The Assassin

Chapter 19

Paula and I padded silently through the night, the sky like a dark canvas freckled with a million droplets of white paint. The moonlight reflected off of the puddles outside the base of my former home. We climbed up the ladder to the small ledge that was only a few feet below the roof. I was below the assassin and when she jumped onto the ledge, her foot hit my face. "OW!" I whisper-shouted.

Paula looked down at me as I was wiping the grime off my face. She didn't apologize but only said, "Hurry up."

"Yeah, thanks for asking. I'm fine," I muttered.

"Be quiet," she hissed.

She jumped onto the roof, pulling herself up to her feet. The assassin looked down at me and motioned for me to quicken my pace. I was soon standing next to her. She spread her arms towards the air vent. "Lead the way."

I jogged over to it and removed the air grille. I crawled into the small space and beckoned Paula to follow me. She grabbed the air grille and put it back in place to cover up the evidence. I made my way down and took some turns. After a while, the assassin whispered, "Do you know where to go?"

I looked behind me and nodded. "I think so."

She nodded and we continued. In a matter of seconds, I peered down into a room of a sleeping man who had dark brown hair. Close enough to mine, I thought.

I lifted open the air grille and I dropped lightly to the floor. Paula jumped down behind me as well, creating no sound. I went over to the man in his bed. I pulled out my pocket knife and flipped the blade open. I plunged my weapon into his throat. It cut off his vocal cords, allowing him not to scream or call for help. He started bleeding out and he died.

The assassin watched with no emotion. I dragged the body out of the bed. She looked at me skeptically. "Where are you going to hide it?"

I jerked my chin at the window. "Go find someone with black hair," I told her.

She nodded and opened the door out to the central area. I silently wished in my head that this plan would go accordingly. I dragged the body over to the window and realized the blood from his neck was spilling onto the floor. "Crap," I said under my breath.

I unlocked and opened the window, which was rimmed with a white frame. I lugged the dark-haired man's body outside, also smearing blood on the wall and window frame. I winced. Oh, fun. I'll have to clean that later.

The guy's body hit the ledge below the roof with a thwack. I climbed outside and stood next to the corpse. I looked around. The dumpsters are right over there, but I'd have to walk carefully to not fall, and I'll be dragging this body.

I made up my mind and hauled the man's body over to the trash area. I grunted and groaned under the heavy weight of the corpse. What did this guy EAT?! Once I arrived, I threw down the body right into the garbage bin. I sighed contentedly. I looked down at my hands and I realized they were bloody. That's gross.

I hurried back over to the open window and crawled back inside. I ran to the bathroom silently, needing to wash my hands and get a bunch of wet paper towels to wipe away the blood. As I was making my way there, I scanned the area for Paula, but there was no sign of her. Finally, I entered the bathroom and closed the door with the back of my hand, not wanting to get any blood on it. I washed my hands carefully, rubbing the vanilla-scented foaming hand soap into my palms. The bubbly water turned reddish-orange from the blood and I rinsed it away soon after. I dried my hands with some paper towels.

As I reached to get more paper towels to soak in water for the blood in the room I was to stay in, the door to the bathroom burst open. I spun around and immediately wished I hadn't. It was Joshua, an annoying curly-haired boy. The door shut as he stared at me, mouth agape. He started shaking. "You-you're a- I-"