The Puppet Assassin [TTR sequel]

The Puppet Assassin - Ch 11 [connect -|- dizelde]

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE COME ANYWHERE NEAR ME!" I heard Garth yell out from the upper level. How could he have heard what Larkin had said? Surely their hearing wasn't that extreme?!

Larkin grinned and then loped down the hall.

"I like him," said Kayli absently. "He's got a good sense of humour. He'll balance out Garth's stiffness."

I didn't know whether I should comment so I just sat there quietly. She walked over slowly and sat down on the other end of the bed.

"How are you?"

Somehow it felt like she was asking more than those three words, that simple question. And it made me realise what I'd done. Made me understand that I'd made a big move and there was no going back. I was here, living with two strangers, two shape-changers, and I'd run away from my life. There would be no more Scythe or Cher, talk at the dinner table, greeting the new trainees. No more training, briefing or trials. That was everything I'd known. I didn't know how to live like a normal person. Why had I even bothered leaving?

A thick ball of tears swelled in my throat and I tried desperately to swallow it. My breathing became shallow and Kayli scooted along the bed towards me.

"Hey, it's okay, you know. Showing your emotions won't kill you."

But I couldn't cry. Surely I'd been through worse, done worse things. How could I be crying over something as trivial as homesickness?

"I don't know what to do," I choked out. My eyes were watery and I swiped away the tears with the back of my hand. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, I thought firmly. Quit crying, suck it in!

But I couldn't and the tears pushed harder.

"Just let it out."

I let out a bubbling laugh, almost a sob. "That's not what I meant. I don't know what to do next. I didn't plan ahead at all and now I'm stuck. I don't know what to do."

I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyelids in an attempt to stop the flow but it just kept on coming. Oh gods, now my nose was running. I wiped it on my sleeve and breathed deeper, trying to stop. Goddamn it! Why couldn't I just stop!

"Well, you could study. Join the police force. I'm sure you've got the skills, all you need is the knowledge."

The Gardaí, hiring an assassin... How could that work?

"You know, I used to be a thief. A pretty big one, too. I stole enough to give myself and the guy I was residing with a living and had enough left over to supply plenty of charities with a lot of funding. Of course, my reasons for doing so are different from the ones you have for training as an assassin, but I had the same feeling just recently of not having a clue where to go next. I'd had this plan ongoing since I was a kid, and once I'd completed it I had no idea where to go next."

She paused and my breathing hitched quietly as I slowly calmed myself down.

"I guess that I had people around me, people I could lean on and ask for help," she continued. Through my blurry vision I could see that her pale green eyes were on me, neither smiling nor frowning. "But you should realise that we have good intentions for you. We're not about to drain you for information and then dump you out on the street somewhere. I don't know much about Larkin but Garth could talk to you about your future. Luke, especially, will be able to help out. He's probably got contacts all around the world at all different levels. And then there's me and Liam. Anytime, anytime at all, you want to talk or go out or whatever, call me. If you're worried about anything, especially to do with your security, Liam'll fix it. You may have left your home behind but you're not alone out here, Diz. Is it cool if I call you that?"