The Assassin's Assistant

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

I took a deep breath.

I was sitting alone in my brand new apartment on top of a box. Usually, I'd be thrilled to have an apartment so nice. But to be honest, I felt like crap.

Brittany had just replaced me as if I were nothing. When Jason and I demanded explanations, she just fired out meaningless phrases. How she couldn't work without me, how she thought a new assistant would help her with the guilt, and how she knew Jason wouldn't go for it if he knew I had just vanished the other day.

Whatever.

I've had it with Brittany. She's only ever looking out for herself. She mindlessly does things, and never even bothers to give even so much as the slightest consideration as to how it will affect others. She's been playing with me and I'm sick of it. But, still, I won't quit.

Gosh, I hate my addiction.

I heard the door open and then felt the box I was sitting on shift. I looked over and saw Jason sitting next to me. I looked out the window.

"Uhm, hey." He said.

"Hi." I didn't bother turning to face him.

I heard him sigh. "Look, don't be mad at me, alright? I wouldn't have gone for the job if I had known about you. Britt just said you had went MIA two months ago, and searching was now becoming a lost cause. I don't want us to get off on a bad start because of her." Well, he had some reason to his point. I just nodded, not bothering to look away from my top floor view. After a few moments of science, he continued. "So, uh, she calls you Lux? I'm guessing that's not your real name."

"No, it's Audrey. But I'll kill you if you call me that."

He laughed, and I could hear the tension in it. "Okay, I'll stick to Lux. Why do you go by that?"

Could this conversation be more awkward? "It's short for Luxury. I'm kind of a fan of it."

"Huh, that's kind of odd."

I turned to face him. "How?"

He shrugged. "Well, an odd thing to go by, I guess." His eyes went to the floor, worried that he may have said something a bit rude.

Here we go. "I'm assuming you want to hear why."

"It'd be nice." He agreed.

I inhaled deeply and said, "Alright. I grew up, never really having anything nice. I was an orphan, after all." Jason nodded thoughtfully. "Well, as good as one at least. My father died. Mom became such an emotional train wreck. I was nothing but a burden to her, another mouth to feed." I paused, feeling like I was getting too personal, but Jason gestured for me to go on. "My own mother tried to kill me. Many times. She'd go into these fits of total insanity and do anything she could to get rid of me.

"After I turned eight, I've had enough. I left and checked myself into a homeless shelter."

I saw my sadness reflect in Jason's eyes. "Just, left?"

I nodded. "It was better than that living hell. The worst part of it was that she didn't even come looking. That psycho was happy to be rid of me. I grew up in the shelter. Barley survived. I could never own anything; someone else would always steal whatever I had as long as I wasn't wearing it. When I was sixteen, Brittany came. She saw me take out some old hobo after he stole my share of food. She said she had a job to offer me." I closed my eyes. "I was so desperate, I said yes before I even knew what it was. It could've been anything. I just needed something, I didn't care what. When I finally got my job description, well, I accepted it with open arms."

Jason shuffled his feet a little. "Well, uh, doesn't it bother you? I mean, you help kill people for a living."

I looked off into the distance. "Does it bother you?"

"Hey, I asked you first." He replied.

"No." I said. "In all honesty, it doesn't." I gave a bitter laugh. "I think every bit of that humanity left me after the fourth time my mother tried to kill me." I turned to face him again.

I saw Jason's eyes flash with discomfort. "You can just do it? No nightmares? No remorse?"

Swallowing hard, I said, "I wish I could tell you no."

I paused. I probably sounded pretty psychotic myself. "I take no pride in what I do, Jason. I just... I just lost a part of myself, and I don't think that part is going to come back. Shiny things, they're a way to bandage an old wound; never having anything nice - material or emotional"

We both sat there. Finally, Jason spoke up. "I did it for my sister." I looked at him, confused. "My sister. She's sick, like, really, really sick. She has Leukemia, a super bad case of it. My dad was laid off and my mom is working a dead-end job. We were going to have to cancel her treatment unless we worked up the money somehow. I don't know how, but Britt found me. She told me the job. At first, I was appalled at it. Then, Georgia started getting worse. I called Britt up and accepted the offer. I had to. But I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to handle it.” He looked at me, and said, bitterly, "But you don't have that problem. You can take a life without a bat of an eyelash." He stood up, and walked out. I heard him mutter "Sick." under his breath.

Was I sick? Was I psychotic? Am I unable to feel empathy?

Yes.

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Author's Note: Okay so a bit shorter than I promised, but I feel like I wrapped that chapter up pretty well and didn't want to ruin the effect. So what do you think of Lux's background? Hopefully, that'll give you some insight as to why she's so heartless and has a slight case of apathy. Stay tuned and please keep checking in on the story :D Voting is much appreciated, feedback is welcome.

<3