The Assassin

Chapter 1

NINE YEARS LATER

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Amelia screamed as the whip cracked against her skin. Blood poured from her exposed back and her hands clenched into fists. Faintly, she could hear the clacking of the shackles around her arms as she hung forward. Cuts and bruises covered her body completely from the weapons used on her and the beatings she was forced to endure. But by the end of the day, she knew they would only be scars on top of all the others.

"Ahhh!"

Her voice was raw as she screamed again. She felt an exploding pain on her back as the whip struck again and again. She could faintly feel her sore muscles and battered body crying out in pain. Still, Amelia held her head high and gritted her teeth together, preparing for the next strike. She would not show them any weakness.

The whipping, beatings, and tortures carried on for endless minutes, until finally an hour had passed and it stopped.

Amelia was panting. Her breathes coming in shallow hisses and rasps that voiced her pain. She heard as the locks were being opened to her shackles and fell forward onto the concrete floor. She groaned at the pain and quickly reviewed her damages.

Broken ribs, a broken leg and arm, multiple bruising to her body and cuts across her stomach, back, arms and legs. She could feel a darkness beginning to creep up on her consciousness, but she fought it back. God knows they would make her endure another "Disciplinary Lesson" if she showed even a bit of weakness by passing out.

All she needed to do was wait until the healer got there, then she would be okay again. Only a few minutes, she assured herself.

Amelia turned onto her back staring at the ceiling. It would be around five in the morning about now. There were no windows or clocks to show her what time it was, but she knew regardless. Every day, since the day she was taken, she'd been locked up in the cellar forced to endure their disgusting "lessons". Every day, she'd had to be beaten to the brink of death only to be healed to endure it all over again the next day. And every day she would hear Lazarus say the exact same phrase.

"This will make you stronger! Don't hate me for this darling, it's what is best for you. After a little more lessons, you'll be able to endure more pain until the day when you won't be affected by even a gunshot wound. My darling, you will become the ultimate weapon." He would tell her this as she would lay bleeding on the floor, all the while smiling maniacally.

At first she hadn't been able to endure more then ten minutes, and Lazarus made sure to show his disappointment when she failed to meet expectations. He would punish her in different way each time. Sometimes disallowing her to eat for days or being forced to kill small animals...

Amelia shook her head to clear away the thoughts. She would not relive those memories, she couldn't if she wanted to stay sane. She was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of a door opening. She looked up into the eyes of the healer and breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank god.

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 Amelia sat in the office quietly awaiting Lazarus's return. It'd been barely an hour since the healer had fixed her up. He'd done a good job, she mused. She was able to move freely with only a fraction of the pain she'd felt before.

She was testing out her movements, when the door burst open, Lazarus striding inside. She watched him as he practically stomped to his desk, sitting down without looking at her once. Amelia flinched mentally. He was in a bad mood, which meant he'd take it out in her - both physically and mentally.

A dangerous silence enveloped the room. Amelia knew if she spoke he would punish her, so she waited silently until he spoke. She studied him, as she waited. His feature were sharp and angelic-like with golden hair and eyes. His stature was tall, and he was well-built. He would be the type women sighed for, but kept a distance because of the hardness in his eyes. Amelia knew him like the back of her hand, having spent her whole life with him. He was after all, her father.

"Amelia, what is the status on your previous mission?" There were never any "good morning"s or conversations with him, it had always been business and nothing more.

"Complete. There were no problems. I will write a report of the mission and hand it to you tomorrow."

He nodded to show his approval before continuing.

"I have your next mission." He handed her a small paper. Amelia read through the paper then stared at it for a long time in a dazed kind of horror and feeling nauseous. She began to feel something she hadn't felt in years. She was scared.

"I trust you'll be able to carry out your mission?" Amelia flinched at his tone and looked up with wide eyes.

"You can't be serious. You couldn't possibly be serious. I can't kill a-"

"Excuse me? The problem is not whether you CAN, but rather WILL you kill the target. Need i remind you that you are nothing but a tool. You follow my orders. They are absolute." His voice was growing louder with each second, his eyes boring into hers.

"But it's different this time! You can't expect me to kill him! He's-" Amelia stopped as a hand slapped her across the face.

"Enough! You CAN and you WILL perform the tasks you are given! Regardless of the target, you are an assassin, a tool and nothing more. Tools have no opinions or emotions. You are worthless and would have been terminated long ago if not for your power. Understood?" He glared at Amelia, daring her to speak. "But it seems like your discipline is lacking. Should we extend your lessons?"

Amelia flinched at his words. She watched him in horror as a smirk came onto his face, watching her expression. She could hardly handle the hour she had now, would she even survive if it was extended further? What were her choices if she choose to defy him? Run away? No, she couldn't do that, she'd be dead within the day. She had no where but here with her father.

"There is no need, I'm sorry, Father. I will not speak like that again. I will carry my out assignment ."

With that she stood and walked out the door to complete her mission, to kill an innocent child.