Fear, anxiety, adrenaline. Why did I not feel any of this? An almost supernatural calmness had come over me as I sat in the back of the stretched limo and watched the dim images of the passers flashing me by. It was like they were in a completely different world than mine, unaware of the dragons and vipers lurking in their midst. Maybe it was better that way, that they could carry on their lives undisturbed by the workings of the Yakuza in their midst.
Grimacing, I traced my finger down the glass surface of the darkened window, watching the raindrops slowly running down it. My head was still hurting from last night’s drinking and I silently damned myself for touching the stuff. It served its purpose though, for just a few brief hours, all the worries and troubles were gone. All that was left was the sweet relief of just letting go. But I knew that sooner or later, the inevitable would come knocking on my door again and the next meeting with the assassin, my twin would take place.
Twin.
The realization was mired deep in my soul but yet, I still could not believe it. Maybe I didn’t want to. How could it even be possible? Father only had the one child, so it had to be some sort of demonic trick. Pinching my nose and closing my eyes, the frustration of not knowing grew inside me. The three junior members lounged across from me, staring at the strange girl who sat silent and alone by herself. One, a youth of no more than fifteen years licked his lips and smirked to himself. His arrogant demeanour spoke volumes of his history. A rich, spoilt trust fund brat, looking for kicks in the ranks of Yakuza; he was not used to hearing no from any woman. Using them as nothing more than cheap sexual toys, he reached out and ran his finger down my spine. I looked up for a moment, blinking twice then reaching back and snapping the errant appendage in two. The youth screamed in agony, looking on in horror as the fracture protruded gruesomely through his skin. Madam Rhi sat quietly in the back, a thin cigarette splayed between her fingers. Her face an emotionless shroud barring the slightest twitching around the mouth of her approval.
“Maybe that will teach you to respect a lady. Throw him out at the next intersection; I have no use for perverts.” Her demeanour was icy cool and in charge and the stricken youth knew there would be no arguing with the under boss. Her word was final as he lowered his head in shame.
“How far?” She asked the driver up front, lightly tapping the ashes off from her cigarette.
“Twenty minutes away Sama Rhi, just have to take a detour up front, we have unexpected road works.” Replied the driver, almost imperceptibly slowing the car down. What happened next felt as if it took place in slow motion. The youth; still clutching his bleeding hand; head exploded in a shower of gore and blood. The road workers pulled out semi automatics as the screeching of tires sounded up behind us. I wanted to scream at the driver but he had abandoned the car, running away like a coward as the bullets peppered the car.
“Move!” I shouted at the last remaining youth and shoved him to the front of the limousine, the other one never had a chance to fight back and stared blankly at me with a hole straight through his head. “Get us out of here!” I covered Madam Rhi as he fumbled with the steering wheel with trembling hands. The car lurched forward, semi automatic rounds tattooing the back window. We were nowhere near safe, the chasing cars pilling down on us.
“How did they know our route?” I shouted as a glass window spider webbed into a million lines next to me.
“The Russians, it has to be Natalov’s men. They must have turned the driver; the fucking coward sold us out.” There was an intense anger in her eyes, intense and murderous that promised deadly retribution if she survived the ordeal.
“We can’t worry about that now. Just keep your head down.” I cocked a fallen Uzi and leaned out of the window, spraying the pursuers with screaming lead. It barely slowed them down, their drivers swerving back and forth through the maelstrom of downtown Tokyo traffic. For a split second, my luck held as the tire of one of the Russian’s cars exploded, sending the vehicle careening into a nearby store front. A slash of bullets sent me diving back into the car.
