Animals [z.m. || a.u.]

ix.

A/N: this is a long one. haha. happy reading.

ix.

It had been raining right from the moment Louis had somehow made up his mind to face his nervousness. The atmosphere was duller than Louis remembered to be. The raindrops spilt from the clouds with a continuous rhythm atop the window panes. The wind that was once unbarable making the trees assume entirely different forms by bending their branches away in almost unidentifiable directions, had now gained some calm. It thundered continuously leaving flashes of lightings through the sky like cracks on a glass. And amidst these, Louis was hoping the fierceness of the climate might postpone the assignment to the next day, for he couldn't help but procrastinate it out of fear and nervousness.

As Zayn came out of his room to the living room, Louis' curiosity rose, for he knew Zayn was talking to the boss about the adverse climatic condition making it almost impossible to travel to the place.

"You might as well want to breathe, Tomlinson. The boss called it off for today. But we gotta finish this guy tomorrow, no matter what" Zayn announced, grinning as he saw his best friend sigh in relief.

"But that also changes the plans." Zayn added making Louis' relief deflate like a balloon.

"It's gonna be more difficult tomorrow. It has to happen in a public place. The swine is planning on getting laid tomorrow at some club. All we gotta do is crash the party" Zayn stated a smirk playing on his lips.

_

Louis was sweating his nerves out as he held on to the steering wheel tightly. The amount of adrenaline gushing through his veins was as abstract as the whole idea of an assassination. The night was silent and the streets damp. Zayn let out one last breath before slamming the door of the car shut. That acted as a cue for Louis to replicate his actions.

Don't you dare screw it up!

Louis' fingers could feel the edges of the metal pistol shoved in his belt as he straightened his shirt. He looked at Zayn who nodded reassuringly towards Louis to follow him.

Zayn was aware of Louis' nervousness for he had gone through the same not too long ago. The only difference was that he had nobody to assure him everything will be fine. When Zayn had pulled the trigger in an assignment for the first time, the poor lad was barely fifteen and shaken to the core. As he saw the body go limp and fall lifeless on the floor he couldn't help but be traumatized. He felt hatred overtake him like he impersonated the Satan. He had locked himself up in his room crying his eyes out as the image of a body suddenly becoming inanimate because of his actions never left his mind. He clawed his skin, hit himself, tried to burn his hand as a punishment but nothing seemed good enough to wash the sin off his hands. Back then, he considered his character to be much like Lady Macbeth : trying to get rid of the hallucinated blood stains over his hand which never seemed to leave so as to clear any evidence of the crime committed.

He was never comforted by anyone. Quiet contrarily he was being shoved away and yelled at for 'being a pussy.'

It took almost a month or so for Zayn to let go off the event and get used to handling a gun, pulling the trigger and smirking over his victory as a body limped to death. It won't be exaggeration if anyone claimed that Zayn had let his cocky side mature to shadow his sensitive one. His philosophy no longer was to save and protect. It had gained and eerie twist transforming it to 'revenge and hatred.' The motive of his job kept on changing when it finally settled on a part where Zayn was avenging his sad past from people who were far from associated to it.