The Shame of Villains

Chapter Nine

I woke the next morning ready to receive my first assignment. I entered the dining hall, and sat to the right of the king. After we had finished eating, he handed me an envelope and got up and walked away. I opened the letter. It read:

"Alissa, your first assignment is to take care of the problem that resides on the corner of 23rd and parks. Leave no traces."

That night I went down to the corner of 23rd and Parks and took care of the "problem". It was easier then I thought it be. The man was a traitor. If the king said he needed to be taken care of I believed him.
~

That was three years ago. I'm now 19. I've gone on many more missions since then. And I have a mark for every single life that I have taken. The total adds up to 327 life's in the past three years. Word got out that "Roseanna" escaped her slave servitude. Nobody can find her. There have been no other successful subjects of project Alkain. And my family still hasn't noticed that it is Roseanna in Zwendale instead of me.

I don't know what happened to Jackson. I don't know what happened to Jake. But I have a feeling that sooner or later, my past is going to catch up to me.

The king called me into is private meeting quarters. I entered and sat down in the chair by his desk. He finished writing a letter and turned towards me.

"Alissa, I think it's time you got promoted."

He didn't elaborate.

So I asked. "Does this mean there have been more successful subjects?"

"I'm afraid not. But for this promotion, I need you to go on one last mission. You see recently the Kingdom of Zwendale has become a pain in my side. I think it's time they had a change in rulers."

Zwendale. The place I grew up. I was being tasked to kill my family. I couldn't do that. Could I? Either way I didn't have a choice. The king hadn't directly said it but I knew that if I ever failed to complete a mission, I would be the one to pay the price.

"Yes, Your Majesty. As you wish it."

With that I left the room. A couple of hours later, I had finished packing my bags for the journey. I had already talked myself into completing this task. It didn't matter if they were my family, they clearly didn't know the difference between me and Roseanna anyway. My allegiance was to my king.

The next morning I was in the docks bright and early. Ready to sail for the country I hadn't seen in three and a half years. I boarded the ship. And we set sail. We docked around midday three days later. Sailing had never been something I had particularly enjoyed. I was the first one off the ship.

I walked into town, and I was strangely happy to be back. I had time before I needed to officially start my mission, so I put my hood up and walked into my favorite sweet shop. I bought a cupcake and caramels. As I turned to leave a familiar face walked in. I quickly ducked into a booth and acted as normal as I could. I adjusted my hood to make sure they wouldn't see my face.

He approached the counter and bought what looked to be about a dozen pastries. He was heading for the exit when without warning he turned back around and headed in my direction. I froze. But kept my cool. He slid in to the seat across from me.

"Hello, I'm Jackson. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of running into you."

I coughed and cleared my throat. And did my best to lower my voice beyond recognition.

"It's very nice to meet you, I'm Bella James."

"Well Bella how long have you been around these parts?"

"I just arrived here today. How long have you been here?"

"I've lived here my whole life. But I've just recently returned about a month ago from a trip over seas."

"That's nice, where did you go? I've always wanted to travel."

"Alissa I know it's you. Take your hood off."

I slid my hood down.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I would know you anywhere. What happened? Where did you disappear to?"

I gave him a brief recap of everything that had happened over the years.

"But Jackson, where were you that night? Why weren't you waiting for me?"

"I suppose it's only fair that you know. I was on my way to Edenbrook manor, when a man approached me with information about Roseanna. I figured we could just meet at our emergency meeting spot. He told me where she came from and who her family was. As I turned to leave he covered my mouth with a cloth. I woke up the next morning and you were gone."

"Well was the information worth it?"

"I'm not sure it was even real. But he said that she was originally from Zwendale. Her parents were murdered when she was really little and visiting biologists found her on a beach. A load of crap if you ask me. How would a little kid end up on a beach by herself?"

How indeed? I sat there shocked for a moment. What were the odds that me and Roseanna had very similar stories. What were the chances we shared the same last name? The odds were too slim, and things didn't add up. I would have remembered her.

"Oh and Alissa, Roseannas still here, so what are you doing back here?"

"I—I came...... looking for you! Yeah! I came looking for you."

Jackson looked at me for a moment. One thing was for sure he did not believe that sad excuse for a lie.

"Well either way I'm glad your back. Now we can continue with our plan to get Roseanna out of the way."

"Yeah, get Roseanna out of the way. Right."

I'd have to tell him why I was actually here sooner or later. But I'd rather tell him later. Maybe even after I'd killed them.