Masked

Chapter One

        My name is Cassie. I was one of the forty-three children born on that fated day back in 1989. It was said that Sir Reginald Hargreeves received seven of those children, but that's a lie. He got eight.

        Most people have heard of the Umbrella Academy. They were a team of six schoolchildren with abilities most people dreamed of. Whenever there was a robbery or an attack, they'd show up to save the day. With domino masks and uniforms, they excelled at completing whatever task their father gave them, whether they wanted to or not.

        Was I a part of this group of heroes? No, but once I found my true power, they weren't the only ones stopping bad guys.

•~•

        It was Cassie's job to take out the leader of the gang. Anyone who saw her was to be terminated, no questions asked. She was an assassin, a shadow, and when she wanted to be, completely invisible. Their headquarters were nothing special, just the basement in an abandoned home. However, these men were responsible for taking the lives of hundreds, no, thousands of people. They'd stage mass attacks using gas, grenades, or anything they could get their hands on. Once they had weapons, they'd look for upcoming events and prepare to spread their message of war instead of peace.

        Cassie's father told her that her best bet was to go in at night when most members would hopefully be present. Willing herself to disappear, she slowly pulled the katana out of the sheath on her back and opened the door, her body and weapon completely invisible.

        There was a man on an old, dusty couch to her left, probably stationed there in order to make sure no one came in, but he had fallen asleep. Lights were on in another room, most likely the kitchen, as it sounded like two others were opening and closing the fridge. She silently closed the door and made her way to the man on the couch. Her feet so light on the floor, you'd think she never touched it.

        Holding her katana in two hands, Cassie thrust downwards, puncturing his chest, right through the heart. His eyes opened wide when the metal touched his skin, but he didn't have enough time to utter a single word. Her next stop was the kitchen. She lingered in the doorway, watching as two men started to exit the room, each with a bottle of beer in hand. She sheathed her katana and pulled out two daggers from her belt. Flicking her wrists, Cassie let them fly toward the pair with deadly accuracy. They didn't turn or do anything fancy like that, but they did hit their mark.

        She raced over to the men, snatching the beers out of their hands and sticking her leg out so that they didn't hit the floor and alert the others below. Once they fell, she removed her leg from beneath their corpses and placed the beers on the counter space. She took a second to push her blond curls behind her ear and become visible once more before heading to what she assumed was the basement door. Slowly, Cassie opened it up, hearing voices from below.

        Step by step, she made her way down toward the light. She paused at the entrance and leaned against the wall. Turning her hand so her palm faced up, fingers curled, she looked at her nails in boredom.

        "Hello, boys," she called.

        As soon as Cassie had spoken, all faces in the room turned to her, but she was invisible once again. They ran, the nine of them, to where they had seen her last, but she had moved to the back of the room. She grabbed her katana once more, loud enough that the men could hear the blade.