With a silent landing she appeared from the vents inside the spacious bureau. Her eyes scanned through the round room, a big window front, looking down on the illuminated town from the hundredth floor. An alluring sight indeed but her eyes were drawn to the desk with the big chair in the middle of the room, they were also the only furnishings there. Slowly, she rose up and with hushed steps moved closer to the chairs back facing her.
Her hand reached gently for the handle of the sword on her waist. With an casual motion she began to draw it just as a voice rang out from behind the chair, ‘’So you have finally come.’’
Her motion instantly hastened and the elegant sword was drawn from its scabbard soundless, ready to strike. But the kind voice rang out again, ‘’No need to be hasty, I won’t run or call for help. Afterall I knew you were coming, hear this old man out before you kill him please.’’
Her motion stopped, the blade just an handwidth from the chair’s back, her body ready to strike in an instant. ‘’Speak.’’ Her voice rang out.
Very slow the chair turned around, the old man with grey hair looking at her, her target. A strange feeling befell her as the assassin looked into his eyes, they seemed so ancient, so full of kindness. The edge of her blade moved, coming to rest on his throat within a blink. She nodded after letting her eyes scan him for any threat.
‘’Once.. A long time ago I was similar to you my child. I followed the path of human slaughter, countless lives fell under my hand, a wretched existence I was at that time. But that lies a long time behind now.’’ For a moment his eyes became distant, then they focused again and he continued his words.
‘’Child, you are bound by shackles of your own creation. Freedom was yours all along, you were just blind to it as nobody ever showed you. So let this old one become the key to open those chains for you.’’ His kind smile never vanished from his lips as he spoke.
There never was a change of expression on her face either, as he nodded and closed his eyes her sword moved and struck forward. Piercing his heart in a clean motion. No sound was heard as he opened his eyes again. For a moment they just looked at each other, the target and the assassin.
His breathing became shallow and his eyes started to grow dim, only then with another soundless motion she withdrew her sword from his chest. ‘’I forgive you child.’’ Were his last words before he closed his eyes again, for the last time in his life. A strange feeling, one unknown to her arose within her.
And for the very first time in her life she cried. Her green eyes filled with tears, dripping to the floor and running down her face. It was at that moment she understood, she was free.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several hours later.
In a dim and sparse room she sat, her eyes red from crying. Her short hair disheveled and her clothes still stained with the blood of the old man. She had enough, ‘’No more...’’ She weakly whispered to nobody in particular as she grabbed her cellphone. She opened the contact list and sent a mass mail to all contacts.
# no more #
After sending this message she dialed another number and held the phone to her ear. A voice picked up on the other side, ‘’Emergency hotline, what is your emergency?’’ For a moment a shiver ran through her and a nausea arose within her before she spoke. ‘’I.. Please send the police, I want to hand myself in.’’ A ragged breath escaped her lips as she awaited the answer.
‘’What do you mean ma’am?’’ Her expression hardened and she nearly began to gag as her unsteady voice spoke again. ‘’I have committed murder, my last victim is the old guy at the bureau at the business district, struck down with a sword. You can find me at this location.’’ After giving her location she ended the call and waited. She kneeled down on the floor, laying this abominable sword on her lap and waited in silent darkness. It only took a few minutes till sirens were drawing closer from the distance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several days later within an Interrogation room.
‘’You know that you nearly got shot because you didn’t let go of your sword? It was a real hassle to find a way to seal it up on the spot.’’ The officer massaged his temples as he said that. He seemed rather exhausted after listening the last few days to her story. ‘’So, explain why do you have no problem with handing yourself in? With telling your story and give a full testimony, but not let go of your sword?’’ A big sigh escaped him as he leaned back against his chair.
The assassin looked at the reflection of herself in the double sided mirror. Her green eyes looked absent now instead of fierce, her features were sharp and hard as always but the sharpness which she would usually carry was now completely gone. Only her short silver hair had remained the same.
After keeping her silence for a bit she spoke in a soft voice, ‘’To protect you. It is my curse to carry it, nobody else should touch it.’’ Her expression remained unchanged, maybe something had broken. Or maybe there was never anything within her that could create expressions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five days later.
Once more she sat in the interrogation room. Awaiting the same officer who had talked to her all those days before. But when the door opened someone else stepped in. It was a man wearing a black suit with stern expression. Her eyes scanned over him, at his wrist a durable watch used by soldiers, his hands rough. Methodical movements, and from the way he moved he had seen his fair share of combat.
‘’Who sent you?’’ she asked with her soft voice, now again looking into the mirror. ‘’So you noticed, as one would expect from one such as you.’’ He answered her without a change in his expression. Not from one of the main agencies she thought. But still remained ultimately uncaring. ‘’I was sent by someone to give you an offer, as it is now you will be put to death. But I can give you an alternative.’’
Only now did she look at him again, her eyes turned fierce for a moment before returning to their listless state again. ‘’Death sounds good… I won’t need to kill again. It is justified.’’ She spoke this words still unmoved. What she feared was to be forced to kill again, to be shackled again by those chains which had bound her all her life. Death seemed to be such a sweet offer in relation to the other choice.
Both looked at each other now, if an outsider had walked in it would have been a strange scene. Both people in the room looking at each other without the slightest expression on their faces. Only after a good while did the Agent speak again. ‘’I think you are misunderstanding, I was not sent to hire you to kill humans, it is the opposite. We want to offer you the choice to live to atone for your deeds, your job would be to protect this time.’’ Her thin brows furrowed, making something close to an expression appear the first time in all those days on her face.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
‘’To protect means that I have to kill what tries to destroy what I protect, which means I would still need to kill. I decline.’’ With those words said her face turned solemn again. Once more quietness was spreading in the room. The suit wearing agent seemed to contemplate for a moment before speaking again.
‘’If you accept our offer you will live, I can not promise that you don’t need to kill humans, but if that is the case then something has majorly gone wrong. If nothing goes wrong really badly you will never need to kill humans again.’’ It was a strange scene, how those two could talk like that without showing any emotion at all.
‘’As long as there is a chance that I have to take another life I will not comply. I will choose death.’’ A big sigh escaped the agent, this was the first time that he showed something similar to an reaction to her words. Then he stood up and left without another word.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another five days later.
The last five days she had sat silently in her cell, contemplating what she had done all her life. Regret upon her inability to understand her freedom earlier kept pouring stronger and stronger into her mind. Making her feel sick and weak. On the fifth day she was brought to the interrogation room again, still carrying her now sealed sword.
Once more she was cuffed to the table and awaited whatever visitor would appear before her. Again it was the suit clad agent which entered instead of the officer. The game of silence began again between them. It lasted for ten minutes or so till he spoke. ‘’I spoke with my superiors, the offer is now as follows; You are granted amnesty should you decide to work for us, the work which you would partake in is highly dangerous and chances are you will lose your life along the way. Upon accepting this offer you will be taken to another place and receive certain training before participating in missions. You will be paid for each mission you finish, should you be unable to finish a mission you will receive only a quarter of the payment. Also, we promise you will not have to kill any humans in any mission.’’ With that said he leaned back against his chair awaiting her answer.
Her eyes now firmly focused on his, ‘’Tell me more.’’ That was her only response. No change in voice took place but now she gave him real attention. ‘’Even if we grant you amnesty we can’t let you walk around freely. So you will be confined to the ‘’base’’ if not on missions, but there you will have the freedom to move as you want. We can promise you full personal freedom there. If you need anything you can make a request and we will organise it to be brought to you, as the work you will do is rather special of nature we will also grant another request as long as it is not something outrageous. The only thing you need to do is listen to the orders of your superior and fulfill your missions to the best of your ability.’’
After hearing his offer she stayed quiet for a long time, contemplating what she wanted to do. ‘’I accept under the terms that I never need to kill, I accept under the terms that I can move freely and do not need to do anything shady. I accept under the condition that I get brought the things I require or want. As for my request. My sister.. she knows nothing of all that.. she.. I didn’t see or speak to her since I was a child...’’ This time her voice actually changed, something close to sadness or regret appeared for a moment in her eyes before she fell silent and returned to her usual behaviour.
The agent looked her deep in the eyes, then he nodded and went to the door. ‘’I will see to your request before we do anything further.’’ Then the door closed as he left. What remained behind was the assassin awaiting what would come.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ten days later.
The same boring room, the same scratched table, the same dim light. The assassin and the agent once more sat in front of each other, but this time the silence lasted much longer before words were spoken. A long and if one would interpret wildly sad sigh was given by the agent before he began to speak.
‘’I am sorry…’’ He did not look the young Assassin into the eyes which made hers turn sharp for once. ‘’What happened?’’ She demanded, with her voice returning back to what it once was, cold, fierce and severing. Her whole expression was that of the predator she was just weeks ago again.
She could see that her gaze made him shift around in his chair, so she waited. It took a while before he began to continue his words.
His voice was stern and clear as the following words left his lips. ‘’Two years ago your sister died in a robbery.’’ As she heard the words he had spoken her mind snapped, she could feel her pupils constricting and her muscles growing taunt. Her expression returned to the one she always had worn on the hunt. She scanned the room, she cuffs holding her, the distance to her sword and the agent. She calculated how fast she could get out of these cuffs grab the sword and kill him with the scabbard. She saw him moving moving his hand to a hidden gun on him, she also noticed the perspiration on his forehead. For a moment more she was contemplating. Then she took a deep breath, while breathing out her expression returned back to the listless one from before. Her muscles relaxing as she sunk back into the chair.
After a while he took his hand from the gun under the table, something she had long since noticed. Then she spoke in her usual soft and serene tone of voice. ‘’Sorry.. I nearly broke my vow..’’ Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, he seemed to have understood what she meant. Her words indicated that she was still in cuffs and bound because she allowed it to be so. That she could have broken free and probably killed him anytime she wanted.
‘’Sorry..’’ she said again, and she meant it. He had done nothing wrong, and that she knew. But she still had nearly gone and broken the vow she herself laid upon herself. Normally she would never make such a mistake. It was just a proof of how much she had changed in the last weeks. ‘’Please.. Tell me what happened.’’
It took a long time till it seemed that the agent had calmed down. Then he began to tell her the whole story, how her sister had lived, that she had a husband till he died, and that she had a daughter. It was there that the assassin stopped the agent. ‘’I have a niece?’’ For a brief moment her eyes grew kind, but only for a moment. ‘’Yes, right now she lives in an orphanage quite close to the location you would go to after accepting the job. And before you ask, she is well. The death of her mother hit her hard but she is on a good way as far as we can tell.’’ His face actually lost the hardness it had before and his eyes looked a bit kind now.
‘’I want to meet her.. wait.. I want to change my wish.. please make it so that she is safe.. I have many enemies.. please protect her, as long as you do that I will work for you.. also let me see her just once.. from a distance.. I can’t meet her as tainted in blood as I am...’’ Her eyes were bright for a bit till they returned back to their listless appearance.
Then the agent nodded to her and said, ‘’I accept those conditions including those from before, also if it interest you the one who killed your sister. He sits in prison right now for a life long sentence. But.. As a one time offer we can let you decide what happens with him.’’
The sharpness nearly returned to her eyes but then it vanished as fast as it had started to appear. ‘’Make sure he does not die, make sure he stays in the darkest place you can find and then lose the key, he has to live till he dies of old age.’’ A moment of silent returned before the agent nodded. Then as if momentarily distracted he murmured ‘’Darkest place... Just like us.’’ Those words went not unnoticed by her, but she decided to not say anything.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------