Assassin X

Raven

Racing through the streets, the only thing that was running through Raven’s mind was the fact that she was as good as dead. It would be soon too, she was sure of that. Papa didn’t like to leave loose ends in life. She’d had him, Oliver, she’d had him right there, her fingers nearly around his neck, the job would have been done in a matter of seconds.

She could have spared her own life.

But Alex had followed her, he’d ruined everything. She had to get away from there, as far away as possible from the city and from Papa. She’d need to go into hiding, for the rest of whatever life she had left.

If she made it home, she could pack somethings and be gone within an hour, that would hopefully give her enough of a head-start before Papa had found out she’d failed again. But it wasn’t her fault, just like last time she’d been followed, she’d been interrupted just before she could strike.

There was a feeling though, deep in the pit of her soul, that told her even if she hadn’t been interrupted, she still wouldn’t have killed Oliver. Try as she might, she couldn’t ignore that truth that was wiggling around inside of her; that Alex had stopped her from doing something she hadn’t really wanted to do.

That didn’t matter now though, what was done was done, and she needed to start thinking. Where would she go once she got her things? Maybe she would just go to the bus stop and take the first bus that took her the farthest away from the city. Away from Papa.

He’d find her, he’d bring her back, and he’d make sure she could never run away again. She’d never see another day.

Raven was moving faster than she even knew she could but this was life or death. And not someone else’s this time, but hers.

How had her life turned to this again?

She’d thought she was done fearing for her life. Her entire childhood had been spent running away from her foster homes for fear of what the next day was going to cause for her, she’d spend nights on the street unsure if she would wake up again, and now she was running from Papa’s life which had finally caught up to her.

It was what she deserved she supposed, after all of the things she’d done that she wasn’t proud of. But Papa’s life had kept her protected, it had stopped her running, and she had known for a brief time that her life was safe. Not any more, though. After missing the hit on Oliver, Papa was going to be certain that she doubted her dedication to him and his cause.

Even though it had been Alex’s fault, Papa would still be right. She knew that now. She knew she was done with hurting people which was why she needed to get as far away as she could.

Winded, she finally made it to her apartment building, thankful that it was in sight. But a strong pang hit her hard when she realized that would be the last time she saw her home. The building and her apartment, had been hers. It was the longest she’d ever lived in a place and it was home. Now she had to leave it all behind and most likely end back up on the street again.

Could she take out cash before she ran? She’d have to stop at an ATM and take out as much as she could because once she was gone he’d be able to find where she was if she used her card again. How much was the most she could take out, she wondered.

Tears threatened to spill over while she slowed to catch her breath and she walked the rest of the way toward her building. Would she ever be able to find a place in life where she didn’t have to hide? Or would she always have to be on the run and scared?

Something was wrong, she could see it right away, feel it in her bones. Raven was trained to sense when something was off and she could feel it now. She searched the streets, making sure to once again slink in the shadows, when she saw them.

There was a reason that Raven was one of the best assassins Papa had…and it was her instinct and her ability to see every angle all at once.

And she saw them, even as they tried to hide from her, she saw them anyway. Waiting outside of her building, waiting for her. Papa’s men. He already knew what had happened, he was already ready for her.

What was she going to do? Her heart was hammering and she thought it was going to leap right out of her chest.

She had no money, no ID, no clothes, nothing. Everything she needed to escape was up in her apartment. But those men were not going to let her into her apartment, they weren’t’ going to let her escape. She didn’t want to know what they were going to do to her if they saw her.

With one last look at her building, Raven turned away and set off again into the night. Where, she wasn’t sure, but she knew she had to get away from there.

She never took anything when she went on a mission, not even one dollar. She literally had the clothes on her back and nothing else.

Again.

With a deep breath, Raven headed in the only direction she could think to go. There was only one person in the city she could go to, one person who knew the truth about her. And even though she was completely ripped apart by what he’d done and lied about, she needed him at that moment.

Raven didn’t know exactly which apartment he lived in, but Alex had given her enough to go off of that when she landed outside of a medium sized building not very far from the station she was fairly certain it was his. When she looked at the outdoor doorbells and saw his name, she felt a weird sense of relief that she found him. It wasn’t like she had any other option of anywhere else to turn.

Not only did he know about her but this was also partly his fault. He was probably going to arrest her and it was going to get ugly, but she would take that rather than whatever Papa’s men were going to do to her. At least with Alex, she’d live.

She rang the buzzer and waited, not even sure yet if he was home. When there was no answer she rang again. And then a third time.

Nothing.

With no other options she sat down and waited for Alec to come back. He probably wasn’t sprinting back to his place like she had to hers, but he was going to come back wasn’t he?

What If he planned on going straight to her place? What if those men saw him?

Her stomach twisted.

Did Alex even realize how much danger he had put himself in?

Raven wished so much that she had her phone with her. Only a few times had she ever taken it with her and this was one of those times she wished she had. She could call Alex or text him and tell him not to look for her. To stay away from her apartment. Not that those men were going to jump just anyone but if they found out he was with Raven…

Had been with Raven, she corrected herself. Now was not the time to correct herself with semantics of their relationship but she had to remind herself that they weren’t together anymore. He was a cop. She was a criminal. The worst kind of criminal at that, a killer. He wasn’t her boyfriend, had never been her true boyfriend no matter how much she had wanted it.

Feeling edgy from far too much that was going on in her life, Raven began to pace in front of Alex’s apartment, silently willing him to show up soon. It had felt like forever and just when she thought she should turn around and go back to her own apartment and check on the situation, she saw a familiar saunter walking down the sidewalk.

“Alex,” she breathed, relief flooding her voice.

“Raven? What are you doing here? I went back to your place but your doorman said you weren’t there. I waited but had a feeling you wouldn’t be back tonight.”

Raven crossed her arms in front of her body, trying to hold herself together. Without even noticing her body was quaking and she felt like her entire being was about to split apart into a million pieces.

“I can’t go back…ever,” she whispered the confession.

“What? Why not?”

Why didn’t Alex get it? He knew who she was, he knew all about her, didn’t he?

“What…exactly…do you know about me Alex?” she asked.

“I know you’re a…killer…and that you’re probably working for someone….but that’s all I know so far.”

That was it? Weeks of seeing her and that was all he knew? Either he was the worst cop ever or Papa was remarkable at hiding all of his operations. She knew nothing of Alex as a cop but she still had a pretty good idea that it was Papa who was the expert.

Raven checked over her shoulder, worried about anyone who may be around. Papa was already on the lookout for her, his assassins could be anywhere.

“Could we go up to your place? I’ll explain everything. I need help Alex. You can arrest me if you want but I need help.”

Alex frowned at her, as if he was deciding exactly what his next move should be. Raven held her breath, aware that he could leave her out there or arrest her right on the spot. Nothing within her control anymore.

Had anything ever really been in her control anyway?

Just when she thought he was going to turn her away too and leave her alone to fend for herself, Alex let out his own breath and nodded.

She didn’t know a time when she had felt more grateful.

They didn’t speak another word until they made it up to his apartment. She didn’t know what to say anyway but whatever she was going to say was not going to happen until she was in the privacy of his apartment anyway. A cop’s apartment. She couldn’t really believe she was going to a cop’s apartment. Even more she couldn’t believe that she was looking to a cop to help her, to pull her out of her mess. She’d spent so many years avoiding that very thing, but there she was, next to Alex, hoping that he could do something for her. Anything.

At least save her life.

Not that she felt it was worth very much at that point.

The elevator doors dinged open and Alex stepped out wordlessly. Raven followed him, trying to figure out what she was going to say to him once she finally made it to safety.

They walked down a few paces until Alex stopped and unlocked his own apartment door.

Before he opened it to let them in he turned to her.

“Are you sure you want this Raven? Are you sure you want to be here? Once you talk to me you can’t take it back.”

Raven knew that was true, but she also knew she couldn’t take anything back. Not really. The only thing she could do was start from this moment.

She looked in Alex’s eyes and said the only true thing that came to her mind.

“Alex, you’re all I’ve got.”