Order of Assassins: Short Story

Order of Assassins

The rain began hitting the window, hard as rocks. I feared the pellets of water would shatter the pane, if so I would have been discovered for sure. The time had come. It was time to make the first move. Still, I hesitated.

"Why does it always have to be so rainy in Seattle?" I asked, trying to distract her from the main objective.

"Don't question it, just do the job. I'm waiting." Cleo said back, bluntly.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. It's my first job." I said, resting my hand on the window sill, preparing to open it.

"Well? Go on. Let's see what you're made of." Cleo whispered to me. I drew my dagger, hoping the sound of the unsheathing blade wasn't audible to the target. I opened the window, crawled through it and dropped onto my belly. With the sound of the heavy bullets of rain hitting the street, my footsteps could have easily been muffled; but I couldn't take any chances. I army-crawled to the next window, the window of the room where the target lay asleep. I had no idea whether the window was open or not, so I began to worry.

I knelt up when I got to the window. It was slightly open, enough for the soothing rhythm of the rain to slip in. I slowly opened the window a little more at a time until the gap was large enough for me to infiltrate the room. The target was in his bed, fast asleep with a book opened across his face. Was this right? The Order's regulations on assassinations specifically said to stab the target in the heart while their eyes are fixed on yours. Astrid wasn't in the room, so could I manage to stab him, take the book off his face without risking the mission? I didn't know what to do, so I hesitated. Finally, I worked up the courage to do the job. I raised my dagger, placed my hand on the cover of the book that was across his face, and thrusted the blade into his chest with all the power I could manage.

"Job's done, Ma'am." I called to Cleo. She opened the door, and glared at me.

"Why are the eyes of the target not fixed on you, Newblood?" She asked.

"I didn't know I was supposed to remove the book. I thought for sure that he'd wake up and the job would be blown." I lied through my teeth. She bought it, surprisingly.

"Alright, scalp him, and mark him with the symbol of the Order. Then, we'll get out of here." Cleo ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am." I replied, taking the book off the face of the now deceased target. I peered into his lifeless eyes, and almost saw a glimpse of life flash in them. I shrugged it off, knowing if Cleo would've seen my weakness, I would've been stabbed in the back and forgotten about. I lifted his head off the pillow and ripped the blade of the dagger through his scalp. The scalp represented a type of accomplishment, signifying a job fulfilled. The mark was an octagon carved into the victim's forehead with the letters "OoA" in the middle of the eight sides. I carved it with the dagger as Cleo supervised the situation and kept an eye out for possible interference. Our cover couldn't be blown, it was too important to retain the element of surprise.

When the process of scalping and marking the body was complete, Cleo and I slipped through the open window and into the rain soaked street. The rain was still coming down, even harder than when we began. We ran through the streets until we hit an open shop about three blocks away from the target's place of residence. We sat down at one of the tables and discussed the contact.

"So who was he? The target?" I asked.

"Presha, its best not to get too involved in that sort of stuff. The target has passed, and the contract is fulfilled. As an assassin for the Order, that's basically all you need to worry about." Cleo explained. A few sirens had just began blaring outside of the building, and I immediately tensed up. Had I done something to screw up the job? I reached for my dagger, but Cleo touched my hand to get my attention.