The Assassin and the Murderer

Chapter 2

It took five days with no stops to arrive in Aylasan, and the seasons were changing. When they left Erilan, it was late summer, but now it was early October, and Aylasan's trees were covered in reds, oranges, and yellows.

Queen Isabelle, or former Queen Isabelle, rather, had set Laurel, Spencer, Oletha and Gabriel up with a safe house that was only a short carriage ride from the docks.

Oletha and Laurel went up to knock on the door, while Spencer and Gabriel helped unload their bags in the carriage.

"Do you know who we are staying with?" Oletha asked, as Laurel knocked on the door.

"I'm not sure. Isabelle only gave me an address. Likely for our protection." Laurel said.

Oletha nodded, and waited.

"Hello?" A dark haired woman answered the door, and then opened it wider, realizing who they were. "Don't stand out here. Come in."

The young woman ushered them inside, and pushed the girls towards the living room. She then waited with the door opened a crack for Spencer and Gabriel.

"Which one of you is Laurel?" A young man had joined them in the living room, and was shutting all of the curtains.

"Um, I am." Laurel said. She looked over at Oletha, who looked nervous. She wasn't used to the necessary precautions of being in hiding.

"Okay, so you're Oletha?"

Oletha nodded.

"Where are the boys?"

"They're coming." Laurel said.

"Good."

The man looked more relaxed now, and held out his hand for them to shake it.

"I'm Sam. Sam Watteau." He introduced himself, shaking Laurel's hand.

"Are these our lovely guests?" Another man asked, walking in.

"And this is my brother, Denzel." Sam added, looking less than pleased.

"I will be staying here. For your protection of course." Denzel said, bending to kiss Laurel's hand.

"Can you not?" Sam sighed.

"I'm just being friendly to the ladies, little brother." Denzel said.

"She's probably too young for you, so suck it up and stop being such a womanizer. She's a child." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm nineteen." Laurel said, looking offended at being called a child.

"You're eighteen, and you have a boyfriend." Oletha said.

"No, I'm nineteen. And I can say no to a man without anyone's help!" Laurel countered.

"When did you turn nineteen? I can't believe I missed your birthday!" Oletha said.

"Yesterday." Laurel said, turning foot and not saying anything else.

Sam stomped on Denzel's foot as Laurel walked away.

"Hey!" Denzel said, smacking Sam on the back of the head.

"You're an idiot." Sam said, and they followed Laurel to the front hall, which Spencer and Gabriel had just come from.

"We've got all of the bags inside." Spencer said, gesturing to the bags.

"Great. Denzel and I will take them to your rooms." Sam smiled.

"I'll help." Laurel said, grabbing a few bags.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that you hold me in disdain, Miss. Laurel." Denzel smirked, grabbing a few bags himself.

"Wow, you never share your feelings, Denzel. I'm shocked!" Sam laughed, mocking surprise.

"Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" Denzel asked, fake freaking out, and running up the stairs with the bags.

"What's his problem?" Laurel asked. She wasn't mad or anything, just slightly weirded out by Denzel's personality.

"He just... Acts like that now. Ever since our mum was murdered twenty-two years ago. He took it worse than I did, because even though we were both there when it happened, I was an infant, so I couldn't remember it. He, on the other hand, is four years older than me, so he has to live with that memory." Sam explained sadly. "He's been acting up again, because our dad recently disappeared. The two of them have been obsessed with finding her murderer ever since that day, and Dad was on a pretty good lead when we lost contact with him. Denzel thinks it's connected, but I'm not sure. He's not just here because of all of you. He's really worried."

"I'm sorry about your mother." Was all Laurel could say.

"Actually, Jemma–my girlfriend you met downstairs–and I were really surprised when he showed up here. It's the first time I've seen him in two years." Sam said.

Laurel didn't say anything, because there was nothing she could think to say.

~

The first night with Sam, Jemma and Denzel went well. For the first time in a long time Laurel felt safe, and she was much happier. She felt like she had a family. Despite the iffy first encounter with Denzel, she found herself laughing and joking with him, and learned that he was quite the comedian. She was starting to feel like the two brothers were brothers of her own. And if she learned anything from meeting Gabriel and her half-brother Gavin, it was that family meant everything to her. She didn't even know she felt that way until she admitted it to herself just then.

What made her especially happy was that despite Jemma being only a little over year older than Laurel, she was wise beyond her years, and she was motherly to Laurel. Laurel had never had a mother figure, because she was raised by the King of Assassins, and her mother died a long time ago. She never even knew her mother. But she felt like she had one here, and for that she was grateful.

For once, things felt peaceful.

So that was why when she heard talking downstairs that night, she instantly jumped up and ran to see what was going on.

"What's wrong?" She asked when she got downstairs, seeing Denzel and Sam at the door. Denzel was holding something in his hands.

"What's that?" Spencer asked, coming down the stairs. Laurel had expected him to come downstairs, too, since assassins were trained to be light sleepers. He was shirtless, and his hair was sticking all over the place, which made him look cute, Laurel thought. She suddenly realized she was in her nightgown still, and felt a little odd in front of Sam and Denzel.

"It's nothing. Go back upstairs." Denzel assured them. Not very well, however. Laurel and Spencer saw right through his fake reassurance.

"Tell us. There's clearly something wrong." Laurel said.

"It's a message... That might be from our father." Sam said. "We think it's a clue about what happened to him."

"It definitely is a clue! We need to do something about this. We have to follow this." Denzel said.

"These coordinates are ridiculously far away." Sam said, not looking completely convinced. "And we aren't sure if it's actually from him or not. It's not signed or anything. It just has coordinates."

"It's him, Sam." Denzel said seriously.

"Well, if the destination is so far away, we better get started early, right?" Laurel asked, already on her way upstairs to get her bags.

"Wait, Laurel, we can't just get up and leave–" Sam started.

"Sorry! Too far up the stairs! Can't hear you!" Laurel said, disappearing through her bedroom door.

"Don't even try to argue with her. If she wants to go to those coordinates, she's going..." Spencer sighed, running his hand through his already tousled hair, and following her upstairs.