1) Violet
How was I supposed to carry out these so called ‘simple’ orders of the one and only Ace? It’s not like he had asked me to go and pick up a simple jug of milk or his dry-cleaning. His request was of a ridiculous one in the eyes of a newcomer like myself. Weren’t they going to take things easier on me because I was a girl? I’d done about anything I could to be accepted by Ace and all of his comrades. I’d done ridiculously embarrassing things for their amusement and now I was on the hunt. How did it come to this?
I pulled the wooden stake from under my arm and held it out like a sword. What was wood going to do anyway? I eyed the splinters that stuck out in numerous places all over the object and gave up on trying to convince myself that Ace was crazy. Everyone knew him as one of the smarter and most clever leaders they had ever had. Sure he’d probably manipulated me a few times and made me a laughing stock of his gang of both female and male slayers, but I had only seen him in one way since this whole thing started; an older brother. That was what he was like to everyone he hung out with.
I climbed the steps of the abandoned warehouse, not really sure what my object of interest would look like. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard heavy breathing. I swatted my eyes from left to right and turn in a complete circle searching for the beast but I couldn’t see him. They called him Caius and he was on my list for Ace. The list that would prove me worthy of being called something more than just a henchman.
I became worried as I walked forward and the sound increased. Was he invisible? Was that possible? Then every piece of fiction I ever read told me where he was; the ceiling. I looked up and sure enough, there he was.
Caius was flat on his back against the ceiling and I stared into his red glowing eyes. Oh no, I thought, Oh God. He sees me. No way now can I keep my promise. I’m a failure. I’m dead, oh I’m dead . . . Just as I was about to kneel down and beg for mercy, a loud snore escaped Caius’ lips and relief filled my body as my muscles relaxed. He was sleeping.
I took a deep breath trying to recover from my almost mental breakdown and pushed brown hair from my sweating forehead. Now I was ready to kill. But how? That thing was on the ceiling. How was I supposed to get all the way up there? I looked past the wooden boards that helped support the building and the obviousness struck me. I’d have to climb all the way up there and balance myself on the beams before I would be able to get rid of the red-eyed demon.
Great, now not only was I going to die, but I was going to have the joy of being eaten afterwards by a bloodthirsty maniac while Ace laughed at my leftovers – if there were any.
I climbed up the beams, stake in hand, as I tried to balance myself. Every inch of poise in my body was telling me to stay afloat, but every muscle was screaming, “Oh Jesus!” over and over again. My hands trembled and I could feel sweat dripping from all over. I’d never been so terrified.
I was halfway across the middle beam when I reached up and grabbed the next one. I latched myself onto the wood like a hungry leech and struggled to stand once again. Why did I have to be in the middle of the beam right over concrete that could easily split my head open? Oh, right, because there was a notorious monster about three yards over top of me with glistening red eyes taking an undead nap.
I continued climbing the beams until I successfully reached the monster that snored loudly and my hate grew when I saw his bloodstained shirt. I held my stake in shaking hands tighter and knew exactly where I’d aim. I prayed I’d make it, but it wasn’t likely since this was my first time. My arms shot up and extra three inches and into the skin of Caius. I could feel the stake pass through his rib cage before it hit something soft.
