Love?
Kimi didn't believe in that. She believed she was cursed.
They say once is an accident and twice is a coincidence, but when two different people die and the only thing they have in common is Kimi…doesn't that mean it's a pattern?
First, it was Theo Summers.
They had known each other since they were kids. Kimi used to be close with his sister —Maya Summers. He had this light tan skin like he'd been under the sun but not for long. His hair was a cascade of sunlit curls, golden like beach sand with streaks of brown. And his eyes...his eyes were a mix of green, blue and a hint of brown all at once.
At first, they were just friends or so Kimi thought.
Theo had liked her since the day Kimi moved to their town. To him, she was so pretty and kind. But to her, he was that quiet boy who would always make things awkward. Sometimes he would act all shy and anxious, other times, he'd tease her non-stop. But Theo was always smiling. He became her favourite season. She couldn't figure him out—until the summer before high school, when they finally confessed to each other. They ended up going to the same high school and became known as the high school sweethearts. Because everyone was so sure that they would stay together and get married one day.
Kimi wondered if people didn't say that out loud more often, maybe it would've come true.
By the summer before sophomore year, Theo was gone. They said it was a hit-and-run, and they never found the culprit.
And then, there was Elijah Hayes—the boy from her uni.
Elijah didn't feel like summer at all. He felt like autumn. The opposite of Theo in every way. Dark, wavy hair and sharp brown eyes. He didn't try to be charming—but he was. Kimi thought she couldn't love someone else after the death of her first love. But things changed when she met Elijah. He taught her how to love again.
They kept running into each other everywhere—on campus, at the café where Kimi worked part-time. When Elijah found out she was working there, he would go there every day. Kimi didn't mind. After all, she liked being able to watch him—and even just interacting with him felt like more than she could ask for. She would beg her heart to be content with only that.
One day, Elijah decided to confess and ask her out, but she rejected him. How could she, when Theo's sister visited her dreams every night, eyes full of blame, as if Kimi had put him in the ground herself? And so she would keep rejecting him. Again and again and again.
He respected her decision but couldn't give up on someone who lived rent-free in his brain.
So, one day, Kimi decided it was her turn to confess—about why she couldn't be with him. Still, he didn't give up. He told her to just hang out as friends and nothing more. No pressure and no expectations. He wanted her to give him a chance, and so she did. He was straightforward and didn't shy away from being vulnerable. And, as one month passed after another, Kimi's heart started healing, the fear slowly draining from her veins.
They became a campus couple. Everyone liked Elijah, and everyone liked Kimi. Together, they made sense. Kimi got cast in a play, and Elijah was almost finished with his script. And, in their last year of uni, they decided to move in together.
A small one-bedroom with creaky floors and horrible lighting. At first, the shelves were half-empty and their mattress was still on the floor, but she'd never felt more like she belonged somewhere. The heater barely worked, the windows fogged every morning, and their tiny kitchen could only fit one person at a time—but it didn't matter. It was theirs. They decided not to buy new furniture and instead chose from the ones they already had from their previous apartments. Except that they did buy one thing together—a wooden rectangle kitchen table. Something simple, yet crucial, because it made them feel like they'd built a home together.
That same table would be stained with his blood three weeks later.
One late October evening, after rehearsals, Kimi would find him lying on his back on that kitchen table with a well-embellished dagger sticking out of his heart. And, unlike Theo's case, Elijah's culprit was known. The dagger was a signature—the HeartStricker's. They struck again.
They buried Elijah in December.
Three months after the murder.
Three months of headlines, rumours and silence.
Three months of his name passed around like he was only made out of six letters.
It didn't matter how many good things people said about him. As long as he was the victim of HeartStricker, he would always be painted as a bad person. To some, HeartStricker was a symbol of justice. To others, a cold-blooded killer with a cult following, who believed that the HeartStricker never struck the hearts of the innocent—but was that really true? It became a heated discussion in the forums.
📌 [Public Thread] Topic: Did HeartStricker EVER kill someone innocent?? 👀🗡️
🧵 Started by @Nwjnlover24
Nwjnlover24: HeartStricker never killed anyone innocent?
heartstrickerismymommy_r: Bfr, he definitely had to have done something for her to kill him
geegeeforever1: @heartstrickerismymommy_r yeah but his family and friends all talk so highly about him
Kimi would stay awake every night, scrolling through the comments. In the dark and with the hum of her laptop. Replying to anyone who tried to bash him. How dare they slander someone they never met?
Wanto478_: Nah hear me out… what if it was the gf like why's no one talking about how SHE was the one who found him??? Who says she didn't kill him?
deleted_user: [this comment has been removed for violating community guidelines]
__Seohotjune: @Wanto478_ FRRRRR cuz even if they find her dna, it wouldn't be suspicious since they lived together and she was the one who found him. There would be no need for her to even clean the evidence. Her alibi would always be strong. BRUH WHAT THE HELL SHES ACTUALLY SO SMART
crzynoir24: @Wanto478_ what if she's actually heartstricker...
Wanto478_: @crzynoir24 LMFAOOO u is gonna get jumped by her lil cult ☠️
heartstrickerismymommy_r: @crzynoir24 BE SO FR HOW COULD YOU COMPARE THAT PLAIN JANE TO MOTHER STRICKER!!??
adaggerforever: @crzynoir24 SYBAU YOU DONT EVEN KNWO WHAY YOUR TALKIJNG ABT
Nwjnlover24: wth this fandom is tweaking HARDD
deleted_user: [this comment has been removed for violating community guidelines]
geegeeforever1: @Nwjnlover24 it's not a fandom it's a whole ass CULT now 😭😭😭😭
Nwjnlover24: @geegeeforever1 IKR but im lowkey intrigued, who's the real HeartStricker...what if we actually might know her and how do even know it's a HER?
adaggerforever: @Nwjnlover24 Uhmm because it's definitely a her?? Is that even a question??
deleted_user: [this comment has been removed for violating community guidelines]
heartstrickerismymommy_r: @Nwjnlover24 CHECK MY PROFILE!! I made fan art of her!!
ryusoso: @heartstrickerismymommy_r she's literally so bad like be fr if hearstricker looked like this, I'd let her stab me ngl 😭😭
deleted_user: [this comment has been removed for violating community guidelines]
crzynoir24: @heartstrickerismymommy_r nah you gave HeartStricker a literal corset and high heels be fr
heart4life: can I introduce to u guys a concept called TOUCHING GRASS cuz wtf is this even?
eommaeommaga: @ryusoso YOURE NOT REAL
heartstrickerismymommy_r: @heart4life well maybe start introducing that to ur single ass first since youre no different from smh typing behind a screen thinking you better bruh
deleted_user: [this comment has been removed for violating community guidelines]
geegeeforever1: WHAT ARE THESE COMMENTS LIKE WDYM YOU WISH SHE COMES TO UR HOUSE AND CHOKES YOU HARD BEFORE STABBING YOU BRO JUST SAY UR SUICIDAL
mod_assistant_junior: @geegeeforever1 You have been warned. 🛑
heart4life: @hearstrickerismymommy_r Bro wht r u even saying
ruok25: @heartstrickerismymommy_r Lol u sure thats ur fan art? The proportions are lowkey insane tho...It looks like you fed a "hot female assassin" in some ai generator and called it art💀💀
geegeeforever1: BRO WHAT DID I DO???? IM GONNA TWEAK
deleted_user: [this comment has been removed for violating community guidelines]
heartstrickerismymommy_r: @ruok25 IT'S CALLED ARTISTIC INTERPRETATION? ?anyway y'all just mad i made her look better than that wannabe gf 🤡
whokilledelijah: can we focus?? bro was literally MURDERED?? His body wasn't even cold before y'all made thirst edits #justiceforelijahcuzthisaintit💀
randomghost49: @whokilledelijah wait who even IS elijah I'm so lost did he cheat or smth??
crzynoir24: @randomghost49 does bro live under a rock or somting 💀
geegee4ever1: @whokilledelijah HELPPPPP
whokilledelijah: @randomghost49 CHECK SEENSOSEE'S VID SHE MADE A WHOLE VIDEO ON IT
deleted_user: [this comment has been removed for violating community guidelines]
eommaeommaga: LMAOO THEY GOT DELETED MID THREAD
adoreren_777: i cant believe u guys are mad about the art, y'all know this is TAME compared to what heartstrickerfancore posts
auntiegladys68: Is heartstricker a band? My niece sent me this
Wanto478_: Not y'all sexualising a serial killer, y'all need God and a restraining order💀
fanfictionqueen_: guys... i wrote a fic where she lets the gf live because they were soulmates in a past life 🥺🖤🗡️ reply to me saying part 2, if u want the link
crzynoir24: @auntiegladys68 WHO'S AUNT IS THIS😭😭
eommaeommaga: @randomghost49 PART TWO
heartstrickerspersonalpet: HeartStricker if you're reading this... do me next 🥰
daggerdaddy69: NO MOTHER STRICKER NEVER KILLED ANYONE INNOCENT, SHE'S LITERALLY THE SYMBOL OF JUSTICE
chicopicollo: @daggerdaddy69 "symbol of justice"??? PLS BFR ts called a SEX SYMBOL and yall so down bad u cant even tell the difference💀
Nwjnlover24: what did I even start 😭😭
mod_jinah: we've deleted 47 comments and y'all still posting "stab me mommy" comments...i give up
67 USERS TYPING..
mod_warning_bot: 🚨 THREAD UNDER REVIEW FOR EXCESSIVE VIOLENCE, NSFW CONTENT, AND FALSE INFORMATION 🚨
She didn't feel anything while reading the comments. No anger. No sadness. Not even a slight ache.
They humanised the killer and blamed the victim—stripping away all his humanity. They talked about Elijah like he was a poorly written character waiting to be dissected by strangers hiding behind a screen.
They turned him into content. Her into a symbol, and no one was left human. In the end, everything was just an entertainment, dosing them with more dopamine.
Kimi... she was exhausted. Drained. Deep down, she'd hoped to find hope in others but they were no different.
The threads and the discussions were just as empty as she was. They, too, were trying to fill themselves with whatever they could find—and that just happened to be Elijah.
So, she closed her laptop. And the silence that followed was heavier than all the nasty words typed by the netizens.
She sat on a mattress on the ground. Surrounded by moving boxes. It felt like déjà vu but this time, she was alone in a new apartment.
She moved into a studio after Elijah's death—not because it became a crime scene or a hotspot for The Daggers, [1]but because she knew that if she went back, she'd be haunted by all the memories, the nightmares and all the unhinged fans who had projected their anger on her. But even in this new apartment, she could still smell his blood. And every time she closed her eyes, she would see him lying on the red wooden table.
Maybe she was being too dramatic.
Or maybe no one else seemed to understand that everything was real.
Elijah was real.
He bled—just like them.
Their words were cruel, and their hearts were colder than the cold blizzard slamming her window shut.
But that's not true.
It's a lie.
One that deserves a great punishment.
The cold wasn't cruel. The storm wasn't heartless.
Because, despite being harsh, the sky was the only thing that seemed to have blood pumping through its veins and a heart that still beat.
The sky—grey, trembling, raging—howled louder than the storm inside her. Louder than anyone.
Somehow, it showed more empathy than any living soul could. Like, it understood death.
It raged and wept. For a boy it never knew.
It was the only thing that remembered Elijah as human. And even on this cold night, it was reminding everyone.
[1] The Daggers is the name for HeartStricker's fandom/Cult.