17 Mission to kill

Everything about that night was disastrous. Later that night when Noel returned, he looked exhausted, as if he had run all the way home. I didn't need to ask him why since he himself told me everything.

"The case of Damon Michelle was definitely a murder. I'm sure of it. However, it's more complicated than I thought." He said, and took out the locket sealed inside a small plastic bag, "This...it's yours, isn't it?"

My eyes were wide in shock.

"How did you...?! Don't tell me...you found it in the crime scene?!" I gasped. That was my mom's locket. It had mine and my sister's names engraved on it in golden letters. She gave it to me a long time ago and I always used to have it around my neck. But because of our condition, I had to sell it along with some other things so that she could get some money out of it for paying the rent.

"Yes, it was in Damon's backyard. I didn't show this evidence to anyone yet. If I had, you would be directly accused of the murder. The court wants to officially close the case since there weren't any leads but I had to find out who killed him, so I asked them to give me two weeks because his family wants justice for him. And, amongst all of this, if the prosecution find out any suspect, they're bound to punish the suspect whether or not he was innocent in order to get over with the case as soon as possible." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "So, tell me. What was THIS doing there?"

"I-I don't know! Trust me. I sold it 3 years ago for money. I have no idea how it ended up there." I said, frantically trying to make him believe me.

He relaxed a bit and sighed, "Let's say that what you said is true. Then it means that the killer is trying to frame you again."

Even though it was a big news, I wasn't scared anymore. I had heard and experienced it way too often to be scared now. Instead of cowering in fear, I wanted to be useful for once.

Suddenly, an idea hit me, "Why don't you interrogate the person whom I sold it to? I can give you the address."

Noel considered it and decided to head out there first thing in the morning.

After that sorted out, I decided to go out to get some fresh air after everything that had happened. It was overwhelming but I had to keep it all in. I pushed through the back door and made my way through the hallway leading to the backyard while being careful not to bump into Sam or Aleck. They lived downstairs, after all.

I sat on a bench in silence, admiring the whistle of the wind and the glow of the moon peeking out from behind a thin set of clouds. So many thoughts were swirling in my mind that it felt frustrating.

After a couple of hours, I went back to my apartment. Tiredness washed over me as I heaved a sigh. I fell into a fitful sleep, hoping for the same nightmares full of secrets to appear again.

I woke up all of a sudden in the middle of the night. It wasn't a nightmare this time but just an uneasy feeling. I blinked the grogginess away and looked towards my bedroom door. I noticed right away that it was slightly ajar. It was at that moment that I sensed an ominous presence in the room.

I stopped breathing as fear gripped me. Someone was in my room.

I whipped my head in the direction of the movements just in time to see a person covered in the darkness of the cloak pointing a knife at me. I looked at the window— the moonlight was too dim for me to see the person in the cloak.

The best option I had was to stall some time until I catch him or her off guard.

"What do you want?" I asked calmly.

But he didn't take the bait. Instead, he charged right at me with the knife. I managed to roll to the other side of the bed just in time to see the knife plunged into the bed right beside me. I tried to scramble out of the bed but he was already pulling me towards him by my leg.

"Damn it!" I mumbled.

He didn't hesitate to raise the knife high into the air and finally pierce into my chest.

"ACK!!" I writhed in pain as blood flowed out of my chest. The last thing I saw through my blurry vision was the cloaked person standing there and watching me die.

...

*Riiiing*

He answered the call on his phone.

"I know you're watching me. You can leave now. I did what you asked me to do." He said, and ended the call. My assaultant inched towards my dead body and checked if I was still breathing.

When he was satisfied that I was dead, he turned around and opened the window. Just as he was about to jump off from the

window—

"One move and you know what will happen, Hazel." I whispered in her ear from behind as I locked her head with my arms.

A small gasp escaped her lips as her eyes trailed down to see the blade that was deep into my chest a while ago, was now inches from her neck.

"H-How....How are you st—..." She said.

"Still alive?" I smiled softly and unbuttoned my shirt to show the protective layer I was wearing and the little pierced packets of pomegranate juice attached to it, "It was all fake. I knew you were going to come."

Her eyes grew wide in shock and confusion.

"W-What? But...how did you know?"

"I heard you talking to them." I said, my smile reducing with every word.

If it wasn't for my luck, it would have been real blood instead of juice.

That time when I went out for some fresh air, I heard hushed voices from behind a set of tall bushes which were a few meters from where I sat. One of them sounded very familiar but I couldn't place my finger on who it was. I naturally turned my head in that direction, only to see silhouettes of two men and another woman. Curiosity getting the better of me, I pressed myself to walk up to see who could be out this late. I slowly walked towards the bushes and lowered down to the point that the bushes covered my body. I squinted my eyes and peeked around the bushes to see Sam, Aleck and....Hazel.

"Did you do what we asked?" Sam asked.

"Yes. Your deal was to let me meet your boss. When can I meet him?" Hazel asked.

"Don't be so pathetic! You still have one more thing to do!" Aleck grinned.

Hazel took a step back hesitantly, "But you never told about anything else..."

"Do.you.want.to.see.him.or.not?" Sam glared at her. They were clearly cornering her.

"Y-Yes. What is it you want me to do?" She asked.

"Kill Rai and you've got yourself a deal." Aleck grinned again.

Her eyes widened and her trembling lips parted to say something but she stopped herself.

I stood there frozen in shock. I had no idea what Hazel was getting herself into but I knew I had to stop her before she did something that she would regret for life. I returned home and prepared everything needed for the night and went back to sleep while making sure to leave the apartment's door open even though I knew she would eventually find her way in without my help. I slightly pulled up the curtains on my window and peeked out to see Sam and Aleck on the rooftop of another building, waiting for Hazel to arrive in my bedroom. Everything went according to my plan.

She took a deep breath and looked at me with a blank expression, "I promise that I will never show you my face...And...I'm sorry.."

Her apology was very sincere and I knew she would do what she exactly told. I glanced down to see her hands trembling.

She walked past me and reached for the door knob but I grabbed her arm.

"It's okay to cry, you know." I gave her a half smile. She stared at with wide eyes as if I had seen right through her act.

Her body started shaking and her knees gave in as she fell on the ground and bursted into tears. "I-I didn't want this to happen! I was forced to!"

I pulled her into a hug and patted her back to comfort her. "It's alright. They think I'm dead now. And I made sure they were gone after you contacted them."

"Why...why did you help me even when you knew I was going to kill you?!" She said through her tears.

But I just smiled back in reply. I had no answer to that question. I wondered why I actually prioritized helping her over my life.

Moreover, I was extremely curious and worried about what she was getting herself into and why was she doing all of it, but I decided to wait for her to tell everything to me herself.

When she had finally calmed down, she stood up, wiped her tears and gave me a small smile.

"Thank you." She said.

"What? I can't hear you." I said sarcastically.

"I said thank you!" She glared at me.

I laughed, "You're welcome."

She swung the door open to leave but stopped all of a sudden.

"Anastasia." She said.

"What?" I stared back in confusion.

"That's my name." She said, and left without saying another word.

I stood there dumbfounded by what happened just then.

"Did she just...tell her real name?" I couldn't believe that she actually opened up to me.

"So, Anastasia, huh?" I smiled to myself.

My eyes suddenly drifted to my bed and I realised what a bloody mess it was.

"Oops, I have to clean this up." I chuckled.