How I Became An Assassin
The First Mission: Part II
"...waiting, and watching their movements..."
Big tears dripped from May's eyes. She sniffled, and managed to say, "It's really bad, the doctors say it's a miracle she's alive. But...she….she'll never be able to do anything on her own...I'm not sure what to do... now that only my dad can work, I'm not sure that we can afford nursing care for my mom…." She took a tissue offered from the teacher and blew her nose.
"My dad asked for me to come home for a while to help, and I think that's...what I'll do," May said, wiping more tears from her face. "I'm the only child, and I can't leave my dad alone with mom like that…I was really looking forward to the city life and school here, but it seems that the world has other plans for me…"
The teacher put an arm around her. May rummaged in her bag for more tissues, then stopped as she felt and retrieved a crumpled paper.
"Ah yes, this…" she said, looking forlornly at it while smoothing it out. "My dad wrote a letter of withdrawal from the school. I'm sorry that it's just handwritten, we were both at the hospital…"
She gave her friend a big hug, still sniffling slightly. "Thank you for being friends with me and looking out for me," she whispered as she tightened her hug. "I'm sorry that I'm leaving so soon."
"Don't say that, you never wanted any of this to happen!" the blonde responded, patting her on the back.
"No, you were my only friend here…" May said, "Thank you for making this week at a new school so wonderful."
"I...I'd like you to have this," she continued unhooking the medallion from around her neck. "It was given to me by a new classmate when she transferred to my school in the suburbs. I'd like to pass it on to you….please help me take care of it, and pass it on if you ever find yourself in my shoes.."
May stepped out of the hair salon, sporting curly black locks and a straight fringe. Not a style she'd prefer, but orders were orders. She hoped she would be keeping this persona for the rest of the mission.
"If we're changing personas every week, my hair is gonna fall out from all these salon visits,' she thought darkly to herself.
She slung her duffel bag over her shoulders and made her way to the food court. Many hours has passed as she went to the hospital, then to the school and to the salon to perm and re-dye her hair. It had been dark for quite a while already, and she was starving.
She dumped her duffel bag and schoolbag on an empty table, then began rummaging for some spare change. She had an eye on the Chinese takeout place at the corner of the mall.
After rummaging through every pocket two times, May still came up empty-handed. She frowned, deeply in thought for a moment before groaning and putting her head in her hands.
All her meals were catered by the dorm, so she hadn't realised she had no money of her own during the previous week. Drew had probably kept all the cash they had, as he was probably wary that May would try to take off to a police station or something. Not that she would be able to, with the medallion tracking her every movement, and her family's lives under threat.
She rested her chin on the table, defeated. She'd just take a nap until Drew arrived to pick her up.
She was just beginning to drift off when she felt a light tap on her head. She looked up to see Drew, with his sparkling green eyes and ...blonde hair, this time. He seemed to have disposed of all his previous clothes, and was now dressed simply, in jeans, old tshirt, and scuffed up shoes.
He tossed her a plastic bag. "I bought you some clothes, go change into them," he said. "We'll drop Amber's clothes off at a charity store later." May took the bag and went to the toilet, doing as he told. She was now dressed….well….like a hobo….was all she could describe.
"Why are my clothes like this?" she hissed as she slid back into her chair, gesturing at her faded pants and a stained rainbow colored tshirt. A pair of old sandals finished her look. "Are we homeless people now?"
"You could look at it that way," Drew replied calmly. He pushed a tray of food towards her, which had gone unnoticed by May. "Go eat and we have a bus at 8:15."
She glanced up at the clock. 8:08pm. She shot one short glare at Drew and dug into the food ravenously.
They got off the bus at a decidedly poorer region of the city.
"Okay, our first stop, the charity store." Drew announced, pacing quickly along the sidewalk. May followed along in silence, still wondering what the hell was going on.
He stopped at a street bench and put down his duffel bag and schoolbag there, indicating for May to do the same.
"Just watch the perimeter for 5 minutes, this area isn't a great place to be in…" he said distractedly as he began opening all of their belongings and shifting their contents around rapidly. May glanced at him in confusion, but snapped to attention anyways, her body stilling, and her eyes and ears honed around the street surrounding them.
He tossed her a small cloth bag and her schoolbag after a few minutes. "Keep that with you and pick up your things, we're going to be late at this pace," he said, slinging his duffel bag back on and walking at a decidedly faster pace. May sprinted lightly after him.
They stopped in front of an old store, with the words 'Aunt Theresa's Charity Superstore' crudely painted on a wooden board nailed at the top of the storefront. The lights were still on inside, even though it was past 9pm and the streets were almost dead in this area. May eyed the store with suspicion as he opened the door and walked inside, a small bell tinkling to announce their presence.
The inside of the store was lined with shelves, all haphazardly filled with random items. Some coats and dresses hung in corners. There were P2Ps, Xboxes...car radios…? A few Rolexes in a locked glass case?
'Is this a store for people to trade in items for money after a robbery…?' May thought, eyeing some necklaces glittering in a corner.
A plump, middle-aged woman bustled through a doorway to greet them.
"Welcome, children!," she said, waving a plump hand full of rings at them. "How can I help you today?"
"We need some supplies, ma'am," Drew said politely, taking the duffel bag off his shoulder and indicating for May to do the same. "Our bags and things are quite worn out, as you can see."
"Bring them over to the counter and I'll see what I can do," she replied cheerfully, reaching for a pair of reading glasses. She zipped open the perfectly new duffel bags and inspected the contents, humming thoughtfully as she deftly rummaged through all its contents.
"Seems like you guys need quite a lot of supplies, then?" she asked with a singsong voice while zipping the bags back up. "A completely new set of things?" she added with a raised brow.
"If it's possible," Drew replied back. "I was hoping you could keep these duffel for us for a while, and we'll buy them back when we're back on our feet. I hope this would be enough for a few supplies to us to take away…" he added as he took a roll of bills from his pocket and placed it in front of her.
"Excellent, business has been slow recently!" she said, a twinkle in her eye, sweeping the money into her cash register. She clapped her hands together, rings clinking together as she did so. "Well, no time for dillydallying around, it's too late for you children to be out on the streets alone!"
She placed their duffel bags behind the counter, then busily went to a corner and picked out a faded red duffel bag for May, and a faux leather one for Drew. She glanced at their schoolbags and picked out two camping backpacks for them, putting them both on the counter with a flourish. She bustled quickly round her store, tossing items to the countertop as she went.
May stayed silent and watched. She had been so confused since this morning, and at this point, she gave up comprehending what was happening and just waited - and hoped - that Drew would tell her what was going on later that night, or week, or...
"The weather's quite nice for camping recently, isn't it, ma'am?" Drew asked politely, interrupting May's thoughts. Aunt Theresa turned and looked at him, cocking her head slightly.
"Yes, but I haven't gone in ten years, ever since the government started asking for money to camp in national parks…." she said, trailing off sadly as she zipped up the nearly full bags on the counter.. Drew took something out of his pocket and slid it across the countertop.
She deftly took it, fast enough that May couldn't even see what was being exchanged. "Well, I don't think I can use my gear anymore, but you young ones should have the spunk to do so! Feel free to take them, they're placed in the corner over there." Drew nudged May and nodded at her to go pick up the supplies.
May walked over, and saw a huge assortment of tents and camping gear, some destroyed beyond repair, some as good as new.
'This really looks like her camping gear,' May thought cynically as she started picking up some things. She tried her best to be quiet, but it was hard when metal pots and pans were haphazardly placed everywhere, making loud clanging noises when she tried to pick anything up.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Drew leaning over the counter, talking to the woman in a low voice. There was no possible way she could hear anything with the cacophony of metal things drowning out every word they said. It would be too suspicious to stop packing all of a sudden…
When May straightened up with the appropriate gear bundled up nicely - or what she hoped was appropriate, she had just packed everything in the camping list of the SLY handbook - they had already finished chatting, and Drew was slinging the duffel bags on his shoulder.
"Thank you for your help, ma'am," Drew said, bowing respectfully as he said so. May followed suit.
"No, no, anything to help children like you! Now stop skedaddling round the streets at night and go home, a train station is on the left at the end of the street. Go along, now!" she said, wagging a finger at them.
Drew motioned for May to leave and she did, a heavy set of camping materials strapped to her back. He walked quickly along the street, some faint street lights flickering around them. He turned to the left, May running to catch up with him.
She turned the corner and was confused when she saw no indication that a train station was along the street. Just an identical, old, sketchy road, a car parked right on the sidewalk….
Drew took a car key out of his pocket and unlocked the car with a beep. May just looked at him incredulously, placed the gear in the trunk and clambered into the passenger seat without a word. No point asking what on earth was happening at this point of time.
He reversed the car out of the street and sped off through the road. May glanced at him, but his brow was slightly, eyes deep in thought. No point talking to him now, it seemed.
May let out a yawn, settled comfortably in her chair and closed her eyes.
A quiet "We're here," was all that it took to snap May out of her slumber. She stretched as well as she could in her car seat and looked around.
They were in the parking lot of a convenience store of a small town, a line of buildings lining the main street. Larger detached houses and mansions were dotted here and there on a gently sloping hill. It was a little past sunrise, the light spilling onto the carefully tended pavement of the main street.
"Let's go and get some food," Drew said, stepping out of the car. May followed him into the convenience store.
She had no idea how far they'd travelled, nor when they had stopped in the parking lot. but they were definitely inland, far away from the coastline that the city rested on.
The store had a small area with hot food, some heat lamps heating up some fried food, hotdogs, and fishballs. May grabbed a few things for her breakfast, and dropped them off in Drew's basket (as the didn't have money to pay for them), and walked over to the newspaper and magazine stand. Perhaps she could figure out where they were at the moment…
She walked over, trying to see if there were any maps of the region on sale. The convenience store carried a pitifully small collection, and many magazines and newspapers were dated long ago. Her eyes swept through the rows, then stopped as she noticed the waterfront city's name in a corner of one of the newspapers.
Two teenagers drowned in freak accident, many more swept out and rescued in the sea…more on page A5
She picked up the newspaper, quickly flitting to the the page and skimmed through the article rapidly
At the city's landmark beachside hotel, the wooden supports to the outdoor deck gave way suddenly, sending the diners plunging into the sea. Most of them were rescued by the maritime guards and nearby onlookers, but there was 1 death and 1 missing person, suspected to have drowned as well. The drowned victim was the Bianca Rosewood, the oldest daughter of the CEO of AltaCorp, slated to fill a board of directors position after graduating from college. Preliminary autopsies point towards cause of death by drowning, with no incidence of foul play or externally inflicted injuries. According to a classmate, who wished to remain anonymous, Rosewood did not know how to swim, which may have lead to her death.
The missing person is a male student from her high school, Anthony Rivers. Rescue divers recovered some clothing, suspected to be River's. They are still racing against time to locate his body. Police remain undecided whether it was a structural problem or a intended attack...lack of recent building records in the city hall archives suggest the deck was not under maintenance...it may have collapsed due to-
"Hey, we're leaving," Drew called. "Stop loitering around and go"
May folded the newspaper and put it back, jogging lightly after Drew.
They clambored back into the car, and Drew revved the engine, driving them away from the town and into the nearby forest, driving through the bumpy dirt roads until they reached a clearning.
"Let's eat," he said, opening a packet of sandwiches and tossed May one of them. She chewed on the slightly stale sandwich, an odd expression on her face.
"Saw something strange on the news?" Drew asked nonchalantly while polishing off his sandwich and opening a bag of biscuits.
"Yeah...apparently you and Bianca drowned when the deck collapsed, and the city hall records showed a lack of deck maintenance…" May slowly replied.
Drew laughed. "That was an easy case," he said through a mouthful of crackers, talking calmly as if they were having an innocent discussion about the weather. His unfazed voice and expression threw May off a bit, but he was a long-term assassin...more importantly...there were some questions to be answered...
May frowned. "I don't understand at all, we were supposed to be at the school for weeks, to leech out the information! You disposed of her within a week. Now we changed personas and went to smack dab in the middle of nowhere; our plan is just thrown out the windo-"
Drew shushed her. "Just let me explain, it's faster for me to start from the beginning. But before that, I have a question for you. Do you place your trust in me as a mentor?"
May raised a brow, staying silent.
"Well?" he prompted.
"I don't think it's a matter of whether I trust you or not, you know," May ventured. "You're basically holding me as a hostage since you have tabs on my family."
"Okay, let me rephrase it then," Drew said, cracking his knuckles. May looked warily at him and got ready to defend if he tried to slug her. "Would you keep a secret for me, or will you spill your guts to someone the second we got back to the arena?"
"Uhhm...I wouldn't say anything, and if I did, wouldn't you just beat me until I was an inch away from death?" May replied skeptically. "Is this some sort of test? Trick question? I'm basically on a ride or die connection with you right now, aren't I?"
He met her eyes squarely. "Promise me that you won't say anything to anyone at SLY," he said. "Swear it on your life."
"...Okay, I swear. On my life." May replied, looking uncomfortably away from his gaze.
He opened a bag of chips and took one, handing the bag to her.
"It's going to be a long story," he said, when May just stared at his outstretched hand. She accepted the bag and started munching away.
"Our mission is supposed to be 50 days, you are correct about that," he started. "As you can see, yesterday you erased Amber's existence from the school, and I apparently got lost at sea. This mission was going to be a huge waste of my time, so I just finished it at my usual pace, which is 5 days. I've decided to go on some rounds with the remaining time for some personal missions I have."
"Personal mission?" May repeated stupidly.
"Yes, personal missions." he replied patiently. "However, I wouldn't like anyone at SLY to know about at the time being," he continued, flicking off crumbs from his shirt as he said so. "This way, it will be a pleasant surprise for them when I'm finished."
'So that's why he told me to give the medallion away,' May realised. 'Or SLY would notice that I was no longer at school. The blonde will commute to and from the dorm for school everyday, so nothing would seem out of the ordinary to them. He sure had this thought out in a lot of detail…probably before he even stepped foot in the helicopter...'
"This is also a good time for you to train, as a novice." he continued. "Although it's not the plan we started out with, you will still be able to observe and learn a lot of skills from me."
"Wait one second, let's backtrack a little bit...you said you finished the plan in your usual pace...you're done? Already? With the leech and kill plan? Within the school week?" May interjected.
"Yes, of course it's finished," he replied coolly. He unlocked the glove compartment and took out a brown file. "Even finished the paperwork as well."
May looked at him incredulously for probably the tenth time in the past 24 hours.
"Any questions?" Drew asked, putting the file back in place.
"Of course I have questions! So...we're now on a secret personal mission...with new identities...and we're probably going to go camping at some point?" May asked, gesturing at the trunk where the tent and other gear was stored. "And you haven't even mentioned what the mission is about, like at all."
"We won't need to go camping for the time being, that's all I will say," Drew replied. "As for the plan and content of the mission, I'll tell you as we go along. Think of it as a test. You ready to start now?"
He turned on the engine and started backing out of the clearing.
"I have one more question, Drew," May said as they started their way along the bumpy path back to the town. "If I said I wouldn't keep the promise, what would you do, then?"
He shrugged. "Drop you off in the forest with the camping gear and leave you there, until it was time to go back to SLY?" he said jokingly. "I don't know, I didn't think that far. I figured that you'd promise me no matter what I said. But now that I mentioned it, that option seems quite fun to do. Let's see if I can add that somewhere within the remaining time."
May pretended she didn't hear that and brushed her black hair out of her face. Apparently, she now found herself in a 45-day-long personal mission...with no idea what Drew was plotting to do.
