No One

Chapter Sixteen

The storm came to a sudden halt, as she turned back, the house had vanished, everyone in it had vanished from her life once again. That came with an odd comfort, knowing she had lost them meant she could put doubts to bed, she no longer clung onto the hope that they were alive, she had seen them, she knew they were gone, there were no longer any doubts in her mind, at least her mother was dead, meaning the chances of the others being the same, was high, the guards were not likely going to let adults and teenagers live, when they killed a young child, barely a year old.

Clinging onto hope, onto survival seemed to work, it seemed to help her in the long and short run, she was not so scared of what she would be forced to face, forced to come face to face with. She had seen her family, she had heard them plead for her to come home, she had turned them down, turned away from what she knew and loved, her family, her symbol of honour and her family's name. 

There was no place to go so she stood until a large double door appeared, she walked through it without hesitation, out of fear that it would close and be lost forever, that she would be trapped in such a place forever, with nothing around her but darkness, not even the snow, not even the shred of happiness she could have felt. She did not let herself give up, she refused to allow herself to, whatever her next challenge was, she was going to fight and win, whatever it took to win, she would do it.

No coldness came to greet her, she was not welcomed into her own body, she could not even see it, the trials were not over, they were far from over she guessed. She kept walking, bumping into a large table she had to blink twice to see, a dagger she recognised on the table, along with a sketch of a man she had never seen before, a young man, attractive and beautiful. She did not know him, she would have remembered his face, but she guessed it was to prove she could kill, to see if she could kill without questioning someone's orders.

She took the picture, snatching it off the table. She grabbed the dagger, hiding it on her belt as she waited for the world to change, hoping she would then find the man, get to kill him, to prove herself worthy. Seconds felt like minutes, but nothing happened, she ended up trying to walk back, out of the double doors, into the previous room to see if it was there but that door was gone, replaced by a cherry wood door across the way. It creaked open slowly, revealing the outside world, the beautiful city she had lived in all her life, lived and died in, under a pool, in the underground of all places.

Stepping through, she felt a sense of dread, like she was being watched, studied but she took no notice, casting such feelings aside, hoping they were nothing but her mind playing its cruel and ugly tricks on her, all the while she wondered how many trials she had left, did she have any at all? It was all a mess, confusion pecked her head but she continued, casting it aside. 

She asked herself, "is this what hell is, what hell looks like?" but she hoped it was not hell, it did not seem right, there was too much about it that was wrong, too strange and different. 

Tracking the man was easy enough, he stood out. His hair was like wheat, beautiful but easy prey for someone like her. She hid in the shadows like Bowden had showed her, waiting and watching him, trying to predict his next move. It was one of many things she liked, hunting her prey, chasing it down, killing it. She liked being the hunter, Bowen's apprentice, a monster amongst men.

She wasted no time, not even a moment as she slashed the man across the back, before piercing his heart with the dagger, leaving it in him as she stood watch, his blood on her hands, dripping. Pleased with herself, she went to retrieve it, seeing a difference face, a different man, a younger face, fresh and beautiful with mint green eyes she could have fallen into, ones she had once fallen in love with. 

She knew him from childhood, although the face had aged his eyes remained the same, those of her childhood friend, one she did not lose to illness or death but one she lost to time, his family moved away and she, a girl of seven, did not understand why. She closed his eyes, shedding a tear as she realised just who she had killed, who had paid the price for her determination.

"Forgive me," she pleaded.

"Losses are inevitable, cast them aside," the old man ordered, his voice so cold, so emotionless it was chilling to the bone.

"What?", she questioned out of shock.

"Come," he ordered.