Slight breezes drifted by. They held a chill that caused shudders to run down one`s spine, traveling across a network of intricately woven nerves. Spiking every single one and lifting the hairs on arms. It rustled leaves on the trees of the local park, birds beginning to take flight as the coolness hit their feathers. Midnight colored crows sent out cries into the air, alerting others of their kind of the intention to flee and locate warmer shelter.
Strands of unevenly cut dark hair flew to the side as the wind brushed past her face. Tara held no emotion as her feet swung mindlessly from the concrete block on which she sat. Watching, she patiently waited for him, ready to fulfill the mission she had been assigned to withhold.
Static crackled through the earpiece she wore. Calmly, she reached up and pushed it further into her ear, "Yes?" Her soft voice rang out. A moment later, another sound came through, this time, however, a familiar monotonous tone sounded,
"He is arriving from the east, entering your proximity in a matter of forty-seven seconds-"
Interrupting the girl, a gruff voice came across, "You will only have two minutes from the times he reaches you, to when the police catch up. Get the job done and get out of there."
Tara rolled her eyes in annoyance, it was as if they did not believe that she had the exceptional skills demanded of the situation. "Two minutes is an ample amount of time needed to eliminate the target," She replied, a hint of arrogance in her voice. Of course, she already realized that after the deed was done, she would have to evacuate the scene quickly. It was simply common sense.
Brushing could be heard in the bushes nearby and Tara`s neutral expression shifted upwards into a wicked smirk. The target rushed out from the cover of the leaves before pausing and resting against a tree, his breathing came heavily, while a sheen of sweat covered his forehead.
"You`ve been quite a bad boy lately, Mr. Tiraguichi," She called to him. Sliding off the block, Tara landed softly on the ground. She reached out her hand, focusing on the man`s lungs. After a few moments, he gasped for air, clutching at his throat. His face turned red, then a deep shade of purple, his eyes darting around with fright while she still stood in the shadows. As she watched him struggle, her smirk grew wider, becoming a menacing smile.
She squeezed her hand tighter, growing bored of the little game. "It`s a shame, if only you had followed simple orders." Flicking her wrist, Tiraguichi flew back, slamming into the tree that he had just been leaning on. Blood dribbled from his lips, his eyes turned glassy with the blow. Taking a step into the light, Tara positioned her palm above her shoulder, ready to send the killing strike. Swiftly, she sent her palm down, causing the air to slice his stomach and blood to splatter across the front of her jeans, groaning she muttered, "and these were my favorite jeans," before she walked calmly out of the park, listening to the sirens and screaming policemen in distress as they arrived on the murder scene.
"Good work, Tara," Huang, the gruff voice from earlier, complimented. His comment didn`t seem very genuine, but Tara was used to it. The director of their team`s affairs did not enjoy the accompaniment of Contractors like herself. Tara didn`t quite understand why, though usually the general population had the natural instinct to avoid Dolls as well as her kind. Some times, they were able to blend into the world and live every day lives, but it wasn`t often. Of course, humans never said anything about the strange feeling they would get whenever one was around, they just learned to ignore it, and eventually they could never tell the difference.
Wandering forward, Tara stuck her hands inside the front pocket of her dark red hoodie. Intertwining her fingers around the cold metal of the small pocket knife that never left it and with one another, she lifted her head up to the sky, admiring the stars and observing as one fell. The keen smirk returned to her lips, assuming the fallen star was the man`s she just killed.
Tara hadn`t always been type to find solitude in a kill, in the beginning she loathed everything about it, the blood, the pain, the screams. After a while though, the nagging she felt seemed to disappear, being replaced by pure cruel intent.
Spotting a the neon 'open' sign of a nearby convenience store, she made her way across the street and inside. Pausing to ask where the restroom was before going back to it.
She locked the door and turned towards the minuscule mirror that overlooked the cramped room. Pulling out the knife from her pocket, she opened it and grabbed a fistful of her hair. She pulled the blade through the jumbled mess quickly, letting the loose strands to float to the floor.
After doing this a few more times, she stopped, staring down at the pile of hair on the floor, "This is the price of great power," Tara reminded herself, placing the knife back into her pocket as she left the room.