Magickal and Melanated: An Anthology of Black Stories

The Assassin

I crawled out onto the grassy and muddy river bed, coughing and spluttering. Someone had hired a bounty hunter. I scooted out of the water and sighed, sitting with my knees up and resting my forearms. I was going to kill him. I was going to kill my father. But then that bounty hunter showed up and ruined my chance.

I didn't know what to do, honestly. I could turn my father in, but that would expose me as an assassin and I would go to jail too. I pulled out my phone which was fine because it was waterproof. I dialed a number and listened to the dial tones.

Hello?

"Hey. It didn't work."

"What do you mean, it didn't work?"

"Some bounty hunter is looking for me, they've got a price on my head. When I was about to kill him, they came banging on the door, so I ran."

There was a tense silence on the other end for a moment. "Meet me in Tenebris." and the line clicked off, leaving me in suspended silence. He seemed more...tense and angry than usual. Usually he had a warm and loving disposition, which is why I fell in love with him in the first place.

But this version seemed...cold, distant. Did I miss something?

I sniffed and stood up, looking around. I seemed to be by the river banks in Regium, I could tell because the water appeared silver. I trudged up and down the dirt roads, eventually finding a little haberdashery that sold just my size. I ended up getting myself another black turtleneck and some black sweatpants. I folded my wet clothes up and put them in the plastic bag. "Do you happen to have a map, please?" The dark nymph handed me a folded map, with a bored expression and I smiled, giving them a nice thank you.

I stepped out of the haberdashery and looked around once more. I saw people that looked like travelers heading in one direction and the marketplace seemed to be thriving. "Looks like the docks to Tenebris are that way," I mumbled to myself, starting in that direction.

When the docks were in my sight, I sighed in relief. I headed to the ticket master and got myself a ticket to Tenebris.

Dock 9. A large ship with a mermaid figurehead pulled up to the docks. Gliding on the silver water smoothly. They pulled up to the docks and let down the ramp. It seems like I was the only one boarding this ship to Tenebris. Not that I can blame anyone, though, Tenebris was a very dull place, I can't see any reason anyone would want to go to Tenebris by their own will.