Shattered Mirror [Rewriting]

Chapter 12 - Friendship and a Devil

Corliss had always thought she'd created Aaron to be untouched by emotions and situations, trained to a stony indifference that chipped for nothing and no one. That was why, when he stepped from the shadows with a worried look on his ruggedly handsome face and his arms extended to her as if to comfort her, she was struck so dumb even her tears came to a halt. Seconds stretched into minutes of silence where all Liss could do was stare at him until he took a hesitant step backward, his arms faltering and the emotion slowly draining from his face as though he'd realized a mistake.

"Aaron?" she finally found her voice, his name coming out in a hoarse little squeak.

The assassin averted his eyes, his lips thinning as he uttered, "Apologies, Corliss, I have overstepped my boundaries." He was already blending into the shadows again and a new apprehension clenched around her lungs, stealing a majority of her air. He couldn't leave yet not until she asked, not until she found out how deep his knowledge ran.

"D-do yo-ou kno-w?" Liss managed to stutter, her words causing him to pause but he still did not look her.

"Do I know what?" Aaron asked. His posture was more strained than she'd ever seen or written it.

"About the nightmares?" her words were unbroken but no more firm than they had been, her bottom lip quivering at the very idea that she'd been caught red handed by Aaron no less.

"Yes," the assassin responded, almost as stoic as always. Almost. A sick feeling dropped her stomach to the floor at his confirmation, new tears flooding to her eyes. He knew. He'd seen her weakness, her vulnerability and all this time she'd been so sure she'd convinced almost everyone she was doing fine but not him because he knew. A strangled sound tore through the lump in her throat and out her lips as she'd folded double, panic practically choking the life from her. "Corliss?" the concern was back in Aaron's voice and she watched his shadow emerge from the shadows it normally clung to, his hulking figure looming over her. For a moment fear spiked through her veins, fear that he would use this knowledge against her as he had so many times before to other characters in his own world. It was how she'd written him. It was what made him such a brilliant assassin; impervious to all situations and a high enough intellect to use emotional manipulation as a formidable weapon against all who opposed him. And she'd snubbed him by tossing him aside like a bag of dirt. Liss' fists clenched at the thought and she clenched her jaw to swallow her fear, waiting his strike, waiting for him to annihilate her like her enemies wanted to. But the hit never came. Aaron himself didn't come any closer to her and when she finally worked up the courage to dare a peek he looked purely worried. Not angry or malicious as Seth or Thana or Jezebel would have been.

'He's a good guy,' her mind screamed at her indignantly, chastising her for doubting his loyalties for even a moment. Yes, Aaron was an assassin. He killed people for a living but the man had a conscience and if there was one thing Liss should have been sure of it was that he would not hurt her. He did not murder for the sake of murdering and never once had he ever slain an innocent. Aaron wouldn't even consider manipulating anyone outside of his assignments because he did not associate with anyone else but his targets and his superiors. "I'm sorry," Liss wiped furiously at her eyes, not knowing if she was apologizing for her treacherous thoughts or for the way she'd reacted to his confession.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Aaron frowned, lowering himself in one fluid motion to the ground before her, "it is I who should be apologizing to you."

"Why?" Liss sniffled, bringing her watery eyes to his serene blue ones and feeling her muscles instantly lose their tension. There was just something so calming about being around Aaron and she found, in that moment, it was impossible for her to believe that he would hurt anyone for any reason. He just seemed too...tranquil to be violent. The lie seemed so viable that the reality of his capabilities seemed misleading, wrong in every sense. Yet another reason he was dangerous.