Assassin

The Strangers

I startled at the sound of my cell door bursting inwards. I leapt to my feet, wincing a little at the pain after yesterday's trials, and froze as a group of people forced their way inside the small room. "Shut the door," one of them ordered in a gruff voice that had my muscles tensing. Another closed the door behind them and the four unfamiliar figures watched me closely as they regained their breath.

Through the grim lighting of the cell, I could hardly make out their appearances but two things were abundantly clear. The first was that these people weren't from here, despite the uniforms they were wearing that were identical to my own. They were far too tanned to have been locked away in the dark and lacked the burns and bruises and bloodied skin that was the norm in this place. The second was that two of them most certainly weren't girls.

I'd heard of there being boys in the compound but I'd never actually seen one before. We were kept totally separate and we only trained when they were locked away. They looked different to how I imagined. I'd expected them to look nothing like girls, perhaps more alien than human, but they only really had slight differences. Their hair was shorter but covered more of their face than ours did, growing around their jawline. They seemed bigger than us, broader across the shoulders and a little taller. That was all really, like us, they had two eyes, a nose and a mouth, two arms, two legs and a body in the middle.

"You're not meant to be here," I told the strangers after I'd finished assessing them. I shifted a little so my palm brushed over the gun strapped to my thigh. The boys didn't look any more threatening than the girls but I could never be too careful.

One of the boy's – the taller of the two - gazes followed the movement, his hand never straying from his own weapon resting in the same place. The others ignored me and examined the small cell that I called home. It didn't take them very long to assess the room as it consisted of a small plank of withering wood that I used as a bed, a grey toilet tucked in the corner and a high, square window with bars over the bulletproof glass that didn't actually allow in any light since we were a thousand feet beneath the ground.

Nobody spoke as they looked around my space. Nobody had ever been in it before and I felt uncomfortable at the intrusion. Still, while they studied the room, I studied them. One of the girls shrunk into the corner a little and while she held her composure, she chewed her nails apprehensively. The other seemed perfectly relaxed in my space and when I met her gaze, she offered me an easy smile I couldn't return. The boys, on the other hand, held scrutinizing gazes, their eyes rarely leaving mine.

The taller of the two narrowed his eyes at me before holding a strange device in front of his face. "How long?" He asked and I frowned.

When a small voice crackled through the room, my eyes widened. "Ten minutes."

"What's going on?" I asked in a panic, the reality of the situation finally sinking in. These people were outsiders and they were armed and capable of breaking into not only my room but the entire compound. Like I'd been trained to do, I withdrew my gun and aimed it at the boy whose hand had never once left his weapon, even when he spoke into the device.

His response was equally as fast and soon, we were aiming at each other, both our fingers teasing the trigger. "I wouldn't," he threatened and I felt my anger flare. Nobody ever tested me.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I demanded, holding the gun steady in my hand despite the erratic beating in my chest.

One of the girls – the more relaxed of the two – stepped forwards. "We're not here to hurt you," she stated, her voice soft and sweet. Her tone was calming and I almost lowered my weapon before remembering they were all armed and I was outnumbered.

"Then why are you here?"

The boy in front of me shook his head. "We're trying to help you," he growled out. "Drop your gun."

"Not a chance. And how could you possibly help me?"

He glared back at me. "We're trying to get you out of here."

For a moment, I wavered. "Leave?" I managed to force out, staring back at him wordlessly. "We're not allowed to leave." If there was one thing I knew with absolute certainty, it was that. I could never leave.

"Trust me, you're going to want to come with us."

Finally, I lowered my weapon. I had no reason to fight them, if they were going to leave, they'd end up dead anyway. I wasn't going to be stupid enough to join them. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You'll end up dead." I slid my gun back into my holster and dropped backwards onto my bed, making it clear I was staying where I was.

For all I knew, this was a test and I wasn't going to fail it.

"We got in, we can get back out," the girl stated, meeting my eyes and sending me a pointed look. We all knew they weren't from here, despite their attempts to disguise that fact. They knew I wasn't stupid. "Besides," she continued, "you'll end up dead if you stay."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She clearly didn't know me very well. I was the best here. Nobody was going to kill me, that was for sure, although they were more than welcome to try.

"Incoming," the crackling voice from the device sounded through the room. In a second, all of them had their weapons raised and I reached for my own before frowning when they turned their backs to me. I opened my mouth to question them when, suddenly, the alarm sounded.

The high-pitched wailing made my ears ring and I threw my hands over them, forgetting all about my gun. It had been a long time since I'd suffered through this noise and it only meant one thing – someone was breaking in or out.

"Now!" The boy yelled over the noise before tearing the door open. The rest followed and I edged towards the now open door at the sound of someone screaming. My heart pounded even louder than the noise of the alarm and my skin prickled as I looked down the hallway to the right of my cell. Large men dressed in in all black uniforms yelled orders as they dragged girls out of their cells. I watched in horror as the girls I was raised with, the girls I'd trained with, some of the best killers in the world, struggled to fight off their attackers. Their movements were sloppy and after a few minutes, they slumped to the ground before being dragged away.

"Come on," one of the girls' voices sounded in my ear as I watched the scene in horror. I barely registered the feeling of her hand curled around my arm, tugging violently while I remained rooted in my spot.

"What's happening?" I asked, my voice weaker than normal. I hated all of these girls. They were my enemies. We were raised and trained to kill each other and I learned the hard way that it's easier not to like any of them. Having friends only complicated things. However, watching the closest thing to a family I'd ever known be defeated by strangers made my throat burn.

"They're here to capture you all," the girl beside me rushed out before once again tugging on my arm. This time, I allowed her to move me back a step. The men were getting closer, moving down the hallway at pace and dragging each girl from her cell. I watched as they injected something into their necks and my stomach turned. We'd dealt with injections and needles all our lives but this one didn't make us stronger or keep us alive, this was weakening them. "We need to go, now!" The voice in my ear urged as I watched one of the stronger girls fight back, despite the injection. She writhed and kicked and punched at the man clutching onto her and I opened my mouth to scream when he pulled out a gun and lodged a bullet in her skull.

I wanted to scream and cry and fight but instead, I nodded, realising what her words earlier meant. If I stay, I'll end up dead. But I had no idea what awaited me outside of the compound. All I knew was my cell, training, the girls, the guards and the concrete walls that surrounded me.

But I was left with little choice when another hand grabbed the opposite arm and I was pulled away from the chaos in front of me.