The truth About cypher ✓

Innocence

For some odd reason, Laila couldn't fend for her hearing anymore. She recognized there were people shouting and men grunting in pain, but her judgment was clouded by that one sentence Igor spoke.

"There's a fucking bounty over your heads."

The same words replayed themselves, as if in a continuous loop. She wasn't just in danger of getting hurt, people ACTUALLY wanted her dead. Haidar wanted her dead. Alex was still hidden behind the cupboards when Laila slowly regained her motor control. She sprinted towards the equipment table, picking up a GI Throwing Knife barely managing to be discreet. A tall man became a wall between Laila and Alex. He sensed the girl launching herself towards his body with a force and immediately caught hold of her. He pushed Laila harshly against the wall making her wince in pain.

"So sensitive yet so expensive, I would rather kill you right now!" He growled at her, tightening his grip across Laila's neck enough to make her eyes water.

Laila's lungs were burning, a horrible pain in her chest shot up caused by the lack of air when suddenly the man lost his grip against her skin. Alex ripped him off her, pinning his hands against the table. Laila gasped, filling her lungs with air in a rush as her body shivered on the bare ground.

This was going to end badly and she knew it.

In a blink, Alex sprawled flat against the floor and the man was on top. He threw punches so hard; Laila could physically see Alex's heart stop beating. She had to do something, she had to save Alex. Fuck, he was so young. A hollow scream followed an ear-splitting noise. It had the same frequency as that of a crying baby and a human scream, like nails against a chalkboard when Laila buried her knife harder.

She stabbed the man in his heart.

Alex stayed still for a second, before crawling from underneath the man. Another blood-curdling noise emerged the man before he spits blood on the ground. Laila couldn't think, she couldn't do anything. Her instinctive reaction was to take Alex and run out of Proshchay, as fast as she could.

Brutus watched her from the corner of his eyes, rushing out of the building before he pushed another man. He glanced where Laila previously stood. Red, the entire floor was a puddle of blood and a man, maybe two inches taller than him, lying on the floor. He was lifeless.

Brutus noticed everything.

He watched Igor getting shot in his shoulder. He saw Alex's face when a man was killed in front of his eyes. But more importantly, he saw Laila's face. She had killed a man.

The drive to Dimitri's house was dead silent. Igor swallowed his screams; he was on the verge of passing out when Brutus injected him with morphine. Alex was still shivering beside Laila as the girl drove to Dimitri's house. Dimitri had already called Dr. Breshkly when Igor was shouldered in their living room. Even if the bullet barely scraped him, it hurt like a bitch.

"At least I ain't dead." That's all Igor said before passing out cold on the couch.

The doctor aided Igor in taking his time as Kaila smothered Alex with sweet talks, trying to get his address from his mouth. But Laila was silent. The fact that something bad had happened hadn't registered itself in her mind immediately. She did not realize what she was about to do when she stabbed that man. No, Laila had a sense of relief washing over her back then. The knife pierced his skin so easily; she never thought it would be this easy. But killing a man isn't that easy, it came with consequences.

A man lay dead on the floors of Proshchay because Laila wanted him dead.

Laila finally knew how it felt to kill a man.