Heartless

ANOTHER LITTLE STORY I WROTE!

   The fall wind blew gently between the trees of Central Park. Kids were going home after playing, couples were walking through the park hand in hand, and here and there were a few dog walkers pulling canines big and small on leashes as the sun gently dipped behind the tall buildings over the horizon.

   A page of the evening paper flew through the air and landed on a park bench where a plain, average young woman sat feeding the birds and singing softly. The headlines read:

PSYCHOPATHIC MURDERER STRIKES AGAIN

YOUNG BOY AND GIRL BRUTALLY KILLED, BOY STABBED TO DEATH, GIRL SUFFOCATED AND THEN SHOT, FAMILY DEVASTATED

   "Oh dear, not another one of those cold blooded murders... What is becoming of the world these days? Innocent children being killed like that... It makes me sad," she said softly to the birds as she glanced at the paper.

   The birds chirped back.

   Mere yards away, hidden in the shadows of the evening light, a large, hefty man watched the woman. He wore dark clothes and heavy leather boots.

   There. She will be my next target, he thought. She seems easy enough. I'll follow her around and collect information on her. And then... in exactly three weeks... A cold smile stretched across his face. Your countdown begins now, he thought.

   The man was none other than the infamous, and all the same feared, psychopathic murderer whose recent exploit was detailed in the newspaper.

   Aristotle Barnes had been a bully since his school days, and had dropped out of school to engage in underground drug dealing businesses. He was a thief until last year when he killed his robbery victim, and now he kills for the fun and thrill of it. He selects a random victim, follows them around for a few days or weeks to gather information on them, and then murders them.

   And he just found his next victim!

   Aristotle followed the woman home that night. Creeping along the shadows, he saw her stop by at an old age home to spend time with the elderly, and generously give money to the homeless. Her home was a small apartment on the second floor of a little red brick building. She stayed up till late at night before the lights went out in her window.

   He continued to stalk her over the next three weeks. He found out a lot about the woman- whose name was Sofia Haven. He followed her to work (she was a librarian) and the park everyday, to the shops she went to, the old age home she visited every other day, ..... he stalked her everywhere. 
   The night of her execution finally came. Sofia arose that morning with a strange feeling in her gut. She did not know what it could possibly account for. As she carried on with the day's work, the feeling slowly faded and the thoughts of unease were pushed to the back of her head.
   At 10:30 that night she went to bed, unsuspecting of the fate that awaited her.
   By 11:00 she was fast asleep, dreaming.
   The door to her apartment creaked open. Aristotle had found her spare key when he was stalking her, and stole it to use on this night.
   Tip toeing across the hall and living room, he arrived at Sofia's bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, he entered.
   It was now 11:45pm. Aristotle stood there in the dark over Sofia's bed, who was in peaceful slumber. He stood there, knife in hand, ready to slit her throat and end her life. In fact he had been standing there like that for fifteen minutes now!
   He thought of the day in the park he heard her sing. It was a song about hope, hope for a better world and where she could help everyone. She was lively and sweet, and her voice was chocolate to Aristotle's ears. She was kind hearted and caring even to the birds and animals. 

    And all at once, standing here beside her bed over her sleeping figure, Aristotle realized he could not do it. He could not kill her. Seeing her kind nature made him want to go feed the birds and help people too. She had softened his heart. He did not know how, and didn't realize it until now.

   Sheathing his knife, he instead went to her desk, borrowed her pen and a piece of paper, scrawled something on it, and planting a chaste kiss on Sofia's forehead, quickly and quietly left the apartment.

   The next morning Sofia woke up to see a note on her bedside table next to the spare key she had lost a week ago.

You stole my heart and left me confused,

because I didn't know I had one

until I met you.

-AB

   Intrigued, Sofia wondered who her mysterious midnight visitor could have been. But she had to get dressed and go to work now, so she put the note aside and got out of bed.

   However, it was not long before she guessed who it might have been.

   It was all over the news- the notorious Aristotle Barnes had walked into the police station just after midnight and turned himself in! And when asked, he simply repeated that he lost something he didn't think he had till now, and was ready to accept his punishment and repent for his ways.

   A trial was to be held for him that very afternoon.

   Sofia looked at the name of the police station Aristotle turned himself in to. That's only two blocks away from my apartment. She remembered the note on her bedside table that morning. Aristotle Barnes.... AB.

   At that very moment, across town, Aristotle had just been awarded a death sentence. The court had listened, bewildered, as he quietly confessed to all his crimes and calmly answered every single question posed by them. It's not everyday you see something like this! A harsh man turned into something like that... could it be the work of magic? He had just one request. "If a woman named Sofia Haven ever wants to see me... Please let me see her, one last time, before my execution." And her name was instantly all over the media. The headlines read HEARTLESS MURDERER TURNED HIMSELF IN, ONLY ALLOWED TO SEE SOFIA! The internet exploded with people asking how this woman named Sofia Haven could have possibly changed a psychopathic murderer into this. "Could it be that Aristotle fell in love with her? Is love really so powerful that it could change such a person's heart?"

   And Sofia, of course, went to visit him the very next day. She had to know why, why her?

   When Aristotle saw her, his heart beat faster than a racing horse. And yet, there was sadness on his face.

   "I don't understand...," Sofia started softly.

   "I don't either," Aristotle replied through the glass that separated them. "But I couldn't kill you. And seeing you... Watching you all the time made me want to be a better man. I thought I was heartless. People have called me that for as long as I can remember, and I've done my best to live up to that name. But then... you stole something I didn't know I still had!" He laughed.

   Tears slid down Sofia's face.

   "I know I can't change now. I've committed too many crimes. I don't deserve life. I'm glad I was given a death sentence. I don't deserve to be given a second chance in this world."

   A pause. Sofia is sobbing quietly now.

   "But I just wanted to see you... one last time. To thank you, Sofia. At least now, I have changed. And I owe it all to you. Thank you."

   Sofia was covering her mouth and crying into her hand. She slowly raised the other hand up to the glass and placed it there. Aristotle raised his and placed it on the other side, on top of hers. His hand was far bigger than hers.

   Sofia couldn't think of anything to say. She could only cry because this was the saddest thing she had ever heard of, and she couldn't believe that it was she who had brought about this change in the former criminal.

   Then, Aristotle asked her to sing just one last song for him, a song of hope. And through her tears she sung a devastating song of a nightingale in sorrowful woes, but how hope would prevail and better days would come. And he listened and remembered her voice till the last second of his life. In his final moments he saw only Sofia. He saw and he heard only her soothing song, as he took his last breath.

THAT'S THE END OF THE STORY! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS!