Lucy Reynolds - Assamite

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Caught in the Act

I crept up the stairs behind Ian, careful to keep to the shadows. I entered the apartment just behind him, contemptuous of his lack of perception, as he never heard me. He closed the door, and I struck. My knife drove deep into his chest, carving a gash that easily reached his heart. He had no time to fight me before the torpor struck him. I drew back with the knife and cut his head from his body.

I spun at a noise in the hall and ran through a doorway into another room. I heard Michael, Brenda and Antonio enter the apartment, Brenda gasping in surprise when they saw Ian lying on the kitchen floor. I backed further in the room, looking around anxiously for an escape route. I moved into the bathroom when the others came toward the bedroom. I examined the window, but it didn’t open.

Believing the others to be occupied, I picked up the wastebasket and threw it at the window. It shattered rather easily, but before I could exit, strong hands grabbed me from behind and threw me up against the wall. The lights came on and I stared stunned up at Michael while he returned my look with one of amazement.

It was too late to change my appearance, and I had no explanation for a child’s presence in the apartment. I was forced to let them to see me as I truly was.

“She’s Kindred,” Antonio barked angrily.

I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes; of course I was Kindred.

Michael shook me quickly, bringing my attention back to his face. “When did this happen?” he demanded. “Who did this to you?”

I smiled. “I have been like this a long time, Michael,” I told him.

“Who were you after?” Brenda asked me.

I glanced at her. “MacBeth,” I told her. “I couldn’t let him get the box, under any circumstances.”

“What is your true guise?” he demanded, his hands tightening painfully on my shoulders.

“As you see,” I replied in a level voice. I waited for the pity I knew my words would cause, somehow reluctant to see that emotion in his eyes.

He shook me again, harder. I gritted my teeth to prevent my canines from dropping; Stuart didn’t want these three harmed for now, and I knew that they had no idea who I worked for.

“Why?” he growled.

I looked up at him with my innocent child’s face. “Everyone trusts a child,” I said softly.

That seemed to strike a nerve, and I read pain in his eyes. I wanted to tell him that he needed to grow up. I’ve known for a long time that you can’t trust anyone except yourself, but apparently that was a lesson he hadn’t yet learned.

For a moment I saw fury replace the pain and worried that I would have to hurt him in order to get away. Then, suddenly he pushed me toward the broken window. Seizing the opportunity, I jumped through the opening and fell the two stories to the ground unhurt. I ran to the car I had parked nearby and within moments I was gone.

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Note: Some fiction contains explicit content and is not meant for children under the age of seventeen.