Trigger Poison

                                                              Chapter 1

My knife slit through the flesh effortlessly. Hot blood gushed out over my hand and dripped to the hard stone floor in a large, dark pool that dampened my boots. The girl fell limp in my arms and I pushed her body down in a strong swift motion. The feeling of the kill sent tingles down my spine, the smell of the fresh blood filled my lungs and stuck in my throat like smoke. I found it hard to think that I only started this two years back when I was fourteen.

I turned away quickly, my foot landing heavily in the blood. I grimaced as I felt it seep up my leg. I don’t like doing this-killing-it's what my family make me do. There is no way out and so, I do it.

Three down, two to go.

I moved quickly but quietly forward with grim determination, my long, lethal blade searching the darkness that lay in front of me. Probing it, testing it for life. A column blocked my straight path forward and I swerved swiftly around it. Even my blood wet boots stayed silent. I backed up against the crumbling stone surface of the tall column.

I wiped both sides of my knife on my jacket, letting it dry out the bubbly crimson liquid. I rested my head against the stone behind me, listening intently for any noise. Once I had settled and was still, a pin couldn't be dropped without creating an echo that vibrated from wall to wall.

Then I heard a sudden rustle, only possibly feet away from me, and a girl came just a few steps in front of me, fear showing in her eyes, even in the almost total darkness. It was obvious she was oblivious to my position. She walked backwards towards the column. Her steps continued. She got to a foot in front of me, then half. I felt her body freeze as she collided with me. There was no time for her to scream, I wrapped my arm around her neck and the other I placed over her mouth.

She struggled and tried to fight me, even clawed at my arms but with very little effect. I whispered a grim good-bye in her ear before strengthening my arm around her neck and giving a hard jolt. I heard the loud crack of the bone immediately and her head flopped down unnaturally to the side. The quickness of it seemed almost merciful, as had the first three kills. I knew my father would be proud if I made the last different. But no, every kill I make has been and always will be quick.

I no longer felt the need to keep my feet as silent as the room. Instead they squelched and squeaked in protest to me striding so quickly along. As I progressed further along the labyrinth of columns and tunnels, I started to see the faint glimmer of orange light in the distance. Flickering and creating shadows across every wall. Firelight. At least it would help me to see the one I needed to dispose of.

My eyes found every corner, every shadow, searching in earnest. The fine threads of cobwebs covered the drab looking walls of the cellar sending thin, wispy shadows in every path of sight. Torches that lined the wall were the centre of the spooky firelight. It was the perfect setting for such a gruesome task.

“Stay away!” I heard a girl scream at me from not too far away.

I sighed and replied glumly, “Sorry but this has to happen, I promise it’ll be quick.”

I heard panting and a gasp as a girl ran directly into my path, her face ending up only a few inches away from mine. She backed away quickly. Blonde curls hung around her small face at odd angles and the clothes she wore were littered with rips and matted with dirt. Her steps continued as she backed away from me, blue eyes seeming to entice me with every step.

“What are you going to do to me?” Her voice was barely audible and came out as only a whisper. It was so fragile and sweet; I couldn’t believe how much it actually seemed to have an effect on me. In my head, both instinct and genes screamed at me to throw my knife at her, to do something to stop her heart in its tracks. Yet my body refused.