The Royal Assassin

Chapter Four - Faked

I woke up to bright fluorescent lights overhead. Every part of my body ached. My movements were slow, until I remembered what had just happened. Where am I? I quickly stood up and turned in a circle inspecting everything in the room.

I was in a small room with pale blue walls. No windows. Just a cot, a small bedside table, a floor length mirror to my left and a small desk in the far-right corner. On top of the desk, my waistband along with my weapons was laid out on it.

I rubbed my eyes as I walked over to the mirror to see the damage. I was still in the same clothing as last night. I had dark circles under my eyes, my pale white hair was a mess, and I had a couple of bruises on my forearms, throat and legs.

From where Ace held me down like a dog.

I still couldn't believe Ace had betrayed me. He had betrayed the entire team. It tore me into pieces. The boy that I had fallen deeply in love with, the boy who was my moon in the dark of the night, the boy who brought me out of the dark, had betrayed me.

I sighed and walked toward the desk.

I grabbed my weapons belt and clipped it onto my waist. I made my way outside this unknown room, craving answers. At this point, I had thought the Sinister Seven had been captured. Guess I was wrong. Extremely wrong in fact.

I walked through the halls of this ginormous bunker. People ran past me left and right. Some people barking at their phones, some people carrying piles and piles of paperwork, others sitting down and drinking coffee. Guess the Sinister Seven was still running. Literally.

The Sinister Seven. The most wanted group in all of Elisora. They were originally Seven teenagers huddled in the back of a pub planning a lethal attack on the royal family. Now there are hundreds of people working to achieve the same goal. Assassinate the Royal family and consume all the power left behind. It's been 19 years since they first formed, and we've had about 5 different failed assassination attempts. There's always room for improvement. Right?

I took a couple turns until I found the main room.

Vera was stationed on a velvet sofa in the middle of the room. Her back was turned away from me, but I immediately recognised her vibrant red hair. She had dyed it when our parents had been killed in a brutal attack 8 years ago. Vera and I weren't at home when they had been brutally murdered. It was quite a gruesome scene to come home to. Two bodies sprawled out on the floor, blood pooling around them... I shivered at the memory.

One significant feature that was left at the crime scene was a note. With the official Royal symbol stamp on it.

"Next time be more careful."

I shook my hands out and marched over to Vera.

I didn't know where we were, I didn't know what had happened, and why was I drugged? By my own sister as well?

She was chatting quietly with a man on the sofa. I stood behind her for several seconds, waiting for her to sense my presence.

Nothing.

I tapped her on the shoulder. She twisted her head and met my stern gaze.

"V! You're here!" She grinned and patted the spot next to her.

I sat down and looked over to who she was talking to. It was a man, probably a little bit older than Vera. He had messy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was dressed in a collared shirt and jeans. His hand rested on Vera's thigh.

"Who's this?" I blurted out. Vera looked to the unknown man and then back at me.

"This is Luke. He's my... boyfriend." She hesitated. Why did she hesitate?

"Nice to meet you, Victoria. I've heard many good things about you." He held out his hand, expecting me to shake it. I scowled at his gesture and brought my eyes back up to Vera.

"What's going on Vera? Ace wasn't meant to be there; the assassination attempt was a failure. I almost got caught by the Royals for god's sake, I was attacked and drugged. And now I wake up to you announcing yet another relationship? What's going on?"

She looked back at Luke. She took his hand into hers. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it. She was hesitating.

I was beyond shocked. She had been in several relationships since our parents' deaths. Each one had left her heartbroken. She had many coping mechanisms, but this one wasn't one I was very fond of.

Don't get me wrong, Vera was a beautiful girl. She had tan skin from always being outside, her beautiful pale green eyes glistening in the sunlight, and her red hair falling just past her shoulders.

"Why are you hesitating? What's going on Vera?" I stood up from the sofa and began pacing. A natural habit I did when things began getting out of hand.

"Victoria, you might want to take a seat." Luke stated. He watched me like a hawk.

"No! You need to tell me what's going on immediately." Vera flinched and then finally opened her mouth to speak.

"Everything went according to plan Victoria. Nothing was a failure. You were in those situations for a reason."

I took a step back. Almost losing my balance.

"W-what? What do you mean Vera? I need more than that!" I was on the verge of screaming in frustration. Nobody was telling me anything, they were leaving me on the edge of a cliff. A cliff I wanted to have nothing to do with.

"We had a feeling Ace wasn't everything he said he was. He began showing signs of betrayal from the minute we made the assassination plan. So, we decided it would be best if we faked the plan. To see if he would stay loyal to us or run back to his family. In this case..." Her voice trailed off and she turned her head away from me.

My anger boiled inside of me. Threatening to escape. And it did.

"You what? You faked the entire plan? You put my life in jeopardy? You didn't even give me a heads up! Do you know what thoughts were running through my head? I thought the location of HQ had been compromised! I thought you were dead."

"I know, I know! But I couldn't tell you! We needed it to be as real as possible. We needed it to look like an actual failed attempt." She held her hands up in mock surrender.

"So, what if something you had "planned" didn't go to plan? What if I had actually been taken into custody? What if I had been killed? There are so many possibilities that you didn't take into consideration." I sat down again, but a little bit further away from the two of them.

"Look V I'm sorry but it had to be done. We were in real danger if Ace had anything to do with what we were going to do next. I know he meant a lot to you and I'm truly sorry for what happened."

I turned my head away from her, I didn't want to go in depth with what Ace had done to me.

"No time to dwell on the past. We need to get moving. Vera, do you want to tell her or should I?" Luke said, standing up abruptly.

"I'll do it. After all, she's my baby sister." She flashed me a wry smile which I didn't have the energy to return.

"What do you need to tell me? Is it the next part of this mysterious plan you've made?" I was eager to know what the next part of the plan was, but at this point, I felt too drained to even think straight.

"You're the next part of plan V."