Maid survey

Chapter 4

Aspen's POV

                "Of course, because it's totally normal to tell a punch of strangers, criminals nonetheless, about myself" I retorted back

"Well, it's it's like you have other choices" Eros replied while shrugging "in the end you are the one who stole from criminals who death were so small punishment from their past crimes and are forced to life and redemp some of their wrong doings" he continued while a smile that can send shivers down the bravest man's spine, I don't have the upper hand here neither can I cast an illusion of having some control over the situation which I absolutely don't and he is using this as much as he can, but actually I'm rather thankful that he still asking nicely without a firearm or any sharp objects facing my way

With a loud sigh I finally caved in "at least tell me some about that made survey thing, and why I'm really here"

"Fair enough, a kingdom as big as ours of course not every official is a saint, actually no one up there is even close to that, but at the same time they don't want to stain their image most importantly the survey which not only the most powerful piece in their chess which ignorant people respect and obey devoutly but what keep their crimes hidden all along, in other words they need people to do the dirty job of the survey just in case anything came to light they would have someone to blame, and here come came the role of the organization, it pick criminals with certain description to work for them and they call them , more like call is the made survey. Now that you have a brief idea of us, why not enlighten us with something about yourself, full name, age, family and relatives, health conditions, etc"

I stayed silent for a second swallow all the information he gave me then finally "Aspen MaClear, 26, parents dead, no siblings, my other relatives abondanted me and my parents long ago, I don't suffer any health problem as far as I know, can read and and write too, but it has been years since then so I will need some practice I guess"

"C'mon Aspen don't be so formal, you can tell us more, favorite hobbies, a funny situation"

"Says the freak how just threaten me not a minute ago" I replied giving him a dirty look "stop acting friendly like we have been acquaints for a long time"

"Personally, I feel like I know you for a long time" that resulted him another dirty look

"Ahh, man, I really don't want to sound foolish since everyone seems to understand what is going on here, expect me, but, what's going in here for God's sake and why did we kidnap the woman" said one I pickpocket that afternoon, I still don't know his name yet, at this I'm not sure if I should be relieved that someone brought up my k********g or I should put his IQ into question

"Man, stay away from me, I fear I may catch your stupidity" said the other lad that I also don't know his name

"Trust me, you have cought his stupidity long, long ago. Anyway, remember the case when we failed miserably because the guy we got to integrate gave us false information that almost got us killed"

"Of course"

"That is why she is here, this was not the first time but got worst than the others, we need someone can read people to help, if this happened again the made survey will label us unfit to continue thus our deaths, so she is here" the man made an "o" face before finally nodded understanding

"Well, if that is the case, welcome to the team penny, I'm Robert by the way"

"Don't call me that" I barked immediately at the nickname

"I'm Declan, nice to meet you penny, Aspen is somehow heavy on my tongue so I will call you penny"

"And I'm Eugene but I guess you already know than, penny"

"Stop calling me that for God's sake we didn't know of each other's existence before today"

"I don't know guys, I don't like the name penny" said Eros pretending to be thinking

"Well, my name is ASPEN, A. S. P. E. N. ASPEN"

"You know what I will call you pens, it sounds better to me, and different from what the others are calling you too" 

"Okay, that is even more stupid than penny, what is so difficult in Aspen anyway"

"Give up already they ain't backing down, those two are dump as f**k, and what left functioning from their brains only work when they are killing or in a life or death situation, and it's impossible to change Eugene's mind on something"

"So .. all you want from me is helping in extracting information from criminals you get, that means after I finish with them I can go home everyday" I asked hopefully

"Oh no no no pens, you stay here, the moment you interact with made survey you are a made survey, and when you become one their are some rules you are bond to follow" he replied but the way he said 'some rules' didn't settle right with me

"Surprisingly they are only some rules while you are talking about an organization work with criminals the word dangerous doesn't seem enough to describe them"

I heard a rather unattractive snore from my side "please, the made survey system is complicated that even the author was too lazy to add them in the intro" Robert said, I feel like I'm surrounded by weird idiots, oh wait I AM surrounded by weird idiots

"Those will come later, author's promise" said Eros with his hand raised as if promising on the author's behave "now let's start with the basics, as you can see we are divided into teams, each team has a leader, that's me of course, a second man, which is obviously Eugene, and the rest are team members, those two idiots and soon you" I grimaced at that "the team consist of minimum 4 members and maximum 7 members, as a team you are bond by life, if one where to die murdered the rest better kill themselves than turn to the headquarter, this rule initially was put to prevent team members from killing each others. Once you join you will get a tattoo with your code, the codes are almost like those of the survey but unlike them who get a ribbon-like piece of fabric with their codes, we get ours tattooed because once a made survey you can't get rid of the title untill your death, the code consist of a serial number that is the number of the team you belong to, then you either get the letter "h" or the letters "S h", "h" refers to hunter and it will be the letter you in your code, then another number and they range from 1 to 7 because they refer to your position in the team, for example I'm S h1 it means I'm the leader, Eugene is S h2, the second man, Robert is S h3 and Declan is S h4 and you pens will be h5"

"But what does S h refers to?" 

I was met with a second of silence then came the answer "it means survivor hunter, those who bare these two letters where meant to have their heads served for their crimes" a shiver went down my spine but I didn't let it show, you see the punishments of the kingdom are harsh but that doesn't mean you get your head served easily you have to at least kill a handful of people or terrorized the citizens to even consider killing you as a punishment, and to know that you are in a room alone with 4 people who where sentenced to death is definitely enough to give you a heart attack. But I kept my composure, and hoped they really need me and this is not just some ploy to have me killed for their amusement

"You went horribly silent pens" why his playful voice turned suddenly sinister

I feel my throat getting tighter with each passing second, but I finally managed to squeeze an answer out of my mouth "what do you expect me to answer to that" I said trying to keep my face Blanc as I stare at him, the tension in the room is suffocating me

"Well, when you put it that way, it's normal for you to stay silent" his tone came back to normal, that piece of s**t! He changed his tone intentionally to get a reaction out of me, I'm glaring so hard in his face that he probably concluded that my calm composure earlier was a facade "now fun aside, it's very late already and we need you up early to start training, you look like you can even climb a tree. Also I need to run some errands to get you enrolled in the system without them knowing you are a woman, thank God I know just the right person for that. C'mon I will show you your room, later that week we will take you to buy some clothes, and since you are the new member and still yet to have any mission, they are on me" he winked at me after again dragging me from my hand upstairs and I rolled my eyes

"No thank you, just lend me some money and I return them when I get my first paycheck"

"Accepting it finally"

"Don't act innocent, I will forever blame you for dragging me into this, how do we get paid by the way" I came to walk beside him to not be dragged anymore but he still didn't let go of my hand

"After every mission each member receive some cash sent in their mail, the amount depends on what mission you were sent to and your role that will be mentioned in a report submitted by the team leader after every mission. But my team and I proved ourselves long ago so we usually get hard missions therefore more money" he lead me to one of many closed door in the hallway and opened it, it wasn't a small room but not big either it was very plain with a bed in the middle, a vanity and a closet, also a big window facing the forest "you are free to decorate it the way you like, but now have some rest, I will help training you first thing in the morning, after breakfast fast of course. Good night pens" 

He turned closing the door quietly behind him, I let out a sigh, what this crazy hell of a life taking me, not untill I lay on the bed that I realized how tired I'm. I finally closed my eyes thinking that this soft bed is ten times better than the cold hard mattress back in my house