Dong. Dong. Dong. A church bell rings, echoing throughout the streets. it was as if time around me has slowed, yet the sounds continued clearly. I could hear the sound of birds chirping in the trees; the wind, blowing against the leaves. The flowing water from a nearby river, the laughter of children playing in the park; all of these sounds come to a silence as a young woman’s voice screeches through the streets.
The familiar scene plays out before me once more; the target runs through the street as a black car chases after. The target looks back several times before noticing a small alley ahead. Thinking the small space will stop the black car, the target runs into the alley which eventually comes to a dead end. This is the point where my job comes in. The “dirty work” as most would put it. I hate this job. I hate getting looks of fear. I hate taking the lives of innocent people. I’m sick of all this murder, so I decided this will be my final job. After this, I plan to live off the large sum of money I've earned thus far.
This target is the daughter of a corporation president. The president didn't want to cooperate with the higher-ups of my organization. This is to be a message to him, so that he will not defy them ever again. By taking his innocent daughter’s life, the president will obey due to fear of losing more family. What a corrupt view. The target approaches the dead end. That’s my Que. I drop off the rooftop, landing directly behind her. The sound of my boots hitting the ground startle her, causing her to jump. The woman freezes, staring directly at the wall ahead of her. I pull a relatively long dagger out from my black long coat. This scene, perhaps even more familiar than the last, repeats again in my mind. The target turns, a look of horror is expressed upon the targets face. The targets legs tremble at the sight of my mask, a white skull like mask with sharp teeth clenched together and a red striped pattern on its left side. After I take in the target’s facial expression, I perform my job in a ritual like manner. I stab each kidney area once, then I stab the heart, and finish off with a slit throat. This has caused the masked man to be profiled as a serial killer, much as my commander had instructed of me.
The woman starts to turn turn toward me. Here it comes. That dreadful look, the look that steals away my sleep every night. The woman takes a deep breath, then suddenly, her trembling stops. What the? I look at the lightly tanned woman’s face. Her beautiful auburn hair rests on her shoulders as I notice the woman’s green eyes have no fear in them. Her eyes stare deeply into my mask, as if looking into my very soul. The woman bites her lip as she puts her hands to her chest.
“Um, before you kill me, I have one request.” A soothing voice similar to my mother’s erupts from her mouth, catching me a little off guard.
A request? Is this woman crazy? To ask her killer for a favor? Who does that? I begin to raise my dagger from my side.
“Before you kill me, could you at least let me see your face? I want to know who my killer is, before I perish.” The woman says in an almost melodic tone. “Please.”
I raise my dagger slightly above my shoulder, preparing to stab the woman who stands in front of me. Her eyes look down to the ground in disappointment.
“I see... you must have your reasons why you can't. It is a mask after all. To show your face simply because someone asked makes it pretty pointless to wear one in the first place, huh?” She looks back up at me. “ OK, then promise me this at least.” I freeze my arm in the air.
“ Promise me that after my death, you will be happier and feel better.” She smiles gently, like a mother looking at her child. She’s worried about me? I’m about to kill her, and she’s worried about me? What is wrong with this woman? Is she not afraid of death? The woman takes a long breath.
“ OK, I’m ready.” The woman says, closing her eyes. She smiles brightly at me, as I pull my arm back. I take a long look at her face, and see the single tear drop fall from her left cheek. She spreads her arms open, as if preparing for an embrace. This is the last kill, then I’m done with this life. Once I finish her, I’m done. I can live easy. This is it. I swing my arm, aiming straight at her kidney area. Suddenly a flash of my mother’s face appears in my mind, causing me to stop before the moment of impact. My hand trembles before me. I... I can't do this. I can't take anymore innocent blood on my hands. Stupid conscious, we’re one body away from an easy life.
I put the dagger away in my coat. Somehow, I know I’m gonna come to regret this. I grab the woman’s wrist.
“Follow me. I’m going to protect you.” I say as I pull her along.
“Huh?” She says in confusion. “Weren't you going to kill me?” I take out my gun from its holster on my side as I lead her out of the alley. “Are you going to answer me?” She says slightly irritated. I walk faster as we begin to approach the opening to the alley. The woman’s body leans forward due to my walking pace being faster than hers. “ I guess not.” she says, trying to pick up her pace. The black car lies in waiting as we arrive at the opening to the alley. Two men get out of the car as they reach their hand into their suit pocket.
“What is this Eight? Why is that girl still alive? Explain yourself!” One of the men shout as they begin to draw their guns. I quickly fire at them before their hands leave their pockets, each bullet hitting my targets. They fall to the ground, blood splattering upon the ground. I return my gun to it’s holster.
“Hey, aren't those guys your friends?” The woman says.
“Not really.” I say blankly. “ Get in the car.” I open the back seat door.
“ OK, sure.” I jump into the front seat as she shuts the door. I quickly back up and speed out of the scene. “Now what?” The woman says the exact words I begin to think.
“We’re going to one of my safe houses.” I shift gears as we take a ramp to a nearly empty highway. The woman get up and starts to climb forward to the front passenger seat.
“You need to stay back there. The other agents will be coming for us soon.” The stubborn woman ignores me and climbs into the seat next to me anyway. She places her hand upon her chest.
“My name is not you, It’s Luna. That man called you Eight, right? Is that your name?” I shift up another gear as I weave around the light traffic. I briefly glance at her, taking in her strangely calm demeanor.
“No, that's the number I was assigned.” I say reflectively.
“Then what’s your real name?” Luna says with a curious look in her eyes. I pause for a moment. I hesitate briefly before I open my mouth.
“It’s-” I stop myself as I notice three black cars identical to this one tailing us. Luna looks behind us. She sighs and makes a pouting expression like a kid who found out that they can't have anymore cookies. The cars begin to catch up. I take my gun out from it’s holster once more. “Take the wheel.” I command.
“S-sure.” She says a little hesitantly. I lean my body out the window and start to shoot at the our pursuers. After shooting five consecutive shots, I finally hit the driver of one of the cars. The car rolls off to the side and hits a wall. I reload my gun as the other two cars begin to shoot at us. I take aim once again. I shoot three shots as our car starts to swerve, causing me to terribly miss all three shots.
“Keep it still woman!” I yell into the car. “I don't have unlimited ammo!”
“Maybe I would if you made some attempt to not get shot!” She yells back.
“Let me worry about the bullets, you focus on not crashing!” I shout. She sticks her tongue at me. Why is this woman so relaxed??? I take careful aim and Shoot two more bullets. One of them hits a tire of their car while the other hits the bumper. The car swerves, causing the man who was previously hanging out the side and shooting at me, to fall out in a rather comedic way. I duck as a spray of bullets come from the other car.
“Oh, so you can dodge on your own.” Luna says jokingly. I glare at her through my mask.
“Now is not the time for joking, woman.” I look back at the last pursuer. “Let’s switch sides.” I say as I begin to climb to the other seat. She climbs around me and takes full control of the vehicle. Leaning out the window and take aim. Our car, which now has a ton of bullet holes decorating it, hits a large ditch, causing me to miss my last two shots. I sit back in the car. “Well, I’m out of ammo.”
“I thought you said this wasn't the time for joking.” she says.
“I’m not.” She glances over at me. The bullets continue to hit the car.
“Then let’s hope something is in the trunk.” She says as she presses a button on the side of the driver seat. The car’s trunk pops open and two suitcases fly out. One of them smash into the windshield of our pursuer, causing their car to swerve out of control. I think that takes care of them. I point to the next exit.
“Take that turn.” I say in a somewhat commanding tone.
“You're welcome.” She says. We take the exit and approach an intersection.
“We’re walking from here.” I say as I open my door. Luna slams on the brakes. She looks at me questionably as I step out of the car. I put my empty gun back into my holster and begin walking. Luna quickly gets out of the car and runs after me. She happily walks beside me with a calm expression. As we walk for a bit a sudden question pops into my head.
“Why are you always so calm?” I ask. “Most people would be terrified if they were in your shoes.” She give me a puzzled look.
“Why would I be scared? You said you would protect me right? I believe you, so I have no reason to be scared.” Luna says with a gentle smile on her face. My heart picks up a little, causing me to look away. She leans forward a little, her eyes searching for my face. “Are you going to take off your mask anytime soon?” She says with curiosity. I remain in silence. “Oh, back to the silent treatment, huh?” I stop walking and turn to face an abandoned church.
“This is it.” I say as I wave my arm toward the church. I walk up to the door and kick one of the corners, causing it to open. We walk inside and I immediately begin barricading the door.
“Need any help?” Luna says with a caring smile.
“There's ammo and weapons in the preachers stand, bring them to the center of the room without hurting yourself. I’ll sort through them later/” I say, pointing to the far end of the room. She quickly goes to the stand and does as told. I move to start blocking out the windows.
“So, Eight, you never did tell me your real name.” Luna suddenly brings up as she drops a handful of things on the floor. I pause briefly.
“My name is-” My voice is cut out by the sound of a whizzing bullet that hits Luna in the stomach. Her eyes widen in surprise and pain. I rush over to her side as she slowly falls. “Luna!” I call out as I catch her before she hits the ground. I dart my me head to where the bullet came from as I gently put Luna on the ground. I pick up a few of the guns Luna moved and run to the window. A large number of cars and people are surrounding the building. I start shooting, aiming at as many as I can. No matter how many I shoot down, more continue to arrive. I burn through most of the weapons in a matter of minutes. The men start to back off as I smell a fire. I rush back to Luna. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and hold her close to me.
“You finally called me by my name.” she says, giving a faint smile.
“We have to get out of here, there's an escape route beneath the church. I can carry you.” She weakly shakes her head. The flames begin to engulf the walls.
“No go without me, I know I will only slow you down. Please go, so at least one of us survives this.” She reaches her hand out to touch my face, but falls short. I grab her hand in mine.
“I can’t leave you, I won't leave you. If you don't want to leave, then I stay here with you. I have to protect you, remember Luna? Luna?” My eyes begin to water as her face continues to get pale. She continues to weakly smile at me.
“Then, before we are killed, I have one request.” She says, her voice getting weaker.
“Yes?” I say with a trembling tone. The fires now surround us in a near perfect circle.
“Before we are killed, could I at least see your face? I want to know who my savior is, before I perish.” She says gently as a tear rolls down her face. I nod my head and slowly remove my mask. She smiles faintly. Her green eyes finally meet my own. I Lean down to kiss her trembling lips. She closes her eyes as I close my own. I pull back and stare into her eyes.
“My name.” I say tenderly. “My name, is Night.” Luna giggles a little.
“It suits you.” She says sweetly. Tears start to run furiously down my face as I watch her suffering face.
“I sorry I couldn't protect you.” I say as I embrace her. She rubs my back.
“I forgave you long ago.” She says smiling. I can feel the tears pouring off her face, onto my back.
“Luna...” The flames begin to touch my skin.
“It’s OK.” I bury my face into her hair as she buries hers into my chest. I ignore the heat from the flames, as now all I can feel, is Luna’s warmth. My clothes start to burn, as the flames engulf our bodies, burning us ever so gently, until nothing is left.