When the truth was presented to me, did I believe it immediately? No. A life of watching everything has left me a thick wall through which truth and lies must pass.
Hiding undercover has become simple, and ultimately, boring. Unable to locate anything that I am personally familiar with, I am a ghost wandering through the streets, unnoticed and uncared about. A good thing? Yes. A bad thing? Yes.
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I barely lift my feet as I slowly amble closer and closer towards the Concrete Chambers. The world is quaking with my fear, even the ground seems to shift with each hesitant step.
What am I doing here and why did I come back? Where is Kivren? Is he alive? When can I trust anybody? How come this is so different from before? Who am I?
An onslaught of unanswerable questions plagues my mind, and soon I find myself near the official entrance. No need for doors. Agilely scaling the seamless concrete, I pray that nobody is watching. Somebody is watching. A high-speed dart shoots from behind me, ripping part of my sleeve off and trailing away, blue fabric rippling as it dives back towards the ground. I climb faster, but the broken shirt falls away to expose my upper back, and my Wolf tattoo.
“Halt, Aelise Teronne, Wolf Assassin of Kandu.”
Caught.
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The sky is raining bullets today,
And we are crying bombs
Each drop a fighter’s words to say,
Each tear a story calm
Thick smoke rises like a veiling mist,
Taking life’s treasures and faults
Leaving the strongest rain-kissed
And the crying still left with the bombs-
the bullets, and the rain
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“I knew I would find you; come on down Aelise. It’s me, Kivren.”
I don’t know if I am part joyful, or whether the joy is all washed away with a wave of annoyance. Apparently he survived.
“Down? No. I’m going up anyways.” I say back, not wanting to turn my head and look at him. There is no response, so I resume climbing, hurrying to reach a ledge so that I could arrange my torn clothes. Curse him.
“Up? No. That’s a bad idea.” he says to me, mockingly. I stare down at him blankly, furious inside but not showing it. Then my eyes alight upon the quiver of darts he’s holding.
“Quick! Give me one of those darts! And don’t impale me when you throw it.” I stick a hand out impatiently, motioning for him to throw one up to me. He hesitates, then ‘humph's and aims one at a crack in the concrete next to me. With an expert flick of his wrist it sails up and lodges itself exactly where he aimed it; I’m glad he wasn’t aiming at me that first time.
“Thank you,” I say, genuinely surprised he decided to give me one.
Taking the dart between my index finger and thumb I deftly pull out the bottom seam of the shirt and wrap it around the thin metal frame of the unfletched dart. Sewing quickly and neatly, the job is done in a few minutes. I have partially mended it so that it won’t flap around and expose my tattoo again. It’s time for new clothes, anyways.
Now that I’ve had more time to think about it, I’m not sure if I should go up and enter the building. I mean, I have secrets to find--but what’s the use of secrets if I’m dead?
“Don’t go, Aelise. You’ll regret it. The Enforcers will be more stirred up than ever with you gone, they’ll be predicting your every move, and I guarantee they know you’ve come back. They aren’t that stupid.” “How do you know? And even if, SO WHAT?” I say stubbornly. Kivren sighs and his whole body seems to slump down, following the exhalation of air. “They caught me, and I’m back with them. I can’t leave the premises, I’ll automatically be killed. They would kill me anyways if they knew what I was telling you. So go on, be free, do what they’ll suspect least. So . . . yeah. Good luck.” he pauses, “Time for garbage duty. I don’t expect to see you again, so just . . . goodbye.” He walks around the building, disappearing from sight, tears of agony and defeat glistening unshed in his crystal eyes. Watching him go is painful, and I know he’s right, we won’t ever see each other again. I barely knew Kivren, but he’s helped me, and that makes him a friend. If it does anything for the messed up actions and consciences in my life, I’ll find a way to free him. To destroy the Enforcers and their cruel decisions. The Wolf has a new mission.
YOU ARE READING
Underside
Science FictionAelise Teronne used to be an assassin working for the Kandu Law Enforcement. She was in the Wolf level of assassins, a collection of highly skilled and trained superhumans who were programmed into killing everyone they were told to. Aelise did that...