Valentine

The girl sobbed quietly, despairingly. She was slumped in one corner of the living room, her hands tightly bound behind her back. The monsters who had invaded her home and butchered her parents in front of her eyes watched her avidly as she wept. They seemed to be soaking up her suffering, feeding on her pain and fear like hungry leeches.

One of them touched her face. She froze. She closed her eyes and prayed to die.

"Look at me!" he ordered in a harsh tone. He struck her and she cried out. She opened her eyes.

"Simon." She couldn't see clearly through her tears, but she felt him start at the sound of his name. "Simon, why are you doing this? Why?"

"You broke my heart," he told her softly. "Now I want to break yours."

"So break it already," someone said. It was a male's voice. It sounded cold and bored.

"Yeah," another voice seconded, also male. "Cut her up, Rake."

"I'll help," a female offered, then she giggled.

The mutant called Rake ignored his companions. Gently, he brushed away the girl's tears.

"I've dreamed of you like this," he said to her. "I remember I used to follow you around school, hoping you would notice me, know that I existed. I used to leave flowers at your doorstep." His manner abruptly changed and his left hand closed around her throat. "Then you told everyone I was stalking you! You got me into a lot of trouble in school and with my parents. Your stupid boyfriend and his jock buddies beat me up because of you, you filthy bitch!"

"I -!" She was choking, but she still managed to speak. "I'm – sorry! Sorry!"

He banged her head against the wall then he released her. "Yeah, you better be sorry!" He grinned at the terror he saw in her eyes. "But it's okay. I forgive you." He caressed her hair. "You look so pretty when you cry." He held out his right hand. It transformed into a blade of steel. He held the sharp point over her chest.

"I loved you so much," he whispered.

The blade pierced through her heart easily. When he ripped it out, she was already dead. But he still had work to do. He always wanted her heart, so now he was going to have it. He cut her open and took the bloody organ in his hand.

"You're not taking that with you," Pyro said.

He scowled. "Why not?"

"I don't want it dripping inside the van."

Rake shrugged. "Whatever. I'm over her anyway." He carelessly dropped the heart to the floor. He could barely even remember the girl's name anymore.