An Assassins Escape

Chapter 12

Ralph was boney and small, luckily too weak for the lethal training. He was empathetic and clear sighted. A black sheep.

Riano however was extremely popular and almost as skilled as Sofia. They rivaled each other. She wanted his intellect and he wanted his fathers approval.

My memory shifted like a kaleidoscope to me and Riano sitting on the beach, watching the sun sink below the sea. The clouds appeared like wispy strands of pink cotton candy.

He usually wore a mask of happiness and facetiousness, so it surprised me when his voice broke, "Bell, do you ever think about... running away?"

I raised my eyebrows, contemplating. What I said next would matter. I opened my mouth, then closed it.

"Yeah." I whispered, "Sometimes I dream about flying far, far away. Riding the wind, and... never coming back."

He looked at me with that empathetic look. The look that said he knew too much for any sixteen year old to know. "You could, you know."

I sighed. So he did know. "No. I can't. It faded from the neglect."

A breeze combed over the sand, as if it heard me calling its name. "Well," He started, "Sometimes I dream about diving into the ocean, and never resurfacing."

I chuckled, "That's sad. I thought you saw value in life."

He rolled his eyes, "We both know that's not what I mean."

I looked at him and smiled with a hint of cruelty, smiled like I had a secret, "Why don't you?"

"I can't leave them here."

True. "I can't either."

The waves rolled and crashed, receding and approaching.

"So then it's just us two, the only ones in the lair?" I asked.

"Probably the only ones in the Isles." He responded.

My eyes widened. "Come again?"

"In all of the Isles." he looked at me, "It's just us."

Shock shook my bones. If anyone found out, death would be a mercy. "I haven't felt anyone else with the energy. But you, you were different." he explained. "Just as mine lives inside me, yours still slumbers inside you. If it awakens, don't be scared."

"Were you?" I asked.

"Yes. I hurt many people because I couldn't control it. Because I was scared. If you reach for it, it will come. If you believe you can control it, then you're right. If you believe you can't, then you're also right. "

"Okay, Riri. Enough with the wise and cryptic teachings. We gotta get back before someone tattles."

He gave me an exasperated sigh and dusted the sand off his inky assassins attire, trudging after me. "I keep telling you guys to stop calling me that," he complained.

"It's a nickname, Riri."

The memory faded, shattering into a million fragments.

Riano was clever. Similarly to me, he planned ahead. Skilled at chess among other things. Until one day, Riano was just too damn stupid. When he tried to run away. He thought it would spur someone into action. Someone to put an end to all of this misery.

I stood numbly in the corner, mind racing with how it could be stopped. Already concocting my revenge. Watching like a roving camera, steady and painfully unblinking as Sofia was held back by the others. How she screamed at them to let her die. How Riano smiled at her as the bullet hit his skull. How the light left my friends eyes like so many others before.

The next day, Ralph snuck into the Bosses office and forged his father's will. Copying the scratchy signatures and creating false law documents.

Me and Sofia stood before the big man, at least a foot shorter and absolutely butchered him alive. For Riano. For everyone else in the building. Blood pooled on the floor as Sofia wound his intestines around her electric wand. I kept back, watching as she smiled like a cheshire cat and dragged her blade over his eyes. As he screeched and panted until she dissected his throat.

For the years afterward, Sofia ran the company. I owned 50%, as Ralph didn't want any part in it. I left a couple years afterward as well, leaving the past behind me.

Sofia stayed. For Riano, she once said.

But now she's gone. Dead. killed.

And she left the company in my name, all 10 million dollars of it.

She must have cunningly orchestrated for both of the rival companies to be mine, too. Because as I numbly stared at the loopy ink, it showed the list of assets in my name. Everything and more.

And a self written message from Sofia herself. To meet the Nocturne Eight. Including a location.

I slowly collapsed to the floor, burying my head in my hands. But I shoved my feelings aside, unfeeling. I would do what she asked first. Think rationally. Clearly. She wasn't stupid enough to not leave clues. She must have known she was going to die.  

The Nocturne Eight were essentially eight extremely powerful people who decided to meet every full moon and collaborate to accomplish common goals. They were secret, influential, and currently the most formidable group to exist. Kingdoms paid handsomely for their services.

From what the note said, Sofia was part of them. And tonight was a full moon.

It wasn't sadness that I felt now, but anger. Who would dare touch her. I was hellbent on revenge, already planning to justify unspeakable things in its name. Almost anything was within my reach; I was one of the richest people in the world now. 

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. All I saw was Sofia. Brown hair with minimal highlights, but similar blonde streaks all the same. The rebellious clay freckles. The same alluring smile, same white teeth. The uncannily alike gray eyes. The color of the Isles rolling skies on that fateful day.

I dipped my face in the sink and rinsed off the freckles, the unattractive contour on my nose and cheeks. I was in a powerful place; I would take advantage of it.

In my bag was a clean assassins attire I had brought. The inky, silent garments and the black fabric mask that covered everything but my fierce eyes. I took a tonic to wear off the doctor's drugs. 

Someone had hell to pay.