IX

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I groaned in bed and reached out for the clock, thinking it the sound of the alarm. It wasn't. It was my link buzzing. Dragonfly grumbled unintelligibly under his breath and went deeper, burying his face into the soft pillow next to my head. I groaned pushing him aside to reach for the cursed thing. Sighing in disgust, I opened the line.

"Commander Black," I said.

"Commander, have you killed her yet?" My blood froze instantly.

"Highness!" I sprung awake and so did Dragon his features that of utter disbelief. Erebus called me! Why – he never calls.

"Have. You. Killed. Her?" He repeated: mockingly dragging the letters and pronouncing the words slowly with an aggravated undertone.

"Not yet, Highness."

"Excellent." I was perplexed.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. Excellent indeed. The mission is being slightly altered. The hacker is to be brought in."

"Brought in?"

"Yes."

"May I acquire the reason for it? Execution?" I asked.

"That is none of your concerns commander. Your job is to obey. Now go obey." The link went off and the call ended.

"What was that about?" Mumbled Dragon: sleepily rubbing at his eyes.

"I think we're all screwed," I told him.

I threw myself against the mattress again, while Dragon propped himself on his right elbow to face me: studying me intently. He proceeded to rub a soothing hand over my shoulder.

"What now?" He whispered. I shrugged.

"Survive."

===

My "new" mission outline was attached with a letter half an hour after the call from Erebus while I was about to enter school grounds. It read:

The newbie is to be brought in to me personally in 36 hours.

Fucking bastard! I thought to myself as I passed through the doors. I – rather she – bumped into me. Tilting her head back, she smiled: those damned eyes of hers alight with a warmth that scorched me.

"Oh." She said breathlessly. "I didn't see you there." I arched an eyebrow at her and though I tried to keep my treacherous lips closed, I couldn't; they curved upwards slightly.

"I am six feet. How did you miss me?" Her cheeks heated up and she wrinkled her nose playfully at me.

"Yeah, well, I am half-blind." She shrugged.

To my surprise, she took my arm and raced outside the doors again.

"C' mon! I need to show you something!"

Is she bipolar?

She dragged me to the back of the school, to the edge of the campus and under one of the huge fake trees.

"Watch it! You're gonna step on it!" She shoved me away and I hissed at her; she ignored it though. Looking down to the patch of synthetic grass I spotted it. It was a sprout barely visible, most would've missed it entirely. Katarina opened her water bottle and poured some of it onto the ground and squatted down watching it.

"It's real." She whispered.

To most, the sprout would be of no significance but to her, living in the bogus city of Gnosis, the district of fabricated imitations, it was a sight most rare.

"Would you like to see real trees? A real forest?" I was not sure who was most surprised by my question: myself or her. She spun to face me bug-eyed.

"W-what? We can do that?!" I nodded, though cursed myself for the slip. She gulped: her eyes blazing once more. "C-can you show me?" I hesitated.

I can use this card to my advantage. I just have to play it right.

I forced myself to smile devilishly at her.

"I don't know," I falsely teased, my stomach knotting. "It's awfully dangerous and besides, what's in it for me?" She pursed her lips in indecision.

"Anything." She had uttered, and it was with that magic word that she had damned herself. Hating myself, though knowing there was no other way around it, I used what Darling had taught me to draw her in the trap.

"Join me for lunch at my place," I told her, she hesitated.

"Why?" She acquired, some of her excitement dissipating. I shrugged with faked nonchalance. Everything about the situation was fraudulent: the only exception to that was her and the sprout in the ground. She hesitated, but curiosity got the better of her and so she agreed.

I guess the old cliché is right, after all, curiosity will definitely be the death of this Kat.

===

I skipped school that day, unable to stand to look at Katarina for another minute: just being with her felt exhausting and energizing: sent cursed fire coursing through my veins with her every action.

Returning home, I was ambushed by Grace as she pouted at me, adorably. I frowned down at her and then at Darling's flushed face.

"Were you not supposed to be at kindergarten an hour ago?" Her lips trembled as she sniffed: amber eyes pleading.

"I don't like it there!" She whined. She turned to glare at Darling unflinchingly, he glared back. "And Darling," She sneered his name like the spoiled princess she was, crossing her arms in a haughty manner. "Will not come with me!" He sputtered.

"I am nineteen?! Why the fuck will I have to go to that bloody hell?!" He argued throwing his arms up in protest, which made me question, for the millionth time, the credibility of his age.

"Darling, we are in hell," I told him. He grimaced at me.

Dragon got out of the bathroom, his face a mask of annoyance. His hair was dripping water reaching all the way to the nape of his neck. He avoided the mirror as always because he didn't really care one way or the other: because it was too painful for him to look in one without flinching. He had a dark turquoize shirt on, unbuttoned, and black slacks. He gave me a scowl.

"Why you not in school?" He asked. I sighed deeply, as he came over and draped his arm around me dragging me to the kitchen. "But since you're here," He threw me an apple then tsked at me. "You've neglected breakfast this morning. Thought I wouldn't notice?" I shrugged.

"I wasn't hungry."

"What's wrong?" He came over, closing the door on his way and held me in his arms. I opened my mouth, but he predicted my response: or at least the automatic one. "And don't dare tell me it's nothin'. I know better." I sighed.

He knows me too damn well.

"She's comin' over for lunch," I told him.

"And?" He probed. "Is that so bad?"

I sighed. Of course, he wouldn't see the problem in that. Ever since... Seven years ago, he followed League protocol to the letter and nagged at me if I disobeyed the simplest of commands, not that it'd kept my stupidity at bay.

"Black?" I shook my head.

"It's fine. I-I, " I searched frantically for an excuse. "I was just gonna take Grace to Kindergarten." I cringed inwardly at the lie.

Great! Now you have to go to that bloody hell!

Enjoy, you deranged idiot!

And so my suffering in kindergarten commenced.

I parked Ace just a few metres from the main entrance of Greenfield Kindergarten. Taking Grace's tiny hand in mine, we walked together through the doors.

The minute I entered I felt nauseated. Between all the crappy baby bunnies to the flowers, rainbows, teddy bears and the damned unicorns, I felt like I had just walked myself to hell. The bright colours burned my eyes and I squinted at the even brighter lights. Do they really need that bright a light?

Swallowing the urge to vomit from it all, I led Grace to the reception.

"Oh, my! Good morning young man. How may I help you?" Said an elderly lady. Her hair was thin and a greyish-white, her eyes an emerald green. Her face seemed as if it were molten plastic that used to be beautiful once upon a time. The wrinkles were visible from miles away. All in all, she looked to be around 500 years old.

Maybe, I am exaggerating, but I never see elderly. No assassin makes it past their thirtieth birthday if they're that lucky. League borns never make it past their first year and commanders die within the first few weeks of their commotion for rank points.

"Good morning, ma'am," I answered trying to mimic her accent and tone, but mine still felt flat and chilly. The woman's eyes widened slightly at the dead tone of my voice, no doubt. I continued, ignoring her perplexed expression. "I came here with my sister. Can you please sign her in?" Even though I tried to sound polite: force my voice to be warm, it barely reached over freezing point. I inwardly sighed in disgust.

You're hopeless! That is why the charming business is left for Darling. He knows what to do: how to speak: how to act. And if I was honest with myself, I envied him for it. I envied all of them for having a family that I never had: never will either. I envied them for knowing something other than this hell.

"Oh. O-Of course." The woman stuttered. She was already terrified of me and she didn't even know the worst of it. How would she have reacted had she known I was an assassin? A diamond rank commander? I sighed staring down at Grace who smiled brightly at me.

At least I am a hero to her.

Yeah! Right! My brain argued. Wait until she learns the truth, she'll be the first to put the knife through your worthless heart. You aren't the hero. You're the villain: the slaughtering monster. And that's all you'll ever be. It is all you know. It is all they taught you.

"H-Her room is 3i, right down the corridor, last one on the right." She informed me, her voice slurred and shaky. I inclined my head to her.

"Thank you, ma'am."

I left the reception with Grace squeezing the blood out of my hand. Damn, she has a strong grip. I arrived at a tiny door, that reminded me off the rabbit hole from Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. None of the other guys would've even fit through it, as it was I had to duck, almost going to my knees to enter while Grace giggled at me.

"Darling had to crawl in!" She informed me, laughing hysterically.

I scanned the room. The walls were covered with "learning" posters, the back of the room hosted a reading corner with dozens of tablets and links for accessing them. One wouldn't find any paperwork or hardcover books there. Everything even remotely close to that had gone extinct centuries ago: at least in Gnosis, it did. The place was littered with over a dozen rug rats: far too many for my sanity and tastes. There were two instructors - both human - trying to calm done the hyperactive children. A third - a volunteer - came over to us.

"Ah! Hello there! What're your names?"

Just as I was about to answer a voice called.

"Hey, Bella! Do you know where..." The girl broke off as she entered the room and gawked at me with those damned fucking eyes!

Yeah! Fate is a cruel bitch and today I am her punch line.