Astra collapsed onto her bed. She was exhausted from all the lessons that she attended and pretending to be "normal."
Astra drifted to sleep.
•••
8-year-old Nanami was walking past an alley when she heard two men plotting.
"So, how are we going to do this?"
The man with a thinner build asked the other man. Both were covered head to toe in black.
"Let's break in through the window and silently kill her."
Nanami was curious and greatly alarmed by the word "kill," so she silently watched them from behind a wall.
"What about the daughter?"
"Do the same with her. The employer told us to eliminate both of them."
"Where are the targets and what do they look like again?"
"Let's see..."
The man with a thicker build took out some papers.
"Our main target is the heiress of the SilverTree company. She has long black hair and dark brown eyes. Her name is Leona Rubio."
Nanami froze. Wasn't that her mother?
"Our other target is the daughter of Leona Rubio. She has shoulder-length black hair and dark brown eyes. She's eight-years-old and her name is Nanami Rubio."
Nanami was even more shocked. That means that they are planning to kill both Nanami and her mother!
(What should I do?)
Nanami was extremely smart for an eight-year-old. She knew that she only had a few options:
going to the police, running to tell her mother, or.... eliminating them on her own. There was nobody on the streets that could help her.
Nanami couldn't go to the police since it was over an hour away by foot. If Nanami told her mother, she could be too late since she couldn't run faster than a vehicle. She could hitchhike, but was a possibility of dangerous strangers. Nanami wished that she had phone for dangerous times like these.
By process of elimination, she decided to kill them. Luckily, Nanami just bought a new kitchen knife, so she had a sharp weapon. Now, Nanami had to wait patiently for her chance.
The man with the skinny build yawned.
"I'm gonna take a nap for a few. Wake me up when it's time."
"Go ahead, but I'm going to kill you myself if you don't get up on time."
"Yes, sir..."
The man with the skinny build drifted off to sleep. This was her chance!
Nanami studied the layout to find another path to the sleeping man. She needed to choose a path that wouldn't make her be spotted by the other man.
She decide to go around the building. Nanami silently placed her backpack down and took out the kitchen. She ran around the building.
When she reached her destination, her heart was pounding. Nanami hoped that the men wouldn't be able to hear her. Nanami was very athletic, so she knew that she could do it if she tried.
The man with the large build was facing the wall. Nanami took off her shoes to eliminate any excess noise and ran to the sleeping man.
Her hands were trembling, but she slit his neck.
The man with the large build was still facing the wall. For some reason, Nanami heard snoring. It seems that the man was sleeping while standing. Nanami had no time to stare in amazement.
She had to kill him now. Nanami used the man's shoulder to jump up and slit his neck. The man woke up for a moment, but...
"Wha—"
Nanami killed him before he could respond. Nanami decided to dispose of the corpses in the dumpster. She sincerely hoped that nobody would find them.
Nanami grabbed her water bottle and cleaned both her body and knife that was covered in blood. She changed her clothes to the ones that she kept in her backpack and and rolled her bloody clothes up.
•••
Nanami unlocked the door to her home with her keys.
"Mom! I'm home."
Her mother smiled warmly at Nanami.
"Welcome back, sweetie. How was your day?"
"It was great! I helped a nice lady and got some fruit!"
"Okay, but why are you wet?"
"Somebody who watering their front yard accidentally got water on me."
"Why don't you take a bath? You'll catch a cold.
"Okay!"
Nanami went upstairs to get new clothes and went to the bathroom.
That's when she finally broke down and cried. The shock of killing people was too much for the eight-year-old Nanami. Nanami's cries were hidden by the sound of water.
•••
Astra woke up with tears streaming down her face.
"Oh. A dream."
Astra hugged her teddy bear until she calmed down.