To End It All

An Oath to Keep

  The dagger that Paige was aiming at my chest was the first surprise. The second was that she was telling me to take it before she drove it into my ribcage. So I took it from her hand and examined the weapon.
"It's your's now, Rin." she said happily.
Confusion filled me. Confusion and fear and a whole array of emotions which I did not understand.
"What do you mean? Why would I need a dagger?" I practically spat the words at her. She smiled that sickeningly sweet smile of her's and her grey eyes flashed with excitement.
"You are a Carroway now. You will begin to learn our," she paused and snickered darkly, "trade."
My eyes grew wide. I had never felt such terror. And she still had not answered as to why I needed a dagger.
"I want to talk to Wyatt, or your mom, or dad." My heart was hammering in my chest. I swear the girl could smell fear because as I sat there, her grin grew wide. "You mean OUR parents," she said, "and Wyatt is already on his way up here with your gear."
"My–my gear?!" She was crazy, insane, what in hell was she talking about? What 'gear' would I need just to live with the Carroways?
A knock at the door.
"Ah and here he is!" Paige stepped over to the door smiling and flung it open. I got to my feet and tucked the dagger in the back pocket of my jeans.
Wyatt stepped into the room beaming. You could practically see his excitement radiating off of him.
"The fun has arrived." He was carrying something that looked like a briefcase, and for the first time I really got a look at him. He had blue eyes, not a stormy grey like his sister or mother. His grin was one that was crooked and mischievous. His hair was a dark brown and he was tall and thin with some muscle, whereas Paige was short and flat in almost every way. I looked at him and I must have been frowning.
"Aw c'mon doll face. Why don't you put on a pretty little smile just for me, hm?" I was not amused.
I grabbed the dagger and gripped it tightly in my hand. "Why don't you shut up before I show you what fun times can be had with such a wonderful little invention?" The words came out through gritted teeth. And in the blink of an eye he was behind me with a blade of his own held in front of my throat. He leaned in and whispered in my ear. I could hear him smiling.
"If I were you I would apologize and start smiling right about now. You have no idea what I am capable of doing to you." My cheeks flushed a bright red, and Paige stepped in.
"Really Wyatt? Hitting on the new girl. How classy." She rolled her eyes.
He turned defensive,"Well I wasn't getting anywhere with you."
Wait, what?
By now he had moved the knife away from my throat and I was standing alone in my own panic.
"Are–I mean were you, uh, that's incest.." I almost felt sick.
They both laughed hysterically, and I was once again, very confused.
Paige spoke first.
"Wyatt isn't actually my brother and Hadwin Carroway is not my father either. But Deidra, or our mother, is my actual mother."
Okay that cleared basically nothing up.
"We live together because we all belong to the Carroway Guard," Wyatt explained.
"So we are brother and sister in the Guard," they exchanged glances, "but not by blood or marriage." Paige finished.
So they were both insane. Wonderful. My new home was a looney bin.
"Okay so what is this so called 'Carroway Guard'?" I asked.
Wyatt was eager to explain.
"The Carroway Guard is one branch of the Sanguinem Regime. There are many different Guards throughout the world, and we all work for a common cause. Well, most do at least."
I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Oh? And what might this cause be?"
He leaned coolly against the door frame and seemed to be examining his hand. "Oh nothing really. We just kill people every day. That's all."
I felt like I was choking, gasping for air that wasn't there. So now these psychopaths were murderers too?! Who knows? My next family may be a group of circus freaks.
"Wyatt! That is not what we do!"
Paige paused for a moment.
"Well, not entirely...you see. We don't merely kill innocent people. Such a thing would be heinous and not to mention, foolish. No, we kill the leeches of society. The ones who want nothing more than to harm others and leave a trail of destruction wherever they go. Those are the people who have been condemned to die by our hands."
Paige seemed filled with energy now. "And now you will join us."
My jaw dropped and I was speechless. I had just been put into a new foster home that was actually a group of murderers who killed other murderers? I had to be dreaming. This couldn't be real.
"What if I don't want to join you?" I said, folding my arms across my chest. I would never kill someone, even though I often wanted to.
Something whizzed by my face at lightning speed.
Wyatt had flung his dagger at me. It had left a small cut in my cheek and dug into the wall behind me. He smiled crookedly once again.
"If you don't join us, I have many more blades where that came from and a hell of a great aim."
I touched the small trail of blood that was now running steadily down my cheek. Save my life, or the lives of all of the people I would have to kill?
I took in a deep breath and decided. My fate was in their hands now.
"Okay, I will join you." I said in barely a whisper.
Paige clapped her hands together in excitement. "Wonderful! Now I can start planning your Welcoming Ceremony! Oh and also you will have to try on your gear now."
Wyatt smirked. "Time to strip down, princess."
Okay so maybe I was in way over my head.