his pockets as he ducked, bent backwards and even ended up doing a pirouette in order to avoid a well aimed thrust.
{I don't think this is called dancing.}
[Finish this quickly, we don't have time for this, he thinks he's safe now!] It screamed loudly, making him wince.
"Deadpool you can't kill a Reaper," he yelled from behind him, standing on the ledge once more. Deadpool spun, clearly confused and not succeeding at hiding it.
"A what?" his eyes narrowed again but he slowly lowered his swords.
"A Reaper," Heru repeated, ignoring Past's attempt to take over the story to explain in great detail exactly what he was. Future reminded Past that they would get there in due time, "you know, Grim Reaper?" Wade laughed, his shoulder shook as the laugh grew but he tried to contain it as he spoke.
"Like the big bad Grim Reaper? With the scythe and like… skeleton?" he struggled to keep a straight face, "you?" Heru smiled and shook his head, of course Deadpool would get hung up on the details, "but you're like… five feet tall! You're just a kid! Besides, Death is a chick, everyone knows that and I can't die, also even if I could, no one would come and reap my soul… well.. I mean, there might be a few devils who'll fight over it…" he trailed off, muttering to himself.
{Yea, to drag you into Hell where you belong} the Yellow box appeared over his right shoulder and Heru momentarily froze as he stared at it.
'That's weird'
"Think what you want, Pool, and that man," he pointed at Bradley's apartment, ignoring the box, his voice growling slightly as his thoughts turned back to Bradley, "is mine and no one in all the universes can stop me from reaping him. I'll give you the rest of the pay when I take him," he offered, hoping the merc's skewed set of morals would accept the offer without further question but he highly doubted it.
[Hey, that's a pretty decent offer, we should take it! I vote we be lazy!] the White box appeared over his other shoulder and Heru quickly looked away.
{You should most definitely ignore those}
[Yea, that wouldn't be good if he knew you could see those]
'No one likes a peeping Tom!'
Definitely going to pretend I don't see them.
"Look," Deadpool sighed and put his swords away, "I'll give you tonight but if I catch you tailing my dude again, I'm going to have to unalive you." Heru groaned and rolled his eyes.
"You can't unalive something that isn't alive Wade," he said, "but you should listen to White and back off," he advised, looking over Deadpool's left shoulder so much for ignoring them! and stepped off the ledge, disappearing into the Between.
June 23, 1998
East 23rd Street, New York City
11:22 PM
Wade
{How the fuck did he know about White?} Yellow growled in a panic. Deadpool ran to the edge of the building and looked down but there was no sign of the strange little goth that claimed to be the Grim Reaper.
[I don't understand, how does he know about us?] White repeated his question.
{And what did he mean, you should listen to White?!}
"I don't know," Wade shook his head, that really made no sense. He pulled out his desert eagle and checked the clip, yep, all the bullets were gone. He walked over to where he'd shot the man and knelt down, searching for any sign of blood but there was nothing. There were also no bullets.
{He's probably just some mutant with a death complex.}
"I mean, there sure are a lot of those out there!" he agreed, but there was something familiar about him that not even the boxes could deny.
[This doesn't make sense.]
"Don't ask me, I don't know what the plot is yet," he sat down on the ledge and pulled out his binoculars, finally doing what he had told Bradley he was going to go do and watched the apartment.
June 23, 1998
Apartment 405
Madison Square Park Tower, New York City
11:22 PM
Heru
He was angry and he couldn't pretend otherwise, not at Deadpool, but at Bradley's audacity to think he could hire a mercenary to protect him.
{What a fool!}
[There is nothing that can protect him].
Heru couldn't agree more. He travelled through the Between, the space between all things where Reapers travelled and magic moved with the least resistance, and appeared in Bradley's bedroom closet. It was large, bigger than Heru's own bedroom and the walls were lined with outrageously expensive clothes, shoes and accessories. He ran a hand over the suit jackets, his fingers trailing across the silk ties as he walked around the room, looking at all the creature comforts his dealings had brought him. Heru picked up a particularly nice pair of Gucci loafers and he wondered what child had been sold to pay for them. His lip curled in disgust as he set them down. He could hear Bradley moving around but when he opened the closet door, he knew the human wouldn't see him. He smiled as the man walked into the carpeted floor, pulling his tie off as he began to prepare for bed. He had a sudden flash of grabbed the tie and strangling the man with it, watching the life drain from his eyes as the blood vessels exploded across his ever reddening face, his nails clawing helplessly at his neck, drawing blood. He could feel him underneath him, his body thrashing and bucking until his tongue filled his mouth and the whites of his eyes were completely red and he was utterly still. Reality came crashing back and Heru drew in a deep, slow breath as the darkness shivered across his skin, drawing in the scent of his soul.
'Is it time to play?' Present asked excitedly, the voice practically quivering.
{Yes, it's time to play} Future giggled with equal excitement. Heru ignored them all as he allowed Bradley to sense his presence. He grinned as the man spun around, panic in his eyes as he looked around him. The sound of his heart rate increasing was like music. He closed his eyes and reached for the souls that Bradley was responsible for taking, he pulled at their memories of their human existence. It didn't upset them, they had long since moved on, carried away to their next cycle by other Reapers but their memories lingered in the air. Most people couldn't sense them, those with psychic abilities could sometimes pick up the impressions left by the dead but only a Reaper could recall them, pull them out of the web of the universe like a loose thread. There were so many that the scum in front of him was responsible for snuffing out and it was easy to grab hold of a couple. Past screamed at them, trying to bring his own memories with them but It blocked Past out, now was not the time for his personal baggage.
"Ooooh Alexaaaander," Heru whispered in a sing-song tone, still unseen but allowing his voice to be heard and laughing as Bradley's watch went flying in the air. He had been putting his blood bought accessories away when the voice nearly made him wet himself.
"Who's there? Is that you Mr. WIlson?" He called out, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a small silver gun. Heru plucked one of the memory imprints and thrust it into Bradley's mind, forcing the most traumatic memories the girl, Sara Keats, had experienced while he had arranged for her to be sold. Bradley screamed, the gun falling from his hand as he grabbed his head. Heru held the memories to his mind with such force he fell to his knees, the flashbacks so vivid that even Heru could smell the stank acrid scent of human sweat, fear and sex. He ignored the discomfort he felt, the sheer terror on Bradley's face was worth it. His face twisted into a wicked smirk as he watched him experience every moment of terror she had felt, every degrading, horrific, soul destroying second. It was only for a minute, but he knew it was the longest minute of Bradley's life thus far. He released her memories, pulling her unique essence from Bradley but leaving the memories there. There wouldn't be another moment of peace for Alexander Bradley, Heru would make sure of that.
He jumped in surprise as the force of the front door being broken down shook the walls. Bradley let out a terrified scream and cowered in the corner of the closet, trying to make himself as small as possible.
[It's time he felt their fear.]
Heru's nose wrinkled and he had to resist the urge to spit on the pathetic sight and instead he walked out into the bedroom. Deadpool came crashing in, singing some ridiculous Britney Spears song as he moved around the room, a gun in each hand as he searched for the threat. When he saw Bradley curled up in the corner, his arms lowered slightly as he assessed the situation. Heru sighed, this was indeed going to be a problem if Deadpool was going to come crashing in every time he was playing. He left the bedroom and headed for the office down the hall. He went in and turned the lights on, locking the door behind him as he soundlessly went through the room. He could hear Deadpool trying to talk to the distraught Bradley who was a bumbling mess. It would take a few minutes for him to get anything coherent from him and in the meantime, Heru could still have fun. He pulled his right hand free from his pocket as he approached Bradley's collection of orchids. '
'Why do creeps like him always have a bunch of weird plants? Doesn't the writer know that's a cliche?'
He had a large collection in the corner of his office, a fancy grow light set on a timer was suspended above the large table providing the delicate plants with their minimal light. There were several other plants in the room, throughout the whole apartment actually, the man had a surprisingly green thumb. Heru ran a finger across one of the orchids' petals, the tiny rush of the small life raced up his finger as the plant shriveled and crumbled in a pile of compost. He touched each orchid, watching them all blacken, shrivel and then fall into a slimy mess of rot. Heru walked all around the office, touching each plant, absorbing its life energy and storing it. He sat down at the large impressive desk and stared at it for a moment before breaking open the locked bottom drawer. There were a bunch of files, he ignored them for now, he would get the proof of the man's crimes later but there was something else he was after. He knew a man like him would keep a trophy nearby. He would want to look at it, would want to remember some of his most memorable moments with each victim and Heru knew he would keep one of his most prized trophies near his home work space. It would be too risky to bring it into the office, but at home, he had always considered himself safe. He was rewarded as his fingers closed around a small silver tube at the back of the drawer.
Heru pulled the lipstick out and looked at it. He slowly pulled the top off and twisted the bottom, bringing the pale red lipstick to the top. He closed his eyes and lifted it to his face, expecting to smell the soul of the owner but he jerked his head back.
[Fuck that hurts!]
So many souls…
"Shh," he whispered, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He let the images play again, but slower this time. Bradley had picked out the lipstick, had bought it from a cute redhead at MAC Cosmetics on Broadway. He watched as Bradley held a crying woman by the hair and he made her put on the lipstick, telling her she needed to look the part. She wasn't the only woman he had used the lipstick on. He watched, bearing witness to the crimes committed against her and all the others, hatred making his blood boil.
'If we had blood'
We don't have blood anymore? Since when?!.
Ignoring them, he closed the drawer and got to his feet. He left the office, walking through the wall and back into the bedroom. Deadpool had managed to get Bradley into bed and was reassuring him that he would stay the night outside his bedroom door and promised that no one would get past him. Heru smiled, the poor fool, he shook his head.
{He has no idea what he's getting into} Future said with a sigh.
He headed into the on suite bathroom and removed the cap of the lipstick once more. He waited to hear the bedroom door close shut before he began writing on the mirror. I'm coming for you, it was lame and corny as all hell but it would be effective. He wrote it repeatedly across the glass, as if writing lines on a chalkboard. He wrote it on the glass shower wall, wrote it on the underside of the toilet seat just for shits and giggles. When he was done, the lipstick was just a little nub and he carefully returned the cap. He made a point of leaving it in the middle of the large counter, right where Bradley would see it. The best part of playing with his food was making sure they knew why it was happening. He wanted him to be afraid, wanted to prove that not even Deadpool could protect him from what was coming and Heru wasn't going to be the worst of it. Bradley's soul was slotted for a special hell dimension where it would slowly be stripped into nothing, reduced to stardust, never to be recycled but he would experience an eternity of pain before that. He would find out what was to come, but not before Heru ensured he knew every reason why.
Souls Collected:
Victor Ager
Age 16
Died June 23, 1990 8:42 PM
Heart attack, Karōshi