The Assassin's Assistant

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

I had faced worse.

Hadn't I?

My entire life had been a twisted, vile, insane roller coaster. What was one run-in with the psycho who made it all happen? Nothing, it was nothing compared to everything I've been through. My biggest mistake was trying to be something I'm not. I should've known better than to pretend to care about her. I just wanted to be like a normal girl, and look where that got me.

The entire thing was a clustered mess, and honestly it was stupid. I was just fine, wasn't I? The self-cautious teenage girl in me had just come out when Jason had said one stupid thing. Why did I even care? Why should I?

I sunk further into my bed and placed my hands on my forehead. What was going on with me? I was hot and cold, and it was starting to drive me insane. (Figuratively, of course, you jerks.)

Pushing my thoughts aside, I resolved to remain who I was. Things were easier that way. It worked for the past few years, why change now?

Science was the only subject I actually bothered to pay attention to in school. We spent an entire semester on adaptation and instincts, particularly of humans.

We humans have adapted throughout the years of living here on little old planet earth. We've developed different physical characteristics, but we also have learned different habits. I couldn't list those habits for the life of me, like I said earlier, details escape me. But, for what it's worth, we do have habits.

I feel like my ignorance to the lives of others is an adaptation of Lux, my way to survive. I got no enjoyment from this adaptation, but who am I to fight with nature? Why impair survival?

My head jolted up. The door had opened. 'You forgot to lock the door, didn't you?' My hand reached behind the back board to my hand gun, events from my last apartment rushing back.

Before I could reach it, a voice called from the living room, "Calm down, Lux, it's me! Can you come out here?"

It was just Brittany. My pulse steadied when my brain realized that we were NOT under attack, and I rolled on the bed to reach the stupid crutches.

When reaching down for them, my arm bumped into the silver floor lamp, knocking it towards the wall. The two collided with a thud, and the lamp tumbled down sideways against the wall. The decorative metal wiring surrounding the lampshade scraped against the wall, scraping a line into the silver and blue striped paint, and then hitting the floor in a less than quiet way. I heard glass breaking and cursed out loud; the light bulb had shattered. In the process, I had lost my balance and landed on the floor next to the mess.

"Lux? Is everything alright? Do you need help?"

Muttering to myself, I sat up awkwardly, keeping my bad leg straight, and looked at the disaster around me. The lamp had left a decent sized dent in the hard wood floor and didn't look like it'd be working anytime soon. The paint scratch was worse than I had originally thought, going for about two feet. My teeth bit down onto my bottom lip. Even with a glamorous pay check, repairs were not going to be cheap. "Yeah, everything's hunky dory," I said, more to myself than to Brittany. I managed to struggle to my feet, supporting myself on the crutches.

Hobbling ridiculously on the wretched pieces of metal, I greeted Brittany in the living room. "Knock, much?" I said with very little energy, feeling wiped out in spite of the fact that I feel asleep right after arriving home.

"What happened in there? It sounded like you were starting a riot."

I laughed bitterly to myself. "Oh, it wasn't nearly as nice."

As usual, Brittany easily brushed aside the comment and looked me over with concern. "How's that leg?"

"Feels as good as a dislocated knee cap can, why?" Suspicion rose up in me. I had worked with Brittany long enough to know her like family. Everything she did she did with purpose. I had been nerved upon a visitor's arrival because it wasn't a food day, nobody was supposed to visit. Even though she cared about me, Brittany wouldn't come over just to see how I was doing.

She tugged at a strand of auburn hair, looking off to the side slightly. "Oh, well, it's a bit of a problem that I now have both of my assistants out of commission."

In that moment my heart stopped and panic jolted through me. "You got him hurt? How could you be so reckless? He's not like me, Brittany, he can't h-" I didn't know where my anger came from, but it was strong. My shouts were cut off when Brittany raised her hand to silence me.

"Jason's fine... Physically. I can't say the same for him mentally."

My brows furrowed. "What do you mean? Did a computer insult him?"

The auburn stand of hair was getting a workout, rigid and threatening to come out of Brittany's head at the strain she was putting on it. "We had a couple missions where I needed a field agent-"

"You made him do my job?"

Brittany huffed, "Let me finish, will you? I wasn't left with any other choice. Believe me, I'd never put that on him unless it was completely necessary, but it was. He handled the first job well enough, but something came up in the second one." She shook her head sadly. "He got a red test, of sorts. He got corned and it was the only option."

I let this sink in. Jason had to kill someone. Our first one-on-one conversation flashed through my mind. The idea of taking a life disgusted him. "How'd he handle it?"

"The past month has been too much for him. His girlfriend died in a car crash, you know. It was on the same night you hurt your leg, three weeks ago. He said he only dated her for a month or so, but still, that's a lot for anyone to take. Add that to this, and you've got a pretty shaken up Jason."

'He used to have a girlfriend?' I remembered our run in with his friends outside the smoothie shop. The jumpy blonde had looked at me with not hatred but... jealousy?

The dots connected themselves in my head. That girl was his girlfriend, and now she was dead. He had experienced what it was like to have someone you care about die and three weeks later took a life himself. I felt guilty for my mental blockade suddenly. I literally couldn't imagine what he was going through.

Brittany plopped down in one of the couches, "Sometimes I think I put too much on you guys. You're too young for all of this."

I allow this to sink in, and looked out the window. "Maybe he should quit."

"Maybe he should, but he won't. I tried to tell him that, said that I'd give him the money he needs for his sister, but he refused. He didn't think it was right. Right now, I don't know what to do."

Picking my jacket up off the granite counter, I said, "I'm going to go talk to him."

Brittany shook her head, "No, Lux, the doctor said no-"

"Screw the doctor." I was out the door before Brittany could protest.

I had to straighten things out.

Author's Note: Short chapter guys, sorry. I promise the next one will be long, though, I just needed to get over some bumps in the story. :) Expect the constant updates to come back now!