Prologue
~ We can easily forgive a child that is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy in life is when man is afraid of light ~
TESTED LOYALTIES
I stood rather peacefully as I stood over the darkening city beneath me. It was rare, in most cases, to capture such a moment, such beauty. The top of the buildings were rather clean considering the amount of bird waste that lay splattered across the cement. The dark alleys that surrounded me gave me a peaceful
tranquility, the shadows smiling wickedly up at me.
Ignoring the wailing sirens in the distance and the bumping of the music further down the alley, I focused solely on the man beneath me. He walked with cautious steps feeling as though someone was watching him.
I studied him for a moment, though I’d been watching him for hours now. I knew the trouble he regularly got himself into, yet he held no amount of power over any other drug dealer I frequently crossed paths with.
However, judgment wasn’t one of my duties. Though so young, he had corrupted the entire town with his lies. Dealing drugs and lurking through alleys seemed nothing out of the usual with the people he included himself with.
I had searched his files, remembering the information front and back without batting a lash. Though a large town druggie he’d only been accused of grand theft auto twice with a warrant he’d long since parted from. He had little to no knowledge in the medical field and armory was only to be handled by his closest recruits. His loving girlfriend, Anna Marie Siter, had no idea of his secret life as a street racer and a killer. He lived in a beat up apartment as to not capture unwanted attention while the girl lived in a large house two towns away.
He tried to ensure her safety; little did he know she was already dead.
I felt no regret when the snap of her neck had vibrated through my strong feminine fingers.
His mother, Donna Marian Flison, died from lung cancer at age 28. His father an abusive alcoholic. Though he was an only child, his younger sister supposedly died with a gunshot to the stomach, he seemed quite established for his age.
Many of his more local gang members were absolutely terrified of the young man which seemed quite ridiculous considering he’d never actually killed anyone himself. Don’t let him fool you though; he’s watched his closest friends die at his word without regret. Never laying a finger on any weapon, he’d been the cause of many grieving family members and deaths.
I didn’t care who he killed and nor did it matter how many lives he’s taken, which in fact adds up to 58
tonight, I was focused purposely on the goal in front of me.
I listened intently to the noises around me with my eyes still implanted on the male. A memory flashed by my eyes, blue eyes gleaming down on me with pride. I knew instinctively who it was, yet paid no mind to the memory I no longer held dear to my heart. It was like watching a movie, one in which I’d been the main character of, flash before my eyes.
The scenes didn’t matter anymore seeing as I was no longer that person. I was something evil and sinister; Satan himself would cower in fear at the mention of my name.
I jumped from the roof in a rush, landing no more than fifteen foot away on a rusty ladder. Almost at the same instant that my foot comes into contact I leap from the rusty ladder and practically fly across the ally to land on the neighboring building. The ledge holding my light weight made no complaint, that was until I leapt further down the building onto another ledge. I merely caught the ledge with the tips of my fingers, yet my weight took the hard impact of the crash against the cold brick wall.
The man beneath me, now only thirty feet down, stopped as he heard the noise I’d made and looked behind him. His face gave nothing away yet the fear of being watched evident in his young yet mature eyes. It was obvious he’d lacked experience in the training department considering he’d failed to look above. This will cost his life.
With one powerful push off of my left foot I managed to land on the ledge across from me once more making no sound, now only a few feet above the man. Having been trained day and night from age five gave me ability to perform something such as this with little to no mistakes. Flashes of the torture I’d endured day after day reminded me of the monster I’d been turned into, the whip becoming a part of me.
When I was little the memories may’ve sent a painful jab to the heart like a viper wrapping around my heart, yet as the torture grew harsher and the days grew longer I’d taught myself to keep my emotions at bay. I no longer felt fear when Razel would yell harshly in my face for my failures in life. I felt nothing in my cold heart when I would lie in my cell at night only to watch the memories of a younger and more innocent me flash before my eyes. Guilt was no longer a problem when I killed Razel’s enemies one by one. Fire replaced every painful jab to the heart, every guilt for the grieving I’d caused and every tear simply didn’t exist anymore. I hadn’t felt any emotion other than this blinding anger that would capture me in its’ grip in so long I begun to wonder what it had been like to know what true fear felt like. I remember how it’d cause me to almost freeze, like my heart would stop and I’d feel like I was being suffocated. I remember small details but some days I almost dread losing such a lively feeling, I almost miss feeling alive.
I became nothing but a shell; empty and used. I will say, however, that although I do remember what it felt like to be alive, I’d rather live out the rest of my days without feeling all the emotions that did almost nothing besides nearly getting me killed.
I pounced down from the building one last time, my feet landing gracefully on the asphalt behind the tall figure. He stood at almost seven feet; the jacket he wore didn’t hide his bulging muscles when he turned to face me.
He wore his emotions freely while my face remained void of all emotion. He didn’t seem to register the fact that there was, in fact, someone standing before him until his eyes adjusted to the dark. The emotionless face replaced by fear and shock.
“Walter Marone Grayson, you were summoned by Razel Daniels and have refused his offer. I’ve been sent to kill you.” That was what I was trained to do, no small talk, no names, simply the reason for your appearance. As Razel explained it, it scared them even more when I did stuff like this. I didn’t care for all that but he seemed to enjoy it quite a lot. It didn’t matter who you were or how important you once were to him, everyone received the same treatment.
He stared at me slack jawed before finally speaking, the sob almost breaking through.
“How is this possible, you died! I watched you die when they shot you!” He screamed. It was no doubt the night-live town probably heard his cries when he seen my face, my problem being he was attracting more attention than needed at the moment.
“Razel gave you an offer no other had received, and since you’ve declined, he cannot risk valuable information being release.” I could practically hear the robot in my tone but after repeating the same line again and again who wants to sound like they actually care?
Razel had given him the option of being his right hand man, watching and guarding over the others fighting in his ring. He even gave him a tour, just not yet letting him see his fighters until Walter agreed. He declined thus angering Razel, which no offense but everyone knew not to deny Razel a request. He cared very deeply about the money earned during his investments, and with Walter by his side he had the possibility of making twice the amount as before.
Nobody outside of our world knew of the ring and if the information was to leak to the public, everything could possibly end in disaster and loss of money unlike anything you could imagine. Razel had been absolutely furious when Walter declined considering he always talked big game about making more money, but it was almost like as soon as he seen the ring Walter damn near wet himself apparently. Walter had to be excluded from the cause of the situation which in other words included his death; me being his executioner.
“Please, Ra-” He began, pleading with the blue eyes I’ve seen many different times in flashes.
I cut him off abruptly with a punch to the face annoyed with all that damn emotion he possessed. Pathetic really what did he think the point of crying would do? Nothing. It just pisses me off. Seriously man, get your shit together. The tears and snot continued to drain from his body almost too freely. Emotions would get you nowhere in life, it took great knowledge to see the world for its’ true colors. I sent a round house kick to his abdomen sending him flying against the gravel. He sat up on his elbow as he looked up at me with shock and quite a lot of sadness considering he was still blubbering like an idiot, refusing to fight back. His clenched fists however, being a big indicator that poor Walter didn’t take kindly to being pushed around. This made me smirk in satisfaction.
“Where have you been? Are you working with Razel? You can’t kill me, come one! I’m your own brother, your own flesh and blood.” He coughed as blood dripped from his dried lips. I pulled the knife from my waist band paying no attention to his pleas. I growled a low inhumane sound in the back of my throat at his crying, obviously I’m not the same girl as I was all those years ago. I’m pretty sure I’ve made that obvious enough, yet he still continues to snot and cry all over the place; the nasty substance mixing with his blood.
“Obviously, I am no longer her.” I brought him up by the base of his neck, his eyes widening at my strength.
“Rachel, please!” He pleaded. The name was foreign to me; I’d long since forgotten I actually had a name other than my given title. I didn’t hesitate when my blade punctured his abdomen where I’d kicked him painfully. Shock registered on his sticky looking face when more blood began to pour from his sticky pale lips. My lips curled in disgust, seriously how does anybody stand that stuff? It’s literally running all over his face and all that crying just makes him look absolutely pathetic. Brother my ass, this pathetic excuse for a human being should’ve died a long time ago.
With a scoff at his unmoving body and wide unseeing eyes I took off out of the alley, a small smirk on my face. Finally, that took forever.
