The Assassin's Love

2.

Since we humans have a conscience, since we are the only animals proven to know the difference between right and wrong, are we the only animals capable of evil? Is our mind, our greatest strength, the highly evolved tool that makes us greater than the other beings on earth, our downfall? 

Sometimes the greatest gift is the greatest curse. 

✁ - - - - - - - - - -

I headed out the door, and it was then that I realized… How had I not noticed earlier? I lived one block away from my target. Frick. 

Inwardly grumbling and wondering if this was part of the plan that must be to get rid of me, I tried to push that thought from my mind and hopped into my car. First stop, animal shelter. Find the cutest, friendliest dog there is and hope my mom goes for this. Then again, even though she didn’t know, a dog is a small price to pay for six hundred thousand dollars. 

I ruminated over my plan as I drove, convinced that this would have to work. Then I was at the animal shelter, and I walked in, giving a wave to the receptionist trying to talk to me. I was only interested in the dogs, which I knew perfectly well where to find. 

A flurry of barks met my ears as I entered the hall lines with kennels, dogs of all shapes and sizes bouncing around behind the bars. I inspected each, wanting every dog I saw, but determined to find the perfect one for this job. 

  As I walked down the hall, inspecting each dog with the least emotion possible, a whining yelp resounded. I turned and hurried towards the sound, finding a worker attempting to put a collar on a dog howling in a corner. Its ragged tail tucked between its legs, lips pulled back in a snarl, eyes wide. 

“What’s going on?” I asked, eyes on the dog. It was about the size of a beagle with patchy black fur covering its emaciated body. 

“Well, we’re trying to… Put her out of her misery. She’s been here for a while, won’t eat much, won’t let anyone near her.” 

I continued looking at the dog, trembling, absolutely terrified. The worker grabbed her, eliciting another yelp, and put a collar with a muzzle on in a swift motion. He dragged the dog out of its kennel, fighting for every step of the way, and made his way past me down the hall. 

I turned away, fighting down sadness, looking at the other dogs. The hopeful, happy, healthy ones. The ones who attract attention from a certain someone on the street, pull to go say hi, give me the excuse I needed to start a conversation. 

A golden retriever would be perfect. Cute, friendly, trustworthy. But my eyes kept flitting to the empty cage, ears magnifying the yelps echoing down the hall. 

Or maybe this little Pomeranian. Everyone loves small balls of fuzz, right? 

The small black dog’s claws scraped against the floor. I forced myself to look away. 

This mutt would be perfect. Whole-body wiggling as it looked at me, the fluffiest thing I’ve ever seen and a beautiful white and chocolate brown coat. Who could resist this baby? 

As the door screeched open and the small black dog was about to disappear, I closed my eyes. No, no, no. 

 “Wait!” I snapped into action and ran after the worker. 

“What?” He gave me an annoyed look. 

“I’ll take her.” 

“You’ll what now? Have you looked at this dog?” She was gnawing at the leash, still trembling, eyeing us both warily. 

“Yes. And I want her.” 

“You sure, kid? She hates people, she was abused.” 

“Yes… Yes. Exactly.” 

“Well, good luck… I guess. I’ll help you bring her up to the front desk-”

“That’s okay. Never too soon to start getting her used to me, right? What’s her name?” 

“Called Layla.” 

I crouched down, slightly averting my eyes from hers, and making my voice as soothing as I could. “Hey Layla, it’s okay. Good girl.” 

At the sound of her name, Layla twisted and tried to run, growling and attempting to snap when she couldn’t. 

“Okay, okay. We’ll find you a new name then… Shh, you’re coming home with me.” 

The worker shook his head as he handed me the leash. “You’re giving yourself more trouble than it's worth…” 

I didn’t respond to his comment. Maybe so, but everyone needs someone to believe in them. Even dogs. “Thanks,” I said, and began the trek to pull my new dog through the hall to the desk where she’d become officially mine. 

✁ - - - - - - - - - -

I sat in the front seat of the car, sitting still and quiet. In the backseat, whatever her name was going to be was cowering and snarling at me. This was the opposite of the kind of dog I needed, but I just couldn’t leave her… 

I sighed, recollected my thoughts, and turned slightly. “Hey, what are we gonna name you?” I asked, keeping my voice low. I was met with intensified snarling. 

“How about… Dia. Like, short for Diamond, Diamond in the rough. You’re pretty nice once you settle down, aren’t you?” I took a treat from a bag I’d bought as I left and held it out. She didn’t take it. 

“Okay then. I’ll just put this on the seat… And go talk to mom about this… And you eat the food while I’m gone. Deal? I’ll be back soon.” I kept an eye on Dia as I exited the car, but she didn’t make a break for it. I made sure the door was closed and the window was open just a crack, then hurried into the house. 

“Mom!” I called. I heard her say something unintelligible from the kitchen and headed over to talk to her. 

“Hey, Mik, what’re you up to?” She said with a smile, continuing to mix something in a bowl. 

“Yeah, so… I was at the animal shelter-” 

“Miki,” Mom groaned, “We are not getting any pets!” 

“About that-”

She dropped the spoon with a clatter. “You didn’t.” 

“I… Did. There was this little dog, and she was going to be put down-”

“You brought a problem dog home? No. You know how I feel about animals. Take it back now.” 

“Her, Mom. Not it. She was terrified!” 

“She would be peacefully in puppy heaven right now, no terror!” 

“She was abused,” I said quietly. 

Mom opened her mouth, then closed it, and shook her head. “It stays in your room. I am not paying for this.” 

“I know. She won’t be an issue. Thank you.” I gave her a hug. 

She gave me a squeeze, then pulled away. “Anything else I should know about this?” 

“Uh… Her name is Dia? She’s pretty shy. And… I don’t know much more than that.” 

Mom sighed heavily. 

“I’ll bring her to my room now. And… You could meet her?” 

“That’s fine. I’m busy right now, I don’t need dog hair in the kitchen.” 

“Okay.” I headed back out and looked into the window of my car. The treat was still there, but my seatbelt wasn’t. 

I cautiously opened the door and slid into the seat. “Shouldn’t have taken that muzzle off, should I?” I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could even though I was more than a little annoyed. 

There was a growl from the backseat. I glanced back, Dia’s wide eyes meeting mine. “Hey, ready to come to my room? Quite a jump for a relationship, I know we just met, but it’ll be fun. I’ll give you a shoe that mom wrongly thought was my style to chew on until I can get you some bones or something.” 

I moved slowly closer, as Dia moved slowly backward. When I could, I grabbed the leash and opened the door. She refused to leave the car. “I’m gonna nickname you DPC. Diamond Problem Child.” I slid into the back seat next to her, reaching out a hand. She growled but sniffed the air around my hand. Still moving slowly, I managed to get a hand on her back. She shuddered and whined, but didn’t bite me. I pet her gently, then slid my hand up to her head and rubbed behind her ear. She growled the whole time but didn’t resist. 

After a few minutes, I wrapped my arms around her, earning a loud yelp. “Are you hurt or scared?” I asked her, hauling her onto my lap and trying to exit the car without falling over. 

Dia was trembling, growling, and occasionally trying to wiggle away from me the whole way to my room. I closed that door with my foot and set her down on my bed. “There you go, nicer than that kennel?” She retreated as far away as she could, still growling. 

“Okay, have it your way. I’m just gonna clean up a bit, make sure you don’t have anything important to chew up. And I’ll leave a variety of gourmet shoes for your enjoyment. Then I’ve got some spying to do.” 

As I cleaned I began trying to find a way to redesign my plan so that Dia would still be able to help me… 

With or without her, I still had a job to do.