Student Stories

 
Assassin  

I perched on the windowsill, silent as night, invisible to all but the rat that stared up at me from below. A cool wind threatened to upset my balance, almost blowing me of my perch and into the dark shadows that lay beneath me. Steadying myself, I slipped open the window and crept inside.
I was in a bedroom, bare but for a few essentials. A single bed was tucked into a corner, and a chest of drawers stood beside it- a photo of a ginger cat rested on it, alone where memories of family and friends were normally found. This was the house of a single woman, living alone when by all rights she should be happily married. Turning my attention back to the bed, I noticed a dark form sleeping in it. Cursing, I ducked down, sure that she had seen me. I thought she was downstairs! Still it didn’t matter; she slept on, oblivious to my presence.
Slowly, I drew the knife from my belt.
I tried not to notice the long brown hair flowing down her back, reminding me ounce again of the horror of the deed I was about to commit. She was just a target, I told myself, as much as a lump of cardboard as the dummies I had trained on for years.
It was an easy throw. I couldn’t miss. With trembling fingers I took out the blade, willing my self to carry on.
I breathed deeply-and in one movement, threw the knife.


And there I stood, perfectly still, petrified in the horrible thoughts racing through my head. I had killed some one. I was a murderer. All at ounce I started shaking, I sank to the floor and put my head in my hands. It was done.

And then the woman sat up.
No. That wasn’t right. I couldn’t have missed. Had she move just before she met death’s deadly embrace? No, I was too fast- no human could have moved quickly enough to evade the cold steel of that knife.
When she spoke, her voice was strong and confident, penetrating deep into the depths of my fears.
“Why?”
Just one word, one tiny word, but the worst sound I had ever heard in my life. I couldn’t answer. I could never have answered. How could I reply? It was my job? I was doing it for the money?
I looked up, but instantly regretted it. Her eyes, reflecting a far greater power than one person could ever posses, bore deep into mine, going right into my very soul and tearing it apart.
She stood up, breaking the trance that held me in place.
I tried to make a dash for the window, the would- be killer running away from its prey. But in the blink of an eye she was there, blocking my path.
“Why?”
My whole frame collapsed and I sighed deeply, too shaken to respond to the quickness of her movement. ‘They sent me.’ I muttered, “I didn’t have a choice- you can’t say no to the brotherhood.”
I was talking fast now, spitting out my words before their retched taste could foul my mouth.
“It’s not up to me as to who they turn their attention on. You make mistakes, you pay the consequence- its all that the brotherhood stands for.” I looked back down at the floor. “I can’t refuse their will. I owe my life to them, I would be shovelling muck in some god forsaken hovel if they weren’t here! They raised me, they brought me up!”
The woman just scowled.
“No. You’re wrong - you weren’t sent here to kill me. You were sent here to get killed.” She said it so simply, so matter of fact, that I almost believed her. But not quite.
“Why would they do that?” I scoffed, “I’ve been loyal to them from the very beginning!”
A strange glint appeared in her eye. Without warning, and before I could do anything, the knife that I had once used to try and kill her was now hurtling towards me. It buried itself an inch above my head, still quivering. My eyes widened with shock. She hadn’t missed. I could tell in an instant that if she had wanted to kill me, that knife would already be in my throat.

 She was toying with me.

“Do you really think the brotherhood would want an assassin that was to afraid to kill anyone?” She jeered.
 “What use are you to them, really?”
“But I did… the knife… you should be dead!” I stammered.
All she did was laugh.
“Don’t you realise? Your throw was miles of – it could never of hit anyone. No matter how hard you try, something stopped you; something threw of your aim. You’re not a killer terry, nothing can change that.” With her words still ringing in my ears, I realised that she was right. I couldn’t kill anyone. And the brotherhood knew it. That’s why they had sent me here. To get killed by this strange woman who wasn’t a woman, wasn’t even human.
As if she was reading my mind, she shook her head and said, “No, I don’t work for the brotherhood. I don’t work for any one. My talents are my own – and I choose how I use them.” She grinned.
“Leave the brotherhood terry- choose your own destiny, and use your skills for how you see fit.”
I felt an unearthly force take over me, dulling my senses and making me tired, so very tired. I caught a glimpse of the woman standing over me - and then every thing went black.

 

To be continued…Maybe, if I have time…