Assassin X

Raven

Raven seethed all night long, angry, furious really.

She knew letting her guard down would end up being a mistake, she knew she should have stayed far away from Alex and everything he was trying to push her to. How had she let this happen?

Once he left, phone in hand, Raven threw out the food he’d brought, unable to even think about eating, but did open the wine. And proceeded to pour glass after glass, trying very hard to erase everything about Alex and her possibly catastrophic mistake.

She drank and paced, sloshing wine all over her hand and her floor. The more she drank, the worse she felt. And she wasn’t sure which she felt worse about.

The fact that Raven had let a cop into her life and had potentially blown up Papa’s group and gotten everyone caught was bad. Alex was probably going to show right back at her place with back-up and cuffs ready to arrest her and the rest of them. That was what he’d been after afterall, so once she’d found out he was vying to break everything in her world up, she wanted to be sick. Instead she took another sip of wine and tried to calm her racing mind.

Fleeing seemed like a good option. She Could just run. She’d run plenty of times in her life before and she could certainly run and disappear and do it all over again. Based off of the text message from Alex’s boss it was clear they didn’t have anything to go on. Exceot for Raven.

So, if there was no Raven then there would be no way to catch Papa or anyone else.

But that led her to the second reason that she was feeling horrible. And that reason solely had to do with Alex.

She had finally let someone in her life, finally opened up as best as she could and trusted someone and had gotten hurt in the end. Not just hurt. Heartbroken. Raven couldn’t say that she was in love with Alex, that would have bene silly considering how little they’d known each other, but she felt something for him, something bigger than just liking him. He’d meant something to her, and she had foolishly thought there could have been something real between them.

It wasn’t until the third glass of wine that Raven realized exactly what she’d been hoping for. Secretly. In the deepest part of her heart, Raven had thought that it was going to work out for her and Alex. It didn’t make sense and she didn’t even know how it would have been possible, but at night it was the little nugget of hope that helped her drift off to sleep.

But all of that was gone, left instead with a sick feeling in her stomach, a fuzzy mind from the wine, and cheeks that were raw from rubbing tears away. Once the wine was done Raven was tired, not as drunk as the night of the martinis but drunk enough that she was ready to fall right to sleep.

Sinking down into her couch, her blankets wrapping her shivering body, Raven was just about to drift off when there was a small noise from somewhere inside her apartment. Immediately her eyes sprung open and she sat up, looking frantically around the space. Her heart was pounding and it took several moments to realize that there was nothing in her home. It was just her, just the normal sounds of a building and its belongings settling in the night.

But she knew what she’d been expecting, and Raven spent the rest of the night wide awake, fearing for the future. Any moment she was certain that there was going to be a knock on her door, Alex on the other side, armed with other officers, ending the only small part of her life that she had going for her.

She didn’t sleep a wink that night and instead sat staring at the door, trying to figure out the next move of her life. What was she to do? If she ran, Papa was sure to find her and bring her back, and if wasn’t him then it would be cops that would be searching for her. She’d hide for the rest of her life. And after the small time she spent with Alex, even if she were to run and break free from everything, she knew she didn’t want to spend her life running anymore.

By dawn, with the countless possibilities and scenarios bouncing through her mind and when no cops had come to arrest her, she knew there was only one thing she could do.

Papa had saved her from the streets and had probably saved her life. How much longer could she really have survived with the way she was living? She had a second chance because of him and she was ashamed to admit that she had betrayed him so blatantly.

She wasn’t going to do that anymore. That was her resolve as the sun came up. She had pledged her allegiance to Papa and his work and she was going to follow through with that. It may not be the life she wanted anymore, but she had given her word and she owed it to him to see it all through.

Fueled with a new determination and dedication to Papa and his cause, Raven showered quickly and dressed for the day. She didn’t even need sleep anymore, adrenaline was pumping in her veins to keep her awake and moving. Once ready for the day, Raven left her apartment and headed straight for Papa’s place. She didn’t even mind the cold of the walk there, it helped keep her mind focused on her task at hand.

By the time she arrived at Papa’s place, she had so many words bouncing off her tongue and she had no idea how she was going to get them all out of her. She had already decided not to tell Papa what had happened, she couldn’t do that, he’d never forgive her. But she needed him to start trusting her again, to believe that she could do what he’d brought her on board to do.

“Raven, this is a surprise,” he said when he entered his study and saw her sitting in her usual spot.

She wasn’t relaxed though, in fact she was far from it really. Twisting at her fingers she was anxious to see him. It had been too long since she’d heard from Papa and she wasn't even sure she was welcomed there anymore or if he wanted to see her. But she knew she had to try, she had to win Papa back and show him she could do the job he wanted her to do.

“I haven’t heard from you in a long time Papa, so I thought I should come and see you myself.”

He sat in his big wooden desk across from her and Raven wasn’t sure when she’d ever felt so small in her life.

“Well, Raven, I didn’t know how dedicated you were to this anymore. I can’t have someone in my family that doesn’t want to do this.”

Raven’s gaze dropped to her lap, shame filling her soul. He knew exactly what had been going on in her mind, she should have known that.

“I’m sorry Papa. I should have done better. You’ve given me so much and I want to repay you.”

She looked up to risk a glance at Papa. He was staring back at her, a frown creasing his brow, his fingers steepled in front of him.

“Do you truly understand what we’re doing here Raven?”

She was surprised at his question. “I…I think so Papa.”

“Well, just in case, let’s talk about it. This city, this world, is littered with people who use and abuse their power. They throw their money around, they hurt people, they lie, they cheat. And yet these are the people that we are trusting to run our world? In my life I’ve seen too many men and women use money to hide their disgusting lives and make our lives worse.”

Raven was listening intently but she was having a hard time understanding what he was saying. It wasn’t that she hadn’t heard him say these things before, but suddenly they didn’t make as much sense as they used to.

The idea of getting rid of the people in the city that hurt things and make it a bad place to live appealed to her. She’d seen so much, had so many unspeakable things done to her, she had convinced herself that she was doing the right thing in life by working with Papa. But… as she sat there listening to him speak and explain things again to her, she had a sudden realization.

Wasn’t Papa doing the same thing as those other people?

Wasn’t he using his money and power to create people that were doing the same thing? Hurting, killing, ruining lives? But what made Papa worse was that the people he had created…his family…his assassins…they were unstoppable.

She knew how to kill a man in six different ways using just one hand and she wouldn’t even break a sweat. Raven could slip in and out of the night without ever being detected.

In his effort to do something good for the world, in convincing her that that’s what he was doing, he had created something far worse than what he’d been trying to destroy.

And what would happen next, when he finally took over the city? Would he stop putting out hits on people then? Or would he make his army bigger?

Raven’s heart had picked up speed and she was beginning to panic. How had she never seen all of this before? How had she been so blind?

“Are you listening to me X?” Papa asked.

Her eyes jerked back up to his she realized she had no idea what he’d just been saying. All she knew for certain was that there was nothing in her life that made any sense anymore.

“I’m giving you a mission…tonight. You will not fail this time, do you understand?”

Her mouth was dry, all her words stuck in the cotton.

“Raven,” Papa’s voice had turned to hard steel. “You have two choices to make. You are with my or against me. And you know what happens to people who are against me.”

She did know.

Once again he wasn’t truly giving her a choice.

It was kill with Papa or be killed by Papa.

“So, I’m going to ask you this question…are you with me or not?”

Raven managed to nod once, she was with him.

“Good. You’ve always been special to me Raven. My favorite, my most unique and prized assassin. But fail tonight and there won’t be another chance for you.”

Tears were stinging her eyes but she didn’t want to show the weakness to Papa. Her life was on the line and though it may not be the life she wanted, and it was absolutely no longer a life she understood, she didn’t want to die.

She straightened her spine and met his eyes, locking her gaze on his with confidence. Determinations of a person who wanted to live.

“What’s my hit tonight?”

Papa’s smile sent shivers down her spine, it was the first time she’d registered how evil he truly looked sometimes.

“Tonight you get a very big fish. You get to go for Oliver Johnson, the business tycoon. He’s been doing shady business for far too long, making his money in despicable ways, and it’s time that he was stopped.”

She knew exactly who Oliver Johnson was and though he may have been seedy with how he made his money, Raven wasn’t certain he should die for it. Especially not at her hands.

What choice did she have? It would be Oliver or her, and Raven wasn’t ready for it to be her.