The Assassin's Ghosts

Chapter 3: We Meet Again

Adira jogged to catch up with Mavis, her best friend, as they headed to the cafeteria for dinner.

"Maeve!" she called out, smiling as the brunette girl turned around. Mavis instantly smiled when she saw Adira coming towards her.

"Hey, Ads!" Mavis greeted when Adira got to her. "How ya doin'? You look kinda... tired. Still gorgeous though."

"Yeah, yeah, I just haven't been sleeping great lately," Adira replied truthfully. Ever since her encounter with the strange man in her bedroom, Adira had been scared to go to sleep. That had been three nights ago. "My room is a bit cold. I should really grab an extra blanket."

"Dang, yeah. It has been a bit colder than usual," Mavis agreed. Adira nodded, feeling a bit guilty about lying to her best friend.

"But anyway, how have you been?" Adira asked.

"I've been okay. Yearwood's been on my ass about training but that's othing new. Why's he such a jerk? He acts like he's got a chronic stick up his ass."

"Haha, I mean, you're not wrong." Adira and Mavis were only a yard away from the door to the cafeteria when Madame Kingston came striding towards them, her very loud, very recognizable high-heels clicking on the linoleum floor.

"Ms. Cruz, you are needed in my office. We have an important, last-minute meeting," Kingston said primly. "Ms. Young, you may proceed to the cafeteria without your friend."

"Oh, okay," Mavis nodded, then smiled at her best friend and walked into the cafeteria. Kingston turned and began walking briskly towards her office, so Adira hurried after her. On the walk through the halls, Adira questioned Madame Kingston about the meeting, but much to her dismay, Kingston was frustratingly tight-lipped about it. Adira was lucky to receive a brief explanation that there was someone at the Agency who was going to, hopefully, assist them in an investigation.

Kingston pushed open the door to her office and stepped in with Adira trailing after her. Adira had only been in the office a few times, so she was in awe every time. The furniture –which consisted of a desk, two lush chairs with vivid green cushions, a seat for Kingston, and a tall bookshelf on the far wall behind the desk– was a deep mahogany with intricate designs. Sitting with their back to her were two people that Adira didn't recognize.

Kingston had already seated herself in her respective chair and had folded her hands properly on the table. She caught Adira's eye and gestured for her to come stand beside her with a nod. Adira complied. When standing beside her supervisor, Adira took the time to look closer at the two visitors. One of them, Adira was surprised to discover, was a tall man with... dark skin? Adira had never really met a black person before. There were certainly black people at the Agency, but they were trained in a different facility and ate somewhere else, so Adira had never really even thought of them. The boy's –no, he had to be somewhere around her age, maybe early to mid twenties– eyes snapped up to meet hers and Adira was promptly embarrassed about staring. She noted with slight amazement that the boy's eyes were so dark brown that they looked to be nearly black. She quickly moved over to look at the other boy. He had silky black hair that hung slightly in his eyes. Adira was immediately drawn to the large scar that adorned his face. It started at a spot barely an inch above his left eyebrow, and it trailed down over his eye, ending in a slight curve on his cheekbone. The skin of it was paler than the rest of his skin, and it was rigid, creating a bumpy line of raised skin on his face that looked admittedly very menacing. He twirled a pen in his left hand. He's left-handed? Adira noted with surprise.

Adira could feel him looking at her, so she made eye-contact with him. His cold stare instantly made her feel the urge to shiver; even more so when she really looked at his eyes. They were a clear, icy blue that she had seen once before. The memory of him... standing over her in the middle of the night, his hand pressed firmly over her mouth, flashed through her mind. Adira felt her breath hitch in her throat. She could've sworn she saw the corner of the boy's mouth lift in a small smirk.