When The Stars Align

chapter forty three | the calm

one day until

IT'S DARK WHERE I am. The stars and the moon above me are the only light that allows me to see. The streetlights were out, and that was exactly what we wanted. The target was in front of us - a two-storey house on the end of the street. Inside slept four out of five members of a family - a mother and father with two boys. The lights in their house were out. They have yet to know that there is a black out on their street. I mean, they probably won't notice if the power comes back on before morning comes.

Or, if they're dead.

I know my job. I know how to get into the house. I know what I'm search for. And if it's necessary, I know where the knives are strapped on my body, and I know how to kill.

I slide the window up. No alarm sounded - the security system went down with the electricity. Pathetic, but useful for me. I climb in through the first floor window. I begin my search.

Flowers and plants fill the living room - and every other room, for that. What less did I expect from this family? I know there are at least a couple extra poisonous plants in this room. "They're beautiful," I could almost hear the woman say. "Plus, if there was ever an intrusion, they'd be the ones to tell us what happened."

So a plant was going to snitch on me? That was a first.

I knew these people weren't dumb. He knew that I wouldn't be dumb enough to go back without searching the house for what we needed. One or the other, and I know that one of the options isn't even in the house yet. But he didn't know that the family was down a member.

Would they be dumb enough the hide it with the plants? I mean, for most people it wouldn't be a dumb hiding place, but with their family history and with what I'm trying to find, the correlation between the two would be strong.

I begin looking around the room. He was sure that it was in this house. He was sure it was somewhere hidden in here. He didn't believe it was in the outskirts of the kingdom. He thought it was here.

"Someone's awake."

As soon as the message comes through my earpiece, I hear the footsteps.

"Who the hell do you think you are, breaking into my house?" It was a male voice. I heard it cracking, so probably not out of high school yet. I don't move, listening to him shift inside the room. "Put your hands up and turn around slowly."

Oh, so he liked playing cop?

I did what he said, raising my hands and turning around slowly. The boy held a small dagger in his hands, placed in front of him. He was older than me, but his fear made him seem like he was much younger. In the darkness, I could see the shock fill his eyes.

"You're just a kid."

"Yeah, so?" It wasn't the first time I heard that.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"But the thing is-" I bury my fear inside of me. "-I want to hurt you."

By now, his parents are awake. They're probably heading out of their room right now, trying to see what the commotion what about. Maybe the other boy was up, too. This wasn't going to end up pretty.

I act fast, lunging towards him. He knows how to fight - I'm sure at this point, everyone who needs to know how to fight knows how to fight. He knows how to block my attacks, until I get a firm grip on him and manage to toss him into the bookcase in the wall.

I reach into the back of my shirt, pulling out a knife. This will be easy, I know I could do this. But I guess this would've been easier if he was fully unconscious right now. The son of a bitch was made of steel, apparently.