Bloodguilty // FIVE HARGREEVES

19. Checkmate

Elisa predicted everything well: it seems that, after only two hours, everyone already knows about the way Hazel screamed as Elisa cut off every finger of his. And apparently, if the rumours are to be believed, Elisa was tempted to cut off his leg, too. How? People assume she'd have used a sword that she dug up out of one from the many piles of weapons the handler has left her.

She likes the rumours. It's as if every detail is an extra boost to get to Five. She passes the agents, listening to the gasps and murmurs with a face with pride smeared all over it. None of the agents ever feared her as much as they do now, and finally—finally—she allows herself to hope they are too afraid to ever come close to her family ever again.

There he is—Five. Without glancing at anyone around him, he restlessly walks circles in the hallway, his face grim. The darkness underneath his eyes has darkened even more, and Elisa suddenly feels guilty. He thinks she has tortured Hazel that badly, too. They all do. She couldn't tell anyone that she wouldn't. That could've spread around, too. He breaths in and out rapidly, not even noticing the way Elisa has been looking at him.

"Five." One word-that is all it takes for him to stop in his tracks . . . and to stop breathing. Slowly, his face turns toward her, and Elisa doesn't know what she's seeing. There could be fear flashing in his eyes, regret, hurt? It's gone too quickly to really notice what it was.

His mouth opens, but he seems to be doubting what to say. Eventually, he only purses his lips as he stares back at her.

"I took care of him," she tells him quietly, her voice breaking once and almost twice. The agents, having heard the rumours, have left suddenly. Probably too afraid to face her at the moment. Maybe they're scared that her anger hasn't faded away entirely. "Of Hazel."

"I heard about it." He lets out a breath before he looks through one of the hallway's windows and clenches his jaw. "I heard his screams."

Knowing the walls have ears in this dangerous place, Elisa approaches him some more as she whispers, "And were they believable?"

Immediately, he turns back to her, raising a brow. Yet he doesn't say another word.

"I didn't hurt him," Elisa explains hastily. It's as if the words have been ready to be told for hours, and maybe they even have. "In fact, I didn't even touch that son of a bitch."

"But he screamed so loud." He's now full-on frowning, still totally oblivious to her grand plan. "His screams . . ."

"His pride has been hurt drastically, but it was time for that. The man had too much of it, anyway, don't you think?"

Then his mouth falls open, and he raises his hand to his face to rub his temple. "That means you really didn't . . ."

"I didn't even lay a finger on him, Five," Elisa says, followed by a deep sigh. With a serious but sad expression, she leans her back against the wall. Then she remains motionless, waiting for Five to break the silence this time.

Why'd you give up?

I never gave up.

He lied, Elisa is sure of it. Even now, it is clear he thought she'd ruin Hazel. Maybe somewhere she did, too. Maybe the anger boiling inside of her deserves to be let out. But that would bring no one and nothing any good. Actually, it could cause the end of the world. Still, it hurts to realize it. That's why Elisa stays quiet, enduring the painful silence.

It's like she's going mad. Five stays quiet, but she can feel his eyes on her. It's as if he, too, is unwilling to speak up first. Ah, that's another characteristic almost agents have: stubbornness. Her whole life, Elisa couldn't be stubborn. The handler would've punished her badly for it, so she started to listen like the perfect puppy, the perfect assassin. She was never meant to be more in the Handler's perspective. In her eyes, Elisa was only a way of keeping power, of winning the game.

And Elisa is so, so sick of it. She has been thrown into the game of power when she was only a child. The handler practically grabbed her out of her crib, and threw her right into the fire. And if Elisa didn't make it far through the many predators, then the handler lost her toy and perfect assassin, but if she did make it, then she had the most dangerous weapon ever alive.

Even after her death, the handler is still playing Elisa's puppeteer. Every night, she still haunts Elisa as if it'll never end. She returns and returns when Elisa closes her eyes, waiting for the darkness to consume her. The darkness does so indeed, but it is never alone. The handler now is the darkness, and it's as if she's always there, watching and laughing.

"It ends today." It appears Elisa is the first to talk, after all. The words leave her lips in just a whisper, but Five heard her well.

With his eyes still trained on her, he asks, "What does?" He swallows audibly.

"Everything," Elisa answers him in a way he won't understand. But she understands, and that's the most important thing.

Today, she's finally going to end the reign of the handler by ending her own. Today, the Commission will finally earn itself a better handler than it ever had, and Elisa just knows the person for it. The handler would hate her, and that makes sure Elisa is able to breathe fully.

Today is the day that the handler will be thrown off her very own chessboard, and Elisa is proud to be the one who'll be the cause of it. She'll gladly throw the damn board in the fire, burning every piece of what's left of her chess pieces. Starting with herself.

"Checkmate, mom."