The Assassin

Chapter 10

I woke up in my bed, the soft white blanket on top of me, warming my figure. I felt horrible. My head pounded and my thick hair felt frizzy. My skin felt dry and my whole body ached. I groaned and rolled onto my left arm so I faced my fake tree with the small floating pond attached to it. But something was blocking my view from seeing it: Julian Williams. He had his head resting on his arms, which were folded on the edge of my bed. He was sitting on my small brown wooden stool that went under my desk. Wait. Wasn't I strapped to a chair last time I was awake? And in someone's base..?

I looked over at Julian. Oh my God... he's tricking me again!

I swatted Julian's head, waking him up. His eyes immediately grew enormous and looked ready to fight. Then he realized that I was the person who hit him. He frowned at me. "Oh. You're awake."

I gave him an angry expression. "How'd you get in?"

"W-well, when we left for the store yesterday I never locked the front door so I just twisted the doorknob and it opened."

"Y-yesterday? How long have we been asleep?"

He checked his phone and blinked at it multiple times. "17 hours."

"17 HOURS?!" I exploded. "I've been out for 17 hours?"

"Yeah. I brought you home at around 12 and now it's 5:05 A.M."

I gave him a puzzled look. "Brought me home?"

He nodded. "You don't remember? You got all electrocuted and stuff so I stopped them and then took you home."

I scowled. "Why would you do that?"

He frowned and scratched. "I don't know. So you can not kill me?"

"Why would I not kill you?"

He stared at me. "...You're joking, right? Paula? You're kidding, correct?"

I gave him a blank expression. "Get out before I choke you to death."

"For bringing you home?" he scoffed. "You can't care less about what I do, huh?"

I shook my head, an angry expression on my face. "I do care what you do because it puts me in more danger." I looked out my window. "Wait... how come they're not here?"

He gave me a puzzled expression. "What? Who's not here?"

"The Hive," I growled, impatient.

It took a while for Julian to realize what I meant. "Oh... yeah, it doesn't make sense. If they're trying to kill you–and me–they should be here at your house. I mean, they already know where you live so it doesn't add up."

I swallowed hard. "Maybe he's gathering his forces," I whispered. I looked my target right in the eye. "Get out. Now."

I started pushing him away towards my door. He gave me a look as if he wanted to object. "Wait. What if they come here? You can't handle ALL of them."

"I can take them."

"I don't believe that, even if you were in the best condition."

I scrunched my nose up in anger. "What's that supposed to mean?! Of course, I'm in my best condition."

He frowned. "You were shocked until you were unconscious. That was less than 24 hours ago, Paula. You are not okay. You need rest."

"Don't tell me what to do!" I snapped. "And don't say my name."

"Why? What's the big deal? My whole crew already knows your name and background. I can call you whatever I want."

"That's the thing," I growled. "They know all that information because of YOU," I said as I put my index finger on his chest.

He gritted his teeth. "I stop The Hive from electrocuting you, bring you to your home, lay you nicely in your bed to sleep, and this is how you treat me?! I knew I should've just killed you when I had the chance because now I got kicked out of the murder crew I've been in since a young age because of YOU."

I gave him an annoyed look. "WHAT DID I EVEN DO?"

"You-" he stopped himself. "Ugh, whatever. I'm going to go murder them all, anyway. Have a nice life, blondie."

He then let himself out the door.

--

I rolled myself out of bed, forcing myself to get up. I hit the ground with a thump. I groggily walked to my bathroom and stared at myself. "I'm a mess," I murmured.

But I had more important matters. Something about Julian saying that he's going to murder his crew? That made no sense. Maybe he'd gone crazy when I was getting tortured back in their base. But that also didn't sound right. The best thing to do was follow him, right?

I quickly cleaned myself as best (and fast) as I could and got dressed. I put on my tight black and gray bodysuit and mask that covered my mouth. I put my hair in a ponytail and grabbed my two guns. I looked at myself through the reflection of my small pond in my room. What are you doing, Paula? You're already in so much trouble; don't put yourself in more.

But my instincts told me to go see what would go down at the murder crew's base. So I ran out of my house and hurried to the headquarters, hoping I didn't miss anything.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you're wondering why the POV's are the same in Chapter 9 and in this one, read the description :)