Mission 4: Chameleon

PROLOGUE

• Outskirts of the Capital, 1st Ward•

"Just like a chameleon who adapts to its surroundings. An assassin should have the ability to efficiently adapt to any given situation"

For a moment silence filled the entire forest.

Ana heaved a breath as she took a look at what she had done. Luckily, the trajectory of the bullet didn't hit the wolf in a vital spot. It merely grazed its front legs. With one last resentful growl toward them, the wolf limped back into the forest. They had lost their target. She failed her 1st mission.

Bryce's anger fumed. "Ana!" He scolded, his voice echoing around the empty forest around them. She flinched at his tone. She had never seen him so angry before.

"I-I missed. I'm sorry" she stuttered.

"You never miss! Not once!" He warned.

"I'm so-"

"Kill on sight! That was the mission! There is no place for petty feelings of sympathy for your target." Ana's head dropped. It was all her fault but she couldn't bear the thought of ending someone else's life. Even if the person in question was not a person but in fact a wolf.

"I'm sorry-"

"I don't want an apology." He turned his back on her and packed their things. "You're going to stay here and reflect on your actions." He grabbed a rope from their things and tied Ana's wrists and feet to a nearby tree. "What?" Her voice trembled. Fear swallowing her being. Was he really going to leave her here?!

"No, wait!" Panic rose inside of her and her heart thumped louder against her chest. She tried squirming underneath the ropes but it was too tight to escape.

The sun started to set on the horizon, dying the forests in hues of red and orange. "I need to get home by dinner" Bryce added as he pivoted his heels away from her.

"Father please don't abandon me!" She creamed desperately struggling against her binds. She could feel the rope claw harshly against her skin but she didn't care. Years welled up in her eyes. But she didn't let them fall. She was far too old for tears now.

He froze in his tracks. His back was against her so she couldn't see the expression he was making but she noticed how his hand balled into fists.

"I'm sorry...." She pleaded as he started walking away. He sobbed between the words, desperately holding back her tears. He had always told her it was kill or be killed, hunt or be hunted. She failed to kill the wolf, and now he was going to leave her here for the wolf to kill.

"I could say the same, Ana. But you need to know that this world is not as kind as it seems. You have to learn to be angry and hold a grudge. You have to learn to not show mercy."

"Please...I beg of you!" He turned his head and her tearful eyes met his cold, fierce ones.

"You can stay mad at me and resent me for this, Ana, It's good for you. I know you're smart but there's more you need to learn if you want to survive in this harsh world."

"You're far too kind for this world and I hate to see you being corrupted. You need to be someone worse if you want to dominate society. You need to be someone even the most wicked villains fear." those were the last words he said before he left.

Sadness pierced Ana's heart as she watched her adoptive father walk further and further away from her, not once bothering to look back.

As she watched his silhouette disappear in the distance, she let finally let out all her tears. She couldn't fully comprehend what her father had told her but she knew he wouldn't leave her here for no reason. "I have to escape." She told herself.

***

The moon had settled in the sky by the time she composed herself. Looking up, she stared at the moon. The heavenly body had always seemed to comfort her. Amidst the dark skies, the moon never failed to grace us with its light. Someone who could bring light even in times of darkness. She aspired to be someone as such.

Ok... Ana gauged her surroundings. Step 1: look for potential danger. Aside from the occasional serving of the cicadas, She seemed to be alone. That's good!

Step 2: Assess your situation. Hmm...she thought. Tied to a tree, in the middle of a forest full of ravenous wolves. Not the best situation.

Step 3: Escape or wait for help.

Ana looked down and saw a dagger on the ground. "I knew it! He wanted me to escape. He wanted me to learn to be resilient in the face of adversity! Awww I knew he loved me." No wonder he lives alone, his social skills are worse than a baby's. He can't even express his feelings properly" Ana laughed to herself as she tried to reach for the dagger with her foot.

"Dude! What are we doing here in the middle of the night?" male voices from behind the trees exclaimed.

"Shhhhh, keep your voice down, bro. We're going hunting" another man answered.

People. She smiled in relief. Finally, someone came to help her.

"This late? Damn it, man I want to go to sleep"

The other man clicked his tongue. "There's a bounty on a wolf with fur the color of the night that recently escaped the lab. The government is willing to pay a huge amount for it."

"HELLO! EXCUSE ME! HELP ME PLEASE!!!"

Their conversation came to a stop when they heard her voice.

Two men emerged from behind the trees. "What's a little girl doing here?" One of them said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Something was wrong. These men were suspicious.

One of them pulled out a knife from his pocket and started cutting the ropes binding her to the tree. She noticed he had a peculiar mark on his left eye. A tiny upside-down triangle.

The man with the triangle mark released the ropes binding her to the tree but left the ones on her wrists. Ana tried to get away, these men were bad news but he was stronger. He flung her over his shoulder like a sack of potato.

"I heard the lab's looking for children!" He exclaimed to his companion, a man in a hooded shirt.

"We can sell her to them for some cash then!" The man in the hood answered. An evil smirk crept up his lips giving Ana shivers.

Just thinking about the lab made her relieve traumatic memories, bodies covered in blood, abused children, and the dreadful and suffocating feeling of fear. She wasn't going to let herself be brought back there.

Ana had her face down with her head against his back, and his arms around her legs to keep her from squirming. There weren't many openings for this position but she could tell from the way they held her captive that they were no professionals.

Mere amateurs.

Ana looked down and noticed a dagger strapped to his belt. She could feel her mouth curve into a smirk. She reached for the dagger and freed herself from the ropes. Once free, Ana reached out her hand towards the belt on the man's pants

She pulled on it while throwing her heels towards the back of her head, throwing the man off balance. This caught the man by surprise and loosened his grip on her legs.

Ana kept a death grip on his pants and mustering all her strength flipped him over causing her to land on her feet and the man to fall on his back.

"Shit! She's our ticket to being rich. Don't let her escape!" yelled the man in the hood.

Ana quickly freed the ropes that bound her legs together. In front of her, she saw the man in the hood unsheath a dagger of his own. while Mr. scar man was still behind her trying to get up.

The man in the hood lunged at her with the dagger but she dodged elbowing his arms and kicking his kneecaps, disarming him and making him crumple onto the ground like the pathetic piece of trash he is.

In her peripheral, she noticed Mr scar's man pull out a gun. 'Uh Oh!' She thought to herself. Although she was confident in her speed she still couldn't outrun a bullet.

The man aimed it at her and cocked the gun but before he could pull the trigger a black wolf pounced on him from behind mauling his head off.

She stumbled backward in surprise as a river of blood flowed from the now-dead body reaching her.

The wolf slowly approached her. As if analyzing the best way to end its prey.

The man with the hood screamed in dread and bolted away from them.

Soon, she was backed into a tree, the wolf still in front of her. Her face pales as the would bared its teeth at her and gave a low growl.