AC Syndicate: Isolated Files [OS]

October

Under the low, heavy sky of polluted London, an almost ghostly figure stood motionless and balanced on one of the masts of a ship that had dropped anchor in the Thames. The light wind made the cloak of the hooded human form sway. It was a woman, between twenty and ten years old, who was there, lost in her thoughts and solitude. Despite the wandering of her mind, the chocolate-eyed dark-haired woman, lost in the landscape, could hear the sounds of life around her: machines, men shouting orders, the siren of motorboats, their bow digging a furrow in the water. She could hear it all, even though her mind was so far away from here that she felt deaf. Feeling her throat tighten, she simply swallowed and pursed her lips. Then she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a pocket watch.

The cover of the object showed the symbol of the Assassin's Brotherhood, of which she had been a member for some years. Beyond the membership of this organisation that fought against the Templars, the little clock had a great sentimental value for the young woman, whose heart was taken by grief. She opened the watch and looked at the time, even though it had no importance since the day her heart was broken. Six months... and she was still grieving after two years of joy, laughter and love. She closed the watch and put it back in its place, looking again at the landscape of the shore in front of her. There was no point in dwelling on it, for time no longer passed in the same way for her, for each hour, each day had become an eternity.

Far behind her, the thunder began to rumble while bringing black clouds full of rain. Only the sound like a landslide had alerted the brunette back to earth. She turned to see how far away the threatening weather was from the pole she was perched on. The sky seemed to join her mood. The rain will fall on the city as it will rain on her heart. And every flash of lightning, every clap of thunder, would be a rip and a howl of the fluttering, still pounding in her chest. What she felt every time she remembered his absence.

The storm roared again, telling her it was coming. She knew she had to leave, to avoid the lightning, to get to safety, but she wanted to stay a few minutes longer. In the Assassin's mind, the sound of the lightning had just echoed the cry of her heart suffering from this terrible decision, when she was so close to him. A man whose feelings she had never dared to admit, even though their many games only strengthened their complicity. But she had allowed herself to be overcome by the fear of being hurt, as she had been in the past. She had feared that if she had accepted his proposal she would have ruined everything with him. This memory made her sigh again, her eyes lowered. Her mind had just reminded her that he was now making a life with a woman. At least, he was starting to. So she knew she would have to face the love and life she could have had if she hadn't let her fears and worries get in the way.

It was with a sigh that she told herself that it was now time to own up to the mistake she had made: ending the Victoria Reid and Jacob Frye adventure.