I stare down at her body. Her neck is at an irregular angle.
One minute, she is fine, the next, she faints.
I pick her up by her upper arms and haul her over my shoulder. My shoulder is literally screaming from all the weight I’ve had to lift.
I take her downstairs and into the bunker. I switch on the light and set her down on a metal chair. I grab some rope and tie her up with it.
She looks nothing out of the ordinary as she sits there. But, what is she exactly. I have never noticed any strange markings on her body. Is she a witch?
I think back to when we had first met. She had seemed awfully weird, like she was from another planet.
She had asked questions about everything like she was seeing most of it for the first time.
I splash water on her face. She slowly opens her eyes. Her eyes look black in the dim light.
"So good of you to come back to the real world". I sneer.
She just blinks water out of her eyes. She tries to rub her eyes but finds that her hands are tied. She jerks her hands violently against the rope. When it does not budge, she turns to glare at me.
"So are you ready to talk?" I ask.
She tries to free her arms again but to no avail.
"Release me!" She yells.
Her voice sounds thick and monstrous, like she’s shouting alongside someone else with a deep menacing voice.
I draw back. What was that?
She stops struggling and just sits there quietly.
"How many people have you killed down here?" She asks out of the blue.
I look at her. I have never killed anyone down here. What brought on the question?
"No one". I answer, settling down on a chair across her.
"There are so many trapped souls down here, hungry for blood. Your blood". She says.
I look around. It’s just us in the room. Are there really souls in the room or is she l1
trying to freak me out.
"What souls?" I ask, confused.
"Souls of the people you have killed down here". She replies.
She is looking at someone beyond me. It’s either she is crazy or there is something there.
"I haven’t killed anybody down here. My ancestors used to use this place as a torture room. For me, it’s just a place where I lounge". I say.
"How can you relax in such a place knowing that people have been killed down here?" She asked.
I look away. I am a killer as well. She knows this. I don’t kill for sport or anything as barbaric as that, but I do enjoy killing bad people. People who deserve to die.
She looks at the ground.
"Kill me already". She says in a quiet voice.
Up until now, I never had any thoughts of killing her. Does she think I brought her down here to kill her?
I wipe my face with my palm.
"Look, I did not bring you here to kill you. I may be a killer, but I do like peace and quiet. This is the only place where I have that." I say. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novęlfire.net
She looks up, but not at me.
"Someone’s coming". She says.
"An assassin from a higher rank than you". She says.
I scoff. Who can be of a higher rank than me. I am an S-ranked assassin of the sixth order. I have never failed a job.
"He is a black shadow". She says.
My blood runs cold. A black shadow. Black shadows are rear to come across but they are almost invisible. They are impossible to kill.
"What does he want here?" I ask.
"He’s here to kill us both. He’s avenging the assassin we killed this night". She says.
"How do you know all that?" I ask.
She looks into my eyes this time.
"Because the ghost behind you just told me". She responds.
Behind me? I turn around sharply. There is nothing there.
"There’s nothing to worry about. We are completely safe in here". I say.
"Are we?" She asks and points to the hatch. The wheel is being turned from above. How does he know where we are? I wonder.
I reach for my sword.
"Untie me". She says.
I slice through her ties and she wriggles free of them.
I expect her to run and hide, but she just sits there and breaks her neck.
The hatch opens completely and I brace myself for action. Nothing happens. Then, before I know what is happening, a dark figure jumps down and slices the skin on my arm. He’s holding a katana just like the assassin we killed was.
I clenched my teeth in pain as I look around for him. It seems as if he has disappeared but then he reappears and cuts through my shoulder with the tip of his blade. I wince and spit curses at him.
Then, he does the worst thing imaginable. He slits my wife’s neck. I stop breathing for a moment. Blood gushes out of the injury profusely. Her eyes look lifeless.
Fury suddenly floods me and I swing my sword skillfully at his receding frame.
My sword cuts through his back. I wonder how a black shadow would make the mistake of exposing his vulnerable back to me. Blood gashes from the wound on his back. He is still very fast despite his injury. He switches off the light.
I use my ears and listen, I can’t hear him coming, but I feel wind gush over me. I swing my sword and block his incoming attack. He attacks again. I notice he is distracted by his anger and hatred. Assassins are supposed to be emotionless creatures. The moment your emotions get in the way, you get killed.
I dash towards the light and turn it on.
To my horror, my wife staggers to her feet like a drunk and puts her neck in order. She is smiling wickedly. I gulp hard.
She is holding a small stone in her hand. That stone is from the assassin’s attire.
She waves her hand and portals open at both sides of the assassin. Two sword-looking arms come out of the portal and stab the assassin in the heart and in the stomach from behind. It sticks out in his front. His eyes are wide in disbelief. Blood spews from his mouth. A tear drips from his left eye.
The arms fade back into the portal and it disappears. The assassin sinks to his knees and falls on his face. He has two large holes through his body.
I resist the urge to puke.
Then, my wife also falls to the ground. What the hell!