The Sins of Our Fathers

XI Candle in the Dark

"It's good to see you too, Neoma." My "uncle" said calmly leaning out of his enormous cushiony chair towards me.
"I wish I could say the same."
He smiled, as he rose from his chair and walked over to me embracing me like we were still long lost friends and not bitter enemies.
"You're not please to see me my dear?" He purred in his silken voice that reminded me of a demonic cat.
"I wouldn't exactly call this a social visit, more along the lines of a kidnapping actually."
"I might have just missed you."
"Like you miss my father? Oh wait, you pretended to be his friend and then stuck a knife in his back- quite literally- the moment it was turned."
"I do regret many of the choices I made, especially those concerning a man as great as Romulus Casimir. However if I had the option to go back and change any of that night I would not change a thing," he paused for a moment pondering something, "though I do wish that I had acquired you that night. It would have made both your life and mine much easier."
I scoffed. "How would cozying up to my father's murder have made my life easier?"
"Neoma I do wish you wouldn't keep calling me that-"
I cut him off as soon as the words left his vile mouth. "What? You deserve to know the truth even if it hurts. You killed my father, made an orphan out of me, probably killed countless others and now you're here to kill me."
That was the first time I had ever seen Nicholas Shlaköv speechless and it was wonderful. Finally he regained his composure; clearing his throat he began again.
"Neoma, you are mistaken I did not hunt you down and have you brought here to have you assassinated. I brought you here to turn you into a weapon."
I scoffed at the audacity of his suggestion. "Why do you want me as your own personal assassin? Is this some kind of sick twisted little form of revenge, because I refuse kill innocents merely because you said so."
Nicholas' mouth curled in a grinch-like fashion as he stared at me in a way that made me think of a predator cornering its prey.
"Ah I see, but you didn't have too much trouble killing your sweet little friend Kalie now did you?" He swept his hands over the shiny wood of his desk spreading out photos of me as I fought Kalie, eventually ending her life.
"It would be such a pity if these pictures found their way to the police wouldn't it? Especially if the suspect was the missing daughter of Romulus Casimir."
I snarled at him. "You wouldn't. There's no way you could turn those into the police without explaining how you acquired them, and we both know that you can't have that."
"Oh believe me darling that would be absolutely nothing to me, how do you think I've remained a free man all this time?"
I scowled. "So basically you are offering me the choice to become your slave or meet a rather horrendous end?"
"I prefer to think of it as enriching your skill set and life experiences versus meeting an unnecessary end, but think of it as you will."
Glowering at him I turned over the options in my mind. As much as I despised the way my life was unfolding I had no desire to die, in fact I was determined to live and carry out my father's legacy. My mind wandered to the high tech equipment that must be housed here, odds were that it would be incredibly useful in my quest as I followed the journal's instructions.
"Fine," I growled in discontent, "what do you need me to do?"
He clapped his hands together in delight. "Splendid! I knew you would come around my dear!"
Meeting his eyes I stared at him sternly, careful to avoid looking at the prominent scars on his lip that I was responsible for.
"Davina! Adrian!" He yelled summoning the two figures out of nowhere. They seemed to appear as if by magic, not a single door had opened or given any indication of movement.
The boy- I assumed to be Adrian- who had originally brought me here stood on the right hand side of Nicholas while a beautiful dark haired girl near my own age stood on the other. Long dark hair fell in waves to her waist framing a gorgeous pale face that appeared so delicate that it must have been made of porcelain. Golden eyes the color of honey provided a burst of color on the extreme pallor of her skin. She was lovely in every sense of the word delicate silken layers encased her slender body making her appear unearthly, as if she was an elfin queen above us all.
She caught me staring and smiled revealing a perfect set of pearly teeth that instantly warmed her entire face.
"Yes father?" Adrian asked in a melodic voice that rasped in the most amazing way.
"Adrian, Davina, I'd like you to meet Neoma Casimir the last of her line and the daughter of my former best friend."
"It's wonderful to meet you Neoma!" The girl chirped bounding over to give me a hug.
My body went rigid as Davina wrapped her arms around me tightly; I wasn't a hugger and this was suffocating. Eventually the overly friendly girl released me after flashing one more blinding smile.
Adrian on the other hand was the exact opposite of his sister. Oh he was just as striking, but nowhere near as friendly, and I liked him more for that. He knew what it meant to be a loner and seemed happy to respect others who had made the same choice. After his father had made the introductions Adrian nodded once at me then returned to his intense staring session at nothing in particular.
"Neoma will be training with you, the two of you are responsible for making sure she is up to par in six months fighting wise. I doubt that she will need much mental instruction. She is a very resourceful and intelligent you lady who will make a great asset." Nicholas paused to glance at me, "Won't you Neoma?"
"Of course." I replied coolly letting my face harden into the poker face that would be necessary to survive the coming months.
"Excellent, do not let me down Miss Casimir. I would hate to be disappointed." His scarred lips pulled back revealing shark like teeth that could easily rip someone to shreds.
"Don't worry about me Uncle," I cooed with a menace of my own, "I'm sure that the day I'm done here will be a day the world will never forget."
Nicholas motioned to his children, ordering them to take me to my rooms and allow me to get settled before I started training the following day.
Davina curtsied in response and she and Adrian lead me back out into the exquisitely decorated mansion.

•••

"These are your rooms." Davina said spinning as she entered the enormous open ballroom. Two French doors were on opposite sides of the room; one to my right and one to the left. In the center of the pale yellow room was a small marble table with an antique cream vase with red lines etched into it full of bright white roses. Delicate crown molding circles the room on both the top and bottom framing the intricate yellow swirls like an old world painting.
"In there is your room and adjoining bathroom," she said pointing to the door on the left, "The other door leads to the gym that you will be training in until you are caught up to the other pupils."
"There are others here?" I asked surprised.
Davina sighed. "Yes, my fath- I mean Mr. Shlaköv takes in orphans from the streets and turns them into his own personal weapons."
"Hmm," I mused, "I guess it's fitting that I ended up here then, now all the orphans are here together."
Davina's eyes pooled with such a profound sadness that I wondered what on earth could possibly have put it in such happy eyes.
"I lost my mother too," She said quietly, "this lifestyle has a way of taking them doesn't it?"
I nodded and stepped closer to the girl unsure of how to comfort her.
"It doesn't get easier does it?" She asked looking up from the floor she had been staring at. I met her eyes reluctant to give her the news, that no one in this kind of pain wanted to hear.
"No."
She nodded once, looking up at me with watery eyes before throwing her arms around me and hugging me again.
"I'm glad you're here Neoma, I hope that we'll be friends."
I gulped before answering knowing that her father probably would end up killing me soon, either to finish my line or because my actions forced him to. But I couldn't help, but like this girl. She was so much like me, the only difference was she had chooses to fight to stay in the light and I had given up and fallen into the night. So I did the only thing I could think of and hugged her back.
"We already are."