A/N: Natalia is portrayed by Willa Holland
As she parks her car outside the garage and locks it, she looks up at the doors, only to see it broken in and the glass window shattered. The garage door open and empty and battered. "Shit!" Jade says as she barges through the doors, to see her father on the floor bleeding and the small pup Daisy, dragging its body close to him; leaving a trail of blood.
"Daddy!" She says, darting towards them. He seemed unconscious as she felt the puppy snuggle closer to him. Looking down at the puppy to see it's neck pooling with blood. Jade's eyes start to water as anger boils to the surface of her blood. Feeling the heat rising to her palms as they start to sweat.
She runs back to the open doors, to see any sign of the criminals anywhere. The sounds of John groaning in pain fills her ears as she turns around and runs back to him on the floor in a flash; getting some blood off her hands. "Daddy!" "Jade," he mutters weakly as she sees his face; battered and bloody. "I'm here dad. I'm here." Jade tearing up at the sight.
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The sunlight spilled through her windows as the light reflects over her face. The baby blue sky slowly starts to saturate with more colour as the sun rises above; clouds decorating the Manhattan city. Her brown eyes shine in the light as she flutters them open and a familiar buzz takes her out of her sleepy state as she picks up her phone from her end table. "Just one more exam," Jade mutters to herself over and over as she gets out of bed to get to school.
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"Jade, you know... anything could happen. But you just gotta be sure to stop it when it does." Natalia's tone optimistic, but Jade suddenly stops her. "I just hope something like this won't change him." Jade sighs in frustration as she closes her eyes to focus.
Natalia is her best friend ever since she was eleven. She was the only one outside of her family that knows about her so-called 'life'. The only person who understands, despite how violent it is. She is the only person Jade could really talk to about almost anything. How they became best friends was a mystery in itself. Being a world-class assassin, and being best friends with your next door neighbour wasn't all peaches and cream. Natalia's family situation wasn't always the best either. It first started out by just being friendly, then the common interests and similarities between the two; like the short brown hair, hazel eyes, same height etc. and the fact that they were alone most of the time they were together. After four years, they decided to come clean. With Jade being an assassin and Natalia being the daughter of one of the certified RED (Retired, Extremely, Dangerous) agents ever. And she knows a thing or two about getting back into the business after a few years pass.
"I feel like if he'd gone out of retirement, it'll do him good. After my mom's death, he's just playing house." Jade exclaimed. "Oh, don't even get me started. The case with my dad was the same damn thing. My dad, being the RED agent he is, retired a few years after his last 'so-called mission' " she said, giving the words quotations with her fingers. "And he was playing house. Hidden inside I could tell that he was completely homesick from all the action, the guns, the shooting." Natalia continued as she turned around to talk to Jade. "And now remember last year with all the Nightshade accusations and how shit hit the fan? I don't know how, but he seemed happier after that. Getting that one more moment of the zest of action." She continued. "Look, my point is, if you really think action is what your dad needs right now, he'll get it. Most likely not in the way both of you will expect it, but it will make up for that." Natalia said comfortingly. Jade gave a small smile. "You sure?" Her red lips curving. "For sure. It'll probably drag you too. Do you miss all the action?" Nat asked as they walked over to campus square. "Honestly... Yeah. Being an ex-assassin you got used to it pretty quick." Said Jade, brushing her brown wavy hair behind her ear.
"Well, thanks." Jade thanked with a warm smile. "Hey, no problem. You know I'm always here for you sis." Nat returned Jade a warm smile as they continued to walk back to Jade's car outside of campus. "Also, I felt the same way last year. Dad's mission dragged me along the way and I quickly got used to the adrenaline rush. It was like riding a bike again. And also dating an assassin bodyguard really pays off. I mean, a math teacher." Nat brushed off. "Oh right, I forgot about the both of you. Kinda glad where he works the systems are different for bodyguards and their assassins, or else he would've known who I am before classes." The two girls chuckled. "Yeah, would've been definitely awkward." Natalia joked as the two walked through the blaring sunset and windy skies.
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"Hey Dad, I am officially done my mid-terms." Saying happily over the phone. Jade's hand hovers over mouth as he covers her tired yawns. "That's great honey." He says over the phone. She can sense his tired tone and hears a small bark in the background. "Oh! What was that?" She asks, curious. "Oh, that was... our dog." He simply says. "We have a dog?" "Yeah, uh... Your mom mailed it to us, as a gift..." He continues. "Mom... Sent it?" Jade swallows. Choking back the memory. "Yeah," John says as she hears the chewing noises of the dog in the background. "What's its name?" Unlocking her front door. "Uh, Daisy. Her name is, Daisy." Tears start to surface in Jade's eyes, holding back the will the cry. "Ha. Typical of mom huh?" She sniffles and looks down at the matching daisy bracelet her mom gave her. "Yeah. Um, well I'll be seeing you in a few hours. Bye Dad, love you." Jade quickly said before she covered her mouth to muffle the cries. Feeling the water start to fill to the surface. "I love you too sweetie. See you soon." He said as she sniffled and quickly hung up the phone and threw it onto her bed.
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She stared at the gloomy sky. Rain poured everywhere as her umbrella shielded her from above. She never enjoyed gloomy days. Remembering that her mom would always dismiss her inside when the thunder had made an appearance in the clouds. Her mom always telling her stories about cloudy days to keep her entertained as it poured droplets of water outside. "Hey, there kiddo." She heard a familiar voice say as it came from behind her. "Marcus," Jade said as her attention switched from the clouds above to him. She gave a small smile. Although it didn't feel like one, Jade was hoping it at least looked like one. "I'm sorry about your mom Kid." He said and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, Marcus. Did you talk to my Dad yet?" She asked, hearing the raindrops lightly hit her umbrella above. "Yeah, don't worry about it." He said. "It's been a while since you visited." The last time she remembered seeing Marcus was on her twentieth birthday. After that, like a ghost; It seemed like she'd never seen Marcus again. "Just, wanted to check up on an old friend and my niece." He said with a small smile. Marcus was basically Jade's uncle. Growing up as a hit man, Marcus was one of the people who would train her beside John and Winston. She gave him a small hug at the memory. Their umbrellas getting in the way. "I'll have to go, but you and your dad... You'll be alright?" He asked. "Yeah, um, we'll be fine." She'd hope she'd sounded persuading. Although, she was even unsure about herself. She watched him walk away back to John as they exchanged goodbyes and parted ways.
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She let out a small sob as the memory of her mom flashed through her brain. She never cried on the day of the funeral or the day that she found out her mom died. The idea was just too surreal to her that it somehow numb the feelings she wanted to spur out; knowing her dad felt the same. She is just like him. But even with the small trigger of knowing she sent a dog to them, it made her realize that she really, was gone. The last thing she had done before her untimely passing.
After a few minutes, she managed to calm down and continued to pack her things for tonight. She packed lots of essentials as she carried the three duffle bags into the trunk of her car.
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Dawn slowly arose by as Jade stabs the shovel into the dirt pile as she watches her dad place the casket of Daisy into the ground. He gives her a nod as she picks up the shovel and continues to bury the casket.
She finishes and follows her dad back inside. "Here. I'll grab the first aid kit. Stay here and I'll clean up. You need rest dad." She says and lays him down on the couch. "No, it's fine, You don't have to do this Jade." "Dad. I'll do it. It's okay." She interrupts him, in a serious tone. He sighs, as he doesn't want to argue with her at the state he is in right now. He simply nods and lays back onto the couch, her footsteps quickly disappearing behind him. "First aid, first aid, first aid." She mutters to herself as she rummages through the bathroom cupboards, drawers and cabinets. She opened another mirror cabinet and found the first aid kit staring right at her. She quickly grabbed it and ran back downstairs.
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"There. That should do it." Jade sighs as she finishes cleaning up the scars on her father's forehead. "Here's some painkillers. Take two in the morning, afternoon and evening." She finished and cleans up the bloody bandages. "Thank you," John says as he gets up from the couch. "No problem dad." Jade says solemn but lends a small smile. "Goodnight dad." She says, approaches him and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight sweetie." He plainly says and kisses her on the forehead; heading upstairs afterwards. Jade then makes her way to the kitchen and grabs the cleaning supplies in the lower cabinets. She sighs and quickly gets to work on the bloodied floor. Way to start her reading week.
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