"Faith!" my roommate whispered to me, shaking my shoulder.

I moaned a little in my sleep and looked over the clock. 3:57 AM.

"What do you want Abby? Training isn't for another four hours..." I said groggily back.

"Listen! I got up to go visit the infirmary and I found something carved on the door. Get up!" Abby whispered, kind of excitedly.

In an effort to appease Abby so I could return to my dreams, I slowly rolled out of bed, my long legs tangled in the mass of sheets. I grumbled incoherently and walked over to the door. Carved into the wood was what looked like the letter A with the bar in the center missing.

"This is what you got me up for? Really Abby? I'm going back to bed," I mumbled, annoyed that she woke me up for something so frivolous. I flopped back onto my bed and crawled under the blankets. Our room was cold, but sleep came back quickly to me.

I found myself in a completely white room when my dreams returned. I heard a faint voice calling my name in my dreams. I turned around and saw a woman, dressed completely in white robes. She had flowing golden hair that came down to just below her shoulders.

"Faith..." I heard the woman faintly call my name. "Faith..."

"Who are you?" I asked, cocking my head to the side slightly.

"My name is not important. What is important is you."

"That doesn't help me much."

"Faith, the Brotherhood needs you."

"What Brotherhood? And me? You're insane."

"The Brotherhood of the Assassins. We need you Faith."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now please, be a dear and get out of my dreams."

"If that is what you wish. But I will leave you with something to think about our encounter."

I felt a searing pain on my forearm, and I woke up screaming. Abby jumped out of bed and ran over to me.

"Oh my God, are you alright?" Abby asked, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"I'm fine. Go back to bed."

Abby crawled back under the sheets in her bed, and I looked down at my forearm.

Burned into my flesh was the mark on the door.

I tossed and turned the rest of that night, trying to get over the pain in my right arm. I woke up, and made my way to the bathroom for a shower. I locked the door, got undressed and turned the water on. The warmth of the water relaxed my tensed muscles, and I looked down at the scar on my arm.

What the hell was this Brotherhood that lady was talking about? My mind started wandering along the possibilities it implied, coming to the conclusion that I shouldn't worry about it.

My brown hair stuck to my back and shoulders as I reached for my towel. I dried myself off, and walked back into the bedroom. Abby had already disappeared off to the cafeteria. She was always a strange girl... I thought. I pulled on a pair of blue jeans and a red, long-sleeved shirt so as to cover the scar on my arm.

I jogged down to the cafeteria in an effort to get something to eat before training started. I'm not hungry, but I know that if I don't eat, I'll be sick and stuck in the infirmary later. I found Abby sitting with two other boys, one who I had never seen before, and the other being Mark, our instructor. I sat down next to Abby silently, making sure the symbol on my arm was covered.

"Faith, what took you so long?" Abby asked, glancing at my arm.

I shoveled a spoonful of scrambled eggs into my mouth. "What do you mean? I moved as fast as I normally do..." I mumbled.

I looked over at Mark and caught him eyeing me up and down. I felt slightly embarrassed, since I have somewhat of a crush on him, and I always wished he would just simply ask me out... Hey a girl can dream, right?

Anyways, Mark realized I noticed he was staring when I started to blush slightly. He looked down at his food and gave a half-smile that I loved seeing. I ate the rest of my breakfast in silence.

Mark took my class of initiates down to the gun range for target practice. Lined up on the table in front of us were sixteen guns, all shiny and freshly cleaned.

"Alright ladies and gents, today I'm going to teach you how to fire a gun..." Mark's voice trailed off as I started to zone out.

Faith... The voice I heard in my dream had returned.

Great, I thought. Now I'm hearing things. I shook my head to try to focus.

Faith... the voice kept calling to me. I glanced at my forearm. The scar had started glowing.

"Everybody pick up your weapons!" Mark's voice entered my thoughts. I shouldered the gun and took aim at my target, which looked like the silhouette of a man. When it was my turn to fire, I trained my eye down the sights of my gun and fired three rounds. Dead center, every shot. Mark stared at me in amazement, mouth wide open.

"What? Haven't you ever seen a girl do that before?" I smirked. All of the initiates stood awestruck as I walked back to the gun rack and hung up my gun. I walked out of the gun range silently.

I heard footsteps coming behind me. "Faith wait!" Mark called after me down the hall. I whirled around to face him.

"Faith, there's something different about you. First the long-sleeved shirt, then firing three shots in the exact same spot. Something's not right."

I absent-mindedly started scratching my arm, and the symbol was exposed. I hoped that he hadn't seen. Mark leaned in close and whispered, "You too?"

I looked at him with suspicion. He took my hand and said "Follow me."

Mark led me into a room where he knew there weren't any cameras. He closed the door and locked it behind us.

"Do you know what the symbol on your arm means, Faith?" Mark asked, pointing at my forearm. I shook my head, and Mark slid the sleeve of his shirt up to reveal the same symbol on his shoulder.

"Faith, this is the symbol of the Brotherhood of the Assassins," Mark said, tracing the symbol on my skin, sending chills down my spine.

"Did that weird angel lady try to recruit you too?

"Recruit me? Faith, I am an Assassin. I'm the one who told the Teacher to recruit you."

"Why me? Of all people, you choose me?"

"Did you see those perfect shots? No one came even remotely close!"

"Yeah, and?"

Mark put his hand on my cheek and my heart started racing, "Listen. The Brotherhood could use people like you." I looked down at my forearm and noticed that the Assassin symbol was glowing again.

"Look, you don't have to join, but I want you to know. This is bigger than both of us. Than the Brotherhood," he said.

"What'll happen if I say yes?" I asked.

"That's a secret. So are you in?"

"I'm in."

Mark smiled and slid something into my hand silently. "There will be a sweatshirt waiting for you on your bed. Wear it and pull the hood over your head to conceal your identity. Meet me in the Pit at midnight." I nodded meekly.

"Oh and Faith," Mark said quietly, leaning in close to me, "I know how you feel about me. It's something you pick up as an Assassin." He kissed my cheek softly and backed out of the room.

I sat on the edge of the table in the room, trying to lower my heartbeat.

Oh crap. Oh crap, oh crap… I thought, I conceal my emotions so well that even Abby can't read them. How the heck was he able to read my emotions? Oh crap.

I finally calmed down and checked my watch. Quarter to eleven. I took a deep breath and shook my head quickly to try to get back into focus.

I walked out of the small room and down the hallway to the cafeteria. The nervousness of my rendezvous with Mark tonight gave me butterflies, and it made me reluctant to eat anything. I sat down with Abby, and our best friend Emily. I slowly started eating lunch, trying not to let my nervousness show.

Pretty soon, I realized that I had accidentally left the Assassin's symbol uncovered, but by the time that thought passed through my head, it was too late.

"You too?" Emily whispered, glancing at my forearm.

"What do you mean, 'You too?'"

Emily looked at Abby, and she put a finger to her lips, signaling for me to keep quiet. The girls rolled up their sleeve up to their shoulders. Tattooed in red and black ink was the Assassin symbol.

I mouthed Assassins? to them. Both of them nodded.

Well that would explain why they never wore tank tops…