A super early (and long) update because I just got over some writers block I've been having and was super excited to write up another chapter of Jett. Hopefully you like it!
Unedited, as always.
When they got to their apartment Kayden realised that the place did not at all look like how he'd imagined. For the first part it looked incredibly... normal when he knew that the three girls who had made their way in before him were incredibly... not. It was hard to take in the sight in front of him and still remember that the girls before him were supposedly trained killers. The apartment was pretty cosy with the living room, kitchen and corridor— which he assumed contained the bedrooms and the bathroom— all mere steps away from each other. It smelled heavily like some sort of lavender air freshener which seemed to cling to the mismatched couches and chipped wooden coffee table.
He had imagined the place to be a lot more... sleek and for there to be buttons in random places that led to secret rooms filled with guns. But the most dangerous thing he could spot in the room was Jett reaching for a glass from one of the banged up wooden kitchen cabinets. Everything in there looked like it had been picked out of a second hand store or had been found on the side of the road. Though, that could probably just have been because the place wasn't somewhere they had actually intended to stay in for a long period of time. As Jazz had explained on the ride over, they had simply chosen the first apartment that was cheap and practical. When he asked why they hadn't just stayed in a hotel Jett responded with the fact that maids probably wouldn't react to kindly to finding weapons while cleaning.
As he went to join Jinx and Jazz on the couches— which he admitted that, despite appearing quite worn out, looked incredibly comfortable— there was a loud banging sound that echoed through the house. All head turned towards the wooden door. There was a few seconds of silence before the banging came again. It couldn't be a coincidence that they had just gotten there and already someone, who sounded to have quite heavy hands, was banging on the door.
It seemed the girls had them same thought as he did.
In an instant, Jinx and Jazz were standing, both turning to look to Jett who just nodded in response.
Kayden watched silently, unsure of what to do. So instead, he just stood there, in the middle of the living room on top of an offensively yellow rug. In the time it had taken him to blink and wonder what the three of them were going to do, Jett had already pulled a gun from one of the kitchen draws and had it pointed towards the door. Jazz pressed herself against the wall next to the door on the side so that when the door opened she would be hidden, muscles tight, ready for some kind of attack. Even in the hip hugging pencil skirt and tight top—which Kayden had definitely not forgotten— she looked incredibly threatening.
Jinx took in a big breath and went to answer the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open slowly and not too far, just enough so that she could see out but the person there couldn't see too far in. There was a moment of tense silence before a voice drifted in.
"Hi, I'm Amy! I live in this building as well, right down the hall." It was high pitched and laced with excitement, the complete opposite from the deep threatening voice Kayden had imagined would be there. At the sound of it Kayden noticed that the Jett had retuned the gun to the drawer and Jazz had relaxed from her position by the door. Sighing and leaning against the wall with an amused expression on her face. As if she couldn't imagine that they had gotten worked up over a child knocking on their door.
Kayden just continued standing there, completely aghast by how casually they had switched from 'ready to kill' to 'stand by.'
"I'm selling chocolates to help fund some new equipment for my baseball team, would you like some? They're $1 each." The voice continued hopefully and Jinx opened the door further to show a small girl with chubby cheeks and bouncy blonde curls grinning up at Jinx. She couldn't have been older than 10.
"Sure, honey," Jinx finally answered, as if the three of them hadn't just been ready to kill her if they needed to. She pulled a simple black wallet out of her harem pants and handed the girl four dollars, picking out three without even thinking before hesitating on the last one. "Hey Kayden, which one do you want there's plain milk chocolate, one with strawberry filling, mint chocolate, one with what looks like it has... pineapple filling?" she made a face when she said that, "and white chocolate."
For a second he just blinked at her before he found his voice "just get me the plain one, thanks" he muttered.
Jinx pulled one out before smiling down at the girl, "have a nice day, I hope you sell heaps of chocolates."
Amy gave a toothy grin back "thank you! I hope so too!" she said before turning on her heel and walking further down the hallway.
Jinx closed the door and effortlessly chucked the chocolate bars to both Jazz and Jett with just a flick of her wrist. They flew through the air like bullets heading straight for their targets and the other girls caught them easily, nodding their thanks. She turned towards him, hesitated, before deciding to just hand it to him.
He rolled his eyes at that, wanting the three of them to know that he really wasn't as incompetent as they seemed to think he was.
He held the bar in his hand as the girls continued on as normal. Jett went back to pouring a glass of water for herself while Jazz muttered what seemed to be a joke to Jinx in a language he couldn't quite recognise. Jinx chewed on her chocolate thoughtfully as she nodded and listened to what Jazz was saying. Suddenly her eyes widened and the girls simultaneously burst out laughing. He wanted to know what they found so hilarious before Jinx's eyes flicked to him for the briefest moment. That was when he realised that he was probably the joke. Which served to spark some annoyance in him but he tried to ignore it.
"So, why is there a gun in the kitchen drawer?" He finally asked, not missing how Jazz shot Jinx a smirk as soon as the words left his mouth. "No seriously, is it just that one 'special drawer'?" He questioned, sounding quite sarcastic as he said the words 'special drawer,' even adding the finger quotations for effect. "Or is there one in every drawer? What am I supposed to do if I need a fork?" He continued on, half joking, half actually quite serious.
Jinx laughed at that before saying "don't worry it's just that one drawer. Besides, we normally go out for dinner or get takeout, we don't really cook often." She explained before looking quite thoughtful. "Though, Jett makes a killer chilli con carne," she added innocently as if it had only just occurred to her, before sending a smug smile in Jett's direction.
Jett just rolled her eyes at the pun, not even trying to hide the slight twitch of her lips at it.
Jazz groaned "Jinx, I told you to stop doing that. You're not funny." She said, trying to come off as exasperated but failing. It was quite impossible to be annoyed when Jinx— who looked to be as harmful as a cinnamon bun— was looking at you with a pleased grin.
Kayden felt himself smile as well "really? Because I thought it was a killer joke."
Jazz sent Jett a desperate look "we have two of them now." She groaned dramatically.
"Oh come on Jazz, stop being such a buzz kill," Kayden continued on
Jinx giggled "oh that's a good one!"
"Don't encourage him!" Jazz complained, looking up at the ceiling as if trying to contact some celestial entity "I can't live like this. What on Earth could I have possibly done to deserve this?"
Jett sighed "come on Jazz, stop being such a kill joy and let them have their fun." It took him a couple of seconds to register that she had actually joined in with them.
Kayden looked to Jett, who pretended not to notice the big grin sweeping over his features.
'So she does have a sense of humour.'
Jazz just shook her head, looking utterly disappointed, "not you too."
Jett just shrugged and put the glass of water to her lips so no one would notice the smile threatening to show on her face.
Kayden felt his smile soften a little as he took her in, casually leaning against the laminated kitchen bench, looking relaxed, eyes twinkling in slight humour as she took in Jazz's annoyed features.
He realised that he was staring and looked away, focusing back on Jinx and Jazz.
"Speaking of killers, what exactly are the three of you looking for here of all places?" He finally asked, the question had been bugging him the previous night, trying to imagine what business they had in his home town.
Jinx bit her lip and looked to Jett, a slight question on her face.
Jett just nodded in response, eyes watching Kayden carefully.
"We were hired to take care of a certain drug lord who seems to have been causing quite a lot of trouble around here." Jinx started "have you seen all those sudden news reports about an outbreak of drug related incidents and some other ones about missing girls?"
Kayden didn't really watch the news much but he had remembered overhearing a discussion about it at school. Luckily, no one there had been targeted but a cheerleader from a rival school, he remembered, had disappeared quite recently.
"You think the two are related?"
"Almost 100% certain, and we're here to make sure it doesn't get out of hand." Jinx replied, looking quite serious. Well, at least as serious as Jinx could possibly look.
"By killing him?" Kayden questioned, raising an eyebrow. There was something about that that seemed a little too extreme, shouldn't they just leave it to the police? Besides, weren't they a little... young for that anyway?
Jett's eyes narrowed "don't judge us. We're just doing our job."
Kayden raised his hands in surrender, not wanting to make Jett angry. "I'm not judging... I was just wondering what the deal is with sending minors to go after some kind of drug lord. Why don't they send like... fully graduated assassins?" he felt ridiculous using the term but wasn't quite sure what else to call it.
"They have, but the last one has gone missing." Jett replied her voice in a monotone—something he noticed she did quite often when talking about a troubling topic— a small frown gracing her lips, he noticed the other two wore similar worried expressions.
"Okay so someone highly trained fails so they send in someone who still hasn't finished training? That doesn't even make sense."
Jett shrugged "what can I say? We're who they call when shit hits the fan."
Jazz raised an eyebrow challengingly as the words. "You mean you're who they call in, we just tag along for the hell of it."
"Jazz," Jett warned, arms crossing over her chest and lips pursing.
The warning was lost on Jazz, who didn't seem at all capable of being afraid of Jett. "What? It's true."
Kayden just looked between the two, feeling slightly confused. "Why would they call Jett in?"
Jinx opened her mouth to answer but quickly thought better of it when Jett sent her a steely glare.
"They call us in because we're an effective team." Jett simply responded in a clipped tone, eyes daring the other two to challenge her words.
Jazz rolled her eyes while Jinx frowned but echoed "yeah, that's it."
Kayden frowned but decided not to push it, there was something about the look on Jett's face that told him he'd probably be better off not knowing the real story behind why they were chosen.
She pushed herself off of the counter leaving her glass and untouched chocolate bar there and made her way towards where Kayden was standing in the middle of the living room, his duffle bag still hoisted over his shoulder.
"Come on I'll show you to your room." She said effortlessly changing the subject. She started towards the hallway without looking back to see if he was coming.
He looked down the corridor of the small apartment, noticing four doors, one of which he assumed belonged to the bathroom. "Wait, aren't there only three bedrooms?"
"I'm staying with Jazz," she replied shortly and once more he noticed Jazz and Jinx share a look that was impossible for him to decipher. But there was something about the slight downward turn of Jinx's lips that were almost worried. He felt like a complete outsider in this small apartment of people so full of secrets, half of which he'd probably never get to know. Instead of questioning it he just sighed and followed Jett to his room.
He was quiet until they reached the inside. It looked completely untouched, with its single bed and drawers which appeared to have accumulated the thinnest layer of dust. It didn't look like Jett had moved out because they knew he was coming. It was almost as if she hadn't been in there to begin with.
"So, do your parents know about the whole assassin thing?" He questioned, "and if so, do they constantly get hit with the 'it's classified' line? Cause that'd probably get really frustrating after a while." He could recall all the times Jett had cut him off with 'it's classified' or every time she gave her two friends a look when they were about to tell him something that Jett didn't think he should know. He could only imagine what it'd be like when the girls went home and their parents asked about school.
Jett's face went blank from where she was casually leaning against the door, observing him. She bit her lip before saying "people are chosen for this business for specific reasons; they're identified to show some very particular skill sets that the agency believes would be highly beneficial. The ones that they've observed to be really good pick pockets or have found themselves dominating street fighting rings." She started, speaking slowly and quietly as if it were some sort of secret. Which he guessed it probably was. "Though, that's not the only thing they look for. They normally go for the vulnerable kids. The problem cases in foster care or the kids from broken homes who've ended up in the juvy system. The ones with nothing to lose and no one to lose them."
'Oh.'