It was her first job. She had been planning for this her whole life. It was what she was trained to do as an assassin. She had just finished her intense training the day before, and they had immediately given her a job. She didn’t know who the target was, but they had told her this, “the target will be at the base of the flight of stairs in building 103 at exactly 8:52.” She didn’t know what her targets did to deserve death, but her training taught her the futility of asking questions. She skulked down the empty alley, approaching the building the target would be in. Through the silence she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She put her hand against the rough door and nudged it open, begging silently that it wouldn’t make a sound. She slipped through the door and closed it behind her, letting darkness overtake her. Passing carefully through the hallway, she saw the staircase. Sure enough, there was the faint outline of a small person standing at the foot of the stairs. She couldn’t make out details, so she snuck closer, lifting the cold dagger slightly. What she saw made her well trained heart jump in horror. She gasped and the little girl turned around, looking up at her with big round eyes. The girl could not have been more than five or six years old. Quivering with shock that she almost killed this little girl, she dropped the dagger and ran. This wasn’t right. The girl looked so innocent, there was no way that she had done anything to deserve death. Perhaps the organization made a mistake. Maybe she made a mistake. Maybe she was supposed to go into a different building. Maybe the real target didn’t show up for some reason. This was all bad luck. She ducked into another ally and leaned against a building, retching up the meager dinner she forced down earlier.
She heard someone coming up behind her and swung around, still tasting bile. The man had a hood like hers covering his face, but she recognized the voice. “You failed.” His voice was raspy like he had smoked a few too many cigarettes. “You failed on your first mission, and you think you can be an assassin? You had so much potential, but I guess you still feel too much.”
Wait, that really was the target? That sweet, innocent little girl? “Why does fate insist The Organization send someone to pawn her of all people?”
“You should know not to ask questions. It is obvious that your training is incomplete. Unfortunately, I cannot let you go back, not now that you’ve been on a mission.”
She stood frozen in shock as he raised his sword. They were only allowed to use a sword when they had survived several missions and proved themselves loyal to the organization. If they were that good with a dagger, then a sword would be a piece of cake. However, it meant that in no way did she have the skill that could get her out of this alive. She closed her eyes, waiting for the upcoming blow and took a deep breath. However prepared she was, she couldn’t help but gasp in pain as the sword ripped through her shoulder and through her body, slicing her heart in half. Her mangled body fell to the ground, her dead eyes full of terror. The cloaked man cackled quietly and sheathed the bloody blade, sneaking away in the way assassins do. However, in his conceitedness he did no notice the small girl peeking out from behind a door, watching the blood pool beneath the assassin’s body.