Assassin X

Raven

Papa had called and told her it was urgent that she come to his home immediately. Raven was used to those phone calls when the night began to fall and there was another person that she needed to track and catch. Another person to rid the city of. But her mind had felt frazzled and wound up since she'd left her shift at the coffee shop that morning.

Raven had been having a difficult time transitioning from afternoons of ringing up coffees to nights of killing men with her bare hands, she needed a break in between. Grateful that Papa agreed to her request, she had been able to switch her shift, having a break to breathe between both of her lives. And if Alex was a regular in the shop as he seemed to be, then Raven was feeling even more giddy inside that she had switched her shifts. Not that she could ever do anything about how undeniably sexy he was or how much he made her blush, it was one of Papa's strict rules to stay away from a personal life. But still, she wouldn't mind if he came in every day, even just to make her smile.

Smiling, that was something that she felt she hadn't done in ages, not really anyway. The one that made her dimples deepen and her heart beat just a tiny bit harder, but somehow, in those brief moments that he'd been in her line, he had made her do just that.

She shook her head from the thoughts of Alex as she walked the streets to Papa's, she needed to stay focused on the task at hand. Whatever Papa needed, that was what she was going to have to focus on. It was important to keep her thoughts straight, the moment they started to stray it could be fatal.

That was part of her training.

Just like how to kill a man using just her thumb in three swift ways had been part of her training.

Papa hadn't been lying, she'd learned to be lethal. Down in that cellar she had eaten, breathed, and slept her training. Everything from weight lifting and constant workouts, to sparring in the ring with her trainers had taught her to be disciplined with her body.

Sometimes it wasn't as easy to keep her mind as strong as her body, though she tried her best. Papa had done that training himself, teaching her that there were some people that the world was better off without. Down in that cellar it seemed so black and white but as of lately it felt a bit more complicated than that, though she'd never tell that to Papa. That was another one of his rules. She was never to question his word, what Papa said was the law.

His mansion was just a few minutes outside of the city that he wanted so much to take care of. It was close enough that on nice days she could walk to but far enough away that he didn't need to live in the cramped spaces the city provided. There was sprawling land and a wide parking lot for his many prestigious visitors.

Raven walked into Papa's office, and sank immediately into one of his soft leather chairs. It was made like the rest of his furniture, it was the furniture of the rich, expensive and impossibly comfortable. It was hard to fathom how far she'd come from that lonely place that she now knew was a cellar under her Papa's mansion. She now lived, at the expense of her Papa just like the rest of his "children," in a nice apartment in the city. But his office was still her favorite place in the world. The smell of cigars was always rich in the air and there was fresh brandy in the crystal snifters.

He poured them both a small glass and he sat in the black leather chair opposite of her.

"Raven, thank you for coming by on such short notice.”

"Of course Papa, is there a mission tonight?”

It felt easier to call what she did missions rather than what they were, murders. But she hadn't killed anyone that Papa hadn't told her deserved it. He had promised that she'd only be killing the bad, the people who hurt others and hurt the city. And with only a few missions that she'd completed, she had done just that. She'd followed his orders and been able to help make the city better, like he'd promised she was doing.

"Not a mission tonight, but very soon,”he told her. "Today actually, we are announcing our presence.”

"We are?" They had worked so hard to stay hidden that she hadn't thought Papa would ever want them to come out into the world. Yet, she supposed she should have suspected it, on every victim they left a small mark behind their ear, her family mark.

"Yes, it's time. I've come to find out that the police have caught on to us. The bigger targets we've gone after recently drew the attention we were hoping but they found the stamp. It was bound to happen eventually but now it's time to announce ourselves.”

Raven was surprised to hear that Papa was going to go public to the police. It was of course risky and not just for him but for all of them that were part of his family. She didn't want to worry or fear what might happen if she were to get caught, she had to trust that Papa knew what he was doing.

Maybe it was time after all. Papa's plan to take over the city in a sort of vigilante style wouldn't work if no one ever knew who he was. As he taught them all, people needed to know him, to fear him, to listen when he spoke, and the only way he could do that was to announce his presence. But why was she there?

"What do you need from me Papa?”

"The smaller missions, those lesser people, they were just a warm-up for you Raven. But it's time to get to the bigger criminals, the ones who are stopping us from getting to take over the city. We're going to make it so much better.”

There was a time in the cellar, in the very beginning, where she worried that what she was going to do was wrong and immoral. And though lately she was starting to question the levels of grey that happened to color her life, she reminded herself daily of the truth that she knew all too well. While living on the streets she learned a hard lesson that Papa had only reinforced; people were bad. They did terrible things and hurt people that shouldn't be hurt, and those people should be punished.

The question she had rolling in her mind was if she was truly the one that should be punishing them.

But with every fiber she had she ignored her burning confusion and pressed on with what Papa planned to do next.

"What are you going to do?”she asked.

"I'm going to call the police of course, inform them of what we've done, what we're going to do, and tell them about our mark. That way they'll know our calling card.”

"Won't that seem like good timing? Like you're just looking for attention from the media?”

Papa shook his head.

"The media doesn't know yet, they've been very good at keeping everything very quiet.”

"Wow, you really do know people everywhere don't you?”

He smiled at her, but it wasn't a comforting one. It was more sinister than that and Raven had to look away from him just to keep herself calm.

"I know every move, every thought, and every breath this city has,”he told her.

Raven quickly tried to clear her mind. It wasn't as if he had supernatural powers but still, she did fear that there was a chance that he could see that she'd been thinking about Alex. It was already foolish enough to be thinking of a man that she'd met just once for a matter of minutes in her coffee line, but she didn't need Papa knowing that. What would he do if he thought she had any fantasies about breaking his rules?

"Alright,”she told him.“May I ask why I'm here Papa?”

Still, she wasn't sure why he had called her to his office. If he was planning on letting people know, then he didn't need to tell her that. She was only one of his many children, though she did happen to be his favorite. At least, she felt that way. She knew she had the best apartment and the biggest spending account. She had the most kills and had never failed him, not even in training. Being around Papa was the first time ever that she belonged to someone, a family. She shuttered to think of what it would feel like to go back to being alone.

"What I want to tell you is that after I tell the police what we're doing, things are going to get intense. Fast. I'm going to need you to be ready, to take down bigger criminals faster than usual.”

Raven nodded, she knew that it was time to move on to the next part of the plan. When she'd been in the cellar they'd taught her that their first part was to rid the city of some of the smaller people. So far she'd rid the city of pedophiles, drug dealers who had killed their buyers, and rapists, but none of them were of any importance. They were just men who had done horrible things. With her training, those kills had been easy. Those were men who thought they were above it all because they hadn't been caught but weren't smart enough to realize that they weren't above anything. And no one was above Papa.

But what was he planning next? Was he going to go after men who were tougher, fighters, had body guards? There was a flip to her stomach, one that she wasn't sure of. It couldn't be nerves could it? She was so well trained, such an expert at her craft, there was nothing at all to be nervous about so she doubted that's what she was feeling inside.

Maybe it was that shade of grey, that confusion in her mind that had been pushing its way forward. Was that what was making her so anxious?

She couldn't show that in front of Papa, she had to show nothing but loyalty and devotion. And he did deserve it after all. He'd rescued her from the streets, given her a home, a life, and a family. No matter what he asked of her, no matter what the next step was in his plan, she was going to follow through with it. She was with him through all of this and she wasn't going to abandon him. Too many had abandoned her in her life time and let her down, Papa was the only one who hadn't.

"So, if it's time to move on to the next stage of the plan, then I have to ask; who do we take down next?”

Papa picked up the phone, ready to dial the police right in front of her. She held her breath and listened to the conversation as best as she could. She heard him tell the police about the stamp behind the ear, about their plan to rid the city of its evils, and the plan to take over. He sounded confident, just as he always did, and she had no doubt that it wasn't a front. He had every confidence in the world.

"Well Raven, it's time to move forward. You're next target will be a big one, you're biggest yet. But I have faith in you. Don't let me down.”

Raven attempted a reassuring smile. She'd never let him down before and if she could help it, she'd keep herself together long enough to get through it all.