The Assassin ✓

Chapter Eight

Update daaaaay! I couldn't wait. I also spent ages choosing a song for this day's chapter - usually they just come to me, but this took forever! 

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Vanessa drove to the side of the road and stopped the car. She spoke, she told her story and she knew - despite all the murders, this was the hardest thing she had ever done. She wanted to protect her son; keep him safe. She loved him, like every mother loved her child. But now she had a reason. He had seen a murder; it will change him for life. She stumbled around for the right words, as if she was about to give him the sex talk. Thatwas a gazillion times easier than this.

As Vanessa told her story, Tom listened, barely breathing. He could imagine it; all of it. Some of it did not even surprise him. After tonight, he could imagine his mother running around, kicking ass. What shocked him was that his father was involved. He knew very little of his father but it did not stop Tom from putting Henry up on a pedestal. He thought the world of the man he did not know. He was also shocked that all of this began when his mother was aiming a gun at .. did that make Oliver his uncle? Yes, it did.

He listened to her story. He imagined his father, in his fancy suit, rescuing his young mother, a young girl of 20 years. He imagined his mother - a spy, spying on people, retrieving secret documents. He imagined her mother driving a super fast car, trying to rescue his father. He imagined his father ... no, that was not the thought he wanted to have.

"Tom.. I promised your dying father I would tell you all of it. I promised you would know that your father was a hero. But ... as you grew up.." a few tears slid down her cheeks. "I wanted to protect you. You are the most important thing I have. You must understand.." she whispered and finally, after all of her story, dared look Tom into eyes.

Tom saw his mother suffering and gulped. He needed time. But his mother's tears broke his heart, so he had to help her. "I understand." He didn't, not yet. He hoped he would in time. Vanessa dried her tears and Tom put his hand on hers. "Mom, I love you."

Vanessa sniffled and leaned over to hug her son. "I love you too. More than anyone in the world," she whispered. She knew that he was the one who was protecting her. Protecting her from self destruction, motivating her to live.

After a few more moments, she composed herself and started the engine again. She drove back on the road and continued driving in an unknown direction. They still had a dead body on the backseat. Tom drew in a breath and tried staring out the window. They will say goodbye to that body very soon. He was amazed that one 17 year old girl can change so much. He was amazed one 20 year old woman can experience so much. He suddenly understood why she was so cautious, always so worried, so protective.

He breathed in and out, and looked ar Blair. His insides were still turning; it was possible he was calm because of the shock and tomorrow his mother's story would look entirely different. But Blair was sleeping there, peacefully, as if there was no badness in the world. She was in a place where everyone was happy now. She was better now.

Tom drew a deep breath and felt a few tears on his cheeks. It was all of his pain, evolving into these few tears. But he tried not being angry at his mother. Not tonight. Instead, he focused on thinking what could happen next and if anything will change. Will his mother teach him how to shoot a gun?

He snapped out of his thoughts when they drove up to a secluded territory. He could see a house inside, and around it was a big wall. The sign by the gate said it was an IT company. What had his mother lost in an IT company? As they drove in and Vanessa showed her ID to the guard, Tom realized this might be something else entirely.