Chapter 3
Wrong place, wrong time
I woke up the next day from a… somewhat bizarre dream. I couldn't describe it, but… Never mind it's not important, anyway, I woke up the next day and looked outside of my window, seeing people going to their destinations for the day. It was Saturday, which meant no school and no responsibilities. I grabbed my phone and texted one of my friends to see if they were doing anything important. It didn't matter to me if they were busy or not, I was kind of, sort of hoping to hang out with someone after a hard week of school.
"Morning, whatcha up to?" I sent.
I set my phone down and went to go brush my teeth. While I was doing my morning routine, I couldn't help but feel something in the back of my mind… that message that I got last night before I went to sleep.
"The Templars really wouldn't come for me… right?" I thought, "I mean… I didn't exactly do anything wrong… okay that's a lie-"
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my phone going off. I put my toothbrush down and went over to look at it. Sure enough, my friend Karyn was the only one who responded to my mass text message.
"Not doing anything important, just watching stoopid cartoons," it read.
"You in the mood to hangout? We can go by the square," I sent.
"Sure, y not?" she sent.
I smiled.
"Ur place or mine?" I sent.
"Urs. My father still doesn't trust you over here quite yet," she sent.
I laughed. In case if you guys are wondering, the last time I went over to Karyn's house was for a class project… after we had gotten finished, I showed her a neat trick that my uncle taught me… apparently, her father doesn't approve of people who hack into the lighting system of their houses and make it seem like it's haunted.
"Alright, let me know when ur on ur way," I sent.
"Copy that, cap'n," she sent.
I set my phone down and went to go get dressed. Afterwards I grabbed my phone and headed downstairs to eat breakfast. As always, I found my uncle, crashed on the couch in the living room. It's funny… I once asked my uncle where he goes late at night after I've gone to sleep and he told me that he works at one of the power plants. However, I found that extremely hard to believe, because he would often come back home with a view bandages around his torso, arms, and sometimes his shoulders.
As much as I didn't want to wake the man, I realized that Karyn might be here soon, so the least I could do was inform him now instead of later.
"Uncle Keith?" I asked as I walked over to him.
Keith let out a tired groan and turned over on his side, facing the couch.
"Uncle Keith?" I asked.
"Hmm?" he asked.
"Karyn is going to be coming over so we can hang out is that okay?" I asked.
Keith opened his eyes and turned towards me, giving me a warm, tired smile.
"As long as you're back before dark," he said.
I smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you," I said sweetly.
As my uncle went back to sleep and I walked back over to the kitchen table to eat, afterwards, there was a soft knock at the door. I got up and answered it, sure enough it was Karyn.
"Heya," she said, "you ready to go?"
I nodded and followed Karyn outside.
"So, where shall we go to today?" I asked.
"Well, I was thinking we could hit up the mall, maybe head to the theater, I hear that new movie is out," said Karyn.
"Eh, let's hit the mall," I said, "there's this new hoodie I've been wanting to get for a while."
Karyn laughed as the two of us headed to our respective motorcycles.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"You and your love of hoodies," said Karyn, "don't you ever get tired of having people point out that you look like a bum wearing 'em?"
As I got on my bike and pulled out my keys, I let out a laugh as I put my helmet on.
"Here's the thing Karyn, the bulk of the people who point out that I look like a bum when I wear a hoodie are girls," I said as I fired up my bike, "and they're obviously jealous because I look good wearing them and I get a few looks from the guys."
Karyn just laughed and fired up her bike as well. Together the two of us headed into the city, as always, there was a few TV panels in the town square that showed advertisements, talking about how those who respect and follow the laws of the government, peace and order would stay strong or some kind of crap.
Now… I don't normally follow politics, but if there's one thing that my uncle told me, it's that the government tends to be full of shit. Why do I say that? Well let me tell you, you know how I said that my uncle wasn't happy about Douglas Tremel being put in the white house, his talk about maintaining peace and order was… anything if not debatable.
Sure, there's not many crimes here in the states, but only because those who do commit a crime are tried on the spot and executed. Sure, there haven't been any global conflicts around the world, but that's only because whenever a conflict is about to start the world turns to us so the president can stop it… and from what my uncle told me, his methods of stopping global conflicts have been a bit… well… the negotiations have often been a bit aggressive.
My uncle also adds that the president has the whole streets on constant surveillance, just to make sure that no one's talking bad about the president and how he's running things… or worse, to make sure that there's no heretics plotting a revolution against him. I didn't believe it at first, but whenever I head off to work… I started to check my surroundings so I could see if what he was saying was complete bullshit or not. Call me paranoid if you want but… when you have an uncle like mine, it kind of sticks to you.
"Ailith!"
I whirled around and saw that Karyn was yelling at me, snapping me out of my dazed state.
"Huh? What?" I asked.
"Is your CPU malfunctioning Terminatrix? Let's go," she teased as she headed into the mall.
I frowned as I hopped off my bike and made my way inside with her. I know Karyn means well, but when you're surrounded by technology and computers, there have been times where she can't help herself to call me by some of the nicknames she made for me: Viki, Miranda, Cortana, Cameron, but most of the time she calls me the Terminatrix. Now… of all the nicknames, Terminatrix wasn't too bad, mainly because… well, I like to watch the Terminator movies… a lot, ehehe…
"Alright, let's see if I can't get that hoodie," I said as I took off.
Karyn followed in close behind me. As I raced over to the women's clothes section, I couldn't help, but notice something that caught my eye: Not too far from me, I saw a man who appeared to be roughly in his mid to late forties, looking around the mall for a little bit. I raised an eyebrow.
"Ailith? Why'd you sto-"
I motioned for Karyn to be quiet as the man looked over at us. I felt my heart start racing, preparing myself for anything that might happen at any second.
"Vittoria per gli Assassini" he said with a smile.
"Huh?" I asked.
Suddenly, without warning, the man pulled his coat collar up and pulled something out: IT WAS A PISTOL!
"Fuck," I said as I ran for cover.
Karyn followed me as the man started firing at the ceiling.
"Vittoria per gli Assassini!" he yelled.
Suddenly, the whole mall started to erupt into chaos as people started running and screaming. I don't know why they would think to start running and screaming as soon as the man started firing off a few rounds because personally, you'd think a good few of them would drop to the ground.
"President Tremel is a liar and a dictator! He doesn't deserve to be put in office!" yelled the man, "this country deserves its freedom! It deserves to have its shackles removed from the likes of the Templar menace!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I turned to the sound of the mall door burst open and a small squad of those Templar Zealots came pouring in. I watched as a mall employee pointed to the man who was holding the firearm before going back behind cover. I watched as the zealots charged over to the man and drew their stun batons. One of the zealots, who looked like he carried a sort of… Captain Rex attitude, marched over to the man and removed his helmet.
"Heh, been a while since we've had to deal with you protesters," said the zealot, "I would've thought that we had gotten rid of you guys after the last round up."
The man stood firm and gripped his firearm.
"You're wrong Templar, it doesn't matter how many of us you hunt down and kill off, as long as the heretics… the Assassins are still alive, there will always be people like me out here in the streets who'll speak out against you and your grandmaster!" shouted the man.
My eyes widened. Grandmaster? Did he mean the president? No way, the president couldn't be a Templar… could he?
"I think I've heard enough nonsense that's been spouting out of this man's mouth," said one of the zealots.
"I agree," said the zealot leader, "open fire!"
The zealots opened fire, the man ran for cover and started firing back, Karyn and I ducked down as the sound of laser fire filled the air.
"I just want to say, if I wasn't scared for my life right now Ailith this would-be kind of cool," Karyn said as she gave me a small smile.
I didn't say anything, I just watched as the zealots kept firing on the man, whom managed to wound one of their own and kill another. As the shootout appeared to have progressed, I watched as the lead zealot motioned for three of his men to break off and…
"Oh-no," I thought.
The three zealots slowly moved in on the man's flank, their rifles aimed forward as they closed in on their target, when they rounded the corner of the pillar the man was hiding behind, their rifles went off. The sound of the man's pained cries as the zealot's laser bolts struck him was enough to let out a shocked gasp when he fell to the floor.
"My god," I thought fearfully.
With the man incapacitated, the lead zealot motioned for his men to move in on their target.
"Punk-ass Assassin," spat one of the zealots, "any last words?"
The man grunted and sat up, looking at his attackers.
"Enjoy your reign while it lasts Templars," he said, "the Assassins will rise again."
The lead zealot chuckled and drew his pistol, he aimed it at the man's head.
"The Assassins… are dead," he said.
The zealot fired a single bolt at the man's head and he dropped to the floor, going completely still. I was… without words.
"Wheel this meat outta here," said the lead zealot.
"Yes, field marshal," said one of the zealots.
The field marshal turned looked around at everyone as he holstered his weapon.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, "Templar business, get back to doing what you were doing."
I frowned as the zealots wheeled the dead man away, I got up and slowly made my way over to the leader, the field marshal.
"Excuse me," I said, "what did that man say about Assassins?"
The field marshal turned and looked at me, he took his helmet off and gave me a frown.
"I think it's best that you forget everything you might've heard what that man said just now citizen," he said firmly.
I crossed my arms.
"What did he say about a Templar Grandmaster then?" I asked.
The field marshal leaned towards my face, forcing me to step back in fear.
"I said… I think it's best that you forget everything you might've heard what that man said just now," he said firmly, "or is there something you'd like to confess right here, right now?"
I shook my head.
"N-No sir," I said.
The field marshal pulled away and put his helmet back on.
"Good," he said, "zealots, let's move."
I watched as the field marshal and the rest of the zealots pulled out of the mall. Karyn walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"You okay Ailith?" she asked.
I nodded.
"Uh… yeah, I'm fine," I said, "um… I think it's best that we go."
