"Was this really necessary?” I referred to my hands secured with a rope behind my
back.
No response.
“You could at least tell me your name since I'm being held against my will.” I tended to
ramble when I was nervous.
“Can you at least play real music?”
“Leo.”
“What?”
“You asked me my name.”
My mouth formed an 'o'. “Nice to meet you, Leo. I would shake your hand but we're way
past pleasantries after you showed me that gun of yours.”
Silence greeted me and my thoughts began to overwhelm me.
There was always something about having your heart broken. It's as though you have no
other reason to keep going. The very air that flowed through your lungs is no longer present
but somehow you still manage to keep breathing. I made everything revolve around Jason and
I; the plans I had for my future and even what I wanted to do on the weekend, it had to include
him. Ryan felt neglected as my best friend. He would always say I worshiped Jason, and I
shouldn't love someone so deeply. That was ludicrous to me then, but I understood now that
my heart was currently in pieces, and I cared less about my own life. That kind of love was
dangerous because it became an obsession.
“We're here,” Leo announced.
My body stiffened as the fear slowly seeped in.
Leo removed the rope around my wrists first and then the blindfold. I opened my eyes
and our gaze locked. He was inches away. Too close.
“Back away.”
He listens and murmurs an apology. “Come with me,” he added.
I stepped outside and noticed my surroundings.
Before me stood a gray building contained by a high iron gate. I couldn’t recognize where
I was. The building was six stories high and held a frightening ambience.
Enclosed by the forest, there was only one road that I assumed led back to the city.
Regret consumed me as I dreaded the fact that I may die tonight. The thought of Ryan
looking for me soothed the feeling. I just had to be strong and fight until he found me.
“Ms. Day, follow me please,” Leo instructed.
He was standing ahead of me.
I slowly made my feet move in his direction.
“I'm only 21. No need to address me as Miss,” I said under my breath as I hid my trembling
hands being my back.
“I'm being polite,” he chuckled.
Leo signaled the security guard to open the gate before we advanced towards the building.
“Ladies first.”
He opened the glass door and stood aside. Warm air greeted me as I entered the
superstructure. At the front desk stood an attractive brown-haired person and two elevator
doors to her left and right. Leo walked towards her, and I followed quietly behind.
“Hey Olivia. What are you still doing here?” Leo asked the girl who seemed to be around
twenty-five.
“Well, I just thought I would wrap up some work I had put off for too long,” She smiled
at him, her eyes glistening with adoration.
“Who's the girl?” She asked in a not so polite way. I embraced her scrutiny. I doubt I
looked the way I left my house. I had mascara trail marks on my cheeks from crying so much,
my hair was disheveled, and I was barefooted. I couldn't care the slightest.
“This is Avanelle Day, our new recruit,” Leo grinned as our eyes met.
“I didn't agree as yet.”
“Like you have a chance to decline,” Olivia mocked me.
“Wait what?” Befuddled, I look to Leo.
“What does she mean?”
“Olivia,” he said warningly.
She shrugged her shoulders in response.
“Let's go Ms. Day,”
He grabbed my hand, and I made an immediate decision to withdrew it.
I looked back at Olivia, and she gave me a scowl.
“Whoa there, girly, I have no interest in your boyfriend,” I thought to myself.
Leo pressed the elevator button and we waited. He stood there patiently, staring blankly
at the door. His facial features were hard rock. Just a second ago he was in flirting mode with
Olivia but now every trace of that was gone. He seemed to have felt my gaze on him and
wondered why he turned to look at me questionably.
I swiftly reverted my eyes. At that point, the doors opened.
We stepped in and he pressed the number six on the dashboard. The highest part of the
building.
If Jason wasn't cheating on me with Brina, we would be on our date right now and I
wouldn't be here in this elevator with a very handsome guy who's probably taking me to my
deathbed.
Why did he have to do this to me? I mean, if he wanted to be with Brina why didn’t he
break it off with me three years ago instead of being with me all this time. What was I to him;
a pawn in a game of chess that he played?
“I'm sorry about your boyfriend,” Leo decided to break the silence. I looked at him baffled.
How did he know?
“We've been watching you,” he said bluntly but his face was apologetic.
‘You've been watching me.”
Okay, now I'm creeped out.
“Stalker much?”
“It wasn't like that. We had to know everything about you to know if you were eligible to
be a part of the agency,” he explained briefly.
“And what does it take to be eligible?” I inquired with my arms folded.
The doors opened before he could respond.
The room we entered had plain white walls and held no character whatsoever. It resembled
the one downstairs. However, a blonde lady in a gray suit was sitting behind the desk doing
paperwork. The other thing I noticed were two security guards standing at both sides of the
only door that was in the room. They did not look like regular security guards though. These
guards had weapons.
“C'mon. The boss does not like to be kept waiting. We should have been here fifteen
minutes ago,” Leo announced, and I couldn't help but feel the need to make my escape.
The lady behind the desk acknowledged our presence. “Leo. You're late,” She smiled
welcomingly at the both of us.
“You must be Avanelle Day. The Boss will see you now.”
I looked at Leo in question, pleading with him to comfort me by saying I'm not going to
die by the hands of this so-called Boss. Doesn't he have a name?
“It'll be fine. He doesn't bite. Only if you give him a reason to,” He said.
He walked towards the door and gave a slight nod to the guardsmen. They opened the
door. Leo walked in casually while I clumsily fell over my feet. Classic.
I hurriedly got up to see a man sitting behind a large marble desk, glaring at me. I felt
awkward under his intimidating gaze. He was a middle-aged man; had dark hair and a thick
mustache. Leo was giggling at my clumsiness. I gave him a scowl before assuming my position
beside him.
“Hello Ms. Day,” The boss greeted me with a smile that was bloody creepy. It sent shivers
up my spine and the palms of my hand produced sweat.
“Uh hi,” I murmured, looking at him and then at Leo.
“You're late,” He glared at Leo.
“My apologies. As you see, Ms. Day is quite clumsy so that's why I am,” Leo joked. How
could he joke in a time like this. The man behind the desk stood with authority and scowled
at Leo before laughing. I stared at him wide eyed in shock at the exchange.
“Please, take a seat,” He urged, pointing to the two seats in front of his desk.
I scrutinized the seat before meeting his gaze. “I would rather not.”
The Boss narrowed his eyes for a minute too long before giving me a polite smile. “Very
well.”
“So, I assume Leo told you everything?” He continued, waving his hand in the blondie's
direction.
“Uh no. He just told me that I've been 'recruited'.” I replied. “I don't know what that
means.”
“Oh good. Because if he did tell you everything, I'm afraid I would have to kill him,” He
laughed. His jolly reaction however ceased when he met Leo’s gaze.
“So. You've been chosen to be a part of a team of assassins,” The man behind the desk
announced, returning his gaze to mine. I looked at him and then at Leo wondering if this was
a prank Ryan had set up.
“You're kidding,” I cackled.
The laughter died down into a chuckle when their faces remained serious.
“Assassins as in people who kill other people?” I questioned, in denial.
“Yes Ms. Day.” The man behind the desk said.
“Okay so the thing is, I can't,” I chuckled nervously. “I'm not your girl for the job.”
“Let me finish.”
I gave him a slight nod for him to continue.
“You've been chosen to be a part of a team of assassins who are trained to kill men who
abuse women, kills them, rapes them and who uses their body as a means of getting money,”
he explained.
“You have enough hatred in your heart for men as you've been hurt by them many times
and I know you wouldn't be happy with other men who engaged in the actions I listed, to
innocent women. Now, would you?” he said with a devious smile.
I shook my head in response.
“Please know that what we do is legal. These men have been pursued by the police for
many years, but they couldn't be caught. So, it's now in our hands to find them and rid them
of their existence,” he further explained.
“What if I decline your offer to be a part of this?” I challenged him.
He chuckled a bit and that frightened me. I looked at Leo for an answer, but his face
remained expressionless.
“I'm afraid you can't. I've told you too much so if you decline, I'll have to kill you,” he
replied, blatantly. The look he gave me told me he was being serious and that scared me. My
knees buckle and I shifted my weight on my left foot.
“But...I don't know how to fight or even hold a gun for that matter,” I stuttered as I tried
to prove my unworthiness.
“We will train you. We did the same with Leo and the others,” he smirked as though he
was challenging me to decline. But as much as though my life felt like it held no meaning, I
was not ready to die. I couldn't leave Ryan behind like that. But I had no choice.
“I'm in.”
“Just so that you are informed, your family and friends cannot know about this or who
you work for. If you do tell them, I will find out and I will kill them,” he added while writing
scribbles on a piece of paper. “Sign here,” he instructed. I slowly walked towards his desk and
placed my signature on the line. It felt like I signed a contract with the devil, but I had no
choice. I fully intended to keep Ryan and my family out of harm's way; even if it meant that I
won't be able to see them.
“It's settled then,” the Boss said cheerfully.
I just stared at him wide eyed. Still scared at my wits at what I was getting myself into.
“Ms. Day, say hello to your partner,” the Boss announced, waving his hand at Leo. I turned
my gaze towards the blond-haired person.
“Hey, partner,” he smirked.
That night, the night I got my heart shattered, I sold my soul to the devil.