I'm gonna keep this intro short and sweet. Mark Hoffman has come, and he and Puzzle are already butting heads. Enjoy!

Every time that thought came to mind, I would brush it away. I mean, it's ridiculous, right? I'm John's first apprentice. Why would he want to replace me? But, as John was talking to Mark, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that no good could come from him.
"Can I talk to him?" I asked as I saw John stepping out of the room.
John nodded. "Don't start fighting," he warned as I walked into the room.
Hoffman was sitting down, resting his head in his hands. I pretended to be busy fixing Billy as I waited for him to notice me. He finally looked up and we locked eyes.
"Who are you?" He asked.
I shrugged. "Depends," I replied.
"On what?"
"On if I decide to trust you or not." I made myself comfortable in the chair Hoffman was previously bound to.
Hoffman sighed. "Where did I go wrong?" He asked.
"Well, you murdered a man, for one thing," I started.
"You didn't need to answer that. That question was completely rhetorical."
"I know." I smiled.
"So, what are you doing here?"
"I'm John's apprentice, and I guess you're my partner."
Hoffman tensed up slightly. "You don't seem too happy about that."
"Truthfully, I'm not." I stood up and walked over to the table. I started fiddling with the reverse bear trap, just finished by John. "I honestly don't think you have what it takes."
"What are you talking about?" I could tell Hoffman's anger was rising.
I stopped fiddling with the reverse bear trap. I walked over to the filing cabinet and took out Mark's and Seth's file. Walking over to Mark, I tossed them on his lap. "Why don't you tell me?"
Hoffman picked up the files and started to look through them. Then he looked up at me. "Listen here, kid. I could turn you in if I wanted to." He said it calmly and blandly, all of his anger gone. This would be a hard test for him to fail, but I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.
"Oh really? What would happen to you after everybody found out about your little Edgar Allen Poe contraption?"
"Nobody would find out, because after I turned you in, I would take your little trap and put it on John. Give him a taste of his own medicine." He didn't scream, didn't shake, didn't seem angry in any way. I admit, it was interesting to watch. I laughed.
"How are you going to do that? You don't even know where the sedatives are, much less how to set the trap up correctly." I took my switchblade out of my pocket and pressed the button, ejecting the blade. I pointed the blade at his chest. "Listen here, you ungrateful bastard. John and I have worked hard at this, and we don't need it ruined by a baby crying for his dead sister."
Hoffman's fists clenched. I had him right where I wanted him.
"How'd it feel, seeing her body?" I asked, putting the tip of the knife to Hoffman's chest. "Did you cry?"
I didn't scream as he punched me. I just laughed. Looking at Hoffman, I smiled.
"That was your first test." I wiped the blood off of my cheek. "And you failed."

"Was that necessary?" John asked as I walked out of the room, leaving Mark with his thoughts.
"Completely."
John followed me as I walked to my desk. He sighed.
"Can you create two simple traps?" He asked. "Something that I can construct within a few hours?"
"Sure." John walked away and I grabbed a few pieces of paper and started thinking of ideas. I came up with two pretty good ones. The first one involved a timer, a trap door, and a lot of barbed wire. The second one would take a little longer to prepare for, but it was still pretty cool. In fact, it was my favorite by far.
"How's it going?" John asked. I handed him my sketches.
"Perfect," he said, "I'll get started on this one right away." He took the barbed wire trap plans and handed me back the plans for what I like to call the numbers trap, which I tacked to the cork board.
"Are you going to do these with Hoffman?" I called as he started walking away.
"Mhm," John replied. I sighed, wondering how this new apprentice thing would work out.

What goes around comes around.
That was what was written on a paper that I found tacked to the corkboard above my desk after I had returned after collecting information on Amanda. It wasn't that hard. She was obsessed with heroine and would pay attention to nothing else. I did not have high hopes for her.
It's been a week since Mark started his apprenticeship, and I knew he wanted to get me back after our first encounter. The thing is, he was so subtle about his emotions that I barely knew what was in store for me once be got his revenge. Would he be angry enough to kill me? I had no idea.
Well, until now, I guess. What goes around comes around. I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean he's going to kill me for insulting him. Maybe he wouldn't do anything and just wait until the offences pile up and then kill me. He seems like the kind of guy who would do just that.
I sighed and ripped the paper off of the cork board. I was about to crumple it into a ball, but then I saw something written on the other side.
Consider this your first test.
Okay, that freaked me out. I folded up the slip of paper and wondered what my "first test" would be.
I walked over to Mark's area, which was now furnished with a desk and a swivel chair. I slapped the folded piece of paper in front of him. "Subtle."
"Thank you." Mark moved the paper out of the way and continued with his work. Looking over his shoulder, I saw the plans for a trap that actually looked pretty effective.
"What's this?" I asked, snatching the blueprints away. Hoffman looked up at me calmly as I read the plans for the trap. "Okay, this is pretty good, except for one thing. What happens to the person who loses?"
"They die," Hoffman said, taking the blueprints back.
I wasn't shocked. I knew he would try somethg like this at some point. Hovever, I was angry. "It doesn't work like that!" I exclaimed. "They both have to have an equal chance for survival! And this..." I grabbed a different blueprint. It was the plans for a trap that involved two men connected by chains. One of them had his eyes sewn shut and one of them had his mouth sewn shut. "What is this? You can't just have people fight to the death! That's not how this works!"
"Look, kid. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but the traps that you or John design aren't exactly the most humane ways of rehab either. Now, go off and do your thing, and let me do mine."
"At least my games have a point! These competition traps are just..." I threw the piece of paper to the ground. "...cruel. Just cruel."
"And your 'games' aren't?" He used finger quotes around the word "games".
"At least mine give people an actual chance for survival."
"Some chance," Mark snorted.
Obviously, Mark is much better at controlling his anger than I am, because the next thing I did was rip up the blueprints for the game he was currently working on. Mark didn't even bat an eye.
"I needed to make a few adjustments anyway." He pulled out a new sheet of paper.
Knowing that it was pointless to argue with him, I mumbled something about going outside to clear my head and walked out of the warehouse that police were still too stupid to find. I mean, seriously? We're the most known criminal out there! You'd think they'd be making a bigger effort to find us.
Whatever. Their loss, our gain.
I took a deep breath in the chilly night air. The street was completely vacant at this hour of the night, and the quietness was very peaceful. Calm down, Puzzle. He's just trying to push your buttons.
I decided to take a walk around to clear my mind a little bit. Walking down the block, I suddenly felt...unsafe. I knew that someone was following me. I could feel someone's gaze prickling the hair on the back of my neck, and I could hear another set of footsteps that stopped when I stopped, and walked when I walked.
Reaching into my pocket, I took out my switchblade. I took a few more steps, hearing the echoing footsteps that were too heavy to be mine, then stopped and spun around, knife at the ready.
"Who's there?" I asked the empty darkness in front of me. The few streetlights that illuminated the sidewalk were very dim, so I still had to strain to see into the darkness. There was no one.
I was about to turn around when I felt a hand clamp over my mouth. I stabbed this same hand with my switchblade, and the person who it belonged to gave a yell of pain and fury. I ran forward a few steps, then turned around and saw who it was.
My mind instantly shot to the file.
Mark Rodriguez Wilson, numbers trap, cheats on his workers comp so he can go get drunk.
There was something that I didn't put on that file, because I knew that if I did, would never be able to detach from this case emotionally, like John taught me to do.
"You filthy bitch!" He called, slurring his words a little."Did you think that you could just run away from me?!"
"Actually, I did that years ago." I said as I dodged his fist. I ran at Mark and punched him in the face, not stopping until I heard his teeth break.
"Maybe if you come with me right now I won't kill you, you good-for-nothing slut!"
I jabbed my knife into his shoulder and he screamed in anger. His fist collided with my jaw clumsily. Despite the pain, I managed to trip him. Kneeling on his chest, I slammed his head into the pavement once, twice, three times. Before he lost conciousness, he mumbled something very faint, and I could barely hear it.
"He told me where you were. Said something about a test."
Mark.
Fuck you.
I stood up and took my phone out of my pocket. It was a very cheap model that I only used in emergencies.
I mean, it wasn't like I had any friends to text.

Good job. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that your thug is currently unconscious about a block away from the warehouse. If you come and help me bring him back, I just might not call the police.

I rubbed my sore jaw. A few seconds later, the phone buzzed.

You passed your first test? I'm surprised. I'll be there in a few minutes.

I sighed. I was exasperated and tired to the point of disbelief.

Yeah, you chose a nice person to give me my first test. Nice and personal.

Oh yeah?

Yeah. That was my dad.

Dun dun duuuuuuuuun!
So, what did you think? (Yes, I know that he and Puzzle don't have the same last name. I'm getting there.) It's a little shorter than usual but, as stated before, I'm pretty busy with my life right now, and I wanted to get this one posted by this weekend because I'll be away for a week and I won't have time to write. Please leave a review, and tell me what you think! I love to see your guys' input on this story, and I especially love all of the great reviews I'm getting! Thanks so much!