Assassin's Gambit: Lethal Dance Of A Femme Fatale

Prologue

“At one point in your life, you’ll start surviving and not live” Dad spoke, gently twisting the rubber band around my braided hair.

“Then?” I asked, not knowing the depth of the words.

“You have to survive to live” he finished, turning me around to face him. A smile danced on his lips as he pulled out strands of hair, loosening the braid.

“Why are you telling me this?” I wrapped my hands around his stomach, leaning toward him.

“You are growing up and I’m afraid, Jihyun” he gently pushed me back to my feet “Be a strong girl, okay?” he whispered forcing a smile that never reached his eyes.

The bus honked twice outside, “Okay mister, I’m leaving” I patted his arms and ran towards the door.

A fog blinded my vision as soon as I opened the door and everything vanished. I was on top of a rock, facing the river. Confusion welled up in me, how did I end up here? Where’s Dad?

“Finally, you are back” I recognized his voice
“Mum came home yesterday” I replied, turning around.

“Oh, she is finally back?” sunghoon chuckled trying to get that one strand of hair falling into his eyes “I should trim my hair”

“You should” I sat down, facing the river “I barely see mum these days and I have a feeling that they are going to separate soon”

“They are getting a divorce” I hissed at the question. The word itself sounded haunted, how can a single word hold this much trauma within?

“I don't know, sunghoon” I watched as he dug his hand into his pocket “I don't know if I want to see them together”

“If they are happy and better off alone, then they should be separated,” sunghoon said, it was comforting yet depressing. Two seven-year-olds, supposed to be at the playground with other kids, were talking about divorce on top of a hill.

“What's that?” I asked, seeing him take a box out of his pocket.

“Anklet” seeing my curious eyes, sunghoon smiled. “You are supposed to wear it on your ankles” he carefully opened the box, revealing a delicate anklet with a small charm shaped like a star.

I straightened my leg towards him and he fastened the anklet around my ankle and once again reached for his pocket. He took out the bracelet I gifted him a few months ago and fastened it around his wrist. He watched the river as I watched him.

“I’ll never forget you” he promised, not taking his eyes off the river. At that moment I knew that this was a moment I would carry with me for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, it was pouring. I looked for sunghoon but he vanished into thin air and darkness filled my eyes, I was at my doorstep. Where had sunghoon gone? The rain soaked through my clothes and i hurried inside.

Blood. On the floor, on the wall, everywhere.
Fear clutched at my chest and I knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

“Dad?” I called out, but only the eerie silence that hung heavily in the room came as a reply. Panic surged through me as I cautiously followed the trail of blood to the living room.

A blood-curdling scream left my mouth seeing my mom lying on the ground lifeless. Blood oozing out of a gash on her forehead. Next to her, a man lay, his face almost unrecognizable from the attack. I flinched as I made eye contact with my dad, crouched next to mom.

I was running, through the darkness. The rain poured down on me, every drop prickled my skin like thousands of needles together. The world spinned around me once before a flashlight blinded my vision, flying me to the air for a second.

The pain, relentless and unforgiving threatened to consume me as I crashed to the ground. I could feel the cold wet ground beneath me, the rain mingling with blood. Seconds stretched to eternity as the darkness closed in.

I opened my eyes to a white ceiling, every muscle ached in my body as I tried to move. The sterile smell of the room, formed bile inside my stomach.

“How do you feel?” a raspy voice spoke from the corner of the room. “Does it hurt?” the man stepped into view.

“Where—” I couldn't finish. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“I’ll call the doctor” he was older than my dad, slightly overweight and his suit barely contained his bulk. I saw his expression shifting, a shadow of something I couldn't quite decipher crossed his features.

An uneasy feeling started in my chest. My eyes flicked to the anklet, I lost the pair.

The bed moved under me and I was on a chair, beside a boy who looked the same age as me. His eyes shooted daggers at me, I was too afraid to look back.

“Good morning” The same man entered the room and sat down on the master chair across the table. “Ezekiel, this is Winda Rowe” he introduced me to the boy, “and Winda, this is Ezekiel. My son.”

From Jihyun to Winda. From a schoolgirl to an assassin. The journey began without waiting for me.

The scene shifted around me once again. I was in front of a mirror. The monsoon breeze of Italy caressed my bare skin. I gazed at my reflection, the face that stared at me back was older, different. The changes were subtle yet unmistakable. My cheeks were slightly less round, and my jawline was more defined. There was a newfound maturity in my eyes, a depth that hadn't been there before.

Turning away from the mirror, I took a deep breath. The anklet was on the nightstand,  I reached out and took it. Numbness was all I felt as I fastened it around my wrist, as a bracelet.

“You are ready” Mr. Bennet’s voice echoed in my ear. “You are ready to conquer the world for me”

No one saw my face. A mask was attached to my face, even when I was sleeping. Bullets and daggers grazed my arms and legs and I was never once allowed to give up. I was assigned to kill, with Ezekiel's voice guiding me through my ear, but I didn’t.

I couldn’t. I didn’t want to see the same horror that tainted my childhood.

“You don’t have to kill. Make sure they regret standing up against you” Mr. Bennet murmured in my ear, handing me a dagger. The weight of the dagger in my hand felt heavy, and the responsibility even heavier. I had become something I never thought I was capable of, a tool for someone else's will.

I destroyed houses, families—people. Everything.

“Hi, I'm Lena” a girl greeted me.
I glanced at her once and went back to putting pressure on the slit on my arm. Her big doe eyes resembled sunghoon.

“Let me help you,” she said, and took the cotton from my hand, applying pressure on the wound. The first person, besides Mr. Bennet and Ezekiel, who heard my voice after six years became her.

“When will I be free?” I screamed throwing my dagger across the room. It struck the wall, just near Ezekiel's head.

“When you kill that one person” Mr. Bennet roared back “Luther Redley.”

“Why me?”
“Hungry lions hunt” his voice held no emotion “I made you hungry, now it is your job to hunt”

So I started hunting, for a prey the world doesn’t have a record of.

Hey, Safa here. This story is my biggest project, the longest story I've ever written and I can call this a novella ig. Hope you like this, don't forget to vote and leave a comment if you do.