The Silent Assassins

Chapter 1

CRASH. Alya, Victoria, and Hailee all whip around, eyes widening when they all see the punching bag lying in a heap on the other side of the gym. Slowly, all of their eyes make their way to see a sweating, chest-heaving, bright red, Valeria. They all glance at one another from opposite corners of the gym, Victoria (V), from the gymnastic mats, Hailee from the bars, and Alya from right next to Valeria in front of her own (still connected) punching bag, all daring one another to say something to their leader. After a few minutes of everyone just standing there, Alya finally speaks up. "Hey Val?" she asks hesitantly. Valeria whips her head towards her, and Alya just about jumps out of her skin when she sees Valeria's eyes, which, instead of there normal warm brown, were almost completely silver. Valeria cocks an eyebrow, silently asking what Alya wanted. "Val, that's the third punching bag this week! Even for a dragon as strong as you, that's kind of a lot!" Alya takes a breath before hesitantly asking "Are you thinking about him?"

Valeria seems to snap out of her trance. "What?! Heck no!" she exclaims, her hands clenching into fists. "How many times to I have to say that before you are satisfied?" Before Alya can respond, an elderly man walks out of a door near the bars that Hailee was standing by, labeled "Manager". "All right girls, you know I love y'all, but it's 11:00 p.m, and I'd rather go home than stay all night here, so lets go home shall we?" Hailee smiled warmly down at the elderly man. "Of course! Thank you for letting us stay a little later than usual, we'll be on our way now, Mr. Wattman" Mr. Wattman returned Hailee's smile with one of his own, before heading out the door and holding it open as the rest of the girls walked out behind him. Mr. Wattman locked the door behind him, then turned around to say goodbye to all the girls, only to receive a start when he realized that all four of them had disappeared. Mr. Wattman scratched his head, saying "They like to do that don't they?"

Any person who happened to be talking a late-night walk would receive a shock if they were to look up at the sky at that moment, because anyone who did would spot 4 dark shapes jumping from roof to roof, as fast and smooth as the wind. One by one, the shadows jumped off a certain roof, either heading in a different direction, or simply swinging into a window of a house. One by one, they broke off, until they're was only one shadow left. For a moment, she stood absolutely still, only illuminated by the moon behind her, and it seemed the entire world had stopped, and the only thing moving was the wind, and how it raked through the girl's hair. Then she turned her head, looking straight ahead. And then it seemed all you could see were her silver eyes.

VALERIA'S P.O.V:

I stared at the moon, not really knowing if I wanted to go back to the orphanage just yet. I sighed, recounting the moment at the gym. Unfortunately, I was thinking about him. But why? I thought I was over him! Oh come ON Val. You don't get over a person like that THAT FAST! My dragon, Athena pointed out. To be fair, it's not just YOU that isn't over him, if it makes you feel better. Athena tried to comfort me. Look Athena, I appreciate it, I really do... but I'd just really like to stop thinking about him. I responded. Athena tried to say something else, but I closed the link. Although your dragon is a part of you, and you will always have him/her inside your head, it is YOUR head, meaning you can shut them out if you want, or simply turn off your "talking link" with them. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, before leaping silently of the roof of the house I was standing on, and onto the balcony of the orphanage.

I opened the balcony doors as quietly as I could, wincing when I heard the usual loud squeak.I closed the door behind me before I crept into the large room, walking softly past 3 sleeping girls before grabbing my toiletries and heading to the bathroom. I let the water heat up, before climbing in. I rubbed gingerbread scented shampoo into my hair and letting it sit while I washed my body, breathing in the scent of my shampoo and body wash. After I washed the soap off my body, I went to wash my face, hissing quietly when some shampoo hit my eye. I quickly washed it out, before washing the shampoo out of my hair, then turning off the water and getting out of the shower.

I climbed into my own bed, and tried to fall asleep. Emphasis on the word "tried". No, I don't have insomnia, but I definitely did have trouble sleeping, especially after him. NO! Come on Val, no more thinking of him, he doesn't deserve it and you know it! I chastised myself. Oh what? Do you MISS him Valeria?

HELL NO!

Hmph, that's what I thought.

Once I had that conversation with myself, I remembered that I had shut Athena out. I quickly let her back in. She whimpered in my head, and through our bond, I felt the same pain she did. I let a tear slip as I thought of him. Liam.