I was watching Acorn burying a nut, when I heard Otto gasp. I turned to look at him and saw the colour drain out of his face and sweat break out on his forehead. His eyes were focused on something, fear springing up in them. I followed his gaze and saw a man staring straight back at us. Hunger was clear in his eyes and an evil smile played at his lips as he raised his shotgun and aimed it straight at us. I hadn’t even opened my mouth to scream when suddenly Otto came crashing into me, pushing us both behind the armchair as the bullet shattered the glass and grazed Otto’s arm, before finally embedding itself into the sofa behind us. Behind the armchair, Otto yelled in pain and clasped his arm, the bullet wound oozing blood. I started to scream again but clamped my hands to my mouth in alarm, my heart pounding painful inside my chest.
“We… have… to… move…” Otto gasped, getting into a crouching position. I went to help him but froze as the glass from the window crunched under someone’s feet. I could guess who it was.
“Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an English man.” The man said, laughing and sending a shiver down my spine. We had to move, or we would both be dead. A shadow loomed over us and out of the blue, the man’s head appeared over the armchair.
“Time to say goodbye to your little girlfriend Otto.” He grinned, levelling the shotgun at me. He was just about to pull the trigger when Otto shouted and pushing the barrel of the gun upwards and the bullet which was meant for me fired into the ceiling. The chandelier wobbled, then came crashing down onto the man’s head. Otto grabbed my hand and was about to pull me out the smashed window when I wrenched my hand away and sprinted up the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Otto bellowed, jumping over the man and running after me.
“I can’t leave my parents!” I shouted back.
I leaped two stairs at a time and went crashing into my parent’s bedroom. They were both standing up, Dad was holding a lamp above his head and Mum was cowering behind him.
“River!” My Mum screamed, rushing towards me and pulling me into a bone crushing hug. Otto appeared, out of breath and Mum grabbed him too, before pulling us behind Dad.
“There’s a man down there with a shotgun!” I explained, watching panic spark in my Mum’s eyes.
“Oh my god, Henry!” She shrieked. “What are we going to do?”
All this time, I noticed Otto was staring out of the bedroom door. I tugged at his hand. “Otto?”
“He’s after me.” He muttered, his eyes not moving from the door. Suddenly, footsteps sounded on the stairs, each on loud and deliberate.
“What do you mean?” I asked before standing in front of him and looking into his eyes. “Why is he after you?”
Otto held my gaze, ignoring the steps as they came closer. He sighed. “He’s my mentor. He looked after me when I was a baby and trained me to become… a killer. You were my first assignment, but… I couldn’t kill you.”
I stared at him. It all came out in a rush and I only heard a few words… but it all made sense now. Why he was watching me yesterday, how he knew my name, and why he seemed terrified to come and stay at my house. My parents were looking at him in horror and my Mum pulled me closer to her, but I pushed away.
“Why couldn’t you kill me?” I whispered. Otto looked at me sadly and was about to say something, when the man walked through the door. He had swapped the shotgun for a handgun and was pointing straight at me.
“Finally.” He muttered. “Vengeance shall be mine.” Then he fired.
YOU ARE READING
Killer Child
Short Story14-year-old Otto James is trained to do one thing and one thing only. Kill. But when his first assignment goes badly wrong, he finds himself falling for the girl he's meant to kill. Will Otto be able to reveal his dark secret to her? Or will he igno...
