Hello again, all, I apologize for such a long wait for this new chapter I have just been so busy. I'm in college now and adjusting to life as a busy Music Major, and so time has just not been on my side recently, but I told myself I would find time to update and FINISH this fic. I WILL. No questions asked. I will for you fine people and again I appreciate your patience. I still receive the occasional review for this story and that has motivated me to start updating again because I am seeing continuous interest and I don't want to let you guys down. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new chapter, I had to reread the last chapter so I could refresh myself as to where we were at with Kat, so here we go…
Day 28 of Transfer Sequence: Heart's Desire – …Reconfiguring…
The relief I feel after seeing Malik's form still alive, still breathing, is too much and I lean up against the wall of my room, clutching my heart, my tears long dried up. To say I feel happy that I did not murder Altair's best friend is a gross understatement, in fact, I don't even think that there is a proper word to describe my elated feelings. "Thank god." I whisper to myself, looking down at my hidden blade, drops of Malik's blood still lingering between the tiny crevices of the engravings. I put my hand back down to my side and slide to the floor, hanging my head between my knees as I feel my muscles begin to relax. I throw my hood off of my head, running my fingers through my messy hair. "God damn."
A knock rips me out of my ethereal trance. I lean the back of my head against the wall. "Who is it?"
"You know exactly who this is." Altair's voice snaps.
"Do I?" I say teasingly.
"This is not a joke. May I come in now?"
I sigh. "It's open."
I don't look up as I see his boots step right in front of me. I know why he's here. He's here to tell me I'm going to be tried for attempting to murder a fellow assassin, but I pretend like I don't. "So what brings you to my humble abode?"
I see him crouch down and peer under my hood, his eyes pierce through mine. "Al Mualim is not happy with your actions. You almost killed your own brother."
"I know," I cover my face with my hands, hoping to escape his gaze. "I didn't mean to."
"He knows that, he also knows you were intending to kill one of your bodyguards, which makes this much more difficult to handle." Altair sighs and looks down. "I understand that he provoked you, but all that Al Mualim sees is you attempting to kill a fellow assassin, which is punishable by death. I can try to plead your innocence, but there is only so much I can do since I'm no longer allowed to be around you."
His saying that causes me to come to a realization. "Where is Abbas and his lackeys?"
"They are with Al Mualim testifying about how you came to stabbing Malik." He looks away, breathes, and then looks back, his gaze softer. "That's why I'm up here now because I know that once they're done talking they will never leave your side for not even a second. I just felt the need to warn you that your actions will have major consequences. I just hope for your sake Abbas doesn't twist the story around." With that, Altair straightens back out and walks out of my room, leaving me to process the situation at hand.
I peer up at my boarded up windows, sighing. "I hope they at least let me go to the bathroom alone."
The day drags on and I find myself wandering the rooftops of town, absentmindedly jumping from building to building, trying to distract myself from all that is taking place right now. Any moment now a barrage of assassins could come swooping in to take me away to face my horrible fate, but as the minutes roll by I remain alone, which is no less distressful. My boots crunch on the loose stones that make up the rooftops as I shuffle in a large circle, staring at my feet with my arms back behind me, as if I am preparing myself to be taken away in chains for attempted murder. In all honesty the uncertainty of whether or not I will be alive tomorrow is more unnerving than knowing. I don't like not knowing what lies ahead, especially when my life is in question, but I do my best to remain calm. I didn't kill Malik, and I didn't kill that goon, but I still committed a crime against the assassin brotherhood, so some form of punishment must be administered. I chuckle to myself when I remember that Abbas said my initiation was supposed to be today, I guess they can't really initiate someone who attempted to kill another assassin that might seem a bit counterproductive. Placing a positive reinforcement where a negative punishment should be, that's not how a civilized world should run.
I stop my pacing and stroll to the edge of the roof, looking out at the huge gap between this building and the next, a bundle of barrels resting at the edge of the adjacent building's entryway. As I am beginning to appreciate the sight of those simple barrels I notice one of them starting to twitch, and not in the way that there is something in it, but in the way a barrel would if it was glitching out, like in a game. The glitching begins to become more pronounced, the barrel breaking up furiously into long pixels before turning black, leaving just a simple silhouette of what it used to be. I feel my heart up in my throat as the world becomes so quiet I can hear the blood coursing through my veins. I have little time to react before a loud electronic roar booms from the barrel and I am consumed by darkness.
I open my eyes and see nothing but black, leaving me to wonder if my eyes are even actually open, but I feel myself blink so I know they are. I push myself up on my elbows, feeling the sting of my pitiful cuts that lace up and down my arms. When I place my hand on the ground it feels ice cold, just like it always does when I have these visions, but this one is different, this one is black as night and not light as day. I swallow hard, trying to not let my fear petrify me, but I know that is a lot to ask of myself.
I'm suddenly blinded by a bright light and I use my arm to try and shield my eyes. Once they adjust I look up and see a large timer, the seconds and milliseconds ticking away as I stare at it. But the numbers on the timer cause my chest to tighten and my throat to dry up.
1 Day: 11 Hours: 34 Seconds
I feel my breathing quicken and I start to panic. "But, but," I try to stand up, but end up falling back down to my knees, my eyes remain wide, glued to the black ground, illuminated by the white light. "I thought I had thirty-one days to choose? I should have three days left."
"Your actions have resulted in a shift"
"These are not your days remaining to choose."
I look back up at the numbers, as if they are the source of the booming voice, my eyes fill with tears as I realize what that means and I drop my head and whisper. "It's the time I have left to live."
"You must fix your actions before the moon is high tomorrow night, or you will no longer be able to decide your fate."
I swallow even though my mouth is bone dry. I watch the floors begin to pixelate, showing the vision coming to an end, and I will soon be thrust back into my world, and the race to avoid my own death begins.
I open my eyes and see the sun as it begins to creep downward, hiding from the approaching night. My body aches as I force myself to my feet, holding my face in my hands as I breathe slowly in and out. I just saw how much time I have left to live, down to the millisecond, not being calm is very understandable at this point. "How am I supposed to fix this?" I mumble to myself, opening my hands enough for me to see the barrel that ported me to my fate, that was first uncertain, but now unless I can fix this, I know exactly when I will die, and now that I think about it, I don't like knowing.
"What about that barrel is so fascinating?"
I snap my head around and see Altair standing at the other side of the roof, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his head down just enough to shield his eyes under his hood. "I was just thinking."
"About what?" His voice is stern as he approaches me, arms still crossed but he is not as tense as when he was standing still.
"About how I can save myself." I say, shrugging to try and hide the crack of sadness in my voice.
Altair uncrosses his arms and lays a heavy gaze right on me. "You don't need to, you will be okay."
"No, I won't," I snap, looking away from him, lowering my voice. "I'm going to die, Altair. I saw how much time I have left. I'm going to die unless I can somehow fix what happened."
"You will not die with me around," His voice becomes angry and defensive. "I have spent the entire time you have been here trying to keep you from dying, and I am not going to stop now. I have begun to base my life around saving you because you seem to have a big attraction towards death."
I breathe out quickly through my nose, a soft smile coming through. "I don't think you can save me this time."
"Why would you say that?" I hear a soft note of panic interlace between his words.
"This is just something I have to deal with on my own, Altair." I refuse to look at him, even though I hear him getting closer to me. "I'm not going to drag you down with me.
He lays his hand gently on my left shoulder. "You do not have a choice in this anymore, Kat. I am too involved now, I cannot just let you accept your fate."
I laugh a breathy laugh. "I've had a choice from the very beginning. It's just now I've made the wrong one, and now I have to face the consequences as you said."
"What," Altair pauses. "Al Mualim is not going to have you killed for that. Abbas told the truth of the story, your punishment is probation. You will not be initiated until you have shown that you have learned to control yourself. That's why I said I know you won't die."
"Altair," I sigh. "You didn't hear me. I saw a clock that showed me down to the tiniest second how much time I have left to live." I pause, narrowing my eyes at the barrels, remembering how I was hiding from the goon that instigated my behavior that I was originally going to shove my blade into. My eyes widen. "Oh no…"
"What?" Altair snaps.
I let out another soft breath of air and laugh quietly as a soft breeze makes my robes flap against me. "You have to understand, Altair, I've been dancing with death since day one," I pause and look up at the sun as it disappears completely behind the mountains. "And I'm pretty sure he is tired of me stepping on his feet."
Well, there you have it. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments about what you thought of this update. Your feedback means a lot to me and encourages me to continue writing. I apologize if it is still a bit short, I'm getting back into the swing of writing, please understand that. And with that, I will see you in the next update. Bye-bye!
