Chapter 8: The Killer

•National Science Academy, 1st Ward•

Ana

"The field trip next week sounds exciting!" Lily said as they were walking towards the cafeteria for dinner.

Suddenly, an echo of voices filled the halls followed by the shuffling of feet against the marble floor.

"I heard there's a fight at the cafeteria!" Someone yelled from behind them.

"This early into the school year?!" Another called

"We have to go take a look!" A third one whispered

A crowd of people suddenly brushed past her, stampeding through the hallway. She desperately pushed past the crowd. Giving up, she decided to follow the flow of the crowd and ended up in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was in the East wing of the common building. A drove of flying robots with plates breezed through the air and a strong smell of cinnamon and sugar filled her nose

Ana walked toward the crowd forming in the center of the cafeteria. She could feel the intoxicating smell of blood and flesh overpower the smell of sugar as she grew closer. A smell she knew awfully well.

From the center of the crowd, she saw a flash of jet-black hair and then locked gazes with a familiar pair of blue eyes. She instantly knew who he was. Her target: Valerian Vanguardia.

Valerian grabbed the blonde-haired man he fighting by the collar and threw him to a nearby table. The table which was made from steel was unharmed but the blonde managed to get a gash on his forehead.

Upon closer inspection the blonde's uniform was soaked with blood, he had a broken nose, as well as a couple of bruises. Despite the blatant act of violence, the students remained unalarmed, choosing to cheer instead of running away. 'Maybe this was a normal occurrence?' she thought to herself

She gawked as he threw another punch, watching his biceps flex under the fabric of the plain button-down he wore. His movements were quick, precise, and calculated. With accuracy to match his strength, he seemed to have had some sort of training.

She gulped as she saw the blood pooling on the floor. Ana repulsed the smell of blood and hated the act of violence. Ironic considering her line of work. She had never wanted to be an assassin in the first place but it was all she knew how to do and she had nowhere else to go.

"This seems bad" Lily gasped from beside her.

She turned towards her for an explanation, "That's the student body president getting beaten up."

"V is cool isn't he?" A voice said from beside her. Ana looked at the man skeptically. He seemed to appear anywhere there was trouble.

"Kapow! Boom! Pow! Yeah, that's it! Go V!" Anbrose cheered imitating punches.

The cheering slowly died out and Ana heard the shuffling of feet.

They looked back and noticed Valerian standing behind them. The crowd from earlier had dispersed and the Student Council President was on the ground unconscious. She noticed Valerian remove his bloodied necktie and threw it into the nearest trash bin.

Upon closer inspection,n there was a light gash on the side of his cheek with trickles of blood staining his porcelain face.

"Are you ok?" She asked

"Move" He barked at her with a glare. His cold voice sent shivers up Ana's spine. He looked like a predator about to devour her if she makes even a single mistake. 'HOW ANNOYINGLY ARROGANT' she thought.

"What did you say?" He asked in an accusing tone as he walked closer to her. "Shit, did I say that out loud?" She whispered.

She noticed Valerian's jaw clench in anger as he took another step, closing their gap. Ana didn't move from her spot. Backing away would be cowardly and she did not want to be looked down on by some arrogant spoiled brat. Soon they were only a few inches apart. "Watch your mouth if you don't want it to be the death of you." He said icily. It was a warning.

"Move" He ordered. It was only then that she realized that they were standing by the door of the cafeteria, blocking his way.

Valerian brushed past her and headed. towards the exit.

As the crowd of students dispersed, a line of white robots with red warning lights on their heads entered. Ana caught a bright red cross plastered on their mechanical chest. 'Medical bots' she thought as one of them checked the student council president's vitals while the others were helping carry him onto the stretcher.

"What a mess," Ana said.

***

After dinner, Ana remained in her dorm room to file a report. She encoded her newfound information and inputted it into a chip.

As she headed towards the balcony, the cold evening air violently greeted her and she felt herself shudder as the cool breeze hit her skin. She never liked the cold.

From above, she heard the flapping of wings followed by the sight of a pigeon. The bird landed on the railings and looked at her with its glass-like eyes. The emblem of RAQCI was burned into its wing like a tattoo, a mark. It was a messenger pigeon.

She held her hand out with the chip and the bird pecked at it before swallowing it. She could feel the disgust crawl up her skin. Messenger pigeons in RACQI swallowed information chips. When it returns to headquarters, it will then be killed and dissected for the chips inside it. 'Rest in peace little guy'. The pigeon just cocked its head in response-oblivious to the imminent dangers ahead of it.

Suddenly, a flash of black hair appeared below her as she saw someone jump off from the balcony below. "What the" The sudden action scared the pigeon and it flew away into the night.

"Valerian? Where was he going this late?" He landed on his feet perfectly and continued to run into the forest surrounding the school.

Without a second thought, she ran after him.

The lights around the garden dimmed the further Ana got from the dormitory. She could hear the crunching of the leaves beneath her feet as she paced through the desolate garden, towards the clock tower peaking from behind a head of trees in the distance.

Ana had been following Valerian for the better part of the last few days. But she had never seen him act as frantic as now.

She briskly brushed past the branches and bushes but it was difficult to keep sight of him amidst the darkness. She couldn't risk being seen or heard either so she kept her footsteps light.

In contrast to her, Valerian seemed to have no problem maneuvering the forest. He moved at an almost inhuman speed. Even with her training as an assassin, she couldn't keep up.

Maybe that was another thing to add to her list.

4. He was fast. Incredibly so.

Suddenly, as if sensing her presence, he picked up his speed. With each step, a mere blur was left behind, and the surroundings seemed to distort and bend in response to his extraordinary speed.

In a flash not even a shadow was left behind and she was left alone amongst the sound of rustling leaves and an eerily blowing breeze.

Ana looked at the clock tower that was still a few meters away. It looked like he was headed that way.

After a few minutes, she finally reached the tower. She remained concealed behind a nearby tree as she assessed her surroundings. It was an abandoned building with no practical use. Like the school, the clock tower featured Victorian-style architecture. The bricks lining the exterior were sand-colored limestone giving it a subtle yellow hue. A few torches were lit around the tower. But they weren't lit by fire--merely LED light bulbs that gave off a yellowish glow.

At the top of the clocktower, just below its pointed spires covered in roof tiles was a window-perhaps a meter wide.

And below it-

Ana gasped as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. right outside the clocktower was a body. A dead body.

Judging from its position, it seemed to have fallen off the window

Ana shuffled behind her tree as she heard footsteps from inside the clock tower. The silence of the night and the enclosed space of the tower made their footsteps echo eerily like the sound of death marching towards its next inevitable victim.

Soon, a figure stepped out from the shadows. A man's silhouette emerged as he stepped into the light.

His black hair appeared golden brown under the torchlight. His yellow catlike eyes seemed to glow amidst the darkness. 'Yellow eyes?' A distant memory resurfaced, but it was a blur. 'I'm sure I've seen them somewhere.'

The man turned his head and looked at the body. When her turned toward her direction again his eyes were no longer yellow but blue.

'What?' Ana rubbed her eyes. Was it just a trick of the light? The more she concentrated, the more she recognized the man.

'Valerian?!' As if hearing her thoughts, Valerian stared in her direction and she fought the sudden urge to gasp.

Upon closer inspection, his uniform was drenched in blood. The red liquid stained the white of his sleeves and a terrible gash was bleeding along his arm. He looked as if he was in a fight.

After giving the body one last look, Valerian disappeared into the night and Ana was left in Shock. Her whole body froze. No matter how many times she saw them, she always felt uncomfortable around the dead.

She slowly stepped into the light and approached the body. A male withchestnutt hair. She didn't recognize the man but based on his uniform, he appeared to be a student.

Ana was about to inspect him for injuries when a voice shouted from a distance,

"YOU KILLED HIM?!" She searched for the voice and came face-to-face with a familiar blonde-haired idiot. 'He always seemed to appear at the wrong place at the wrong time' she cursed silently.

Ambrose's eyes widened, "You're the killer..."