Cracks In The Mirror

By: Tracie Somebody

Chapter Nine: Directions'

"Your friends are so gullible my little doll," Simon said. Relena shot awake. Had she really been asleep? How could she sleep like a time like this? Lately she was so tired, if she got out of this she would take a vacation. Peace and fighting be damned, she deserved a break, she told herself firmly. She set her jaw line straight and glared at her capturer. He walked around her slowly, taking in her changes, her beauty.

She was beautiful, very much so. Her girl stick figure form was lost in her woman hood, she'd changed, she'd grown up. He suspected he had known this to be true from the beginning, but he hadn't really given it much thought. He drank her in, piece by piece. Her hair long and golden streaming down her back and flowing down her chest until it fell gently to rest in her lap. It shimmered even in such a dim a light, as if it were the light source. Her features had gotten a sharper clarity about them, they had decided what they were to become. Her eyes still shimmered with the baby blue, that held the same little girl hopeful look about them, even as she glared at him. He brushed his hand against her slender exposed leg and felt exticy as she gasped and cringed. He could feel her struggle, her pain. Always that word, pain, flowing through his mind intertwining itself in every possible space. Blackening the thought with a hatred so strong, and a desire yearning to be fulfilled no matter what it took. Even the death of such a beautiful girl. He smiled, it made her cringe, his smile had transformed itself from the sleek honey smooth one of his youth that used to make girls look at him like a god, to the black ugly thing it was. Twisted in its insanity, tight with hatred and loss.

"Do you think he'll come," He asked her, he was curious to know.

"Who?" Relena asked. He smiled, her voice never even falters, what a brave girl.

"That boy you were with," Simon said. He drew his face to hers, "The one who made you cry." Relena's eyes betrayed her thoughts, she was searching for her answer, she did not know for sure.

"Y-yes, no, I mean" Relena faltered, "I don't know." Her eyes filled with tears and she bit her lip to keep them from falling. Simon smirked.

"If he does," Simons eyes made a mad twitch and he smiled once more, "I'll let you kill him if you want. He deserves it for what he did to you." Relena looked horrified.

"I could never," She started in a sick whisper, filled with disdain. "You don't Simon, I mean You just don't kill people because they upset you"

"I do," Simon cut in. He put his face closer to hers again. "Why else would you be here?"

"I'm sorry for what ever I did" Relena started.

"Don't patronize me Relena, just because I'm insane does not mean I'm dumb. Besides," Simon said, he pulled a knife out and put it to her throat. "If it was my decision I wouldn't kill you"

"But it IS your decision!" Relena told him frantically. Simon glared at her.

"NO!" Simon told her at the top of his voice. Then he calm down, she deserved to know why he had to kill her. "No," he said again more quietly, "I have to do it because if I don't I'll be punished again. They punish me for not doing the job, it's what their for, so I don't break the rules. They help me, even if it means pain, because they make the pain stop when I hurt the girls. It all stops" Simon let out a tear from widened fearful eyes.

"Who Simon?" Relena asked gently. "Who does?" Simon smiled again and pulled a picture from his pocket.

"Them," Simon said and laughed in a panicky way.

"Oh Simon," Relena said sorrowfully. The picture was blank, there was nothing on it. Simon was insane, he had made it all up in his head. "Oh Simon," Relena said again.

"Good bye my doll," Simon said and he left pocketing the picture, "Good bye"

"Simon" Relena felt so confused again, so much pain in his eyes, so much fear. He felt those things, the pain, mentally he felt every punishment 'they' gave him. She felt sorry for him, but then again he was going to kill her So confused! She curled up and cried herself to sleep.

*Heero And The Gang*

"Hn" Heero looked at the vast field before him. It was empty They had failed.

"Look at this," Quatre picked up a computer he'd found on the ground. He handed it to Heero, who examined it immediately.

"Well?" Wufei asked impatiently, "What is it?"

"A message holder," Heero said, "Watch" He turned a few switches and the screen activated creating a 3D image above itself. The face of a well bronzed boy with shocking white hair and green eyes smirked at them.

"Hello," The voice was chalky and grated. "If your watching this, you took my bate." Simon smiled. "Cool, this means I'm in a cellar at the Myself Factories probably torturing Relena to death. That is, unless it's been less then four hours" Simon shrugged, "In which case come and get me." The screen flickered and shut off.

"I'll come and get him alright," Zechs clenched his fists. "How long has it been?"

"3 hours and 14 minutes," Noin told him. "We'll have to do this in a major rush to get there on time."

"It's what we're good at," Duo told her. "Last minute change of plans. Let's go." He said through his wrist communicator.

"Ships all set, I planned ahead," Hilde told them from the ships intercom. "Let's bust a move, Relena's out there still, I know it. This can't all be for nothing." The rest packed up the gear and hauled it quickly into the shuttle. It was off to New Zealand, by Heero's calculations by the time they got there they would have 15 minutes to find Relena and get her out. Everyone was working on how to make this possible. Sally the only one unable to find work to do paced up and down waiting for everyone else to figure things out.

"I knew I shouldn't have dropped computer tech. in college," she told herself with mild annoyance. She knew enough about computers to make them work, but her hacking skills were nothing compared to everyone else's skills on this shuttle.

*Meanwhile*

She woke up shortly after and looked hazily at the clock. 35 minutes, was that all she had left? Where were her friends? She'd even face Heero to get out of this place. It haunted her. She had identified the unique smell of the room, it was coppery with the slight scent of rat poison. She shivered, and it kept getting so cold, so very cold. She stretched protesting muscles and groaned with the effort of stretching herself all at once after waking up from a dream like phase of thought. She yawned a thick yawn and laid back down thinking this may well be the last minutes of her life. It was a very unbearable thought, one that seemed so distant. Even now she was sure her friends would come.

But the minutes ticked by, and still no one came. Her hope flickered slightly but still held strong. They would come. They HAD to come. More minutes went by, and still no one. Time flashed by, going much faster then she liked. She watched as the clock unbelievably hit the last minute. No, she told herself, no, no, no. It's not the last minute, they'll come. They're probably already here, killing Simon. Yeah, that was it, they had to get him first. She felt weak, limp with fear. Even to her the lies seemed pitiful and half hearted. She panicked.

"5, 4, 3," She whispered in harmony with the flashing clock, "2, 1"

"Happy new year!" Simon entered, he was holding a large knife. "Want to know what my resolution was for he new year?" He asked as giddy as a child.

"No," Relena told him. Simon ignored her.

"It was a New Years kiss from my very special friend, you, as a matter of fact," Simon said.

"It's not New Years," Relena told him.

"Sure it is," Simon told her, "Sure it is, now come on and give me my kiss."

"I can't," Relena told him and she looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Sure you can," Simon told her, "Just walk on over"

"That's the problem," Relena told him, "My leg's chained to the metal table." She wasn't at all unhappy about that fact at this moment right now. What she needed to do was stall him.

"Oh, how rude of me," Simon said, "I'll come to you my special little doll." He strode over to where Relena sat, legs placed beneath her, hands folded, and eyes cast down. Her eyes flickered to the knife. "How bout a kiss?" Simon asked her.

"" Relena said nothing. They weren't coming, she was going to die. She was going to die here, in this small room, with a mad man. She was going to die because of one mistake she'd made when she was 14. She began to cry. One stupid, cowardly, mistake.

"Now don't cry," Simon told her, "we can still play together for a little while. You play along my little doll, and maybe I'll let you live a bit longer. How does that sound? Good?" Simon stroked her hair. "Here let me kiss it and make it all better." Simon raised her chin, stooped down and kissed Relena

An: Well? What cha think? E-mail me at traciemails@earthlink.net You CAN mail me you know, I don't bite. Much.