Always

33| glowing reunions

ALEXIS

Assassination. There's something about it that thrills me. The slow painful death caused by the poison in the victim's food, the air shot between their toes to initiate a fake heart attack or maybe just a quick sniper shot to the head.

I ducked and jumped out of the window as a loud bang followed behind me. Death by burning down. Grinning, I skipped towards the bus stop. If someone was to look at me right now, all they would see is a girl on the bus. I smiled and tucked my phone in my pocket, turning the location off so I couldn't be tracked.

I don't know what was next. Where I was going, what I was doing. It wasn't easy knowing that I may never see my family again. Which is why I couldn't afford to slip up. One mistake and I will be found dead in the bottom of a lake.

Hopping into the bus, I smiled at the old lady sitting up front. There were not many people here. I sat beside the lady and opened my sketchbook. The dust on the pages blew away as I flipped through what might be hundreds of sketches. All of the same two people. The two most important people in my life.

Rhys was dead. I couldn't deny that. He was dead and I had watched him die. It was an universal truth. I had a hard time accepting his death, especially after Damien walked away. He told me that the grief was too much for him to handle. That he couldn't live knowing that his brother was dead. If all goes well today, I will get the answers I need.

I don't know if Damein is alive or not. For my sake I hope so, for his sake I hope not.

_____

When the bus came to an end, the old lady patted my knee and hoisted herself up. That's when my eyes caught the presence of something metallic in her handbag. A gun.

I got up after her. This was it. I faked a stumble and my hand landed on her handbag to balance myself. "Sorry, I'm just so clumsy." She disregarded my fall and grumbled about stupid children. The tracker beeped in her bag, winking back up at me.

I faked walking the opposite direction and instead settled down on a park swing. My eyes tracked her movements on my phone. Twenty or so minutes later, the dot marked her location on the map.

Keeping my hands on the safety of my gun, I tucked my phone and my stuff inside my satchel and walked through the same path the old lady had.

First right, next left, sharp turn and up the ladder on the fifth house in the row.

The scene in front of me wasn't impressive. It was a dingy warehouse with broken pieces and the paint coming off. But what was outside didn't account for what was inside.

As I walked further in the warehouse, I kept my back strictly towards the side. Broken equipment, crates of wires, books, phones and drugs lined the front of the warehouse. I didn't dare move towards them in hopes of not tripping off a secret alarm.

The place seemed empty. There was no trace of human inhabitants here. The staircase leading towards the upper floor was charred and going up would be playing with death. There had to be another door here.

Or maybe a trapdoor. I mused as my eyes once again caught an unnaturally shaped crate. A trip wire stopped me from making my way towards opening the door. Carefully as I could, I unhooked the wire and hooked it back in place again, only this time, there was a coin stopping the wire from detecting movements.

Opening the trap door, I went ahead and jumped into the void.

"I knew you'd find me." My head spun around fast enough to break my neck. "Dame?" I questioned, doubting the existence of the person in front of me. "Hello Mariposa,"