HIM AND ASSASSIN SEASON 1

MUST HAVE KEPT THE BLADE

“You stay! And DON’T MOVE!” The man shouted pointing a gun at Himerald.

THE STORE is air-conditioned so it is almost soundproof from the outside and inside. Hence, even the stranger created a noise or fired a gunshot, the people outside would hear nothing.

The stranger, armed man is wearing a black jacket with a black mask. He then looked at the counter and yelled again, “Turn over to me the cash... Now! ” From pointing his pistol at Himerald, the man suddenly moved his aim at the pharmacist on the counter.

The three ladies fell into a deep fear after that sudden move. The ladies who were arranging and checking stopped their businesses and focused on the armed man. They are very afraid at that moment that they could even feel how their feet are starting to get numb and tremble. This is the first time this scenario crossed their life as a pharmacist so they do not have an idea on how to handle the situation.

“B-but... there is none.” The lady quickly replied, while everything on her are trembling, from the mouth to her legs. Who would not tremble if you are pointed by a gun?

As the lady trembled in her seat, the metal chair actually causing a clanging sound as it trembled too, shaking on the tiled floor.

After hearing that, the face of the armed man changed; from fearsome aura into threatening face as he retorted, “WHAT? Don’t you dare lie to me!”

The lady just froze there on her seat, she do not know what to do anymore. For some time, she even forgot to breathe.

After getting no response from the counter, the man turned back to Himerald who is currently showing no fear. “You! Surrender your wallet!” The man suddenly rebuked but for somehow, it was a bit awkward, yelling in front of the young man who is not even afraid of you.

Himerald slightly flinched his face, trying to be brave as possible as he could. “There’s nothing on it so you have nothing to take from me.” He replied coldly while facing the man, still with no hint of fear.

The man was pissed off by Himerald’s arrogant reply and expression. Thus, the man quickly pulled his black bifold wallet from the wide-open sky blue Jansport backpack. He even flipped the wallet open and after that, disappointment painted on his expression. There was nothing in it, just some pennies and one hundred bills. From that, the armed man threw the wallet to the floor.

“I told you, there’s nothing on it.” Himerald just uttered and smirked before he slowly took three steps away from the man.

The stranger tightened his forehead, showing some wrinkles. It was obvious that he wanted to shoot the young man by that moment, he was literally pissed off. “Your bag?” He demanded when he saw how Himerald slowly taking his steps back. Hence, he walked near Himerald and looked at the bag. There is still an unzip chamber on it.

“You can take my wallet... but not my bag.” Himerald said firmly with his eyes still blank before he hurriedly closed his bag. Then he stepped back even more as he wore the backpack to his back.

The armed man becomes silent after seeing Himerald, stepping backward without a glimpse of fright or fear in his movement. Then a thought mingled around his head that made him slightly glad. However, he still maintained his frightening and threatening facial expression.

“Ahuh? I see… You’re not even afraid of me? What if I shot your head and let it blows up? Will it make you afraid, huh?”

To the surprise and frustration of the three pharmacists, the armed man suddenly raised his aim directly to the not-so-wide forehead of Himerald. It was very close to the extent that the muzzle of the pistol touches the skin of his forehead.

Nevertheless, Himerald showed no fear when he even pushed his forehead against the muzzle of the gun.

“You... are you not afraid of us? You came here to rob us… alone? F*cking sh*t!” Himerald uttered, emphasizing the word ‘alone’ and his crisp curse. He then threw a deadly glare at the armed man like he was pissing him even more.

Then one of the pharmacists inserted, “S-sir, please don’t talk back anymore, you might get hurt—” The counter pharmacist said, referring to Himerald.

However, the lady did not finish her statement when the stranger cut her up with a very loud voice.

“SHUT UP!”

That sudden shout was intimidating and frightening to the ladies and not in Himerald. Once it reach to the senses of the lady, who was the pharmacist checking something on the book, it brought chills to her body down to her legs. Her legs suddenly got numb and that caused her to drop flatly on the floor.

That sudden reaction made the other pharmacist to worry. And so one of them called,

"Elyssa!"

Then the pharmacist, who was busy arranging some products earlier, quickly ran to her comrade who collapsed with her face filled with worries. She then pulled the head of her co-worker off the floor and laid it on her legs as she sat on the floor.

The situation in the pharmacy store was very intense to the point of view of the three pharmacists. But as for Himerald, it was just a piece of time-consuming scenario. As he figured everything out.

The armed man looked back at Himerald. But not just that, he also moved closer to the blank face of Himerald as he says, “Did you forget that I have a gun with me? Or, you are just a damn i***t kid? Do you understand that... I have a gun... Do you want me to end your life?” Even though their faces were very close to each other, Himerald could not still feel the breath of the man since his mouth is fully covered with a face mask.

Himerald just stood up straight there. He is much taller than the man so he was like looking down at him, unconsciously making a downgrading stare.

“Trust me, I really want to be afraid but I don’t afraid of any toys, especially if it is a plastic gun. Sh*t!”

There was a pause to the armed man after hearing that. It seems like something just popped inside him that he has been trying to prevent.

“W-what did you just say?” The robber man shockingly asked. “Are you saying that this is a fake gun? Err, I think I’ll have to blow your head up to test if this is really fake.”

Deep inside Himerald was feeling so annoyed about the armed man repeatedly saying that he wants to blow Himerald’s head.

The arrogant Himerald forwarded his forehead even more, pushing the gun towards the man as he muttered, "To see is to believe."

Then the man eagerly pushed the gun as well against the forehead of Himerald, preparing his finger to pull the trigger.

That scene made the three pharmacists to frustrate even more. They are extremely afraid but they could not just let that armed man hurt the kid.

A moment of silence.

“PLEASE DON’T! Please. Here, I will give you the money. I—I will give you what you want. Just… just don’t hurt the kid.” The lady at the counter abruptly stated with her teary eyes. And that made the robber man stop from pulling the trigger.

“s**t, where is the guard... he should be here.” The other lady, who once collapsed due to her numbing legs, mumbled to her co-worker. However, she mumbled that in a very low sound that the armed man was not able to recognize.

“Aw yeah, you are an easy talker after all. Now give me the money immediately.” The robber demanded as he walked closer to the counter table. Again, he moved his arm from Himerald to the pharmacist sitting at the counter, straightening his arm to aim at the lady.

The lady abruptly stood up causing the chair to move backward and make a noise. She then slowly lowered her body together with her head to look under the long desk. Due to that, the pharmacist has gone out from the sight of the armed man. And when she got to stand up back again,

“HERE!”

*BAAANGG!*

The lady just batted the gun that was on the hand of the man using a baseball bat. The gun flung to the side, sliding on the floor until it reached the narrow gap of the rack from the floor.

Everything happened very quickly, no one saw how the lady managed to pull the heavy baseball bat and even swung it to hit the gun. And right after that, just like how fast the table turns when the lady did not just disarm the man, but she also pulled a gun from the long desk and pointed it to the guy.

With her less frightened face, she uttered, “M—maybe, it is the best for you to leave the store before I shoot your head.” She threatened while his hands are still shaking, but this time her voice showed no fear but rather with conviction, enough to hold the gun and remain still. And enough to make the man believe that she can really pull the trigger if he did not leave the store as what she threatened.

Silence filled the store after that. Everyone was left dumbfounded. They did not expect her to do that especially her co-workers who have known her for a long time.

It was almost a minute staring at each other before the man parted his lips and tightened his cheeks and eyes creating a lively face.

"Okay, okay. Alright, you got me there." Said the man and suddenly fixed his posture from standing so straight to slightly forward neck. After that, he took his mask off revealing a face of an adult man in his 40's.

The three become silent after seeing his face. They all got to fall into their thoughts, thinking the familiarity of the face of the man. Upon entertaining her thoughts, the lady at the counter slowly lowered her hand that was aiming at the man earlier.

"S—si—sir? Sir Chou, Ah—ah no, no, no. Forgive me for hurting you, sir." The lady immediately trembled as she hurried to the side of the counter and walked out from the small door. She then slowly walked closer to the man. She was totally caught off guard from what she just realize.

The two ladies on the ground, who were consoling each other, took a deep breath and heaved a long sigh. It was an ease to their chest seeing who was behind the mask. They quickly stood up from the floor and fixed themselves before going to the man as well with their face extremely shocked.

The pharmacist, who was on the counter, moved his hands from head to waist of the man to check if he was hurt. “S-sir, are you okay? Why did you do that? I am very, very sorry, sir.”

"Sir, why did you do such a thing. You almost scared us to death." The pharmacist, who collapsed earlier, asked as soon as she got closer to the man.

Well, the man who caused the commotion, just looked at the three pharmacists with a lively face as if nothing traumatic happened. "Well, as what I always do to my other branches, I conduct a real-life scenario of robbery to test if my employer really knows how to deal with this kind of situation. It was just a test, worry not any more ladies.” The man retorted and burst out laughing who happened to be the owner of the pharmacy.

The other pharmacist moved closer and faced the man. “But sir, you, you almost killed the kid.”

The man then looked at Himerald as he was the kid that the pharmacist was referring to. "No, no, he was right. It was just a toy gun, a plastic one. I'm very sorry if I scared you, young man." He uttered before tapping the calm and broad shoulder of Himerald, giving him a big smile as well. Then suddenly, the man paused for a bit and seemingly fell in his thoughts before he parted his lips again. "Anyways, I wonder, how did you manage to know that that was just a fake one?” The man asked while pointing at the gun that slid to the under of the rack.

Before replying to the man's question, Himerald just inhaled deeply. "I once touched a real one, and I can spot their differences from a toy gun to the real one by just looking at it. And by the way, you did not scare me at all. For how clean your outfit was, most people would not expect that you are a real robber. Likewise, someone must let the guard go and only those people with such right and authority can do that with the guards.” Himerald further explained.

While saying those long explanations, the man and the three pharmacists listened very well. They could not help but to slightly amazed by that observation.

“Really? What if I am a real syndicate, and turns out, the Guard was my partner and that was why I told him to go somewhere for a while?” The man asked filled with curiosity.

“That won’t happen because the guard's profile is recorded and if he is involved with such terrible robbery, he will be subjected to an interrogation and the police will conduct an investigation." Himerald moved closer and lowered his head to the man as if he was going to mumble. And with his coldest voice, he said, "And the police will find out."

The four took time to stare at each other with their faces; impressed, and surprised by the sudden statements of the young man.

“Very well. I can see that you are a smart kid.” The man suddenly praised and clapped both of his hands in front of Himerald. It was like Himerald said unbelievable and impressive observations which was supposedly just a mere conclusion of an involved kid.

“If you don't mind me, I will take my leave,” Himerald turned back but before he could finally step his right foot forward, he looked back to the man and emphasized, “And another by the way, I am not a kid anymore.”

Himerald just walked to the rack where he inserted his hand under and pulled his wallet out. After putting that inside of his bag, he directly walked out.

“Tsk, what kind of prank was that?” he just mumbled to himself.

The man and the three pharmacists were left dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Himerald hopped again to his borrowed motorbike. Revived the engine and revved out through the wide road.

On the way, the road was quiet not until when he saw a group of men gathered on the roadside from afar. Then a thought came back to him.

“F*CKING SH*T!” He could not help but to exclaim when he slowly recognized those familiar faces. He suddenly pulled his right hand against the handlebar, but he was about to turn back to avoid those gang men when he heard a voice calling his name.

"HIMERALD!"

The voice was familiar to Himerald. He heard those voices just about fifteen minutes ago back to the parking lot of the school.

It was the voice of his friend, Dime. He was extremely shocked when a thought mingled around his head. It was unavoidable so he just entertained those thoughts until realization hit him. Setting Dime free must be an exchange for him. He just heard the call of Dime from the hands of those men. He has left with no choice but to stop from turning and face those men.

Take note, the gang men are very masculine guys. You could imagine how strong they are by just looking at their faces with very strong-looking jaws like a shark that any time from now would take their big bite. Plus the piercings on their nose, lips, ears, and to some part of their face adds up to their image as frightening gang men. And those two with big arms are tightly holding Dime in position. Those grips on his shoulder will surely leave a mark after this.

Back to Himerald, he really hopped out from the motorbike after turning the engine off. It is his friend, he cannot just leave him there in the hands of those thugs.

————————————————————

A skinny woman in her 40’s is sleeping calmly on the white bed. She is wearing a blue loose dress, with loose sleeves and her right hand has connected paraphernalia of a narrow hose through to the bottle of dextrose hanged above the stand.

The room is dark and only the light of the bright moon from the slightly closed window is giving a glimpse of light in the area, enough for someone to see the face of the woman lying on the bed.

She was sleeping serenely not until when a noise sneaked in, from a struggling cat outside. The woman suddenly pulled herself up off the bed, then her senses automatically become alert.

That woman is aware of a pair of eyes, staring at her from not so far from her room but she does not know where exactly it came from. By her sudden reaction of somewhat like a glimpse of being paranoid, if someone ordinary saw her, she would be called gone crazy.

She has been in several nights feeling that strange eyes, it seems like someone is monitoring her every movement. It is not a ghost but a shadow, she guessed. That is why she is always keeping that strange blade underneath her pillow. Anyway, keeping a blade under their pillows was the culture of her family.

The woman fully pulled herself up from the bed. She then sat on the bed slowly and took a sip of water from the cup on the table beside her. Tried to stand up but her knees cannot even stand its weight. So she has to sit back on the soft bed creating more wrinkles on the bedsheet, otherwise, she would collapse.

"Brzzztttt brzzzttt!"

A vibration from the phone caused her to be in a breathtaking situation. Somehow her heart seemingly jumped from its chamber by how terribly shock she was. After when she realized that it was her phone vibrating, she immediately picked it up and put it on her ear.

"Nǐ hǎo? Mèimei? Nǐ wèi tā zhǔnbèi hǎole ma?" she asked.

"Yes, everything's set. You don't have to worry. Tā huì hǎo qǐlái de." someone from the phone answered.

"Jiějiě, hěn gāoxìng tīng dào. Now, I don't need to worry for his safety. I know you will take care of him. Thank you."

"You must prepare everything as well, have you tell him the truth?" from the phone.

"Uhm. Not yet, I promise I will tell him as soon as possible."

"Yes, must tell him as soon as possible, as soon as you're breathing."

"Yes, I know that sister, as a pure assassin, we prepared our death. Whatever happens. And before that happen, I need to tell him the truth."

While talking on the phone, the woman cannot help to cough a few times.

"Victoria, thank you for everything. You saved him... I forced you to bring him there, even it was hard for you, you still accept him, and loved him like your own child... despite how you hated him before."

There was a pause after the woman on the bed named Victoria heard that words. It was very soothing to her heart that even made her tear up. She then remembered when she was having a moment with one of his naked men and her sister suddenly showed up, carrying the boy whom she hated the most. But, that boy gave her the bests of her life. That thought was worth a tear.

"No, thank you... Taking him here meant saving me from what I have been through there... that kid changed me a lot, he gave me the life I was dreaming when I was just... fifteen years old. Even though incomplete, he made me complete... And... I really regret how I made you kneeled in front of me... I am very sorry, and to Eragon and... Nemea... and to the chubby kid."

Again, there was a pause to the two after that. Victoria just cried silently as she heard the caller sobbed as well.

"Okay, Victoria, I need to go, bye take care and always be alert. You are on the heat at the moment." and then the call ended.

She dropped the phone.

"Hayy, finally." she sighed.

The woman was about to lay back down in her bed when another woman stood up to the other side of the bed. She's wearing a black mask. Her dress is black and only her eyes are white. She just stood there without saying anything. She does not have curvy twin blades on her waist, but instead, she has whips in her both side of the waist. Other than that, she was also belted with aligned daggers on her hips.

"What are you doing here?" the woman on the bed asked, but deep inside, she knew what kind of person she is. She is an assassin, as well.

"Where is he?" the black woman asked her back coldly with a hot stare.

"Who's he? I don't know what you are talking about." she looked down to avoid every stares the assassin is throwing.

"I KNOW THAT HE’S STILL ALIVE. SO STOP LYING!" the assassin shouted and that makes the woman in bed move back. She is weak and cannot handle fighting with her if ever. Deep within, she wanted to shout back and ask why they are doing this to them. For at least, she wanted to reap her head off and out of its socket.

Her only hope, for now, is the thing she hid under her pillow. So she slowly moves her hand to her pillow while maintaining her natural expression.

"S-someone killed him already many years ago together with his parents, why are you still here," she replied while trembling.

"No, he is alive and I know that. Even the rest of the dynasty believe that the boy is dead, but not me." she's still in her cold voice.

"You're wasting your time here, I am all alone. You will get nothing," she exclaimed.

After a few seconds left while roaming her hands under her pillow, she finally touched the tip of the dagger and pulls it slowly.

"Whatever you know, its a trash. You will never succeed, Agatha!" and then with all her might, she threw the curvy blade directly to the assassin's chest but the assassin moved so quickly that she handled to catch the thing with her hand.

"If that's so?" the assassin said while holding the blade and as fast as the wind blows, the dagger she just blocked was now on the chest of the woman. The assassin just thrust it to the woman's chest in just less than a second.

The woman dropped as she holding her bloody chest with the weapon still on it.

And so the assassin left her that way, while the dark and quiet room stayed being dark and quiet.