**Lex**

The job. I had to finish the job. Keller won't be happy if I don't finish on time. Not that I cared about his happiness, but he promised a bonus if I finished tonight. I found the right address and scaled the building quickly, using the fire escapes and window ledges. When I reached the roof, I picked the lock of the roof access door and slipped inside silently.

After pausing for just a second to let my eyes adjust to the gloom of the building, I went down the stairwell until I came to apartment number 203. Using the key provided by Keller, I entered the apartment undetected and went straight to the bedroom area. A man and woman were sleeping soundly in the bed, barely stirring. The sound of their slow, soft breaths seemed to almost calm me as I placed Keller's calling card, a black rose, in the sleeping woman's hand. Then I went around to the other side of the bed where I looked at my target.

With a soft snapping and crackling sound, my right hand withered and stretched before hardening and sharpening into knife blade that sprouted from my wrist. Normally, this shift would have taken less than a fraction of a second but I had purposefully slowed the transformation. I enjoyed watching the way my body could make itself into a deadly weapon.

The moonlight from the window glinted dully on the blade. I felt my heart race in anticipation of the kill. I stood over the sleeping man who had no knowledge of the danger he was in. One quick movement ended his life. A deadly jab, in and out. I knelt beside his sleeping body and watched as he bled out noiselessly, his life soaking into the sheets.

I looked at the blood on my blade-hand; scarlet smeared on silver metal. Mesmerized, I followed the blood's path with my eyes as it dripped down the blade and slowly congealed where my flesh fused into metal. I felt light and giddy, the kind of heady excitement that comes with a kill. I felt like laughing but I shook myself. I needed to go pick up my money. Noiselessly, the blade reverted back to my hand which I curled into a fist. I left the apartment and locked the door behind me then stole silently back up to the roof of the building.

On the roof, I cleaned my hands and disposed of Keller's key and the blood-stained rag. Then I made my way leisurely to a coffee shop called Kyle's Koffee. Inside, there were three people; a sleepy looking cashier and a teenaged couple making out in a corner booth. I walked up to the front and leaned on the counter.

"Hi, uh," I glanced at the guy's name tag, "Henry? I need to speak to your supervisor."

The cashier looked at me, surprised, then became wary, "You wanna speak to the supervisor?"

I rolled my eyes, "That's what I said, didn't I?"

"You have an appointment?"

Annoyed, I asked, "He's in the back, right?" then hopped over the counter and headed for the 'Employees Only' door. The cashier was dumbfounded, but recovered fast enough, and came after me.

"You can't go in there! That's only for employees!"

I spun around, shifted my left hand into a pistol in midair, and grabbed the guy, ramming my gun-hand into his ribs. "I'm doing a job for Keller and if he finds out that you didn't let me pass, he's going to be pissed with you. He'll get so pissed, in fact, that he might even ask me to kill you and dump your body somewhere you'll never be found. So you're going to let me pass or I'm going to shoot you right here. Right now," I whispered harshly in his ear.

The man looked like he was going to either pee himself or pass out from fear but he nodded quickly. I pushed him out of the way, shifted my hand back to normal, and went into the back room.

"Ah, here comes my favorite employee," boomed a deep Southern voice.

"I don't work for you, Keller," I spat, "I'm doing you a favor."

"Aww, c'mon now, doll. Don' be like that," Keller replied, feigning hurt, his voice sickeningly sweet.

"Give me my money."

"Have a seat, doll," Keller purred, gesturing to a chair across the table from him.

I contemplated telling him where he could take the chair and shove it, but I clamped down on my temper and sat. Keller was a crime boss, not the most powerful one, but pretty high up there. Lots of enemies. Lots of money. He was dressed in a grey suit with a red tie. Clean-shaven, brown hair and eyes, mid-forties, a good six inches taller than me and about twice my size, but not fat. He flashed his sugary smile again.

"Well?" he drawled, his Southern accent syrupy.

I looked him right in the eye, "The job is done. You'll hear all the details in the paper tomorrow."

Keller smiled broadly, "Good job, doll."

"Call me 'doll' one more time and I will rip out your throat with my bare hands. That is not a threat, it's a promise," I said coldly.

Keller's smile faded, "That's not a very nice thang to say. Just for that, ya lose the bonus."

"Pay me the fifty grand for the job and the fifty grand bonus or I won't be happy. And trust me, if you want to live, you'd better hope I stay happy."

Keller laughed at what he thought was an empty threat and motioned to the goon on his left. The goon drew his gun and moved toward me. Before he reached me, he was on his back in the floor, bleeding out quickly from several stab wounds in his upper body. Blood dripping from my right blade-hand, I turned and faced Keller's second goon who had already drawn his gun and squeezed off two shots. BANG! BANG! The two bullets hit me square in the chest then ricocheted, jerking me back half a step.

I looked at the goon in shock which quickly turned to anger. The bullets had ripped holes in my shirt but the skin underneath remained unscathed. The goon and Keller stared at me in horror and amazement. I never get hurt by any weapon because I'm one of Ares' kids. I also never lose in a fight.

"You shot me!" I said, incredulous. This guy has some balls!

I ran toward the goon who was already bringing his gun up for another shot. I ducked under the gun and stabbed upward with my knife-hand. The blade went under the man's chin and buried itself in his brain matter, bursting through the top of his skull. I freed my blade from the guy's head and kicked the body away from me.

"Give me my money, or your next," I started toward Keller slowly.

He gasped in horror. "What the hell is wrong with you!? You ain't human! You're some kinda' demon-bitch!"

I chuckled softly. Keller was now whiter than the tile on the floor of the restaurant as he backed away from me cautiously. He tripped over the body of one of his goons and fell on his ass. I walked toward him as he crawled backwards.

"C'mon now...I was just kiddin'! I'll pay ya' twice as much, doll. Please!" he whimpered.

"I tried to tell you that you wouldn't like it if I wasn't happy, but you just wouldn't listen. I made you a promise, remember? And I always keep my promises," I murmured, watching as Keller's horror grew.

I shifted my left hand into a long knife and shifted my right hand back to normal. With the left blade, I stabbed Keller in the thigh with enough force that the blade lodged in the floor, pinning him down and preventing him from moving. Keller screamed in agony and cursed me over and over. I grinned, relishing his cries of pain and anguish. I held Keller's neck in my right hand and slowly applied pressure. Keller's screams were replaced by choking noises and then a wet gurgling sound as I ripped his throat out. My left hand shifted back to normal and I wiped my blood-covered hands on my jeans, looking at the carnage around me.

"Holy shit!"

My head snapped up toward the noise. The cashier, Henry, stood in the doorway staring at the mangled bodies strewn across the floor. My hand was up and in the form of a gun before Henry could blink. He paled and his eyes widened in horror and surprise.

"Sorry, it's nothing personal but I can't let you live," I said softly and fired the gun.

The cashier crumpled to the floor, a bullet hole situated perfectly between his eyes, an expression of shock on his face. A painless death, I thought. I stepped over his body and hopped over the counter. The teenaged couple in the corner booth had stopped making out and stared at me, wide-eyed. I realized my clothes were torn and splattered with blood but I didn't care; it would make my story all the more convincing. I stumbled over to them, an expression of wide-eyed horror plastered on my face.

"Oh god!" I wailed, "Oh my god! They all just started shooting at each other! It was awful! Everyone's dead! Please! Call the cops! Oh god, they're all dead!"

With that Oscar-winning performance I rolled my eyes up into my head and collapsed. I heard the girl freaking out and I felt the guy's fingers on my wrist and neck, searching for a pulse. I slowed my breathing until it was almost nonexistent and I made my heart almost stop beating.

"I can't find her pulse!" the guy shouted, "Mandy call the 911!"

"Oh my gawd! She's dead!" his girlfriend bawled as she dialed the number, "Let's get out of here, John!"

Both of them ran from the coffee shop. As soon as they had exited the building, I sat up and laughed. Going into the back room again, I searched around until I found the safe containing my money. After I'd emptied the safe, I found a long bulky coat in a dumpster outside which I put on to cover my bloodstained clothes, then I hailed a cab.

"Where to?" the cab driver asked once I'd gotten in.

"Second-closest motel, please," I mumbled.

The cab driver turned around and looked at me, frowning, "How old are you? What are you doing out so late at night?"

I adopted an expression of fear and sadness. "My boyfriend got drunk again and started beating me. I-I ran away but he and his friends have been chasing me. Please, I just need somewhere to stay for the night. I have money...please," I lied, my voice quavering, shivering slightly for effect.

The grizzled man's face softened somewhat, "Okay, but tomorrow you need to call the cops on that boy. You don't got to let him beat up on you."

I nodded as he put the cab into drive and we drove in silence to the Moonlight Motel. I got out, paid him and thanked him. Once he had driven off, I went to the front desk and got a room, paying for it with the stolen credit card. Still dressed in the bulky coat and bloody clothes, I walked across the street to a small convenience store and bought some cheap clothes. Inside my room, I showered until the hot water ran out. Then I dressed in a cotton shirt and shorts and collapsed on the bed. I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.

I'm posting these first three chapters just to see how well this works out. If you guys end up liking my story, I'll try to post a new chapter at least every Monday. ~Jo