Werewolf Assassins

Chapter 2: Sofia's POV

     I could hear her heartbeat speed up, and could feel her breathing disturbing the air around us. Alexis was terrified of what I was going to do to her. I stopped walking when we reached the bottom of the stairs and cleared my throat. She turned to face me, wringing her hands nervously.

     "I just wanted to let you know, you're safe with me. Where we're going, the others can be quite intimidating. But you're safe as long as you stick by me".

     "Why should I believe that?" She questioned, her voice quiet. I felt my heart fall a little, and I didn't understand why. Surely she couldn't be what we had been researching?

     "I didn't let those thugs kill you, did I? Look, I don't want you to be scared. If you want to leave after we get you checked out, I won't stop you".

     She nodded slowly and looked up, studying my face. I smiled gently, trying to seem less intimidating.

     What the hell is wrong with you? The voice in my head growled. I didn't know what it meant, but I blocked it out like I'd been doing for years now. Nothing good ever happened when I let that voice out.

     After a long moment, Alexis nodded again and stepped behind me, letting me lead the way. I walked toward a heavy metal door and banged on it once, twice, three times. A large man opened the door, staring down at me, and I smiled lightly at the brown-haired man. "Hi Jack!"

     He only waved at me, eyeing the figure behind me questioningly.

     "She's a guest, and will be treated as such" I ordered. He nodded slowly and stepped aside to let us pass. I took Alexis' hand gently, making her tense, and led her through the door, my heart skipping a beat the moment our hands touched. She didn't fight me though, which I found surprising.

     I led her into a massive room, furnished with various tables, chairs, and a bar against the back wall. Many pathways branched off of this main room, but I quickly spotted Sam and ran over to him, releasing Alexis' hand in the process.

     I hugged the man tight around the waist, and he turned his head down to me, dark colored hair falling over his face. "Well hey there! Contract complete?"

     I nodded slowly and stepped back, smiling. "Good to see you Sam! I didn't think you'd be back until tomorrow".

     "Ah, I finished early and couldn't stay away from my family for long!" He tousled my hair and I rolled my eyes. Then his eyes snapped up to someone behind me, and I turned to see Alexis had followed me over.

     "Ah, Sam, this is Alexis. She needs to see Jenny.'' I gave him one of our many shared looks, and he knew immediately what I meant. She'd been in the crossfire and would need to be dealt with.

     He jerked his thumb to a table behind him, where a woman with long brown hair sat, looking through charts and pictures. I glanced at Alexis and motioned her to follow me, leading her to the table.

     I cleared my throat and Jenny looked up, smiling wide when she saw me, and jumped up, pulling me into a tight hug. I stood awkwardly, glancing at Alexis who just shrugged. Of course, she didn't know our history.

     After a moment, I stepped back from the hug and laid a hand on Alexis' shoulder. "She was caught in the crossfire during my contract. Has a pretty bad bruise on her neck".

     Jenny was unhappy that I pulled away, but she nodded and stepped toward Alexis, who tensed under my hand. I squeezed her shoulder gently, and when she looked up at me, I nodded gently.

     She held still as Jenny looked her over, frowning.

     "It doesn't look like there's any internal damage" She said at last, pulling back. "But she should stay here for a day or two so I can monitor it". I felt Alexis sag in defeat, but she didn't argue.

     I nodded and thanked Jenny before steering Alexis toward my room. "We don't have any extra rooms, not that it would be a good idea anyway, so you'll need to stay with me," I told her, and she sighed uneasily.

     I opened the door to the small room and stepped inside, closing the door behind her as she entered. It wasn't much, just a desk, and chair, two beds pushed together, and a small clock. A skylight had been dug through the earth to let some lightly into the underground room, and I was lucky enough to have my own personal bathroom attached.

     Alexis rubbed her face and looked around awkwardly.

     "I'll get you some fresh clothes so you can get showered and get that blood off of you" I said quickly and left the room for a moment, coming back with a fresh set of clothes, all unused.

     She thanked me quickly and stepped into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her, turning the shower on a moment later. I glanced at the two beds, pushed together, and shook my head, quickly moving them to opposite ends of the room.

     I sat on the bed closest to the door and pulled my book out from under my pillow, flicking it open to the page I had last been reading. "Werewolves and Their Mates" the chapter was called. I skimmed over the pages quickly, keeping my ears open for any signs of the shower being turned off. The second I heard it, I snapped the book closed and tucked it under my pillow again..

     Not two minutes after the book was put away, Alexis stepped out of the bathroom, toweling her hair to dry it. I did my best to hide the smile that spread across my face.

     I failed. She looked at me strangely and frowned. “What?”

     “Nothing”, I muttered, turning to the door.

     I heard her sigh and walk over to me slowly. “Y’know, if I’m going to be stuck here, I feel like I should at least get to know who you are” She muttered back.

     I heaved a heavy sigh and turned back to her. Even with her hair soaking wet, she was still beautiful. “My name is Sofia. I’m an assassin. And before you go running to the authorities about my team here, yes they know about us. They even work with us from time to time”.

     She frowned softly, clearly thinking about something far away. I changed the subject quickly, sensing that it might be a less than fun conversation to have.

     “So what brings you to such a small town?” I asked hurriedly.

     She frowned and turned away from me. “No reason”.

     I tilted my head but didn’t push her. We both had secrets we didn’t want the other to know. For all I knew, she was escaping some crazed maniac and couldn’t risk telling anybody in case she was revealed. I shrugged and laid back on my bed. I felt the mattress sag slightly as she sat down beside me, her small form resting lightly by my side. She was quite a bit shorter than I had initially thought, only coming to about my chin if we were both standing. I watched her carefully, intrigued by her.

     She noticed and stood up slowly, moving away from me. “Well… We should both probably get some sleep…” She muttered. I nodded slowly, but rather than properly laying on the bed, I stood and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind me.