Prologue
It’s a starry night. I see why she would like it. But it is making it far more dangerous for her.
My target Vivian has been lying in the grass of the park for over half an hour staring up into the stars.
She starts getting up and I’m put on alert. She can’t spot me tailing her tonight. That would be an embarrassing first night.
But that really shouldn’t be a problem. Oh shit. She’s headed my way. I slip into the darkness unnoticed.
I really need to be more careful. Clint has been saying I’ve been getting more cocky lately. Clint, I’m noticing, is not wrong.
As she quickly puts on her coat she looks in a few directions, but she looks the longest in mine. It’s unsettling.
Either I really wasn’t paying attention, or she’s more sharp than others I’ve tailed. Or both.
They said she was sharper than the others but I refused to believe that she had any superiority over them.
I suppose it would have been smarter to listen to my superiors and put any feelings I had about it aside. Better not to become attached.
She didn’t see me but it still seems that she suspects the presence of another.
She’s trailing away as fast as fire and I have no choice but to come out of the darkness that surrounds me and follow.
As she looks in the corner of her eye for me she turns her head ever so slightly that indicates she is doing so.
Wait, is she slowing down? Is this girl crazy? She sees someone trailing her closely and slows?
As she comes to a complete stop she turns sideways, pulls some garbage out of her pocket and throws it out to get a glimpse of me.
Shit. I thought she was 13? How did she screw me over already so badly?! Now she has a glimpse of my face. How is she so much more intelligent than my other targets…?
Every spy instinct inside of me is telling me to run and abandon this case but I barely manage to pull it together and hold my ground.
She’s scary. She quickly crosses the street. As I’m about to diligently follow after her some cars start zooming by. I can’t cross and she’s already speed walking up the other side of the street.
When she thinks I can’t see her anymore she starts running. Really fast. How fit are 13 year olds these days?
As the traffic slows I start running up the street after her. She’s already turned and long gone from my view.
As I turn I barely glimpse, just for a second her figure and she turns into a mini block.
Perfect. No ones that fast. As I start running down the side of the second street, I lose sight of her again.
God she’s fast. As I turn the block I barely see her turn and start running to the other side of her building.
I know it’s no use to chase after her now. But I have no life apart from work so I run to the side of her building and watch her run up the stairs.
Home will have to do for now. I need to file a report to HQ, about what happened tonight.
As I turn away I see the shadow of a burly figure not far from where I was.
This is why I was here tonight. I know my job is thankless but it still leaves a panging feeling on my chest. At least for now she’s safe.
My work here is done. At least for now.
…
