An Assassin's Heart

Chapter • 0

It was a rather cold summer day in late August, perhaps it was a sign of the awful thing that would take place that evening. Elle, one of my younger sisters, and I had spent the day at the park with some friends, enjoying the peculiarly cool day, when we received a strange call from home. They called not once, but three times, and the only sound that came from our phones were sickening thudding sounds. I felt ill, and something deep down felt wrong. Elle and I said goodbye to our friends and ran hone as fast as we could, tripping over our own feet in our mad dash.

We stopped just outside of the front door, breathing heavily and shaking from panic. I opened the door slowly and stepped in, before blocking Elle from seeing what was beyond the door.

There was blood everywhere, and bits of our family was strewn across the living room floor. Reina, one of our older sisters, was standing in front of me with her boyfriend, both covered in blood. We all knew she had gotten into drugs and was drowning in the bad crowd, trying to both forget and remember who she was all at the same time.

"What happened?" I rasped, swallowing the bile that had risen in my throat. She smiled, letting out a tired laugh.

"I killed the monsters, Alice. They were all cruel, evil monsters, but big sis saved you!" She cheered, twirling around in small circles. "Although, I couldn't save Maddy. She tried protecting one of those things, so she had to go, too."

"...Maddy?" I wheezed, looking over at the small, cut up corpse of my youngest sister, who had turned eight two months ago. There was a phone in her small, cold, bloody hand.

"Alice? What is she talking about? What's going on?" Elle asked, trying to see past me. I turned around quickly and pushed her away from the door before slamming it closed and locking it.

"Run to the neighbors and call for help!" I screamed, picking up a stray shard of glass that was laying near my feet. I had just locked myself in a house full of blood with two insane murderers.

"Alice? What are you doing?" Reina hissed, pointing her bloody knife at me with a shaking hand. "I did this for you. All. For. You."

"We did it for you, Alice." Her boyfriend, Mark, echoed, smiling.

"Aren't you glad? I worked so hard to make you happy... Oh, I know! Here, we wanted you to know their words." She chirped, handing me her phone. I slowly grabbed the blood covered device and pressed play. It was a video of her killing our family.

They all had the same last word.

"Please."

I dropped the phone, and my gaze landed on my crimson coated hands. I began shaking, and I dropped the glass as well. I sank to the floor, sobbing and screaming, as Reina laughed. Mark just stood there, staring at me.

"You... " I choked, going completely rigid as an angry calm came over me. I stood, and she stopped laughing. I reached out and took the blood covered blade from her hands and gripped it in mine, and she just looked at me with these wide, shocked eyes. Though, she didn't look particularly scared, just... Excited, I suppose.

"Please." She whispered, mocking the corpses laying mere feet away. "Please."

I swung the knife and felt it sink into her flesh, felt it rip through her throat, before it met the air once again, and she collapsed, drowning in her own blood. Mark looked down at his dead lover, and then up at me with a look of pure rage. He was a solid six feet tall and three hundred pounds of muscle, and I was barely five feet tall and one thirty pounds of sarcasm and sadness.

He swung his foot out, kicking me in the gut, and I could've sworn I heard my ribs snap. I collided with the ground, and my knife clattered out of my hands. He was on top of me in a hot second with his own knife. He grabbed my left wrist before plunging the knife into my palm, pinning my hand to the floor with the blade. He then picked up my lost knife, and did the same with my right hand. I tried to scream, but no sound escaped my shaking lips.

Then, he hit me. He slapped and punched me until my face went numb, then, he stood up and stomped on my arms an legs. I hear sirens in the distance, and I silently thanked Elle for listening. Though, the Mark didn't care who was coming, all he cared about was giving me a painful end at this point.

I heard the sirens stop outside, and then footsteps as Mark ripped the knives from my hands and quickly drug them across my skin in random spots, doing as much damage as he could in such a short span of time.

They kicked the door open, and Mark charged them. I watched as dozens of bullets passed through him, splattering me in his gore. I felt the world spinning, and my eyelids felt so heavy, and everything was blurry as the paramedics ran in. I closed my eyes and fell asleep just as they got to me.

---

I woke up in a bright white room, with Elle at my side, sleeping in a chair. It was dark outside, and I wondered how long I was out. I had a cast on my right leg, and my left arm, and I was covered in bandages. The constant beeping of the machine I was hooked up to created an oddly calming rhythm that somehow managed to comfort me. I thought of my family, my three dead sisters and dead parents, and the beeping of the machine wasn't enough to keep me calm. I began silently sobbing, staring at the moon outside of my window. My heart ached, and I felt completely hollow and dead inside as tears slipped down my cheeks. I went to wipe them away, and that's when I realized I was restrained to the bed.

"What the..." I hissed, pulling on the straps slightly. A shadow appeared in the doorway, and my gaze quickly landed on the man standing there.

"Even though you killed her in self defense, they consider you dangerous to yourself and others at the moment." He sighed, shaking his head. "Quite ridiculous, honestly."

"Who are you?" I hissed, pulling on the restraints a bit more.

"I'm an agent named... Shadow. I'm here to offer you a job." He smirked, walking to the end of my bed. He looked out at the moon with dark brown eyes, a sad expression hidden there. "I work for an agency, and you've piqued their curiosity, sweetie."

"I don't care. Go away."

"If you work for them, they'll take you in. Give you and your sister a safe home, food to eat, she can go to school, all you have to do is agree, and I'll take you there now." He offered, looking down at me with a small, sad smile.

"What's the job, prostitution?" I spat, going slack in the bed.

"No, no. Dear god..." He laughed quietly, covering his mouth with a scarred hand. "Nothing like that. It's assassination, honey. Assassination."

"For who?" I asked, getting genuinely curious.

"The government. Your unique case has made them interested in you and your sister. They think you may have some potential. So, they sent me to check you out, and I must admit that I agree with them on this one. You do seem interesting..." He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy blonde hair.

"I agree." I muttered. "I'll take the job."

"Are you sure? It'll be pretty tough." He cocked his head, and he blinked at me.

"If it'll keep her safe and healthy and somewhat happy, I'd do anything. That's what family is for." I sighed, looking over at my sleeping sister. She had her chin rested on an arm, and her long, auburn hair was an unruly mess.

"Now, Miss Alice, what would you like your new name to be?" He asked, placing his hands on the end of the bed and leaning towards me excitedly.

I thought about Alice in wonderland, and my family, and what my new job would consist of, and I came to a rather reluctant decision.

"Maddy."