Chapter 8

The central city is terrifying even with company, nevermind by yourself. As I slowly walk closer I remember the time when I came to the outskirts to trade supplies with someone. She had forgotten something in the city and we had to venture a bit further to retrieve it.

That experience was terrifying, now I'm experiencing it by myself. I have to venture into the city by myself, and not just a bit in. To the hub. Which happens to be perfectly in the middle of the city.

Fantastic

The further into the city I go, the sturdier and better kept the houses are. Most of them are houses of assassins, there are many solo assassins, and a few groups, but none as prestigious, or as good as the elite assassins, they're elite after all.

Oh, to be Athanátos, and to be able to just walk around the city with no fear, to live in luxury. Maybe he's right. Maybe you do have to be so powerful that you're safe. I've heard of the many unsuccessful attempts to overthrow him, some by random people he's hurt, some by his many hunters all of whom he's killed, and some by his own assassins. No mercy in the assassin profession.

I think back to the two assassins Clay and I saw. The smaller one of them, Zak looked so innocent. And that's what most terrifies me. They don't look dangerous.

Thanátos only recruits the best. There aren't advertisements to join the assassins, it's just at any time you can be noticed and asked. Sometimes Thanátos kidnaps people he thinks might be powerful enough, and if they escape, he asks them to join his guild.

If they don't, well… they don't call him the Death God for nothing.

I try to walk as confidently as I can, so that I don't look scared or out of place, but I also try not to act arrogant, otherwise I might look like I'm asking for a fight. No need to tempt fate. Just enough that I don't look like easy prey, so that amateur assassins stay away. Sometimes offence is the best defense.

At last the glowing white walls of the hub appear. I breathe a sigh of relief, trying to do it quietly, as to not attract unwanted attention. It's hard to breathe in this mask, it's hot under it too and I wonder how Wish wears this all the time.

Carefully I approach the hub and tentatively open the shining double doors. Inside it's buzzing with people quietly chatting. It's not really a place that an assassin would attack, I'm pretty sure I'm safe in here.

I walk towards the desk, approaching the girl standing there. She's tall, taller than me. I consider the possibility she wears high heels, but that would be impractical given her job.

Most people think being a hub assistant would be safe, but no. It's more like working in a bank, managing the vault.

That's how valuable target profiles are. People would kill to know who someone like Athanátos's target was, so that they could kill them to impress him, and maybe join the elite assassins. Bad metaphor, people in this world would kill for anything. It's just how it works.

They'd kill more for knowledge of his target. Sadly, that person happens to be me. Of course I am. And I'm also haunted with the knowledge that I'm being hunted not only by Athanátos, but also his admirers.

She smiles at me. "Hi, how can I help you?" She asks, her voice is surprisingly masculine. "Hi, can I retrieve my target profile?" She nods. "What's your name." I tell her my name, then look at her eccentric outfit as she prints out the form.

Her hair looked grey, but that was probably my colorblindness, and was either a wig or extremely styled. A blue looking beanie was on top of her hair. She was wearing a lacy and ruffly black top, and a black and a color that could be red checker patterned skirt. Her face was covered in tons of makeup and she had crazy long fake eyelashes.

She looks down at me, pushing the form across the counter to me. "Can you fill this out so I can get your profile?" She asks, I nod, looking at the form.

The form is long and complex, due to so many people trying to forge forms. It takes a long time to fill out. I hand the form back to her and she smiles, going to the back. I notice a name tag on her back, it says Dan. She isn't wearing high heels, but grey looking trainers and high socks, they definitely don't match the rest of her outfit.

Another person comes in beside me, I move to the side, letting them walk in. Loud yelling comes from the entrance. "I told you! If you can't pay the price, then get the hell out!"

The boy yelling looks a bit older than me, but a little shorter. He has eyes the same shade as Clay's, so I assume they're green. He has black hair the same color as mine. And he's pale like me.

His clothes are black and white, and he wears a bandana around his head. I suppose it's a fashion statement, but he just seems stupid. One tug from the bandana from behind him, and it'd be suffocating him. The other man looked quite a bit older and taller, middle aged.

"Not my price to negotiate." The black haired boy spits. "You can take it up with Athanátos if you want to." He then pulls out a sword to threaten the man. I look at the sword and see the mark of the elite assassins, a crown, on the sword. So that's why he's so confident.

The man holds his hands up. Muttering angrily as he walks away. He pulls out something from his pocket and throws it to the boy. The boy in the corner glares my way, I hope he isn't glaring at me, as he's an elite assassin.

Dan returns, a confused look on her face. She flips through the papers, applying more lipstick. "It says here that your profile has been retrieved already." She tells me. "Would you like me to print it out for you again?" She asks. I nod.

I'm confused as to why the profile has been retrieved. Perhaps someone knows I'm Athanátos's target, and retrieved my profile to stop me from killing my target while they kill me.

Around a minute later Dan comes back. I see her soulmate band as she hands me an envelope. The band is a blue color I know as purple. I take the envelope, examining it, but not opening it. "Thank you," I say. She smiles, "you're welcome hun!" She says cheerily.

I don't understand how she's so happy, but I guess it's good at least someone can be. I walk out of the hub, running my fingers over the waterproof envelope before placing it in my jacket. I plan on opening it once I reach the outskirts, I'll undoubtedly have to show it to Wish, because I probably won't be able to decipher the colors by myself.

I'm happy to show it to him though, not upset like I thought I would be. He's my friend, I trust him. And I feel somewhat attracted to him, maybe like a soulmate. Although I wouldn't know.

I begin to think I should look, so I make my way into a secluded alleyway. I look behind myself every time I turn a corner, but no more than that, otherwise I'd look paranoid and weak.

As I enter a dark secluded alley, I slowly open my jacket and pull out the envelope, running my fingers over the water proof seal. I gently take the seal off and pull out the paper.

Please don't be Clay

Please don't be Clay

Please

And then my head smashed against the wall. It hits the concrete behind me, blurring my vision for a second. The wound on my forehead started bleeding from the impact, soaking the bandages. Clay's mask is pulled from my face as I'm pushed against the concrete wall.

The boy from the hub is facing me. He snarls, and just his loathing stare could pin me to the wall. "Where did you get this?" He snarls, holding the mask in front of me. His sleeve falls down his arm, revealing his soulmate band under. It's pure black.

"I uh-." I'm not sure whether to lie or not. It doesn't seem like a good idea to lie to an elite, it'll probably end up with me dying. As if that wouldn't happen anyway. He presses harder against my throat.

"He gave it to me." I choke, my breathing ragged from the pressure he's applying to my neck. The boy laughs coldly. "Damn liar."

He takes out the sword I saw earlier and presses the tip against my chin. "I suggest telling me the truth. Now tell me, where did you get the mask?" He asks. He seems to notice that me talking would dig the blade into my neck, and moves it away. His voice takes a friendlier tone. "Simple question, just answer it honestly and I'll let you go. You can even keep the mask if you want."

"I told you!" I say. "He gave me it!" "Stop lying to me!" He yells, pressing the blade into my cheek. I can't escape him, I writhe against him.

"I'm not! I swear I'm not!" I say, trying to push away the sword. "You are!" He says, pushing the blade in further, almost drawing blood. "Why do you think that?" I ask him. He looks angry, but also pained.

"Wish has been dead for a week!" He screams. My eyes go wide, watching the boy, but mostly watching the blade. He sighs, still holding me tightly against the wall, but he puts the sword away.

"As you obviously don't recognize me, I'm Nick, but I'm known as Sap. I've been best friends with Wish since we were kids. We were always very close. About a year ago I was asked to join the elite assassins, but I declined." I wonder how he could refuse an invite to the assassins.

Somehow he's smiling, and it's a genuine smile. "I know," he says. "Crazy, but I was loyal to Wish. We didn't care, and we led our own happy little lives."

So this is him. This is Nick, Clay's best friend, the elite assassin. The one who's supposed to be in the marketplace with Darryl right now. I can see that he needs to be, his arm is twisted and bleeding.

"I never met my soulmate." He tells me. "They died before I ever met them." That explains the black band. "One day, I just saw a black band, so I decided to retrieve my target profile." He sighs. His eyes are filled with sorrow, sad he never met the love of his life before they died.

"It was Wish. Out of all of the people in the world it could be, it was Wish. My best friend. My only friend. So I joined the assassins, Wish met a few of them. Then A week ago, I ran away. I didn't tell him a thing. I put as much distance between us as possible, as much as I'd love a soulmate, I couldn't. I couldn't kill my best friend, and I was worried I'd cave over a petty argument and kill him!" He looks so sad, he's stopped pressing my neck against the wall.

"So that's how I know he's dead! My target profile changed, so he's dead! He never would have killed his target. Not until he had to. Not until he found his soulmate and they died. He swore he'd never retrieve that thing!" Nick shouts.

My face is pale, and not just from blood loss. I try to deal with the new information I've gained. There's only a few options here.

Sap is lying.

Wish is lying.

They're both lying.

I'd like to say I'm confident it's option one, but I don't know if I can actually trust Clay. I'd like to, I really want to, but I can't be completely sure. Nick's eyes suddenly go wide. He looks at me, and slowly starts to leave. "I'll let you go, I've heard enough." He says, I walk forward to thank him but he shakes his head.

"Don't thank me. This isn't for you, it's for him. Now take the mask, and tell him I'm sorry. And I know who you are, and I know who your hunter is, George." Nick says, then turns around, letting a small choked sound escape from his throat. I pretend not to hear him. I almost feel bad for him.

I finally look at my target profile and feel so happy I could cheer, I don't because that would be stupid, but I breathe a huge sigh of relief. It isn't Wish. They look eerily similar, but the name isn't Clay. I don't even take in what the name is, it doesn't matter. All that matters is it isn't Wish.

I breathe another sigh of relief, sinking into the wall. It's not Wish. Wish is alive. Sap is wrong. Everything is fine. He has to be lying to me, but his story makes sense, except of course the part about Wish being dead.

I wipe the blood out of my eyes, my head might be infected, I should probably visit Darryl, that medic the two assassins mentioned earlier. I walk out of the alley, trying to stay out of sight from other people, I'm not even going to try to be confident anymore, it's not going to work.

I think more about what Sap said, maybe it's part true, part lie. What I know is true is that, when Sap saw me, he attacked me to ask me where I got the mask. He had been Clay's best friend for years, and left him about a week ago. That's all I know is true.

So Nick probably didn't leave Clay for no reason. And I might have found out who Clay's hunter was, but Nick could be lying and Clay was still his target. Or Clay could be one of his clients' targets, and he needed to find out where he was.

It's the rest I couldn't figure out, deciphering the lies from truth. Maybe Sap thought he was telling the truth, but he got the information wrong. People's perceptions could change quite a bit.