The Thorned Rose

2

This job terrified me, yet poured petrol on the flame within me that loved my job. This was probably going to be one of the most adrenaline-pumping jobs I will have ever done, and I was fucking excited.

Just as Nadia left, she turned to me, looked me deep in the eyes, and in a voice that sounded almost concerned she said, "stay safe. Don't get caught. You are the best assassin I employ; you are the only one that could do this, just, please, stay safe." She wiped off any emotion from my face, and formally shook my hand, before opening the door and leaving.

It was 3:15pm when Nadia left, on Wednesday. I had three days to mentally and physically prepare. Obviously, I am always prepared, but for this one I felt like doing some extra preparations. I quickly changed into my gym gear, and headed to the local gym which is only a five minute walk away. I spent the afternoon lifting weights, running on the treadmill, doing ab exercises and squats, and practicing my punches on the punching bag, even getting into the ring to spar with some people; I won every match, barely breaking a sweat.

The next day I had a three-hour morning session practising my gymnastics. A lot of assassins these days just either shoot or stab people, but don't really go to the gym, or learn gymnastics, and these people are often very crap at their jobs. Things like being able to jump down out of a high window, to pull yourself up and be able to spin around and do various kicks are vital, as often these kicks are a lot stronger and make a huge impact. Even flipping out of the way to dodge a flying knife or gun can be so useful. I am also amazing at parkour; jumping over building roofs, climbing up walls of buildings and being able to run and jump over and around practically any single object is another hugely useful skill.

After a lunch full of protein and vitamins, I then went to the shooting range. I didn't need to practice how to shoot though, I could shoot a bullseye in my sleep, or when I was choking, or when I was completely inebriated and couldn't stand up straight. It was one of my proudest skills. I also threw some knives and various other weapons at the target. This is another thing that new assassins just gloss over, if you don't have a gun and aren't in close contact to stab them, but they have a gun, you are royally screwed, but imagine if you could just take your knife, or pick up a candlestick from the side, and be able to perfectly throw it to either kill, immobilise or startle your opponent. Amateurs.

I have trained to be an assassin since I was practically born. My name is Savannah Trufanov. Yes, that is a very Russian last name. Both of my parents were Russian, and my Dad's line of work was being a contract killer for the Russian government. My mother was a florist. When I could walk, I was learning gymnastics. When I could hold a fork, I was holding a gun too. When I could talk, I was learning multiple languages, of which I am fluent in eight. After an unfortunate accident on a job, we were all sent into witness protection in a tiny, random, Russian village in the middle of nowhere, where I met Nadia at school. She always had that assassin-darkness within her, and my dad sensed it the second she came over for a playdate. He taught her everything he taught me, but she was a bit older, so I had a couple of years on her. We moved to London and set up our business. My parents, both old and crumbly now, are still in that Russian village. I call my Dad every week and tell him about my recent job, he loves to hear my stories, living through my life now he is no longer capable, and technically in witness protection for the rest of his life.

On my way back from the shooting range, it was shopping time. Another thing I love about my job is the different personas I can take on, the costumes I wear, the languages I speak, the different names and the different accents. You can be whoever you choose for a day and have no repercussions the next day. On Saturday, I was going by the name of Phoebe Cardamom, a sexy, mysterious, seductress. Nadia told me to dress sexy, so sexy was exactly how I would dress. I chose a golden dress, with this fabric that stuck all the way down to my body, loosening at the legs. There was a slit that went all the way up my leg; legs I think, for men, are really quite sexy. It was also completely backless, and showed a healthy amount of cleavage at the front. It did show a lot of skin, but it still left a lot to the imagination, making any man who saw it want to rip it off and see what was hiding underneath. I bought a matching golden facemask, some golden heels and a clutch bag. Now, I was fully prepared, ish, still had to pack and get there and get ready and hide a weapon on my persons, but I was basically ready.