Rookery ~ Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Chapter One

(A/N) Greetings! This is the first chapter of my Assassin's Creed: Syndicate fan fiction. I was going to wait until Christmas Eve to post this, but figured that a lot of you would be busy with family. So, this is going to be updated every single Tuesday, so that it doesn't clash with my AC4 fan fiction. I really hope you enjoy, because I have enjoyed writing the nineteen chapters I currently have saved. Also, each chapter comes with an external link to a song which may or may not fit the chapter. Some songs are random, but some fit the mood. You get to see my slightly weird music taste! Woo! Anyway, I'll go now. Enjoy!

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Journal,

If anyone found this, they would think me weak. I write this for any of my friends who wish to stay beside me during this time. Should anyone who does not personally know me, I ask kindly that you do not read this and that you perhaps try to find a link to me to pass this journal on to.

I won't lie - it has been difficult. Losing your family is one of the worst things to possibly happen, but most people have others they can go to. I, however, only had my mother, my father, and my brother, Andrew. They were it. No friends, no family. Although, I had a best friend, Jonah, but he had a family he didn't trust and spent most of his time living in and out of other people's homes. I couldn't have gone to live with him, since he had nowhere to live himself.

My happy ending just so happened to be in the bottom of a beer bottle. Every day, I would chug my way through two or three, just to take the edge off. It got rid of the memories. Today, however, it just wasn't working. In fact, it hadn't been working for many weeks since my father died, and it had only worked for a week in the first place. I was sick of feeling to blame. I was ready to end it all.

I drank down the last little bit of my beer and tossed the bottle behind me. It shattered on the path, scattering tiny shards around my feet. The factory towered above me, and the chimney plumed smoke. That's where I was going. The chimney. I used the skills taught to me by my late mother to reach the top of it. The smoke was hot on my legs. I spluttered, breathing in the soot. My hands were burning from gripping on to any available space that I could hold onto to climb. I wiped them on my loose trousers to clean them off, then took a seat on the edge of the chimney. My feet dangled. My heart was pounding. I didn't want to jump, but I knew I had to just to get rid of everything. Besides, I was simply a burden at this point in my grief. I readied myself for the jump when I heard a yell.

"Carina!" I looked down and saw Jonah. He wore a shocked look on his handsome face. His brown eyes were filling slightly with tears and, even from so far away, I could still see the glassiness. He had taken off his grey cap and held it in his hands, squeezing it tightly and wringing it. He had climbed to the roof but wasn't able to skirt up the chimney. "What are you doing? Were you going to - to - to--"

"Jump?" He gulped and nodded. "Yes. I was."

"What? Why?!" Jonah was hysterical. He had begun throwing around his arms. "I demand you get down here." I chuckled.

"You sound like my father."

"Don't you dare go hiding your pain behind humour again. I hate it when you do that." He sighed gently. "Let me help you." His eyes went wide as tears adorned his pale, freckled cheeks. "Please. I can't lose you."

"And I can't stand to lose anyone else." I stood, peering over the edge. "It's enough that my entire family are dead. I will not stand around while others die."

"Carina. Listen to sense, woman."

"The world is changing, Jonah. Everyone is gone."

"Well, I'm still here!" He screamed. I looked at him again. His fists were balled up and his hat had been discarded on the tiles. "I won't leave you, Carina, and you bloody well know that. You can't just lose yourself in a bottle and hope the whole world will wash down with it. A few people have died. At least you got to know your family before you got to say goodbye." He narrowed his eyes. "Some people don't get that chance. At least you did. Count yourself damn lucky."

"I'm sorry, Jonah. At least you get the chance to say goodbye to me."

"That's not good enough! I don't want to have to say goodbye. I want to be able to grow up with my best friend at my side."

"We've done all the growing up we can. We have had two decades of growing up. I can't do it anymore. That means more loss."

"And you think killing yourself in front of all of these people is going to make matters any better?" He gestured to the small crowd which had gathered. "You are a beautiful young woman. You could make any man happy. Hell, if I weren't married, I would probably want you as well. You cannot do this. You need to meet someone, have children, start a family. The next generation will be the one to save our world. If you do this, you are denying our world its future. Your child could be the one to cure cholera or dysentery, and you would be willing to throw that away in an instant?" He gave a warm smile. "I know you're upset, and I know it's difficult, but I will help you through this." I nodded.

"I will try." I made my way to him. The crowd was now dispersing, their show ruined by the victim deciding to spare her own life. "However, I don't think I can stay in Middlesex."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know. London, Wales, Scotland, America. Wherever I go, I will most likely not return here. Should you need me, you can send letters or even perhaps come and visit. I would be happy to see you again." I gave a smile.

"Leave it a year or so. Even a few months. I want to make sure you are alright before you leave." I hugged him tightly.

"I'm not leaving without your say so, Jonah."

"Good. I won't let you leave without saying goodbye."

Now, a few months on, I sit upon this train to London, wondering what might have happened had I stayed put. I also wonder if I would have definitely jumped, even if Jonah hadn't have been there. Honestly, I can't say that I see myself doing it at all. I think it was more an activity to knock some sense into myself. But, of course, this year is a new year. I will make new memories in London, no matter how many bad ones stick in my mind. And I have decided not to stay in contact with Jonah. I won't send him letters. I don't think I can bear seeing him after what he almost witnessed me do.

It is a new year. I plan to spend it well. I will no longer make brash, quick decisions. The world is changing, and I want to change with it, not before it. Carina Faraday will be reborn in the capital of the world.