[Ash]: 102.Series.Serendipity.06

Juliana, she was small, happy and in the hands of a monster. I wish they’d let me pass her off but Pryia wouldn’t let me; I needed her out of my hands, I really did. A monster shouldn’t be allowed around children. Especially me, I need someway to get out of it. Pryia hand her hand on my knee as I stared down at our grandchild, Son’s daughter, only four months old; how I wish I could tell him I was a monster.

I wish I could tell him that I was supposed to kill him. I hand it, I needed out, this isn’t my life, my life is to kill or be killed, I’ve been playing house too long, been playing the nice assassin too long; well, I was. It was only two days ago, they coward before me and my instincts kicked in. “Sweetie, could you take her for a minute, got to go to the bathroom.”

“Sure dear.” She said and carefully took the baby from me. I stood up and walked down the long hallway passing Son’s empty room and finally arrived at the little room in the back. There was my way out, the window. The screams were still going through my head as I lifted the window, just as I had lifted Arem above that woman and the children. It was another slaughtered village, and I had indeed done it on a whim.

Being a cold blooded killer is something you can’t escape; something I won’t escape. But getting away from things I think I love is a good idea. I made it out of the window with ease and pulled the mask out of my pocket. It slowly draped over my face and I looked up to see the forest beckoning me. I let the drive take me.

It’s this drive that leaves me alone for the rest of my life, the feeling of vulnerability and armor lying just whiles away. My feet hit the ground fast, letting dust and dirt fly up behind me, I run like I’m being chased. Then I realize I am, I silence my breath and hear running behind me.

I pick up speed and fly over the down branches from the towering trees, slide through the waters and dodge each tree, still the running is there and struggling. I make it through to the field and the running is gone. The field gives me a place really to run, like I haven’t ever before. I remember this field. It goes into that meadow surrounded by trees where Son saw his first bunny, only a day away.

Blood, it was covering the steps, the ground in front of the steps and the trees in front of the temple. The sent was horrible the decaying bodies have never been moved except by the bugs which had eaten away leaving the skeletal remains of the priests, priestesses and the Predoms. It was here that I remembered who I was.

I was an assassin, a Carithgain assassin, the best in the whole world. I lifted the black boot and it hit the marble step.

It was raining as I was walking through the small town, someone there had hired me, I found an old trader man, lost in his emotions. He pleaded with me to kill a man. He had raped his daughters and made them watch as he killed their younger brother. It was a job at first that I was going to do for free and because I had always wanted a daughter, hopefully it lay in Pryia’s belly.

I went into the street with a name and an address. I walked for a little ways and came upon the farm, the animals running around avoiding the rain by hiding near the house. My boots walked up the stone path way, each one sliding me closer and closer to my victims.

I grabbed Arem from my holster, she was warm and inviting.

I lifted another foot and stepped up onto the stained marble, now I could clearly see the entrance room, crows had now inhabited it, nest everywhere. I made a low whistle and they evacuated the area. I took another step upwards.

The door was opened by a girl, her face holding a demonic smile as screams of terror came from the house. She told me to shove off. I shoved Arem into her neck and watched as the sharpened blade slit across her throat, a trail of blood flowing out. Her body dropped quietly and I proceeded into the house, listening to the screams coming from the door in the back. I slide over and opened the door.

There was a woman screaming as a greasy old man, hair sticking to his face, held a knife out to her. Her gown was ripped open, and she had cuts across her chest. He didn’t even notice me as I quickly moved and sliced his belly open, his organs and blood falling in a heap on the floor followed by his body.

The girl stopped screaming and tried to pull her clothes up to cover her breasts. ‘Are you here to save me? Please, I need to get out, I have my children.’ She fell to the floor crying in shame and embarrassment.

‘Then leave.’ I said and turned around to go as there in the room shaking the woman’s corpse was a small child. It looked up at me, anger in their eyes. The little girl had a red bow in her hair. As she ran towards me, I grabbed it to pull it down and pull her up. It was a loud crack as I dropped her body to the floor; her neck snapped in two.

As I took the last steps up to the main floor, I removed my mask in memory of the dead I had delivered. The bones as I walked seemed to grow flesh and come to the moment of death. The rosy flesh, prim hair and figures all surround me; haunting. I turned to a corpse, blinked and the skeletal form was back, rotting away on the dusty marble.

I stopped and stared at the large gold bowl in the middle of the room, there I saw a new life altogether. Walking over I lifted it, it was heavy. I set the bowl down on a rim and wheeled it over to a pillar to lean it on. It was then the brush and ferns rippled and Son came poking his head out. “Dad!”

“Don’t call me that.” I said and turned to go in and found some jewelry on the bodies, I pulled it loose as I heard steps coming up behind me. There was a large sigh and Son continued. “What’s happening?”

“I came to my senses.” I saw a beautiful large silver necklace and pulled it off, the head went flying away. I looked at the skull and at the necklace. “Opps.”

Tucking it in my pocket with the others Son grabbed my arm. “What are you doing, we don’t defile graves.”

“I’m not, I’m doing what I should have done about twenty years ago, picking through what I kill.” I pulled my arm off him and began back into the complex. “Look familiar?”

“Yeah, kind of. Why is this familiar?” Son asked, he began walking behind me quickly observing things while I stopped and pulled off jewelry. It was then I came to a door and kicked it open, a large library. “Shouldn’t we leave?”

“Shouldn’t you leave?” I walked in and found a small bag and grabbed it. “Seriously, you should leave and go back to your false little life with all those happy moments where for some reason, reality can’t seem to penetrate!”
I walked over to a shelf and pulled out a scroll and read it title, I shoved it in the bag. I did this several times until I hit a strange one. “Hey how much do you think this will fetch at market?”
“Dad!”

I smacked him. “I am not your father.” I moved on and kept shoving scrolls in the bag.

“You are too.” He said and pulled my hand away from the shelf. “Who raised me, taught me how to hunt, how to build, how to kill?”

I laughed some, “kill, that’s funny. You barely know how to kill.” I pulled my arm away. “Now get going before I show you how to kill.”

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s see… I’m robbing the old Predom’s temple. Yes you see you used to be a Predom’s son, you now what she did, she abandoned you and left you with me. I thought ‘what the Hell, I just lost my wife and child! Here’s a replacement!’ I left everything I had. I sent my owl away got a lousy job and could only kill bad people.

“I’m leaving that though, I kill when and where I want to. I am my own employer!” I went back to shoveling the books in until the bag. Hearing the footsteps shuffle away I smiled. That’ll do it; I’m free to my own life.

“Bye… Dad.” The footsteps ran away. Damn him, that hit a nerve. I stopped for a second and took a breath, let him leave, I told myself, get him away while he’s still pure.

A soul, my soul, happens to be a lovely shade of black with a hint of murder and despair. Wonderful, eh? I think so, and I’d love to see if there is a dark shade of black. Hm… this is a lot of scrolls, maybe a cart. I left the room and began searching around until I found it; the stables. No horses, just a couple carts.

The carts were hard, I moved each one outside the library and began loading them with scrolls and every now and then the cover bound book. It was when I began moving out to the front that I saw something unexpected there, standing alone was Son; his eyes golden and angry. I smiled, “do you have the gull to fight me?”

“Anything to stop you, you’re my father, whether you just played along all these years or not.” He said, I saw it now, through the dirty face, there were two clear streams down his cheeks. “You’re coming home.”

“Good, so we are fighting.” I reached behind my back for Arem and drew her, she was warm in my hand and still covered in the old blood some. “You’re a man, right?”

“More then you!”

“Then die like one.” I said and he understood and pulled out his sword. I had never understood why Son wanted a sword so badly, but he was happy with it. And now I understood his full power, I was barely able to block the gold thrashing at me madly. I’m sometimes glad to be called an assassin, I can avoid almost everything. I felt sorry for a minute, and then it went away.

I jumped off the cart and over him, I got him next to the neck in the shoulder, it ripped down his back and he fell to the marble, blood rushing down, the gold died away. “I’ve killed more people like you then you’d understand could be alive.”

I grabbed the cart and left, he was there bleeding to death.

My Son.

Son.

Enough to start over completely in the new Carithga, that’s how much those books fetched. I soon found myself employed by the democratic government; a bunch of old men with weird philosophies and a Hell of a lot of enemies. It worked out alright, but some nagging feeling in me caused me to visit the town every now and then, check on the people I thought I loved in secret.

I also began to protect them, in secret. Whenever I heard of someone trying to raid, I’d make the three day trek across moors, forests and field to slaughter them before they could reach the village.

And the last and greatest thing of all, Son was still alive and well. It’s been ten years since I left; I’m a grandfather fifteen times over, a lot I know. I have a litter I have to visit, and there I was watching the edges of the land, several young children running about unattended. What harm would befall an assassins child?

I walked slowly in, as soon as the children saw me they ran inside; yelling and screaming. It was then Son, Talon and Dorian; all of them grown and large bulky men, not like the sinew like assassins they’re supposed to be. All froze in place.

I walked up and stopped five feet before them and pulled down my mask, the grey streaks in my long hair stood out and the grey fuzz on my chin was relevant. “Hey boys.”

“Dad? You’re so… old.” Dorian said, he was only 23, still a smart ass as expected.

“Jee, thanks Dorian. Where’s your mom, I have to apologize and find out who’s really the youngest now.”

“Hey everybody!” Said a small girl running out, I knew who she was instantly. I pointed to her, Son looked quickly and nodded.

“April, Dad, her name’s April.” Son said slowly. “Why’d you come back.”

“I had too much when I came here, then I didn’t have enough when I left. I’ve been coming and watching every month for a few days. I just wanted to come home for a bit.”

“Who are you?” April said walking up, her long black hair braided around her head, she had a small plush of a fox, hand sown to perfection that matched her small red dress. “You look like Talon and Dorian.”

“Hi, my name’s Gregory, I’m your dad.” There it was again, Serendipity.