The Phoenix Society

Chapter 8

I twisted the knife I my hand. In front of me sat a man... or what was left of one. His face was bloodied and bruised. Blood seeped out of his ears and oozed from his nose and dripped from his lips, creating a pool on the floor beneath the metal chair he sat in. The man panted, trying to catch his breath.

"I'm not going to ask you again." I said pacing in front of him. I walked up behind the man and placed my knife on his neck. He shook in fear. They always did. I leaned in close to his ear.

"Where is the money." I whispered softly. I dug the knife into his neck, carefully, and methodically, as to cause the most pain possible. I watched as a thin line of blood dripped from his neck.

"I-I don't...know..." The man mustered out through long, staggered breaths. I yanked the man's hair forcing his head up to face me. He blinked hard. As he looked up at me, his eyes searched over me trying to look for any sign of hope. The whites of his eyes were now a pink color as the blood vessels in his eyes bled out.

  "All Monroe wants is the money you owe him." I told him as he shivered beneath my touch.

"Go-to-...hell." Blood spit from his mouth as he spoke. I laughed.

"Oh honey, this is hell. And you're our VIP." I wiped a tear that slid down his cheek.

"Please don't kill me." He whispered so faint that I almost didn't hear it. "Pl-please..."

"I'm not going to kill you, James." I said as I removed the blade from his neck. I crossed my arms. "In fact, I've grown quite fond of you." I watched as the man let out a breath. Hope glimmered in his eyes as his head fell back forward. I bent down, eye level to him. I let the knife hang from my hands.

"You know how to make this all go away James." I told him matter-of-factly. "Just tell me where all the money is."

"Mo-money?" James repeated. I could tell he was beginning to feel faint as his head bobbed up and down.

"Yes, James. Just tell me where it is. And this can all go away. All the pain."

"I-don't...have-it." James eye's began to shut. I slapped him, a feeling of guilt swept though my body. I shook it off.

"You don't have it?" I asked him, the feeling of anger began flowing through my body. Monroe was not going to be happy. James' head shook back and forth.

"I-I don't h-have it..."

"James, James, James..." I stood back up and placed my fingers on the bridge of my nose. "What are we going to do about that?"

"S-sorry..." James voice was now nothing more than a wheeze as he spoke.

"Well, sorry doesn't get the money back now does it." I crossed my arms. "Monroe isn't going to like that."

My eyes fluttered open as a tear fell from my eye. I hated who Monroe had forced me to be. I had become a monster. A machine who could only follow orders without seeing the humanity. For a second I lay, staring at the ceiling. My eyes focused on every crack that lay on across the long ceiling beam. The sun had just begun to rise emitting a light orange across the beam. My mind took solace in counting the cracks allowing the dream to fade away into nothing but a memory. Someone pounded on my door.

"Training starts in fifteen minutes!" The assassin positioned outside called.

I groaned grabbing the pillow from beside me and smashing it onto my face. Why had I agreed to this. I would be better off facing Monroe then here where I barely understood what was happening around me.