Broad-Spectrum Assassin

Memory 2: The First Lesson

When the darkness leaves, I find myself in a silver room with other kids my age and no escape.

A boy with long black hair that covers his eyes was in the corner of the room, muttering to himself.

Hovering over him and yelling at him is a kid with bright red spiky hair and an angry face.

A short girl with a brown pony tail paces around the room, clenching her knife.

The final student, a girl with messy short black hair approaches me. She grabs my hand and presses her lips to mine. "You're gonna be my boyfriend."

Huh? Who is she and what does she want?

A portal appears in the center of the room.

My maybe girlfriend hides behind me and raises my arm.

The dark figure turns to us. It has no face, only a collection of stars beneath its hood. "Eager to volunteer?"

"I won't let you harm my girlfriend," says the girl behind me, poking my neck with her needles to make my mouth movements match her words.

She is suddenly lifted from the ground and into the air.

"Should she be rewarded for her cleverness or punished for her disloyalty to the team?" The figure gazes at the other students and then turns to me. A tendril goes into the back of her shirt and pulls out her knife. The creature places it in my hands. "I'll let you decide, Weech."

"She's just scared. I don't think she's mean," I say, trembling in place.

"Fear is for the weak." The creature grabs my arm with its lengthy appendage and makes me cut the bottom of her shirt. "And romance is forbidden."

My hand carves a heart on her belly.

He tosses her aside and she hits the wall.

I release the knife and cry.

She didn't deserve to get hurt.

The shadowy figure bends its body around the room while its feet stay in the center.

If it even has feet under that cloak.

"I am KillStreak, your teacher. You will address me as such. You are my students. Let's do roll call, shall we? Now, each of you little beans is named after a fearsome predator, so you best live up to that title. Who's first. Ah yes, BunBun." It looks around the room at us.

"That's me," says the girl with the heart mark, wiping her tears away.

"An assassin named after a meal; your parents were wise." Teacher's body arches into a smile.

"Thank you, sir." She bows. "I won't let you down."

Teacher stares at her for several seconds before speaking. "Oh, I don't mind. I became a teacher because I was no good at killing. Took to much time torturing my patients."

The girl shivers and grabs onto my hand. "I'm really sorry about before."

I swallow my fear and give her a friendly smile.

Teacher drills a black tendril into its head. "Goopy. Who is goopy?"

The sobbing kid in the back raises his hand.

"Goopies eat heroes and the last Goopy we had turned against the hero he was supposed to defend. Best make sure you don't follow suit."

"Yes sir," says the boy softly.

"I'm BladEagle," says the red head kid, sharpening his blade on his tooth.

A tendril comes out from teacher and whacks the boy's legs.