Kindness Kills A Murderer

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You are both 21

Modern

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"Any last words? Say them."

"Go to Hell."

"Already here."

Gliding your knife across his throat, you steal his life from him. You watch him collapse and his eyes portray disbelief, which turned into shock, next anger, then sadness, before finally they turned into an empty eternity. He would never hold emotion in his eyes again.

You leave the scene, already knowing no evidence would lead to you. You're a twenty one year old girl. Feeble looking, with (H/ C) hair, innocent (E/C) eyes, and pink lips that easily told lie after lie without the slightest care. You had taken the lie detector test before and received a perfect score. The machine said you weren't lying, when you lied about everything after the first handful of questions you told the truth on.

A professional at her finest. A killing machine. A heartless creature. Barely, if human at all.

You learned at a young age emotions were for the weak. You watched your parents be murdered before your own five year old eyes. You were kidnapped and sold to a creep who did unmentionable things to the children he bought. You escaped when you were seven with a six year old boy. He was like a brother to you. Together, y'all hid in the shadows for two weeks before getting caught.

The boy was shot soon after y'all were caught. Your eyes widened at the sight. Your mouth screamed his name. Your voice raised in hysterics. Your tears swam down your cheeks. Your legs rushed toward him as he collapsed. Your arms gathered him closer to you. Your ears listened to his soft and final words. Your eyes watched his eyes become an empty void. Not an ounce of emotion. No pain. No sorrow. No happiness. No love.

He would never hold emotion in his eyes again.

You ended up killing two guys in a red haze. The third guy fled. That was when Kazher found you. He found the two bodies you had stolen life from and took you in. He trained you to be the best assassin the world had ever seen. Your name: The Bloody Thorn. Thorn, sharp and poisonous; blood, the liquid that gave and took life.

You had your first mission when you were eight. You surpassed Kazher's hopes in your capability. Quickly, you received more missions than anybody else. You received any toy, game, food, candy, everything you asked for, but you didn't ask for much of anything except books.

Books took you into a land where evil could be conquered. Books took you into a land where happy endings weren't just false hopes and dreams. Books were your escape.

But the deaths of a over a thousand murders soon plagued your thoughts.

By nature, you had not a harmful bone in your body. No, they were forced there. The hate. The rage. The pain. A being without a heart.

Or, maybe- just maybe- the heart was sheltered. Protected by a wall until it was time to love again.

***************

To say Kazher was shocked was an understatement. You never showed a sign of distaste in the lifestyle, the line of work. And, dare you had, just quit.

With a silent nod wearing a shocked expression, he let you walk away: alive.

Life, living as a normal person, was boring. Day in and day out, your routine was the same. Wake up, get ready for the day, go to work, plaster a semi real smile to customers, go to the park to read, go to your apartment, shower, read, eat dinner, read, go to bed. Mondays and Thursdays you went to the gym for a few hours instead of work.

However, while life was a bit repetitive, you never regretted quitting.

Especially when a certain auburn haired, green eyed boy starting worming his way into your life.

"Hi, (Y/ N)," he greeted, after seeing you at the cafe you worked at for a week.

"Um, hi, uh," you trailed off, not knowing his name.

He stuck his hand out. "Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third," he finished.

You smiled. "Nice name. I like it."

He blinked but laughed. "Oh, do you?" You nodded. "That's a first. Most people think my name is, well, dumb. I don't stray far them."

You kindly shook your head in disagreement. "Don't sell yourself short, kid."

He chuckled, "Kid? I'm twenty one. How old are you?"

"Twenty one," you more of asked then answered, then nodded to confirm it. "Yeah, twenty one."

"So we're the same age, and I'm not a kid. Anymore."

You let out a snort that was a lot like a laugh.

"You don't laugh a lot, do you?" he analyzed.

"Not often, no. Why?"

He folded his hands together, letting his elbows rest on the table while his chin rested on his entwined knuckles. "I think you have a pretty laugh. I just made it my mission to make you laugh every day."

You almost declined, but remembered you now had a choice about making friends. "Hmm, so, a friend?" you couldn't help but ask.

"Yup," he nodded, with a smile.

"I've never had a friend before," you admitted.

"Really? A pretty girl like you shouldn't be alone," he stated, making you blush. You had never blushed before, other than from anger. "Don't worry, I'm honored to be your first friend."

"How many friends do you have?"

"Uh, five, not including my dog, Toothless."

"Oh, cool," you said, not knowing what else to say.

"Can I have your number?"

"My what? Number?"

"You don't get out much, do you? Your phone number, so we can call and text."

"Oh, y- yeah here," you stuttered, pulling out your old flip phone.

"Old timer," he joked, not looking up as he punched in his number. "Here you go. I sent myself a text so I should have your number."

"Okay." You looked at his phone to see he texted himself Gotta love me ;). You laughed softly but excused yourself to leave, seeing as your shift at the cafe had ended before you started talking to Hiccup.

You texted almost all day every day, chatting a minute here and there at work and for a few minutes after work. A week later, you learned he lived right across the hall from you one day while you were running late to work. After that, he joined you on your trips to the park, which was sometimes cancelled so you could hang out at his place or yours.

You knew just about everything about him, and he knew everything about you. Everything except your past. You avoided talking about you past. Sometimes, he brought the subject up but let it go whenever you quickly changed the topic.

What both surprised and intrigued you was his kindness. You had never known someone to be as selfless and kind as him. He was patient and whenever he said a term or phrase you didn't exactly understand, he explained it or showed you the movie or tv show it came from. He taught you to ride a bike (which he thought it funny that you didn't know how) and stuff that young adults do. He of course, preferred reading, much to your excitement.

It was a shock however, when you realized you fell in love with him.

It was about five months after you met. You were both reading on opposite ends of his couch, with your knees bent and feet side by side with his in the middle. You glanced up from your book and stared at his perfect features for a minute, before it suddenly dawned on you.

Not knowing what to do, you blurted it out. "I love you, Hiccup!"

His eyes darted to meet yours in shock. "You what?"

You blushed and looked away. "I- I, uh, I-"

Your stuttering mess of a cover up was ended by him planting his lips to yours. You kissed back almost immediately, but he pulled back with a light pink dancing across his smiling cheeks.

"I love you, too."

You smiled brightly, thanking whatever God(s) out there for having Hiccup come into your life.

*****************

Two days later, Hiccup opened the car door, helping you step out of the car with a picnic basket in his other hand.

He had asked you out on your first date a few minutes after your confessions. Of course, you said yes.

A picnic while watching the sun set. What a better first date?

At least, that was how it started.

"More grape juice, mi'lady?" he asked, in a fancy accent, making you giggle.

"Yes, please."

He poured you a glass of grape juice as a man walked up to you.

"You (Y/ N)?" he grunted.

You slowly nodded, stiff as a board. "Yes. W-" You didn't finish your question, for he pulled a gun and pointed it at you.

By instinct, you shoved his gun up and used the hidden gun strapped to your thigh, under your knee length dress, to shot him in his forehead.

You face was blank as you searched the area for any more threats, ignoring the guy you just killed. Nodding when you didn't see anyone else, you turned towards a shocked Hiccup, frozen still from what he just witnessed. He stared at the nameless guy in horror.

You turned his attention to you when you aimed your gun at him.

"Leave no witnesses," you quoted.

He didn't move. He didn't beg for life. He didn't try to stop you. Nor did he accept the fact his life was over.

No, sadness pouring into his eyes stopped you from pulling the trigger. Not betrayal, like he should be feeling. Not fear for his own life, like he should have been. Sad pity, worry for you.

Your hand shook, something that never happened before. You stared intently into his eyes before closing yours gently, lowering the gun to your side.

"I can't," you whispered. "I can't kill the boy I love. I can't kill you, Hiccup."

You fell to your knees as tears fell down your cheeks. Hiccup pulled you into his arms and gently rubbed your back, whispering sweet nothings into your ear.

"H- How?" was all you could muster, but it was enough.

"Because I love you. Just like you love me enough to not kill me, I love you enough to not leave."

"But I've killed thousands of people," you admitted.

"Thousands?" he raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Two thousand and fifty seven." You glanced at the guy you just killed. "Fifty eight," you corrected.

"That's a lot of people," he agreed.

"I've been killing people since I was seven. I'm heartless! A monster! Only good for killing!"

He responded calmly. "I don't believe that. I know for a fact that that's wrong. You good a lot of things. For starters: your job. More importantly: you're great at making me happy. I love you, (Y/ N). I can bear some of your burdens but only if you let me. But remember, I'm always here for you."

"Please, I want to go home. To your home," you whimpered, for the first time in years.

He quickly threw everything in the basket. "For you, my dear, anything."

When you arrived at Hiccup's apartment, he brought you to his room and sat you on the bed. You kicked off your shoes, wiping tears off of your face only for more to replace them.

Hiccup gently guided your hands away and wiped your cheeks gently with a soft tissue, casually setting it on the bedside table.

He listened patiently, listening as you told you story.

He sat next to you before he pulled you gently so that you laid down, with you upper torso and head on top of him. "Shh," he comforted, rubbing you back gently. "I'm here. Let it out. You're safe, now."

"I'm a monster, though! A murderer!" you wept.

"I see no monster. And kindness kills a murderer. You just have to let yourself rise like a phoenix. Let yourself be reborn from your ashes. Let your past rule a different you."

"But I killed people! Ruined families!"

"And you're crying. You feel remorse, guilt. That proves that you are no monster. You are the girl who got caught up in with a tribe of ruthless monsters before realizing right from wrong. You learned and made yourself a better life. That does not make you a monster, it make you you. Live on, love strong. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be right beside you. If you ever need an ear to listen, just whisper in my ear. If you ever need to be held, I'll protect you from the world. Whatever you need, you are not alone. Not anymore. Never again. I promise."

He held you tightly, comforting you even after you fell asleep.

And, with a little help and quite some time, you were safe. Free from your haunting past; free from your demons.

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