Chapter 3

Returning to the assassin headquarters, Jessamine was still so confused and upset about what had just happened that she barely even noticed her surroundings. And so, when she crossed the headquarter's courtyard on her way to the entrance of the run-down building, she didn't notice Poinsettia approaching until the other lamp called out for her.

"Hey Jess, did you already do him in? That was fast…" Poinsettia paused when she saw that the violet Rainbow didn't carry a trophy. "What happened?"

Jessamine cringed. Oh no, how was she supposed to explain this? She took a deep breath before facing her friend and answering. "A… problem occurred. But I got it under control. I'll just need one more opportunity to get him." If only she felt as confident as she made her voice sound!

"If you say so. I'm sure you'll have it sorted out in no time," Poinsettia nodded, but Jessamine noticed a trace of doubt and concern on her friend's face.

"Well… I'll be in my room," Jessamine said, suddenly tired. "I need to rest."

"Alright," the other Thermalli lamp replied, and the Rainbow noticed something that looked like slight concern in her eyes, so she quickly went on her way before her friend could ask any more questions.

Jessamine returned to her room; she needed to be alone, to think. There wasn't much else in here – as a lamp, she didn't need much – than the boards with trophies that dominated two of the walls. In the calm of her personal space, Jessamine finally had the time to process it all, still wondering what the hell had just happened there. Never before had she made a mistake like this – tripping and giving herself away right before the strike! And then, when he had given her the knife back and cluelessly offered a perfect opportunity, she had hesitated. She had hesitated and missed the moment, and she had no idea why. That had never happened to her before. Was it how unaware he was of her motives? Was that what made her hesitate? Was she becoming that soft? With a vacuum? One of those surely wouldn't have hesitated in a situation like this, they were wicked. But he defended someone…

But he was a vacuum! Just like Cerberus, just like the other two. Like the one who gave her the scratches. After she attacked him, sure, but he was a mafia member. A mobster. Her gaze wandered to her trophy shelves, inevitably attracted. To the first three vacuum cleaner motors in the top row, and then to another one not far away from them. Each of those they once belonged to had been stronger than her, and each of them had tormented her in a way. Yet, she had defeated them all. So it shouldn't be that hard to finish the job she was given and do the same with Osmond. The trophy she would take from him would look exactly the same as the one from that other Kirby Tradition… She found herself staring at it intensely and shook the feeling off. Oh dear, she truly needed some rest.

As a lamp, Jessamine didn't really need a bed; like most appliances, she either slept standing up or, when she wanted it a bit more comfortable, on an old mattress on the floor. And with all her confusion she went through today, she was quite tired now. This day had been so exhausting. So she collapsed on her mattress, and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

But she couldn't find rest, couldn't find sleep right away. Her thoughts wandered between the trophies and past victims and Osmond. And she remembered the legend of the zombie fan.

There was a legend that was told among assassin appliances, a creepy story for those who enjoyed a good fright. The legend of the zombie fan. No one knew if it really happened or not, but that was why it was a legend, after all. It was about a fan who was assassinated by an undisclosed member of their guild, who took his motor that kept him alive. But not long after, the fan returned as a zombie. No one knew who did it, but someone brought him back, replacing the missing motor with something different that now kept the fan alive instead. That alone was creepy, the fact that a part that didn't belong to the fan and wasn't meant for him now kept him alive. Or rather, undead. It was said that the zombie fan liked the feeling of being lighter, despite not being able to fly without a motor… or could they? It was also said that he was able to spin his impeller with sheer willpower because he was undead…

Fortunately, it was just a legend. It was unheard of that a former victim of the assassin guild came back to life like this, zombie-like, with a foreign part replacing their original one and possibly seeking revenge. Thinking of her past victims once more, Jessamine shuddered. No, it couldn't happen. And then, she finally fell asleep.

She stood alone in a dark room or alley, and not even switching her light on could push the shadows away; it only created a small puddle of light she stood in, expanded her field of vision only a few more meters in every direction. There seemed to be nothing, and yet…

Suddenly, a whir started up, a well-known whir that made her wiring freeze with dread although she hadn't heard it for so long.

A familiar red shape emerged from the shadows. It was Cerberus, the Dirt Devil. Back in the day, he was the vacuum cleaner of the household they both shared, and Jessamine's main tormentor. He had also been her first victim after her return as a freshly baked assassin. The very first trophy in her collection came from him. And now he was back for revenge – it had to be that.

"Hello Jessamine," he said in the same tone of voice that had always sent a chill down her wiring. "Remember me? Oh, I'm sure you do. You got yourself a little memorabilia, after all."

Then, that whir started up again, exactly the same sound she remembered from back then and that should now be impossible…

With rising horror, Jessamine gasped. "No! You… you can't whir!"

"You're right, I can't... Because of what you took from me! Do you enjoy looking at it? Remembering what you did?"

Two more shapes emerged from the darkness – Bodmin and Hodge, the Vorwerk upright and Bissell canister vacuums. Her two other bullies, Cerberus' friends. Motorless husks just like he was, yet still alive to accusingly remind her of what she had done to them.

"And what you did to him, you also did to us," Hodge stated, accusingly.

"You hunted us down without a trace of mercy and took us by surprise," Bodmin added. "We didn't stand a chance."

"Maybe, if you just gave us a chance, we could have changed our ways."

Jessamine was taken aback. Could that be true? Could they really have… changed? No. They must be lying.

And, at last, her first Kirby victim, the Tradition who had caused the scratches on her face, who's blue bag and overall appearance blended with the image of Osmond before her eyes.

"I may have been a member of a rival mafia group, and I may have enjoyed the fight, but it was you who attacked me, for no other reason than that and because you were so excited to kill one of my brand for the first time."

The undead vacuums formed a semi-circle around her, staring at her accusingly, menacingly. Slowly, they drew closer.

Jessamine was getting really nervous now. Did they intend to attack her? To take revenge? She looked around for her knife, but it was nowhere to be found. "You… you can't harm me!" she shrieked while taking a step backwards. "You are dead… all of you, dead and gone!"

"Oh yes, we are," Cerberus replied darkly. "And it's all because of you that our lives were cut short. But we aren't here to harm you… we just want to show you what you did to us." He then slowly turned around, revealing what she was most afraid to see. Jessamine knew before she saw it. Cerberus had been her very first kill, but she had already used the method that had proven effective with most uprights, by tipping him over and open the underside to gain access to what was inside… The Dirt Devil didn't even have to lie on his side to reveal the loose wires sticking out from the empty void left behind by what was taken, the gaping hole where it had been, exaggerated by nightmare logic, as well as the similar wounds revealed by the other three. Look and see what you did to us…

Jessamine jolted awake in the middle of the night, shaking. She didn't have a pulse and couldn't sweat, but if she did, her heart would race and she'd be bathed in sweat now. Guilt. Was that really guilt that she felt? Those vacuums deserved what they got, they were terrible people, all four of them. And now, there was suddenly guilt? It all began with Osmond… she never felt guilt before she witnessed him yesterday. Did he deserve it?

Cerberus and the others couldn't return. They were gone. And soon, Osmond would be gone too.

Jessamine shuddered. She almost didn't want to go today. But it was no use. Jessamine had a job to do, so she'd better get going again. Back to Osmond's home, observing and waiting for another opportunity. But, as she noticed with bewilderment and an odd, sinking feeling, for the first time in her life, she wasn't looking forward to it.