First Time (1)

'A reaction', he thought, a glint crossing his eyes. He liked watching her, studying her every reaction, he had always found her so, fascinating.

The way she was always so emotionally unavailable even when her life was in jeopardy, how she was always so indifferent and then how her eyes would light with murderous intent if her brother was the one threatened instead.

His original smile returned, but this time, it sent a chill down Liling's spine,

"I'm choosing to pretend this didn't happen, alright, so here's your next job", he said sliding a piece of fastened paper over to her,

She watched him amidst the bad feeling sinking in her stomach, this was bad, very bad, she had never gotten a premonition this strong, not in the 11 years she had been an assassin, not ever.

Flipping it over did nothing but help solidify the feeling, that growing feeling of dread that slowly washed over her.

She wished she could laugh, tell herself she was having a hilarious dream, that she hadn't just been given the job of killing her boss. But sadly, she knew it was real, all of it was.

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-Li Corporation; Liling's Office

It was Friday and the days before were like every other, Liling being early to work, her compulsory three cups of coffee, Shen Ru bubbling into the office, lots of meetings, and of course, documents.

There was nothing to suggest the mission even existed, well, nothing except the subtle heaviness that lingered from time to time, other than that, everything was normal.

Too normal.

The sun began setting and so did Shen Ru's patience, her being filled with anxiousness and her gaze would continually drift towards Liling who was calmly putting things away,

"Urghh!, I can't do this anymore", She had finally given in, her best friend potentially bringing an end to the Li Corp weighed heavily on her mind, and knowing Liling's skills, her fear wasn't irrelevant.

"Liling, are you doing it?"

Complete silence fell and Liling said nothing, she looked indifferent, but knowing Liling, she knew her friend was far from calm, beneath those cold eyes, there was anger, resentment and hidden behind everything, resignation, there was nothing either of them could do about it, and they both knew it.

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-Jardin Blanc; Study

Liling sat quietly behind the desk, eyes closed, ears piqued and slender legs crossed. An origami Lily lay in her hands, pristine and folded to perfection.

She gently caressed its petals as memories flitted through her mind, the origin of these lilies, and the origin of her plight,

She was just thirteen on her first job, the first time she had to end a person's life. She was unfazed throughout though, but as she turned to leave, the origami Lily put in her hair by her brother, fluttered into the pool of blood,

The petals had slowly turned red and she couldn't tear away her gaze,

From then on she would continue to leave Lilies soaking in the pools of blood, and it earned her the name 'The Crimson Lily',

Her eyes slowly opened and she could hear footsteps slowly approach the door,

This was it.