The Mist of Ashes (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 9: The Austments

"Violet. I know you," he said, getting up in his leather chair, "You're the -"

"Don't say anything. This is not the time to tell what she is. She's going to find out soon," Andrew said firmly, "and don't even think about killing her. We're here to kill you."

"Oh, I thought so." Richard stood behind his desk and played his fingers with the pen. "I always wanted to kill you, too, Andrew. It's funny that you're not officially in the Dark Aura tribe."

"Well I don't want to be," he said, pulling his gun from his side.

They began fighting each other. Andrew was more intense in his moves when fighting to the death more than he was when we were back in the training session. He punched with straight accuracy that left me in awe. Even though Richard was a good fighter, too, Andrew seemed a whole lot more concentrated and accurate.

A few gunshots went forward to Richard, but he quickly got out of the way and went behind Andrew. He kicked him in the back, causing Andrew to fall on the ground. I couldn't let him win. I got behind Richard and sliced his arm clean. It was gory seeing all of the blood, but this was important. His arm laid lifelessly on the ground.

Richard screamed and struggled on the ground. I knew he was going to die soon from blood loss, but this had to come to an end. Immediately I stabbed his body from the ground, the sword going through his body with ease. Richard was dead within a split second. His eyes were wide opened, and he came slumped on the floor.

"Our mission here is done," Andrew said, observing his body on the floor, "Now we just have to take the body."

I reached for the body bag folded nicely in my pocket belt and pulled it out. While Andrew was putting his body including his arm in the bag, I was reflecting my thoughts. I just killed a person, and it's my first time doing it. It felt so wrong, but I was satisfied. I tried to work hard fighting off my evil doings, but I knew it wasn't going to last long.

We had no problem getting out since it was such a big building, and we were well hidden beneath the shadows. We finally got back to the helicopter waiting for us with no problem.

"Good work," Andrew said, grinning, "I never knew you would kill him like that. That was amazing."

"Thanks," I said, looking out the window. I glanced at my watch to figure out what time it was.

1:42 AM

It was late, but I was happy to bring back positive...well, "positive" results back to the compound. Though the Austments were my enemy, deep inside, I felt a pain of regret. I didn't want to talk about it, so I tried to act normal by looking outside with a tired face. It was also true that I was tired. I finally can get the comfy bedroom I wanted. I can imagine myself cuddling in the covers and falling asleep in minutes. The last time I was in a comfy bed was during The Surge, which was about two years ago.

*****

"Ah, I see," Dark Metal said, examining the body, "Great work. Your mission was the hardest one yet." He got up from his chair and looked at both of us. "You've shown me you are strong, and a gift comes with that." Even though he was giving us a bedroom, I could see the betrayal in his eyes.

"What are you going to do with the body?" I asked.

"I'm going to keep it in my skull collection. My men will throw his body out leaving only with his head, and it will wither away until the skull is left. It is done outside so it doesn't make a stench in my compound."

We both nodded our heads. Andrew raised an eyebrow. "So...where is the bedroom?"

"Glad you asked. Follow me."