Cracks In The Mirror

Chapter Five: Attacking The Heart

By: Tracie Somebody

"I'm this close from killing you," Relena stated, holding her fingers .045 centimeters from each other. Her glare intensified at the person who had woken her up; Heero deepened his own glare.

"It's Already 6:13 am," Heero told her indicating the clock placed smack dab in the middle of the night table to the bed's left. Relena groaned and used the pillow to cover her head. Heero shook her roughly realizing she intended to go back to sleep. "Come on," he urged. She stared at him disbelievingly from where her head poked out of the mass of a pillow and covers.

"I was up until 4:23 am, and so, might I add, were you," She told him through gritted teeth and then pulled her head back into the mass of covers. Heero glared at the covers, and then with one movement pulled them completely off the bed revealing a curled up girl in cloud blue P.J.s.

"I just wanted you to know that I'll be gone for around fifteen minutes to next door," Heero told the young glaring girl. "Do you think you'll be okay?" Relena grabbed Heero's shirt collar and yanked him down to her face level.

"Be very glad I'm not a violent person," Relena told him. She released him from her grasp. "Lets see," she began ticking off fingers until she reached ten, "That means for ten," she put down five of her fingers, "Plus five minutes I'll be here all on my own!" She feigned a look of shock. "How will I handle it? I mean if it was two minutes, no problem, I could handle it but fifteen WHOLE minutes I don't think I can handle it! You better bring back up!" She glared at him.

"This is because I woke you up isn't it?" Heero asked.

"Yes," Relena told him and buried herself once more in the covers. And then settled down content to go back to sleep. She sunk down and sank back down to a peaceful half sleep, and barely heard the door close behind Heero. She really wanted to get back to sleep. But now there was a problem. She really had to go to the bathroom. Now normally she would just get up from her room and go in a half dazed sleep stupor, but this was a different situation, she would half to be pretty awake to get up and leave this room because of the clutter of boxes that blocked her way. Some of them were her own belongings brought from her house yesterday and the rest were boxes that had been here previously, and all and all it took concentration to move around them. That meant full awareness. She pulled herself up out of bed with a groan of protest and then set to work clumsily navigating her way through her temporary room. She reached the door way and then proceeded to trudge down the hall into the bathroom. Suddenly she was more awake then she had ever been at the sight that lay before her.

Glass It was everywhere like an unwanted flash back. Only she wasn't day dreaming, this was real. It's reflected surface reflected the suns bright ray causing her to blink rapidly, but even the light couldn't stop her from noticing what was written in red dripping letters across the wooden surface where the mirror had previously hung. 'As the angels dies the mirror cracker cries' She gasped, one hand covering her awe struck mouth's expression and the other behind her back groping from a steady surface to help her stand straight. Her eyes drifted to the message written on the wooden board just an instant before her hand made contact with something to hold her upward, only it wasn't a door frame like she'd been unconsciously aiming for, it was a strong hand. It pulled her upright and steadied her balance. Relena let out a small shriek, so small that it hardly made a noise coming from her dry, constricted throat. Another hand covered her mouth lightly, making her choke with fear.

"Shh" A strange warm voice coaxed. Relena began to shake with ice cold fear, that voice brought no comfort to her, only a strange alien knowing to who was behind her. Her eyes darted to the glass shattered in front of her, a tall bronzed boy stood frowning before her, his green eyes and white blonde hair giving a shocking effect to his presence.

"Simon," she whispered in a chocked voice. She felt the hand holding her stroke her own gently. And then release her hand and move, still gently, to her throat. Suddenly she felt her heart jump up into her throat which was slowly being squeezed. She let out small frightened gasps as she fought to breathe.

"Shh" Simon coaxed once more as he pressed hard against his captives throat and felt her weight give and sink down ward. He laid her figure down across the glass and smiled. What would the boy she was staying with think of this? He knelt slowly and rubbed gently the sleeping girls hand. "The time for me to take you with me is not yet Relena, but it draws nearer," He promised and kissed her forehead gently. He picked himself up carefully careful not to cut his hand on a shard of glass and leave the police a positive I.D. of himself. Technology could sometimes be a pain. He fled from the scene careful to make sure he was unseen by anyone.

Heero entered carefully, making sure he would not make a loud noise that would disturb the sleeping Relena. Paranoid, that's what he had been when he'd woke her up and told her he was leaving for such a short time. And even though his common sense argued, he still felt stupid for doing it, waking her up was just plain stupid. Her anger at him for doing it seemed to prove to him that this was true. He sighed, why did she have to be so complicated? Maybe she just wasn't a morning person, he reasoned with himself. Either way he felt the responsibility to check on her no matter how stupid it was, only this time he wouldn't wake her up.

He shifted the borrowed television from his left arm to his right and set it on the counter. It had occurred to him last night how boring being here was going to be for her so he had decided to borrow a spare television from the twelve year old next door who had just gotten a new one for his birthday and had yet to dispose of, or find a use for his new one. He then walked down the small hallway and looked in on the door hanging ajar. He was sure he had closed it Then the answer as to why it wasn't closed presented itself, Relena wasn't on her bed; she had gotten up after all. He walked down the hall to the bathroom intending to make sure she was there. The door to the bathroom was also open, and there set down upon shattered glass was Relena, completely unconscious.

Relena blinked, her eyes adjusting to the bright light shining above her head. Slowly a bad feeling crept up her spine, and a foggy image of a shattered mirror blasted through her mind breaking her sleepiness. She sat up with one jerked motion, a response her body had made to the shock of being in an unknown place, unsure if she was safe or not. Suddenly the room came into sharp focus, revealing itself to be a bedroom in her brother's own mansion. She let go the hand that had, unnoticed by her, clutched itself to her heart in her spasm of terror. Her ears tuned in to a familiar yelling coming from somewhere below her. Muffled as it was she still caught the words 'Yuy' and 'How could you'. Her anger perked her up a bit and she hoped off the bed and on to the cold wood floor, she shivered, this time with coldness. Shaking the cold off she made her way out of the room and down hallways, in search of the place the yelling was coming from. Suddenly the words became discernable and she sat on the top of the stairs listening with interest.

"You left her alone! After all this you left her alone!" Zechs' yell echoed up to her.

"Zechs, now be reasonable. How could he have known? It was only for a few minutes, it's not like he left her for an hour," Noin's calm, reassuring voice came to her.

"But it was enough time! Enough for her to get hurt again!" Zechs' anger had grown, Relena could tell because his voice had gained volume.

"Now Zechs don't you think your being hard on him" Noin started in.

"No," Heero's voice cut in, monotone as always, "He's right, it was my fault she got hurt."

"Now Heero don't you start" Noin tried to get in but Zechs over road her.

"It was your fault Heero, and if you weren't the best and only one for the job I'd have you kicked off this case," Zechs told him.

"It wasn't his fault you're being too hard on him!" Noin's voice had reached yelling level, shocking, Relena was sure, everyone down there.

"It was," Heero said again in a voice that told everyone he had made up his mind to blame himself and not one word anyone said was going to change his mind.

"Even he knows it," Zechs growled.

"No, it was my fault," everyone in the small kitchen turned to see Relena, who had been moving silently down the stairs the whole time she was listening. She saw them all open their mouths to strongly protest against what she said but she shook her head and held up her hand. "Let me finish." She told them. "The man who attacked me was Simon Pax, alias Samuel Palter. He was a kid in my high school, great hacker, real jock though. He was always in trouble, but this isn't a history lesson. He's been killing all these girl because of me"

*Flash Back*

Relena smiled and cheered as a girl named Daisy announced over the intercom how much she loved Dan. She held her giggles behind her hand as she saw Dan sweat drop and smile broadly. Relena waved over at her friend Stacy and gave her the thumbs up as she poured the remains of her soda onto a rather rude boy named Joe, and then pulled the sputtering, off guard, boy into a kiss. Weird couple, she thought. Relena put her hand on her chin and smiled, her life was perfect. Simon and she were a great couple, everyone said so, and Relena knew it was true. Speaking of Simon, she thought bubbly warmth flooding her heart; I wonder where he went to. She stood up and walked over to the bathrooms on the gyms left side.

The corroder was a straight path, but the bathrooms were a small tangent leading off from the center. It was a sharp left turn to reach them and as she was about to turn the corner she heard her name.

"Your kidding right?" this came from Gregory, Simons best friend.

"No I'm not, if you force a girl into sex she'll love you for it," Simon's voice was smug, wracking her brain with terror and hatred. Not even Gregory was dumb enough to believe that lie was he?

"Well then I know what I'm doing tonight," Gregory's face broke out to a stupid smile. Simon slapped him on the back.

"Way to go," Simon told him leaning against the wall. "And like I was telling you, Relena and I are going to, no matter what." Simon's smile turned fierce.

"Are you sure Kate will love me for it?" Gregory's voice was doubtful.

"Yeah, sure I am. You remember Marianne don't you?" Simon asked referring to his x-girlfriend.

"Yeah she adored you," Gregory told him. Simon nudged him chuckling. "You didn't!" Gregory said. Simon laughed right out loud. "You did??" Gregory's doubt was gone, Relena could tell. She fled from that spot, biting back tears. And she never told, not even when Kate turned up missing the next day from school. Or even when Kate moved and never came back. She dumped Simon of course, but some how she always felt like he knew what she knew. How she had innocently overheard him talking of something so cruel and vile

*End Flashback*

Relena shook her head, that girl she remembered seemed so distant from the girl who had gone through so much to fight a war soon after and had forgotten almost completely 14 year old Simon and his messed up mind. That girl was so different from who she was now, and even as she told the story, well parts of it anyway, she had trouble connecting that girl and herself. Heero's knuckles had turned a pale, pale white from clutching too hard against each other, and she even saw a line of blood trickle from them. Zechs' face was as purple as a grape. Noin was pale with shock, but she straightened herself almost immediately.

"Well now we have an positive I.D. on the criminal," Noin said as if that ended it. "Heero would you please escort Relena upstairs while Zechs and I talk?" Noin asked. Heero nodded, and Relena, once again feeling limp and tired allowed herself to be lead upstairs and into bed still in her P.J.s.

"Heero stop looking at me like that," Relena told him as she sat down on the bed. Heero looked confused.

"I can't explain it, but it's just making me uncomfortable," Relena told him and then she let out a large yawn.

"What ever," Heero told her resuming his usual glare. 'Much better' Relena thought smugly to herself. Suddenly she sat up Sally's words ringing through her head, "Nether one of you will ever make the first moveand then Heero said yes he did like youbut either way he said it' Relena looked at Heero sighing as he glared at her, piercing as always. She got up and made like she was just going past Heero to get to the bathroom but then she stopped and lightly pecked him on the cheek. She was surprised at her own daring, and as she looked at Heero deep regret settled in. He looked angrier more then any thing else, and she winced tears sliding from her eyes spilling to her cheeks.

She fled from the room her heart aching and pounding so hard she didn't even hear his alarmed voice call her name. She felt like curling up and dieing, how could she ever show her face to him again? And it hurt, much more then any physical wound, the pain welling deep with in her constricted chest was unbearable. She flung her sobbing form on the bed in the guest room two doors away from hers. Her tears melted into the pillow and her hot breath reflected back in her face. She gulped down more unshed tears trying very hard to stop crying before someone came in, if any one came in. But as she saw the look of anger on his face in her mind with too sharp of clarity fresh tears cascaded down her face mixing with her sweat and pouring down to her pillow where they formed small puddles until they were soaked into the cream pillow case leaving a damp spot. She sobbed again deeply, and then blinked away more tears trying to clear her vision. It seemed as if all the tears she had forgotten to shed over the years were finally remembering to come out. They wouldn't stop, and she didn't want them to, they were an out lit for her pain, her suffering.

She couldn't explain why but that one look of anger had meant more then a thousand deaths threats, a thousand glares, and a thousand ignored feelings. She gulped down the lump in her throat, trying to make it go away even as she cried harder into her pillow. Her crying wasn't a loud wail meant to wake the whole house, it was a silent rocking of the body while tears pulled themselves free from her eyes, she didn't want any one to know how hard she was crying, certainly not him anyway. And if Zechs saw Well she didn't need that thought right now. Suddenly strong hands were rubbing her back, and, uncertain as they were, she could feel the strength in that touch. Noin's comforting presence made her feel like a small child crying over a lost toy. Noin stroked her hair until she had calmed down enough to stop crying. Relena hiccupped and shook with the after shock of her storm of wild tears.

"What happened?" Noin asked. Relena's voice choked, she couldn't tell her. Noin rubbed the young girls back again, soothing her. Noin had come in to comfort her when she had witnessed her fleeing from the guest room, because she knew neither of the other people in this house could do it, no matter how much they might want to. The other two men in the house were just children when it came to emotions. They had no idea how to comfort Relena, and Noin knew that she barely knew how to do it herself. War changed people, it was just that simple.

"He hates me," Relena told her, the image of his anger rushing into her mind causing her to sob again. Noin looked confused, until she realized what Relena was talking about. Oh my What could she say to that?

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," Noin told her. Relena sat up and faced the woman rubbing her back, she shook her head.

"He does," She protested, "He does." She repeated. There was a note of finality to her voice that made Noin sigh. She patted Relena on the back.

"I'll be right back," She told her. Relena nodded.