A/N: This is a cringey ass short story I wrote back in December of 2015 for a school project, I'm just publishing it here because hopefully it can show people that I've improved (not significantly, but whatever).
603 words
"You've hunted before, is it no different?" Lilith Augustine's voice cuts through the thick, perfumed air, her hawklike amber eyes peering down at me.
"How much are you paying me again?" My voice quivers. Her unnaturally crimson lips curl into a sinister smile.
"Three thousand dollars. To carry out my one and only wish." Three thousand dollars. Exactly how much Beck's treatment costs. I can feel my heart throbbing within my chest, pressing me to decide.
"Have you made your decision yet, darling?" Lilith leans her face closer to mine. I can smell the hairspray she uses, making her platinum blonde hair as brittle as plastic.
"I'll do it." I blurt out. "My brother needs the money for his surgery." The same smile sprouts across her chalk white face, this time revealing two rows of commercial worthy teeth.
"Thank you, Ember. It's hard finding a reliable assassin online nowadays. Especially one as young as you." She gushes, squeezing my hand between her ring studded ones.
"Tell me, how old are you?" My eyes wander across the ornately carved oaken desktop, as I respond, "Eighteen." Lilith's piercing eyes lit up.
"Training for how long?" I swallow hard. "It's my sixth job. I've been training for seven years." I reply. "Arrive at the Majestueux Hotel tomorrow, eight o'clock p.m. sharp. There will be a banquet for the visitors, and the target will be present." She doesn't look up from a notebook she's writing in.
"You'll be posing as a journalism student on an assignment." My mind races with obscure thoughts, barely taking in what Lilith has told me. "Can you tell me a little about the target?" I ask, attempting to sound official. Lilith opens a drawer in a tall file cabinet, and removes a powder blue folder.
"Well, he used to work for me." Lilith says, thumbing through a sheaf of paper. She owns a successful software company called Skaxis. "I fired him since he was always skipping work. Didn't seem like much at the time, but then he revealed the ideas for our new inventions to our competitor." My eyes widen.
"Ever since then, sales have been plummeting like my skydiving team." She sighs deeply, staring out of her huge picture window. A beautiful orange and red sunset streaks the New York skyline. "I must get revenge." Lilith's eyes narrow, her talons of fingernails gripping the arm of the expensive looking leather desk chair.
"Ember, darling. I wasn't taken seriously for years on end, men saying I couldn't excel in the field of technology. I finally made it, and this slimy thug ruined my career." Lilith spits furiously. "Now all the tabloids are crammed with articles ruining my reputation."
My face hardens into a mask of determination. "Ms. Augustine, I know what it feels like to have your hopes and dreams shot down like that. I'm going to try my best." I assure her. "That's the spirit!" Lilith grins.
"You may go now." As I'm almost out the door, I catch a glimpse of her staring at a sheet of paper, a note of alarm on her unaturally pale face. "Is there something wrong?" I whirl around.
"Ember, darling. Y-You're an experienced assassin." Her confident, cocky tone begins to falter. "Just remind yourself that you must never, ever, show mercy on the job. Always carry out your employer's wishes."
I'm not sure how to react to this. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow." I force a smile, gather my backpack, and leave the room. As I'm escorted out of Lilith's office building by a uniformed guard, I wonder what she meant.
Never showing mercy on the job? I'd killed people before, how could this assignment be any different? I silently brood on the topic during the entire bus ride home.
