The Scarlet Assassin

Chapter Twenty-One

We stayed there for a few minutes, chatting casually (and surprisingly without any bickering) amongst each other.

Suddenly, small feet shuffled toward us -toward Sophie- making us lookup. A little boy with black hair, his face beet red and angled toward the ground, walked up to her.

"E-excuse me." His voice was quiet. "I-I just wanted you to know that I-I think you're pretty." Everyone went still for a moment before I heard the choking sounds of Sorin and Ace trying to hold in their snickers. Sophie ignored them and smiled at the boy. He was probably five or six. It was hard to tell.

"Aw," Sophie said, her grin so bright and sweet that I thought she was going to make this six-year-old kid piss his pants. "What's your name, sweetheart?" He looked up at her then, almost as if the name startled him.

"Davis, ma'am." Rafe and I made eye contact. He looked confused, possibly amused. I couldn't tell.

"Thank you, Davis. You're very handsome too." She glanced down at his clothing. "Where are you going, all dressed up?" He was wearing what I'd only assume would be his finest clothing.

This made him smile a little. "Church, ma'am."

"Good! Do you like it?" He nodded, and I shifted, making Sophie glance at me. I jerked my head toward the path, silently telling her we had to leave soon. She gave me the smallest nod. "I have to go now, sweetheart, but you make sure to learn something for me, okay?" We all began standing up. The boy backed up a few paces, giving us space.

"Y-yes, ma'am." Grabbing her stuff, Sophie turned but waved over her shoulder, giving the boy a final smile. She was still beaming as we continued our trek through the village, even as Sorin began his snickering again.

"Rafe, you have some competition," he said. Rafe looked annoyed, fed up with him.

"And why would I have competition?"

"Come on, didn't you see that seven-year-old has more game than you?"

Rafe rolled his eyes. "First of all, fuck you, and second, I have much more game than him. He's barely out of fucking diapers."

Sorin sucked in a breath. "That makes it even sadder, dude. I'd be scared if I were you."

"I'm not scared of a seven-year-old." Sorin was enjoying this too much, pissing off Rafe.

"You should be. He's gonna steal away the girl that is apparently yours."

Rafe hesitated before asking, almost scoffing, "Apparently?"

"Well, she has a better looking, better flirter, and better fucker when she needs him," Sorin said, motioning to himself and winking at Sophie.

"You're a dick, did you know that?"

"Yes," he beamed. "It's one of my strongest aspects. It comes as naturally as-."

"Looking at yourself in the mirror?" Ace cut in.

Carter smiled and added, "Talking about your 'glory days'?"

"Talking about yourself at all?" Sophie mumbled.

"Drinking?" I added.

"Fucking?" Rafe finished.

Sorin stuttered for words but ended up flipping us off instead. We chuckled and fell silent, forgetting what we had even been talking about.

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The days blurred into one seemingly endless cycle.