The Hybrid's Assassin

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"Number 23, how you anger me."

He slapped me harshly across the face and I dropped to the ground.

"I don't care if your mother called you 'April'." He spat in disgust, his words venomous. "You are not a person, you are a number. There will be no sentimental attachments."

He kicked me in the side and I felt a rib crack. I stifled a scream.

"I will not allow you to be human when you have so much potential. You are an assassin. A killing machine. Sentimental attachments such as a name will only hold you back."

I began to crawl away from him, gasping for breath. How could this man, my father, be so cruel to me. How could he so willingly hurt me?

"Don't even bother begging, 23. You know exactly what I did to ten, twelve, six and twenty five."

I began to whimper as he pulled me up by my hair, taking a drag from the cigarette that hung loosely from his mouth.

"Now, what's your name?"

"April." He threw me to the ground and quickly pinned me down, taking the cigarette from his mouth with his spare hand.

I struggled but it was to no avail.

"That's the wrong answer sweetheart, and you know it."

He pressed the cigarette into my shoulder blade and I screamed.

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"April," I forced out, the name foreign on my tongue. Even now as I said it, I felt like my father would come from a dark corner at any second and attack me.

Even if I knew that he was dead.

Antonia smiled, touching my face. "That is pretty."

Something inside of me snapped and I pulled away from her, feeling ill in my stomach.

"Something doesn't feel right," I whispered. It wasn't the affection, the air felt thick.

It may have only been my second day here, but yet I could sense that something was wrong.

Antonia sighed. "What do you mea-"

Suddenly the kitchen window shattered, glass falling to the floor as two bodies came flying through the frame.

Thought left my mind and instinct kicked in. I rolled behind the island bench, sheltering myself from the sight of the two men. They were most likely a threat, one does not simply smash through a kitchen window without a purpose.

I heard the sound of plates shattering on the floor and my heart dropped. That's when I remembered, I wasn't the only person in this room, there were women and children. Mary's children, Josh and Ben. They could be killed.

Mary was thrown, breaking one of the cupboard doors as she landed over to my right.

One of the men came into view, his back to me as he crouched down in front of her. "Have you seen this woman?" His voice was thick with a Scottish accent as he withdrew a picture from his shirt pocket. I caught a glimpse of it before he turned it around so that Mary could look.

It was me.

Mary's eyes quickly flickered to me, crouched behind the kitchen counter, before she looked back at the picture. "Who is it, I've never seen that girl before."