Matt

The Bear (Charm)

A few days after I turned 12 years old, my handler, Sophia Parson, decided it was finally time for me to go on my first mission. Sophia has always been overprotective of me, but I was glad that she kept me in training for as long as she did. I couldn't have handled killing someone at age 8. I could barely handle it at age 12.

Before we even left the building that morning, I was already holding at least one firearm on my persons. Everyone in the compound did - it was just a safety precaution, in case someone managed to find our little hideout. I'd trained for this day for four years, and yet that morning, my hands shook and my head ached. Part of me wanted to pretend to be sick, like I had done when I was younger to get out of going to school. The Trainers would have seen right through it, though. I wasn't going to get out of this one.

"You're going to be fine," Sophia said when she saw me, sitting at a table and nervously fiddling with my necklace. It only had one charm on it at that point; a single X, to symbolize that I hadn't killed anyone yet. The other trainees thought it was weird that I did that, but I guess they just assumed it was my way of coping. Everyone there had their own way. "It's just a simple mission. Have you read the file yet?"

I nodded, swallowing back the bile that threatened to rise into my throat. The person, my target, seemed like such a nice guy. He was married, had two daughters, owned a nice house in the woods outside city limits. He even volunteered on the weekends at homeless shelters. The only red mark on his ledger was that he was a big-game hunter. Deer and elk, sure, but he was most famous for hunting bears. Tons of people in the area bought the stuff he made out of the bear pelts. Apparently, the local animal rights activist group wasn't very happy about this, and while the group itself wouldn't dare harm someone, they didn't have anything against hiring someone to take care of the problem for them.

"We leave in five minutes," I heard a voice say from behind me, and I turned around to see Avery, who was in charge of all the trainees in my age group. While Sophia watched over me while I was at the compound, it was Avery's job to make sure I didn't die on the field, not just because the organization would be losing an asset, but because Sophia would murder him and everyone in the building if I died out there. "Matt, go ahead and get in the van. You can get all the gear you need in there."

I stood up and was about to leave when Sophia gave me a hug, which she hadn't done in ages. People didn't really do hugs there. "Stay safe," she said quickly before letting go and giving me a brief smile. I smiled back, turned, and started walking to the garage. I'll stay safe. I promise.

When I reached the van, two other Trainees were waiting for me. I recognized their faces from training, but didn't know their names, and I didn't bother to ask. If they ended up dying in the field that day, I didn't want to become attached. Since I was the one who was in charge of actually eliminating the target, I assumed they were the Lookout Team, who was responsible for making sure nothing interrupted the kill. The distraction, to put it simply. They trained more in deception then the rest of us were, because they actually had to speak to people, while all we had to do was neutralize the target we were assigned.

While the two of them chatted amongst themselves quietly, I started putting on the thin bullet-proof armor that some smarter people in the organization designed. Something about just having on the material made me feel safer, and for good reason. The guy I was about to kill was a hunter. That meant he would have guns somewhere in his house. Without some sort of protection, if I messed up, I would be shot and killed before I had time to complete the mission.

Another person hopped into the van, and I looked over to see Copper, one of the only people I actually knew the name of in the entire compound that wasn't a Trainer or Handler. That's because Copper was an Investigator, which were in charge of looking for any files or information after the target was killed, if the mission called for it. Investigators and Eliminators (which is what I was) are paired together from the moment they start training. They're the only person that the Trainers actually encourage you to become closer friends with, because not only do you work together on the mission, but you watch each other's backs. No one else would sacrifice their role to save your life, but that was Copper's job, and mine as well. He was my only friend in the entire compound, really.