Safe & Sound: A Marvel Universe Fan-Fic (Avengers & X-Men)

Prologue: The Scarlet Killer

Prologue: The Scarlet Killer

 

         She slowly extended a fragile hand towards him. A pleasant smile took place upon his face growing from one corner of his mouth to the other. He closed his eyes, waiting for her gentle touch to graze him. She, just as beautiful and mystical as a cool summer’s night breeze, tangled her fingers into his hair pulling him closer to her. She brought her forehead to his, breathing in his heavy uneven breath. She sealed her eyes shut, gripping his hair so much tighter. And just like that, their lips met in one splendid magnificent storybook kiss. I made my move.

        Unnoticed at first, I crept into their line of view. The man took note of me first, pulling away from the woman. His face said it all: I had startled him.

        “Hey, man! How’d you get in here?” Firm. His voice was firm as he was trying to show his dominance over me but I had breached his comfort zone. My gaze brushed against the woman who was half hiding behind the man and half exposed to me as she coward into his left shoulder.

        “What do you want?” She murmured. She was beautiful. A smart choice for an accomplished businessman. I smirked. How soon their world would come crumbling down right before their very eyes. “Do you want money? We have money. Please! Just take it and leave.”

        “Don’t bargain with criminals!” The man barked. She flinched. “Get the hell out of my house! How the hell did you slip past security, anyways? You’d have to be some sort of ghost! And what the hell are you doing in my room? Get out, you freaking pervert!”

        His voice rang false in my ears. Empty threats. I could feel the excitement pumping through my veins. Fear radiated from every pore of her body. Confusion swept across his face. I wiggled my fingers before carefully raising my hand to her.

        “Your fear is delicious.” I hummed. “Ah, yes. You fear pain. You fear me. You don’t like the fact that I’ve entered your haven.” She contorted further into his body, shielding her face from me. He hugged her in his arms.

        “I told you to get out!” He growled. “I can have this place swimming with cops in two seconds! Do you want to take that chance?”

        I ignored him. “There’s more fear, isn’t there? Yes. You fear that your beauty will one day leave you and that all your friends and this lovely plush life you love indulging in will eventually fade away. How sad.”

        I curled my fingers into the palm of my hand. She started gasping for air. Her flawless skin, once tight and youthful, started to weather and wrinkle. Her glossy sandy hair lost its luster and warts grew from every nook of her body.

        “Wha-what’s happening?” She cried. Her voice crackled with age. She let out a blood curdling screech. The man’s eyes grew large with fear. “I’m hideous! What have you done! Don’t look at me! Don’t look at me!”

        “Angela!” He screamed. His hands started to shake as he inched further and further away from her. “She’s old! You’re a- you’re a-“

        “Mutant?” I finished. “Monster? Oh, to you they are one in the same, aren’t they? And let us  find out what your deepest fear is, shall we?”

        I fixed my attention towards him. He backed away.

        “Don’t you dare get near me.” He boomed, but his voice gave him away. He was already beginning to unravel. “I said stay away!”

        “You fear losing control.” I told him. “But that one is clear. Let’s dig a little deeper. Yes, I see it. You fear getting your hands dirty. Doing something you might regret. Like, let’s say, seeing someone you care about die and not doing a damn thing to stop it.”

        I held out my arm. The woman, Angela, was yanked away from her safe place under the sheets of the bed. Once again, a scream pierced the air as she landed in the clutches of my arms. I brushed the hair away from her neck. I could feel the blood rushing under her skin. I held her tightly in my arm, locking her into place. The man was frozen. He didn’t dare move as I navigated my fingers around her slender neck.

        “He-help!” She hiccupped. No one moved.

        “What do you want?” He cried. “Why are you doing this?”

        I pressed my lips into a firm grin and dug my nails through the woman’s naked flesh. A warm liquid squirted through the gapes of my fingers and ran down my wrists. Angela squirmed, but her fight was short lived. Soon she became limp. Soft sobbing developed in the corner. I fixed my stare at the man cowering in the covers of his bed. I dropped the woman, Angela, and glanced at my hand now covered in a beautiful crimson liquid.

        “A lovely color, isn’t it?” I asked examining my hand. I rubbed my fingers together feeling the moist blood as it rubbed into my skin. “Some call it the color of passion. Crimson. Scarlet. You asked me why. I do not have a good enough reason for you, I’m afraid. I just like the color of blood.”

        His eyes widened in horror as I carefully made my way to his side. Another fear he had, unfortunately, was being in tight confined spaces.

        Claustrophobia.