An experienced hand cleaned out the rifle mechanically and replaced it in its holster over the dark figure’s back. Glancing out from dark shades, eyes devoid of emotion scoured the grasslands lain open before the high hilltop which the body was hiding on. The sky rolled clouds out in a foreboding manner, promising to bring fog from the waves over the cliffs by nightfall. The only sign that any other human breathed the chilling air showed in the middle of one of the closer strips of land. The flowering gardens and light colouring expelled a false glow which would lull a visitor, if they didn’t know better, into a sense of security.

The large gates seemed impressive from afar – the road did not get close unless they were visiting – but the shape darkening a tree’s shadow guessed that they were rusted and curling paint in age.The weeks of observation revealed less than half the large house being bathed in light during the darker hours. The caretaker was the only one seen moving about the garden.

But tonight would be different.

The setting sun, barely showing all day, encouraged a lone, expensive car to run smoothly along the road. Muscles tensed slightly around the gun over the being’s back, then relaxing after the owner became conscious of their movements. Turning to face the gates, the Ferrari waited as the electricity sparked to open the large barrier. Purring over the gravel path and around the grass island that only rich people saw value in, it stopped in front of the marble steps. The driver climbed out and hid his fear well. They got the target out of the back seat and moved the small shape in through the doorway. The sun was turning the previously grey clouds a bright red, and a smirk showed white, pointed teeth as the killer noticed the sky’s feeble attempt at a warning.

The receding light reflected off long, silver hair as the assassin stepped stealthily out of the shade. The black outfit outlined her pale face and, if anyone was watching, they would see only a flitter of movement as she ran across the plain. The hedges towered, warning against unwelcome visitors, and a shimmer of metal from the foliage betrayed the hidden fence. The usual buzzing sound usually transmitting from it was growling at the intruder, and crackled threateningly as she moved apart the leaves to uncover a part of the wire pulled away. Sliding through, the girl reassessed her situation, crouching down behind one of the flowerbeds. The light of the full moon tried to flicker over her hair and small floodlights covered the ground with suspicious eyes, lengthening the shadows across the lawn. Treading lightly over the grass with practiced precision, she glanced up to the roof. The balcony smouldered with a faint artificial light, merging harshly with the pale blue of the ground and highlighting her path up to it. Grabbing the ivy strewn lazily up the wall and placing her foot into a fissure in the crumbling building, she scaled the surface like a mountain goat, hardly putting pressure on the crumbling surface, finally hovering outside the room to glance in.

On the inside, the house was just as grand; high ceilings and large spaces emphasised the wealth of someone able to have a house like this and not even live in it. The assassin ignored the glaring of a thousand painted eyes as she slipped through the previously locked door into the lavish bedroom with Tyrian Purple hangings over pale jasmine sheets. The door was open slightly and faint voices floated through from the ground floor. Closing the glass door so there wouldn’t be a breeze to alert the residence, she crept across the soft carpet to the door. Sliding through the gap brought the girl into a hallway that continued with the general purple-yellow colour scheme. Moving left past the rooms without light creeping from under the doorways, she paused at the ostentatious staircase to catch a few words of what they were saying.

“…we can’t let her be discovered…”

“…but how! For all we know someone is on their way to kill her now! They could be in the house!”

“Keep your voice down. We don’t want Karina to hear this…”

“…I know but-“

The voices died down to a murmur as she moved away, down to the door with light streaming out from under it. She didn’t need to know people’s fears about her presence. She’d heard them all already. There was a large key in the lock; they wouldn’t have let the target lock herself in – it was too risky. Making sure the lock wasn’t rigged, she reached out her hand to turn the key, but- Snatching the hand away she leaned in to listen, and a faint buzzing reached her ears. This current wouldn’t have been as strong as the one on the fence, but it showed that the adults downstairs weren’t as stupid as she thought. Retracing her steps, she listened at every door for some sign of movement. At the one closest to the stairs there was a difference. Snuffling – maybe crying? – was heard and, now that she concentrated harder, the assassin could see a very small light source snaking from the floor. Reaching over her back for one of her close range guns, she reached for the handle, tensed. In one swift movement she pushed open the door, located the target sitting on the bed and pulled the trigger twice. The door was closed before the child hit the floor and the assassin headed out the house, her job done. There was no disturbance as she maneuvered out the compound and into the night. At the tree trunk she reached in to grab the folder and her red pen. Letting it fall open in front of her, she leafed through the pages till she got to her latest victim’s profile. Uncapping her pen, she drew a thick line across the picture at the top, watched the ink shimmer over the photograph to finally mist over, and then skimmed her eyes lazily over the information beneath it. Just a normal girl caught up in her parents’ business. But the assassin wasn’t paid to sympathise, so she turned the page to her next victim.

1,050 words

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 22.07.2012

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