On the night of Cindy's first mission as an assassin, she stood over her lifeless victim with a look of dread on her face. The slight smell of blood, mixed in with cigarettes and perfume, wafted around the already putrid apartment. For the first time in her life, the half-elf had taken someone else's. It was inconceivable to the young girl just a few days ago, but there lay her first kill inside the ragged apartment; a middle-aged woman that was abusing her foster children, laying dead inside her own apartment with her eyes still open.

I...did it. I actually did it. Unforgivable... I'm unforgivable.

The frantic half-elf realized that she had to gather herself quickly, and clear the scene before she was caught. In order to remain focused on the task at hand, the half-elf quickly flipped a switch in her extremely stressful situation. Her face soon went completely blank and devoid of emotion, as she called Ben to inform him of the mission's completion.

- ping ping ping

Cindy's phone started to vibrate silently.

"Hello, Director Ben? Yeah, the job's done," the half-elf said in a monotone voice. "But... I need help. I don't think I can lift the package by myself," Cindy said, using discretion.

"No worries Cindy, just stay where you are. I'll have a few...associates come and help you out with that. Just clean up as best you can," Ben said over the phone. "And the boy is safe too, I presume?"

"Yes," Cindy said quietly.

"Excellent job, Cindy...you're a sweet girl, you know that?"

"Ok," Cindy replied, as her voice started to crack, trying her best to hold on to her facade.

As Cindy waited for assistance with handling the body, she sat next to the boy, Jon, on the dirty couch inside the apartment. She was still staring at the cold, lifeless body on the ground with apathy.

"T-thank you miss. You really saved me. You...you're amazing, Miss Cindy," Jon said.

"I'm not amazing, kid... I killed someone. For the first time in my life, I killed someone. What's so amazing about that?" Cindy asked.

"Well, you killed an evil witch that would've hurt more people like me, so I'd say that's pretty amazing. Serves you right, old hag!" Jon said, while flipping off the woman's corpse.

"Hey, stop that. A life is....still a life, right? No one needed to die tonight. I just...my mind just...went blank for a moment and... I-I don't know," Cindy said, holding her head to the ground. "Listen kid, don't ever be like me...ever."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Silence filled the room for a while longer, until Cindy's help finally arrived. Two men in black suits, wearing gloves, entered the apartment building. There was an older man carrying a suitcase, looking to be in his fifties with gray hair, a large beard, and a skinny frame. The other man looked to be in his thirties, with brown hair and a scar across his face.

"Hm, hm," You've made quite the mess indeed, young miss," said the gray haired man in a scruffy voice. "Very inefficient, indeed."

"Come now, Mason. Don't tease the poor girl. It was her first assignment, after all," said the brown haired man. "She's just a baby," he said with an arrogant grin.

"Hmph excuses, excuses. Honestly, the youth these days need more discipline. Ah well," Mason sighed. "Let's wrap this up quickly, shall we, Chris?"

Cindy still had her head slumped to the ground with a blank expression on her face, as the two assassins lectured and belittled her.

"Wow, they look so cool," said Jon.

"Kid...just be quiet. You're really not phased by any of this?"

"Of course I am," the boy said. Can't you see my hands? They've been shaking all this time and my heart's still beating super fast. It's just...it's not my first time seeing a dead body. Not my second, either... so you kinda get used to it after a while. Besides, I can tell you're putting on a tough face, too. Am I right?"

"Kid...," Cindy said while lightly touching the boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she grimaced, closing her eyes.

"For what?" the boy replied. "Sometimes you just gotta wear a mask."

"You're tough...," Cindy said as she watched the two assassins curiously. "So, what are you going to do with her?"

"We'll dispose of it. We'll just package her up and clean up a bit more. You might want to take the boy into another room, however. This might be a bit...messy," Mason said in a grim tone, as he opened up the suitcase.

"Wh-what are you gonna do with that?" Cindy asked.

Neither of the two assassins responded to the half-elf's question, as the younger man named Chris rolled out a thick, large plastic sheet from the suitcase. A look of dread started to slowly creep onto Cindy's face again, as she rushed the young boy into his room.

"J-just let us know when you're done," Cindy said nervously.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked. "This was your mess, so you're going to help us clean it up."

"I-I can't do tha-,"

"You must," Mason said before Cindy could finish her sentence. "You're one of us now, correct?"

"....Yes," Cindy hesitated before responding.

"Good. Now get over here and put on these gloves, please. Let's strip her down first," Mason said.

The three proceeded to strip the deceased woman of all of her clothing, placing them inside the suitcase. Cindy noticed black and purple bruises across the woman's arms, most likely from needles, she thought. The foul mixtures of smells continued to linger about, as they moved forward.

"Grab her leg, Cindy," Chris instructed.

"Ok."

"Now snap it. Bend it, bend it until it snaps."

- crunch crunch crunch

The leg made several crunching sounds as Cindy struggled to bend and break, until it was twisted and mangled. One after another, Cindy was ordered to break them all herself, until the corpse was compact enough. By the time the half-elf got to the third limb, her facade was long undone, as she sobbed uncontrollably while crunching the last of the woman's limbs.

I'm sorry.