More than that

Chapter one

I clung to the rafters, my head tilted up to look down. I was upside down, you see. I could feel the edge of my shirt creeping up and I pushed it down impatiently. I stared at the man I was going to kill. I didn’t resent this assignment in the least. It was a pity having to kill the occasional little girl or boy to prove my loyalty, but this fat, thieving scum gave me no hesitation. Oops. I forgot to feed Kora. She’d be angry with me. Annie Mae- pronounced Anime- would be furious. She was always going on about how I mistreated my pets, but they all loved me. The man below-above, whatever- cleared his throat. Currently, he was dealing meth and I had the privilege to learn how it was done. Even if I didn’t care. The man in front of him looked around mischievously, as if they were spying on him in full sight. Idiot. Most people never look up. The three easiest things to get you killed are: not looking up while surveying a room, routines, and dealing in the internet. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I cocked my head and my hair fell into my mouth. I spluttered and coughed pounding my chest and scrabbling at my face, immediately freezing and glancing at the two men, who were staring at me with stunned expressions. I gave a drawn out sigh and dropped ten feet, flipping in the air and landing in a crouch. The men squeaked in alarm and retreated, bumping idiotically against each other. “Hi. Sorry to intrude, I didn’t mean to. Oh well, the Academy will be mad at me for having to stray from assignment, but what can I do?” I took out my long black sword. They stared at it. “What this?” I lifted it, showing them the sharp blade. “You see, the Academy is really old fashioned, and they say guns are not honourable. And they make too much noise. Oh well, it looks cooler, so, take out your weapons!” I waved my sword in the air, creating the appearance of a clumsy beginner. They ate it up completely. Not-my-target laughed, pointing at me. “He gave me such a fright and he’s a kid! A kid!” he howled. Yeeees let them underestimate me. My target laughed along, “and look at that flimsy foam sword! It’s probably plastic!” I cocked my head. Didn’t you say ‘foam’ not plastic, fatty? I asked in my head. He was starting to piss me off. “Actually, it’s kinda real. And you’re my target, so say good-bye or whatever.” I told him, and I started advancing. They both pointed at me, howling in laughter. Ooh, very bad move. I whirled around, gathering momentum and lashed out with my sword, dropping my target. Not-my-target yelled and scrambled backward. He froze, though, when he felt cold sharp steel brushing his throat. “What should I do with you?” I wondered. He’d seen my face, so I guess that meant he died. I shrugged and finished him of. Killed was too strong of a word. There, I was all done. Another completed assignment. I yawned. I hadn’t slept very much. I looked around the small cottage in the middle of the desert. I’d been dropped by the Academy in a helicopter, about five miles away. But wait. Someone had to take care of the four cars outside. I grinned.

“Whoo!” I yelled as the car went airborne. It landed in a puff of sand and accelerated. I laughed out loud. I was in a Lamborghini Aventador that made me wish I’d been dealing meth. But the academy would never let me own a car as flashy as this. Well, I’d enjoy it while I had it. I floored the accelerator and the car leapt forward. My grin faded when I saw the city ahead. I slowed down and found a road. I didn’t bother taking the black-sheathed sword off my lap. Let them see. I didn’t care. I slowed even further until I was going at a civil pace and I settled myself behind a sedan. This car was getting too much attention. Maybe the Academy had a point. Crap. By too much attention, I meant every eye trained on the car and its young driver. Including a policeman. He headed across the small crowd that had gathered in the stoplight. Turn green… come on…turn green! I begged. But it stubbornly remained red. I leaned back on my seat sulkily. “Mister, how old are you?” the policeman asked me. He had his hand resting on his holster. Hahaha, the poor bastard actually thought he could get it out in time if I turned violent. Dude, I could kill you in half a second with one finger and with no one noticing, believe me, I thought. I couldn’t hide the small smirk on my face. “Sixteen, Sir. Turning seventeen.” The policemen narrowed his eyes, not sure if he was being teased. The smirk answered that. “Show me your licence.” He told me. I snorted in an attempt to hide my laugher. The Academy had taught me how to drive since I could reach the pedals. But they’d never let me keep a license, because that meant records and records were bad. Most of the ones attending the Academy had ideal faces, forgettable faces, and they were able to have licences, but I had a memorable face, which was bad. I had golden eyes and pitch-black hair, so no licence for me. I had been born with my tawny eyes, but most people thought I wore contacts. “Show me your licence.” The policeman insisted. That only made me laugh more. “Sorry, no can do.” I said, lifting my hands in an apologetic gesture. I could show him something different, but the big crowd surrounding the pretty car prevented me. “Step out of your car, please.”  He told me wearily. I grinned. His hand gripped the sheathed gun tighter and I laughed. I looked closely at the end of the gun peeking out. “That’s a 9mm automatic pistol that has stun darts in it, good for distances, not for close quarters, it probably has a strong kickback, right?” He stared at me and most of the crowd chuckled, thinking I was kidding. But the policeman knew I wasn’t. “Step. Out. Of. Your. Car.” He said slowly. I sighed and glanced at the crowd, who was watching me with amusement, probably feeling sorry for the good-looking kid in the nice car. I slowly pulled out my wallet. I opened it on the government seal and showed the policeman, smirking.  He snorted. “Seriously, kid, you want me to believe you work for the government’s secret service?” he said incredulously. Stupid, stupid! I glanced anxiously around. Damn it. I’d make sure he was fired. I gauged the mood of the crowd. Light, amused. Except one. My head snapped around and in half a second, I was out of the car. The policeman jumped in surprise; he hadn’t seen me move. In another second, I was standing on the hood. The policeman stumbled back. I scanned the surprised crowd, searching, searching. No one there. Suddenly, I felt a stunning blow to the back of my head and I crumpled to the ground far… far…. below.