The Royal Assassin (ONC2023)

Chapter 1

Sapphire Bullseye. That's who I am. The most feared assassin in all of Sandshore. Of course, people should be scared of me. I'm not afraid to kill anyone who messes with me and gets in my way.

I was leaning against the wall waiting for Bruce to finally arrive at this dark alleyway. He was usually late but never this late. Thirty minutes. Where the heak was this guy? We were meant to be planning our mission and how we would approach it since boss man made us work together. Waiting a little longer wouldn't hurt but if he did not arrive soon, he can expect some sharp ninja stars to pierce his crotch.

Footsteps sounded from my right, getting louder as someone approached. I didn't dare move or look their way.

"My, my, what's a fine specimen like you doing out here all on your lonesome?" an unfamiliar voice said only a few feet away.

It wasn't Bruce. Just the damn luck I needed. I know I'm beautiful under this mask but I'm no freaking specimen. I didn't utter a word and kept my head low under my hoodie.

"Isn't she beautiful?" I asked, a big smile forming on my face under my mask.

Before the man could utter a word, I shot two of my signature sapphire throwing knives at the man. One lodging in his neck, the other at his crotch. Everything inside me was buzzing with life as he fell to the floor, lifeless. I reached into my pocket and fished out a sapphire gemstone. Crouching down, I rest the gem on the man's chest.

"Go to eternal sleep, sweet sapphire," I whisper before standing back up and walking towards the entrance of the alleyway.

I had no issue with compliments, I really didn't. I just hated the fact these bastards will go so far into calling me a specimen as if I am a freaken animal. My ex-boyfriend thought he was the hottest thing since sliced bread, it was too bad he had to be pushed... I mean fell to his death off our eighteenth floor apartment window. Luckily sweet little Jade Snow was out on a trip with her friends when it happened, so she wasn't suspected of any wrongdoing. It was too bad he was killed almost instantly when he hit that concrete pavement underneath. Poor man didn't know how his life ended but he deserved it for all the pain he caused Jade.

I had to pretend to be distraught of the news, just like any good girlfriend at the time would be. The idiots fell right into my trap and believed me. No one could come up with a conclusion on how he fell. Some thought he was drunk, others thought he innocently fell off.

The alleyway was pitch black and the air was cold. It was winter, my favourite time of year. I never liked summer, especially as a kid. The beach never fascinated me either.

I sighed and reached the street adjoining the alleyway. Bruce was going to be in big trouble when he arrives. I leaned against the cold brick wall and sighed.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting long beautiful," a familiar voice said from beside me.

I knew who it was almost immediately. Bruce. The fucker left me waiting for almost an hour and yet he didn't apologise. Typical. First impression working with him, and he seems like any other guy I've met in my life. If it was any other dude, his boy parts would be cleanly off, but I swore to boss man Bruce would be bought back in one piece.

"Operation Alleyway is a no go. Let's go for plan B and head to your place," I said and walked past the man who sported a black hoodie and tracksuit pants combo. "Don't ask. I'll explain later."

I had studied where Bruce lived so I knew where I was going. As long as Bruce didn't question me, things would be smooth sailing.

"Hey, wait up," Bruce said behind me, his feet pounding against the concrete. "Weren't we going to my place?"

"Oh, we are," I reply. "I know where you live so hurry up."

The walk to Bruce's house was silent but I loved that. It just meant we could get to work and plan how we are going to take this Fabergé egg. I honestly do not see the appeal of this damn egg, but somehow boss man wants it so here we both were trying to steal it. Apparently, it was called 'The Peacock Carousel' which I'm assuming is named after an actual bird. Everything could go wrong with this mission and the hardest part? I've been told to not kill anyone on this mission so this should be interesting. Very interesting.

Bruce's house was run down on the outside and I hoped it would not look that way on the inside. It wouldn't kill him to repaint the outside or trim the grass a little, so it didn't look like a damn forest. The grass was almost my height, maybe even taller. Mould seemed to be growing up the outside of the house. I could barely see two feet in front of me. This place looked as if it had seen better days.

"You walk so fast you know?" Bruce said while huffing and puffing as if he had just run a marathon. His red hair looked almost like a bird's nest.

"You're just slow. Now hurry up and open this place." I crossed my arms and glared at him. If he didn't open that door soon, I'll be using him as a door ram to knock the door open.

"Relax your pants girlie," he said with a slight laugh then moved past me.

He opened the door and walked in. From what I could see as soon as I entered the place was well lit and gorgeous. The walls were baby blue and adorned with framed pictures and hanging plants. The living room carried the same theme as the hallway. It was quite large, a status of an angel invaded the far right corner. I couldn't help but stare at it.

"Want anything to drink?" Bruce asked from behind me, almost making me jump out of my skin.

"Firstly, don't sneak up on a girl like that. Secondly, no. Let's just get this plan sorted so we can get to our job tomorrow. Do you have the layout of the Museum?" I turn around to face him, noticing dark bags under his eyes. The dude looked exhausted.

"Yeah, I do." Bruce walked over and pulled a blue rolled up sheet from between the single sofas under the closed window.

I watched as he rolled it open on the tiny wooden coffee table then made my way over and sat on the uncomfortable hard sofa. My ass will probably feel flat or broken by the time I'm done here but I had to push on. I looked at the sheet that was now open to see all sorta of drawings of the inner works of the Museum. It was a really detailed blueprint if I did say so myself.

"How did you get a hold of this?" I asked, looking over at Bruce who sat down beside me with a glass of what looked like water.

"Hm? This old thing? I used to work as a guard there so you can say I know the ins and outs of this place," Bruce said with a massive smile on his face.

"So why in fucks name did you drag me out here to plan if you know everything?!" I almost yelled. Firstly, the man keeps me waiting then he wastes my time by bringing me out her to plan. I could almost murder the man where he sat.

"Well we need to be on the same page about this." Bruce smiled briefly at me then looked down at the blueprint. "Firstly—" he pointed to a spot on the page "—we cannot enter from the main entrance because it will be heavily guarded and there will be cameras. We are left with two options. Enter through the roof or through the side door. There aren't any guards guarding that side door so that would be our best option. The code should still be the same if I remember it right.

"We will need to use chloroform to knock out the one guard that will be standing monitoring said hallway and take his keys to enter the control room which we will be passing. We will need to mess with the cameras and have them repeat on a loop so they don't see us and there is no trace of us on camera. That's where we will take what is ours, replace it with a decoy and get out."

I nodded slowly. It seemed easy enough, but the biggest risk is a guard catching us in action. We still have to make the decoy but painting and decorating a mannequin head would be easy.

"Alright, let's do it," I said finally after I let it ponder in my mind for a while. Let's hope I don't regret accepting this mission.