Poison and Bane

2. Sold for coffee.

2 weeks later.

August, 16.

Gwendoline Bane.

Thud.

Sand pressing against my shoulder.

Thud.

His face mere inches away, breathing threats on to mine.

Thud.

Fear tip-toeing up and down my spine for the first time since 12 years ago.

Thud. Crunch.

Bile rose up in my mouth as my knuckles crumbled against the punching bag. The pain felt like a consolation prize, diverting me from the helplessness I was feeling.

I leaned against the bag, gasping for breath, eyes closed, shutting out the feeling of vulnerability.

"The bag's not going to apologise to you, if that's what you're waiting for."

My lips curled up involuntarily into a sneer, before pushing myself off the bag.

"Oh yeah? Works for me," and I roundhouse kicked the bag in the direction of the voice.

"Oomph! Gwendoline Bane, I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

I snickered at the sight of him lying on the floor with the sandbag atop him, now just a torn piece of cloth, from having all the sand spill on him.

It wasn't just his hair that was dirty blonde now, his entire face and his grey t-shirt was too.

"Aww, Kyro, you got me an ice pack? If I'd known I wouldn't have kicked it too hard,"  I grabbed the ice pack that lay at his side and pressed it to my knuckles.

He tossed the bag off and shot me a withering look.

"And I would have beat you up, if you weren't still traumatised over the 'lycan'," his fingers formed air quotes.

I threw the ice pack at him before stalking off.

Great. I'd heard enough mockery from Van ever since I came back that night. Even my so-called friends had gone with it. They had all had a good laugh when I screamed the place down about how there was a lycan running loose in the neighbourhood.
But one person had a little too much fun addressing my "hysteria".

"So much for those nocturnal eyes, eh Van?"

Van had silenced him after that comment, but Young Dong Woo had been getting on my nerves for too long, and too far.

He was Van's right hand, and was well reputed for his merciless kills. The kids even went around telling stories about how he collects the blood of each of his kill and drinks them before the next one to gain strength and power.

I was sure nobody called it a bluff.

I would have punched his nose out of existence that day, if it weren't for people holding me back and Vangard's disapproving stare.

Right. I was supposed to be one of his well-behaved 'pets'. Van hated the word but that was what I was. A pet who carried out orders of assassination and brought home the bodies as prize to her master.

And some people never failed to remind me of it. Young Dong Woo was one of them. Him and his cronies, but he was the worst of them.

I'd gotten into enough trouble for not having achieved the mission I was actually sent for. And instead I had come back with a horror story to tell everyone.