Espion | Book One

Eleven.

She stared at Fredrick, watching the light fade from his eyes. It was something she had quickly gotten used to, the fade of life from her victims, the vacancy that came in to replace what used to be vitality. She felt the same thing she always felt whenever she watched this display: nothing.

Slowly, her eyes traveled upwards to the black sea that was slowly beginning to light blue as a cloud drifted from before the moon. The bomb had yet to go off but she was positive it would any minute now. She had to admit, Fredrick was a real smart guy. Setting a miniature bomb inside the briefcase just in case he didn't get out alive. If he didn't have it, no one did.

Clever dead guy. Her favourite.

The roar of the boat engine closed in. Her eyes shifted over to the white blob that was beginning to shape, coming up close to the dock. She watched as a man hopped out of the boat, tied the rope around a post and made his way down the dock, completely unaware of the bloodbath that had just occurred just ahead of him. She waited patiently, the darkness of the night cloaking her in invisibility, and she watched as the man stopped at the first dead body.

It was rather funny watching him realize that it was indeed a dead body. She couldn't quite see, given the darkness and all, but judging by the harsh expletive that rose up into the air and the man's frantic shuffle backwards, the realization that dawned on him was shocking to say the least.

"Surprised you, didn't it?" she called.

His head jerked upwards, whipping around to face her. "Who's there?"

Anna stepped forward, coming into a pool on moonlight so that the frightened man could see her better. "I don't think you could handle the answer," she replied honestly.

The man, still standing in the shadows, was shaking now, visible by the jerking of his silhouette. His feet were gingerly backing away, half frozen by fear. "W-what do you mean by that? What happened?"

"What do you think happened? These guys were killed."

"Oh God." Saying it out loud must have sunk the truth in. He fell to his butt, wide eyes staring at the dead body oozing blood. "Wh-who did this?"

She almost laughed. Did he really not know? Was he that slow that it hasn't dawned on him yet? Anna didn't say anything, only alerted him with a cough. When his eyes shot up to her, she smiled innocently at him, just a smile quirk of her lips. Just as she wanted, realization dawned on him like a cloud dispersing to reveal sunrays. This time, the man froze.

They stayed like that for a while. Neither moved. The predator watched the prey, eyes alight with humour and just a hint of excitement, waiting for the prey to run. And the prey didn't disappoint.

He scrambled to his feet and took off. This time Anna couldn't help the smile that graced her face. No matter how many times they do it, no matter how stupid it was, they always ran. And she always caught them.

For just a split second, Anna contemplated throwing one of her knives into the back of his shin, but she dashed the thought aside and decided to go the old fashion way. She sprinted off behind him. Her long legs ate up the distance between them, greatly advantaged by the man's trembling legs and his weird need to check behind him every two seconds. Each time he looked behind him – which totaled a good two times – his breath hitched and he sprinted even more, the adrenaline no doubt setting him on fire.

But he was no match and soon, she had him on the ground. He fought desperately but Anna was swift, pulling his arm behind him and whipping out her knife to press against his neck. That silence him immediately.

"P-please don't kill me," he begged. Sweat ran down his face, soaking into his dark brown shirt and sticking the material to his back. He was breathing hard, wheezing from the pressure she placed on his back. "Please!"