Black Dahlias

Chapter One

Araya was only ten when her parents dragged her into the bar. She strongly remembered the scent of alcohol across the dimly lit room. Her parents were wasted almost instantly, so Araya sat on the floor of the bar at her parents feet. She didn't remember how it happened, and over the next twenty years she found herself imagining different ways it went down. All she remembered was a strange and tall man grabbing her wrist in a death grip that she couldn't escape from. She remembered screaming, and she remembered her parents not even noticing. She was thrown in the back of a van in the least graceful of ways. Into adulthood Araya's ankle was still weak from twisting it that night. She scrambled backwards in the van, only to realize there were others in the van as well. Everyone was about her age, but a few were a tad older. They all had their knees pulled to their chest, sitting against the walls of the van.

"Where are we?" Araya asked, the shaking children, as she rubbed at her painful ankle. The kid's eyes widened as they shushed her. Araya looked confused for a second, but didn't say anything else, and instead looked over all the children. There were four girls, and three boys. Araya wasn't worried about being thrown into the van, her parents would surely come and get her. She didn't realize at the time that her parents were the ones that had sent her away.

The van lurched to a stop, and moments later the doors opened. There stood six large men, who looked to be heavily armed. Araya shuddered visibly as all of the kids were coaxed out of the van. She still wasn't worried, even though she likely should have been. She climbed out of the van, and moments later handcuffs were put on her wrists. She looked confused up at the man that slid them onto her small hands.

"I didn't do anything wrong?" she asked. She'd only ever seen handcuffs used as a way to capture prisoners, not helpless little girls. The man didn't respond. Araya and the rest of the children were lead into a large building that looked like a school of sorts. They were ushered into a large room. There, stood a middle aged women, wearing high heels, and a long dress.

"Welcome," The woman said, with a menacing smile. "to the black dahlia training facility,"

Araya's eyes shot open. She took a deep breath, and sat up, looking around her tiny apartment. She sighed, and yawned as she ran a hand through her hair. She reached for her phone which was sitting on her bedside table, and was nearly blinded by the bright blue light coming from the screen. She winced, and waited for her eyes to adjust. She squinted at the numbers that said what time it was, and eventually, despite not wearing her glasses or contacts, was able to make out that it was nearly six am. She put her phone back on the bedside table. That seemed late enough that she could wake up.

She climbed out of bed, and made her way over to the kitchenette, opening a cabniet to find a box of cereal. She didn't look at the experation date for her own ssanity, and poured the cereal into a bowl. She didn't bother checking the fridge for milk, she knew there wasn't any. She sat at the tiny dining room table, eating her cereal with one hand, and scrolling through her phone with the other. She finished her breakfast before it was six thirty, and she opened her closet in search of clothes for the day. She had a big day of work ahead of her.

She eventually found her mesh tights, and tight black mini dress that she had recently been favoring on the job. She pulled a black leather jacket over her outfit, and then retreated to the bathroom, where she pulled her hair into a bun on the top of her head, and put make up on. She smiled slightly at herself in the mirror when she was finished. She had to admit, she looked hot. She returned to the main room of her apartment, and returned to her closet, stepping into her knee high, high heeled boots. She slid two daggers into the holsters on one boot, and slid a gun into the other. She slid a second gun into the inside pocket of her jacket. The ring on her finger was filled with poison, so if needed, she could punch somebody with it, and it'd instantly kill them. She put her phone in the outside pocket of her jacket, and her wallet and keys in the other, and walked out of the apartment. She locked the door behind her, and walked out of the apartment building.

She kept her head down as she walked through the busy New York streets. It was close to an hour long walk, but it was easier to walk than to cover her tracks on a bus, or in a taxi. She ended up in the outskirts of New York, and eventually found a large building with the address she . She walked up to the door, and tried to pull on it, only to find it was locked. She reached up into her hair, and pulled out a single bobby pin. She dropped down onto one knee as she used the hair pin to pick the lock. A few moments later, there was a click, and Araya returned to her full standing height, opened the door, and walked into the building.

She looked around the base level of the building, to find nobody there. She walked down a set of cracked cement stairs, and eventually found herself in a dimly lit basement. The information she had recieved from the person who had hired her was vauge, but from what she could tell the man she was supposed to kill was supposed to be here. She looked around, and suddenly, bright lights flickered on, and soon enough she was nearly blinded. She drew her gun instantly as she spun around, blinking rapidly to try and get her eyes to reset to the bright lights. Eventually they did, and across the room was a women wearing a pair of black leggings, with a thigh holster and a hip holster. She was wearing a black crop top, and holding a gun in her hand.

"You're not who I was expecting," Araya commented, not moving her gun. The woman across the room laughed.

"I never am,"

Araya winced at the loud sound that the woman's gun made as she shot at her. Araya looked over her shoulder to find the bullet lodged in the wall nearly three feet above where her head would've been. Araya chuckled to herself, and allowed her gun to lower, just slightly.

"It's rare that I meet another assassin," Araya mused as the mystery woman crossed the room closer to Araya. There was a beat of silence. Araya's eye's met the woman's, and a split second later her gun was tossed to the floor, and her dagger was in her hand, barely pushing the woman's baton to the side.

"I'm not an assassin," the woman replied, "I'm just here to assassinate you,"

Araya spun around, ducking under the metal baton once more, before parrying it with her dagger once more. The dagger wasn't quite big enough, or strong enough to parry the baton's strength, but she didn't want to get with it.

"Why me?" Araya asked through gritted teeth as she took several steps back, easily grabbing her gun from the floor and sliding it into the holster in her jacket. The woman's tone darkened.

"You killed my mother,"

Araya reach up and caught the handle of the dagger that was thrown in her direction. She twirled it around her fingers, observing the sanded wood with her hand.

"Nice dagger," Araya replied. That seemed to piss off the woman even more, and Araya side stepped a bullet shot her direction, and laughed softly.

"I promise, it wasn't personal, kid, but if you keep throwing shit at me, your murder might be,"

"Can't be personal if you don't know who I am," the woman snapped back easily. Araya smirked, sliding her dagger back into her boot just in time to catch the woman's hand when she tried to punch her.

"Then do me a favor, and tell me your name, so I can make it personal," Araya replied, twisting the woman's arm until it hurt, but didn't break anything. The woman retracted in pain.

"Jade," the woman said, simply, side stepping a kick Araya tried to aim at her midsection. Araya nodded curiously.

"Araya," she replied, catching another punch aimed her way. They went around and around, shooting, and slicing at each other with various weapons. Eventually, Araya aimed a shot at Jade's thigh, and Jade wasn't able to move out of the way quick enough, leaving her laying on the ground in blood stained pain. Araya's heels clicked on the cement as she crossed the room to the woman laying on the ground.

"I'm not going to kill you, but if you come after me again, I probably will. Don't test me, darling," She bent at the waist, and pulled both of Jade's guns from the holsters on the crying woman's hip, and then walked out of the warehouse without a second thought.