The School bell rings, releasing me from my nightmares that never seem to end.
Each day is an entirely different memory, and last night was no different.
I recall that day vividly as my back relaxes on the cheap mattress of this average dormitory bedroom, two years ago, on November 17th. The final mission my family gave me, intending for me to 'graduate' and receive their "blessings".
"Though all I ever wanted, was freedom."
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*KACHAK!*
“How…HOW?! I made sure there weren’t any traces left behind, it's impossible! There’s no way you could find me so quickly!!”
*BANG!*
*BANG-BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!*
…
*Click!*
“…! FUCK!! I won’t... I-I can’t!!”
*KACHAK!*
*BANG! BANG!*
“I WILL NOT FUCKING DIE HERE!”
*BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG--Click!*
“You damned greedy monst—eh? OUT AGAIN?! Why aren’t there enough bullets?!?!”
*Click! Click-Click-Click!*
“Dammit-Dammit--DAMN!! DAMN YOU, EXECUTIONER!! THE WHOLE MALIERANO FAMILY CAN GO TO HEl-!”
*Splurt!*
“Executioner? Since when does my big brother deploy over trash like you? Hmph, I can clean a 3rd rate branch like this one single-handed.”
Viscous blood pools around the man, who's limp remains collapse with a hollow ‘thud’. His pupils dilate and tremble one final time before finally losing their light. Not even during his remaining wisps of consciousness did he ever locate his killer with the young, haunting voice.
A pungent malodor of rusted iron wafts through the air before the underground floor’s routine ventilation has a chance to clear any airborne evidence of the crime. It was a peculiar stench, one that permeates in fresh blood – as well as being a smell to which no child should ever grow accustomed to.
Yet, it was this very putrid scent that haunted his decade-long childhood, and any fondness he once had towards it, was gone.
It now bore a sickening reminder of his victims, of his endured torture, and of his rebellion. These self-harming thoughts must be swallowed down, however. He wasn't permitted to complain. As a prodigal heir to the Malierano family: one of the top 10 organizations of the world, he bore the responsibility of perfection. Through homeschooling, every Malierano child is meticulously crafted to dispatch even the toughest of bodies and outwitting the most intelligent of minds – those fortunate enough to pass the family trials are valued enough to be given a name and raised in the light of public scrutiny. Those unfortunate enough to fail…
...are forgotten.
*Clack!*
*Clack!*
*Clack!*
Silent steps leisurely traverse through a field of corpses. As a trained killer, avoiding the scattered blood was never a problem. Successfully evading this low-tier branch of RAVAGE’s expensive and meticulous security system during tonight’s infiltration is as natural as breathing for a Malierano youth. Espionage, murder, combat prowess and even stealth...he effortlessly broke any and all records set prior; and was foreseen to perform the same during his last mission.
*Step*
*Step*
“No…hahah…Stop…! STOP IT!! DON’T KILL ME!! PLEASE! Who-Whoever you are…you can’t do this to me! My-My dream...you can’t…take my dream away from me!!!”
*KACHAK!*
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
‘Such a sad and filthy woman. Willing to sacrifice her own daughter and husband to achieve superpowers from a madman…even if that also entailed luring a few dozen toddlers out of the daycare center she worked in. Where was that sentiment when those innocent young-ones begged for their lives before she reaped each of them away without remorse? I mean… I do feel a little sad wondering what it must take for a person to become like her, however…’
*Bang!*
‘She doesn’t deserve any sympathy past that. At the very least, not after falling witness to this madness.’
Avoiding security cameras and infrared lasers, motion sensors, heat-detecting alarms, deadly traps with automatic weaponry and other tricky security systems while disarming those he couldn't was literal ‘child’s play’ for the youthful Hitman. Within the confines of RAVAGE’s underground labyrinth, the darkness completely blanketed his form; allowing for seamless kills. Efficiency notwithstanding; lurking in the shadows just felt…soothing. It guaranteed a temporary respite away from his harsh daily life; comforting him. All 20 super-powered RAVAGE subordinates were dispatched before his target became any the wiser.
In fact - if it wasn’t for the still and soundless surroundings, the man and his partner would never have discovered his presence before their deaths.
One was in the midst of having far too much fun riddling a desperate man with bullet-holes while the poor and unfortunate victim, Samuel Link’s supposed ‘wife’ stood beside the killer, donning a look of cold abandon. According to the boy’s intel, she’d struck a deal with this superpower broker prior to the Malierano family's involvement. A monstrous madman named ‘Molodov Watts’ created this branch of RAVAGE in order to hastily 'collect children', and this woman sold out both her husband – a man who'd successfully escaped from the crazed Watts’s facilities in the past, as well as her own daughter, Mia; all in exchange for a single vial of Medium-high grade superpower serum. She even used her daycare profession to pick and choose unattended kids over the span of four months, and bring them over to RAVAGE’s nearest secret base.
Today he'd been hired to bring some wealthy man's daughter back home; she was one of the victims. According to hacked security footage, these monsters drained some strange energy out of the bodies of over four dozen kidnapped children, and poured the collected substance into the woman’s terrified daughter, Mia Link. She was strapped to an operating table, forced to accept her peers' sacrifice and unable to resist the stolen substance from invading. Who knew what she felt, only being able to watch such horrendous actions in tears.
The experiment had been going on for 3 days. Adolescent corpses lay strewn across the room within slightly rusted cages. Oddly enough, one cage was demolished and the expected ‘corpse’ lay nowhere in sight. As for the others... blood and fecal matter decorated their drained forms, along with faintly dried tears. His client's daughter, was one of the malnourished corpses. That means this mission was a doomed failure. Luckily for such cases with too-little intel to go on and when they're contacted far too late to make a difference: while the Malierano family won't charge as harshly, they're willing to consider retrieving the corpse as a sort of success to the client's wishes.
'Though Father disagrees. Still, it's one of those gray areas.'
Only a single boy remained alive, albeit barely a breath escaped his dispirited, cracked lips. What is presumed to be his own fecal matter lay scattered about in the cage while his skin clung tightly to the bones – there was dirtied water within his entrapment and no food to be found. Was he barely fed? His chapped lips seemed to tell a story of water deprivation, even though the sullied water beside him proved otherwise. Water contamination, perhaps? He didn’t look any older than 3 years of age.
The horrendous condition of these children sickened him - he wanted to leave.
Barely bloodied gloves reach up to adjust the U-IEM in his right ear canal.
He was perfectly aware that the core family member assigned to monitor his exam, his elder brother Aeron, was no doubt listening in to every sound he made, and every breath that he unnecessarily took. If he wanted a good grade...if he truly wished to pass, then sacrifices were a necessary evil.
...But was the grade worth the actions he must commit? Of the pressure his family placed on his shoulders, and the burden such a 10 year old was expected to bear, by murdering these innocent and mistreated kids to prevent any traces leading back to him?
A terrified little girl, Mia, barely 4 according to intel, was strapped to a table. Her eyes forced to remain open and multiple tubes can be seen ‘plugged’ into her petite body. Each one led to the adolescent corpses surrounding, the source of their demise. As for their kill-happy conductor and Mia's mother, a cruel woman that sold out her family for power and kidnapped these 1-3 year old sacrifices? The hired Malierano-born didn’t spare either villain a second glance before piercing their skulls with silenced bullets. He could have interrogated her, but ultimately rejected the thought. After all, he was a hitman. His family didn’t need her intel, and, personally, he just didn’t think she deserved to continue breathing.
‘What a mess…’
Talking is frowned upon during a mission: especially when the building hasn’t been completely disarmed. Although he already broke that rule, that was only after he’d finished disarming the base’s security systems and backup protocols...besides, his target had already been killed prior to his arrival, and he avenged her murder. Still, he IS being graded by the family – growing cocky will give an excuse for Aeron to deduct points. After all, they must've known saving this rich girl would be a bust.
*FSSS!*
A cloud of nanites controlled with a pair of unique gloves he borrowed for the mission, successfully cleaned all traces of the corpses and blood of the RAVAGE subordinates. The dead children were left alone. He had no reason to cover up for RAVAGE, so let the world catch a glimpse of the atrocities they commit.
The nanites returned to 5 fingernail-shaped tubes joined at the gloves’ tips. Unfortunately for Mia's father, Samuel Link, he was beyond help, only having seconds to spare. Though that was also good news of sorts, since he no longer needed to eliminate this man with his own two hands – evidence of the murderous tool and accompanying fingerprints all point to RAVAGE’s vicious work in full. Although the killer’s body was erased by the nanites, his profile could be registered in the police’s database with a bit of hacking.
...There was also the fact that Noel Tyler Malierano simply couldn’t bear tearing the father’s longing eyes away from his only daughter’s. So he let the two be. Unfortunately, those sad, longing pupils lost their light following a very short moment of silent farewell between parent and child.
*Kachak!*
All good things must eventually end: and there were still witnesses left to kill. A sharpened gun points at the severely malnourished boy. He’s barely conscious within that rusted, filthy prison. But orders are orders.
‘…I’m sorry. Orders...have to be followed through. So...I’m really sorry, but I...I can’t spare you! I can’t even apologize out loud, or show a single hint of how I really feel. I...I’m sorry.’
Every shake of the gun could very easily be picked up by his overseeing elder brother’s heightened hearing. At last, the firearm refocused on the boy inside his cage. His index finger stuck to the trigger, carefully pulling closer to his chest. He was finally ready to shoot.
Yet, at the last moment, 5 small fingers grasped tightly to his gun-equipped hand outstretched.
The girl? How did she break free? Did she…actually free herself? No...faint silhouettes of children made entirely of shadows had broken the steel restraints? Was this some morbid superpower gained through the experiments? But, when did she get so close? Was it because his body didn’t sense any threat from her? Her eyes pleaded with the child hitman; weakly begging for him to spare their lives.
Ironically, such a plea helped Noel regain his frantic composure.
That’s right.
His mission...had to be completed. Regardless of the outcome, he will never be anything more than a dagger forged by the Malieranos, for the Malierano family's prosperity! A ruthless killer stained with more blood than any other child genius born from the 10 families that rule over the artificial continent of Spes Nova. A prodigy among geniuses in the art of espionage and murder: surpassing the records of his predecessors. His existence was a perfectly bred culmination of the Malierano family’s might! Only by passing, will he earn some semblance of freedom!
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
“November 17th, 10:54 P.M. No...No survivors were discovered. Client's daughter was among the deceased.”
"...Ha. No survivors...huh?"
"That's...Affirmative."
...
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.
.
"Haah. My brother totally knew. That's why I received a follow-up mission. Something I dread showing up in my dreams. I don't want to remember... The number of lives I took that day or what came after..."
*Smack*
"Enough!"
I smack both sides of my face to snap myself out of this annoying cycle of self-loathing and negativity. I escaped! And...school! Finally! I did it! No more hunts, no more stupid missions, no more...murder.
Just me, living in a normal high school dormitory! Sure I skipped some grades, and since my family has their claws in most places, I barely managed to appy as an ordinary non-combatant student at one of Spes Nova's Hero academies.
But I did. Even in a situation like this, I...I did it.
No matter who came after me, I got away.
And never again, will I take another life.
...Never.
