Another Day Another Kill - ficlet
The alley smelled like a combination of cat piss and rotting trash from the Chinese place on the other side of the brick wall. Sylar wrinkled his nose, as he crouched in front of his latest victim. The man’s eyes were wide open, terror etched for eternity on his face, his mouth hanging open in a scream that never shattered the air. Sylar had been too quick, crushing his trachea with a thought, cutting off air to his lungs and blood flow to his brain while ruining his vocal cords to silence him.
With his lower lip caught between his teeth, Sylar began cutting the guy’s skull open. The prey tried to move. Tried to breathe through the ruin of his throat, but he couldn’t get enough air. His vision was going gray, but he did manage to hiss when he felt his skin parting and blood began to trickle down his face and into his gaping mouth.
“The brain feels no pain,” Sylar told him as he grabbed a fist full of the blood matted blond hair and yanked. “Of course the cutting hurts, but you won’t have to worry about that much longer.” The serial killer leaned forward still hunkered down on his heels as he pressed his fingers into the warm spongy mass of his victim’s brain. “Now let’s see how long it takes me to find the surprise inside.”
His vulpine grin spread as his fingers found the sweet spot, the source of the special’s power-power that would now be his. Sylar didn’t need to kill to take a power. “I don’t need to kill to do this,” he told the cooling corpse after he made the adjustments to his own brain to make the power a part of him. “They taught me to do it with empathy, but seriously who has time for that? Am I supposed to make nice with everyone just to take their power? You know what happens after you do it that way? They think you want to be their friend! As if I want a bunch of losers following me around. It’s better this way.”
Sylar stood up fluidly, and held his hand out palm up as he called the moisture from the air until he had a ball of water floating above his hand. It shifted shape, reflecting the world around it like a crystal ball of jelly. He sent it flying into the wall with a splat, moisture running through the grime and graffiti. “This is a nice trick. Can’t wait to see what I can do with it.”
With his lower lip caught between his teeth, Sylar began cutting the guy’s skull open. The prey tried to move. Tried to breathe through the ruin of his throat, but he couldn’t get enough air. His vision was going gray, but he did manage to hiss when he felt his skin parting and blood began to trickle down his face and into his gaping mouth.
“The brain feels no pain,” Sylar told him as he grabbed a fist full of the blood matted blond hair and yanked. “Of course the cutting hurts, but you won’t have to worry about that much longer.” The serial killer leaned forward still hunkered down on his heels as he pressed his fingers into the warm spongy mass of his victim’s brain. “Now let’s see how long it takes me to find the surprise inside.”
His vulpine grin spread as his fingers found the sweet spot, the source of the special’s power-power that would now be his. Sylar didn’t need to kill to take a power. “I don’t need to kill to do this,” he told the cooling corpse after he made the adjustments to his own brain to make the power a part of him. “They taught me to do it with empathy, but seriously who has time for that? Am I supposed to make nice with everyone just to take their power? You know what happens after you do it that way? They think you want to be their friend! As if I want a bunch of losers following me around. It’s better this way.”
Sylar stood up fluidly, and held his hand out palm up as he called the moisture from the air until he had a ball of water floating above his hand. It shifted shape, reflecting the world around it like a crystal ball of jelly. He sent it flying into the wall with a splat, moisture running through the grime and graffiti. “This is a nice trick. Can’t wait to see what I can do with it.”