Midnight

The First Night

Alana awoke to her blaring alarm and rolled over, picking up her screaming cellphone. She unlocked the screen, glaring at it with bloodshot eyes. Two hours of sleep just wasn't enough for the work she had to do tonight. She silenced her alarm and pushed herself up from her very comfortable sheets, her blonde hair falling into her face as it cascaded down her back. She groaned as she stood from her warm bed and walked over to her closet, flicking on her bedroom light as she went, cursing quietly as her retinas protested the sudden intrusion of light.

She rubbed a palm on her eyes as she grabbed her outfit for tonight's task; black skinny jeans, a tank top of the same color, and her favorite combat boots. She slipped off her pajamas and slipped into the clothing she had chosen for tonight's job, quietly grumbling to herself as she laced up her boots. She then pulled her favorite leather jacket over her shoulders and slipped her phone into the pocket of her jeans.

"I really need to find a new line of work." She grumbled to herself as she grabbed her keys and shoved them into her jacket pocket. "Eleven at night is just evil." She added in an undertone as she strapped her .9mm Glock 19 onto her hip and shoved her throwing knives into the pockets of her boots. She grabbed her kodachi and strapped it to her back, finally leaving her studio apartment.

She jogged lightly between buildings until she came upon a door to what outwardly appeared to be nothing more than a condemned building. She opened the door and stepped over the threshold, moving through the darkened hallway towards a dim light coming from one of the adjacent doors. She pushed open the door and looked at the faces of both employees and employers as they turned her way. "Let's get this shit show started." She said, grabbing some coffee and sitting at the briefing desk.

"Ayres. Glad to see you finally join us." Her boss said as he leaned on the table next to her seat.

"Well Tyomb, You're the one who had me working until three PM today and then called me back in at eleven. Sleep is something of a normal function for human beings." Alana replied in a simple tone, sipping her coffee calmly.

"I don't care if you've been up for a week, when I say eleven, I mean be here at ten fourty-five." He said sternly.

"And I don't care if you said jump, if I need sleep, I'm getting at least two hours. If you don't like it, then find yourself another assassin on my level." She said, turning her icy stare on her boss. A visible shiver ran down his back, making a smirk tease the corner of her mouth. "That's what I thought." She added, taking another sip of her coffee and leaning back in the office chair. "Now are we gonna get down to this mission you wanted me to cover or are we just gonna sit here with our goddamn dicks in our hands?" She said, the smirk turning the corner of her mouth upwards.

Tyomb let out an annoyed grunt and sat down, opening a file and passing it over to her. "The name is Garett. He's been terrorizing the lowlands for weeks now, raping and stealing whatever he likes whenever he wants to." Tyomb said as he placed another paper in front of her. "This is a map of his known locations, and the circle there is where we expect him to be holed up tonight. He tends to move every other day at least so we have a limited window for you to get in there, get it done, and get out."

"So let me get this straight." She said, looking up from the file Tyomb had given her. "You want me to travel two hours into the lowlands, find this one guy in the slums, lop his head off, and make it back here before anyone can see me?"

"That would be the plan, yes." Tyomb said flatly.

"Team?" She said, standing with a sigh, finishing off the last of her coffee.

"You and Martinez." Tyomb said firmly, daring me to question it with a glare.

"You want me to gut this pig with a greenie on my six?" She said, her hands on her hips, Martinez in the corner looking as serious as ever.