The Death of Red

1 - Happy Revenge

It was a fairly normal day in London, cloudy skies with the first drops of rain beginning to fall. Mila Ivanov was walking down a crowded street. It was late february and every commuter had their heads down, retreating further into their coats as the rain picked up. Mila however was used to the cold, she was Russian after all. She walked as if it were summer, not caring that the rain was soaking her. She ventured down onto the underground, weaving in and out of the swarms of people until she made it onto her train. Blackfriars bridge was her final destination, well that's where they had told her to go. Whoever wanted her for a job evidently was new to London or they would have chosen some back alley in the east end. Mila's line of work was... definitely not legal, but being as she was 17 no one suspected her as being an assassin. Her only defining detail was the scar that ran along her cheek, she occasionally covered it with makeup but most of the time she left it uncovered.

She hopped off the train at Templar station, (Blackfriars station had been closed for months) and walked the rest of the way to the bridge. No one batted an eye at the teenager all too caught up in their lives to even give her a second glance. Hell Mila thought even if she had a sign on her back saying "I've murdered over 20 people" no one would notice. She walked to the halfway point on the bridge and leant forward on the railing watching the brown murky water of the Thames flow beneath her. Mila had always wanted to live in London since she was a kid, well more accurately Victorian London. The London she looked out over today was filled with ugly concrete and glass structures built in the 70s and 80s with the occasional Victorian gem if you we're in the right place. There was no one else on the bridge, only the traffic that lined the road moving at a slow pace.

She felt him walk up beside her but didn't bother to look at him, she just kept her gaze on the rapidly dimming grey sky that stretched over the city skyline.
"Do you need an umbrella?" He asked mockingly.
She turned her head keeping her face completely neutral, she never knew who was going to give her the job so no one was a surprise at this point. Mila was responsible for most of the murders of the wealthy in London, no one ever caught her though. The Red Room had taught her well in that area.
The Man in front of her was young, she guessed around late 20s. He wore black jeans and a denim jacket covered by a long black raincoat. His blonde hair was slicked back and he had an old 1940s style moustache. He looked at her thoughtfully.
"Not the joking type ay" He had a smooth American accent
She glared at him again, was this seriously the guy. She hated when they got too cocky or tried to interact too much. All Mila wanted was to be given the file on whoever she was meant to kill and get the job done.
"I'm Louis, Louis Talbot '' He offered his hand, she didn't shake it.

"You've never done this before have you" She let go of the railing and turned to look at him fully in the lamp light that now illuminated the spot they we're standing. She went to walk away, this guy would get both himself and her killed if he couldn't keep his mouth shut. It was safer to just wait for another call to come in.

"No wait!" He grabbed her wrist preventing her from walking away. She wrenched her hand out of his grasp.

"You're too reckless to be doing this" she hissed. She watched him pull a small brown envelope out of his jacket.

"I'm just the messenger, everything you need is in there" He said, and walked away into the night. Mila tilted her head to the side in puzzlement as she watched him walk to the other end of the bridge. Definitely one of her weirder interactions. She didn't open the envelope but slid it into her pocket and walked in the opposite direction, being sure to look over her shoulder every so often. She hopped on the tube again and ended up standing outside of her apartment building. The rain was falling fast and she was soaked through to the bone. Still she stood in the rain appreciating the battering of her skin a little more.