She stuck to the shadows. She was one the outskirts of what she assumed was the downtown of La Push, Washington. The reservation was small and empty. Or it was compared to her home in Spain, a crowded Atlantic port city. La Push was quiet and relatively still. There was no constant flow of hustle and bustle of people. The convenience store and the diner she recently passed, and was what she assumed was their established market place, was the busiest place she had passed and that really only consisted of maybe twenty persons max. She only really saw a handful of people during her short time at the reservation. Meaning there would be less chances of her being seen, but also a large chance her targets will be sorely missed. She missed the crowds already.
The air in La Push was much fresher as well, there was no constant stench of cesspools, sweaty men, or rotting fish. The air was fresh and crisp, the smell of pine filled the air along with the faint familiar smell of the ocean. The faint sound of waves were her only comfort in reminding her of home.
Her previous observations did not so much bother her. This was a quick in-and-out contract after all. The difference was quite refreshing. If only it was not also so damnably cold.
Mierda, was it not summer here? She shuddered making her way silently through the trees, carefully navigating toward the home of her first target. Emily Young.
It was near dark by the time she was seated comfortably in a tree overlooking the home. It was... cozy. Hidden and partially isolated by the circle of trees around it, the home nearly resembled a cottage. A small patio out front and plenty of yard space. Two older looking vehicles parked in the front.
The lights were on inside. Judging by the movement of shadows and the loud ruckus coming from within, there were many visitors in the little home. Most male if the chorus of booming laughter was anything to go by.
Nekoda internally sighed, she would wait.
She sat in the trees watching the little house. The sun had set when two figures strolled out of the forest on the other side of the house. Even from her obscured view she could tell they were both male, tall, large in build, and shirtless. They had identical features, russet colored skin that she had come to associate with the La Push locals and cropped, black hair. As the two went in, another pair came stumbling out of the house soon after, laughing and shoving each other. They disappeared into the forest the previous two had stepped out of.
Nekoda raised her eyebrow at the strangeness. She did not dwell on it, she was only here for Emily Young. Although with the amount of activity going in the home she was beginning to think she should have gone after the other target first. But she was already here, so she waited.
And waited. And waited more. The hours passed as she remained still, crouching in the tree. The cold of the air set into her bones. She was glaring at the house now, willing the visitors to leave. Her patience was starting to plummet and the soft breeze that had started was not helping her current state of being.
She dabbled with the idea of going in now and finishing her contract, visitors be damned. It was not a plan she was going to go through with of course. That was highly unprofessional. She was anything but unprofessional.
Nekoda nearly groaned, her back was starting to bother her. A shift in the air and a scurry resounded from her left. A squirrel sat at the other end of the branch she was on. Nekoda twitched, she had been sitting there for so long that one of the more skittish of creatures had grown accustomed to her presence.
It was well into the night, the moon high in the sky. The damned squirrel was still staring at her, in fact, it had curled into her side. Nekoda was internally cursing Leon for sending her on this particular contract. She had done many contracts, half of them involved being placed in a variety of undesirable situations. Sitting and waiting half-frozen in a tree a measly meters away from her target, although easy and simple-almost down right lazy-was grating at her. Especially when she was supposed to be on holiday, cozied up in the warm air of her home country.
Fuming at fate, she resigned herself to her current situation and settled against the trunk of the tree, the squirrel in her lap. The soft rhythm of the nature around her lulled her to a light sleep. The squirrel curled into a ball, deciding that the odd human was comfortable enough to sleep on.
The door slammed open, startling Nekoda and the little critter on her lap awake. She idly ran her finger along the squirrels head in a petting motion as she peered down at the scene below them. The visitors had finally left the house and spread out going their own separate ways. A couple climbed into one of the cars and drove off the dirt driveway. Por fin, she thought.
Now all she had to do was wait for the house to go still, a small feat considering the amount of waiting she had already done. She watched the shadows dance through the window. Two of them. Ms. Emily Young was not alone.
The lights in the house started flickering off, the last in the window near the back. Nearly jumping in anticipation she willed herself to wait another hour, hoping it was enough time for the house to settle into their dreams.
Breaking into the house was simpler than she anticipated. Lock picking was not her most adept skill, however, la diosa fortuna was on her side. Their locks were old and easy picking.
She found the room with no problem and crept in silently. It was dark, but she still kept to the darkest of shadows. Emily Young laid in bed, snuggled rather comfortably against a large hulk of a man who seemed to know no bounds in snoring.
She crept to the side of the bed observing her target. She was Native American, that much was sure. Three scars lined the side of her face, but she was otherwise, beautiful. Nekoda's eyes narrowed at the man beside Emily Young, his arms around her. At the size of him, Nekoda ventured to say that she really did not want to risk waking him up. She has dealt with men his size before but after sitting stiff in the cold cuddled with a squirrel for hours, she would rather finish the contract as smoothly as possible.
Deciding that poison would probably be her best course in action, she carefully slipped her current vial of poison out of her belt and crept onto the bed. She wished she had brought her needled poisons instead, but she would just have to make due. She was crouched over her target's sleeping figure, carefully lifting the vial to her lips.
The large man groaned causing Nekoda to still immediately. Her eyes narrowed at the man, her breath held. The man suddenly sniffed the air. Nekoda's eyebrow nearly raised in question when the man's eyes shot open. A mere second went by when the man suddenly shot up causing Nekoda to fly out of the bed and Emily to startle awake with a yelp.
Nekoda rolled and landed into a crouch, glaring at the man. An animalistic growl escaped from the man's snarled lips, his form shaking. Nekoda was reaching for one of the knives hidden on her belt when she was suddenly pinned against the wall by the throat.
Her hands reflexively flew up grabbing at the hand around her throat. In the dark she vaguely made out the animalistic expression on the man's face. His skin was scorching hot. His hand shook as it tightened around her throat. Nekoda fruitlessly struggled kicking her legs out.
Nekoda was starting to see spots. She vaguely processed the screaming coming from Emily Young and the howl that resounded in the forest nearby. Her eyes flickered to the window, a massive wolf was barking at the window. What? She needed air. Leon was a cabron. She was going to die. She hoped that little squirrel was having a better night than she was. Mierda.
Nekoda stirred into a semi-conscious state. ¿Qué pasó? She thought back trying to remember what happened before she had been knocked unconscious. Ah, sí. She was filling a contract. Her target's presumed amante had awoken and did not react kindly. There was a massive wolf outside the window. Had Nekoda not known about the Quileute legends she would have dismissed it as hallucinations. However, she did know about the Quileute legends, the barking had been very real, and she was not one to construct delusions. Mierda así, las leyendas eran ciertas.
Her head was pounding. Shoving that pain aside, she focused on taking a mental assessment on her extremities. Her hands were bound behind her back. She was sitting in a wooden chair of sorts. Each ankle tied to a leg of the chair. Other than that she was not bound. Her belt was missing, but they did not search her thoroughly. Her fingers brushed against the handle of a knife hidden in the back of her waistband. Adjusting the knife she slowly started cutting through the rope binding her hands. After assuring herself that she was relatively fine, she focused her senses to determine her situation.
Other than being obviously bound-though a work in progress she was determined not to be bound for very long-Nekoda could hear multiple male voices varying in degrees of volume. Despite the difference in volume each voice appeared to be laced in negative tones which Nekoda supposed was not a surprise. Judging by the only slight waver in volume they were in an enclosed area, a room most likely. She counted at least five voices in the immediate vicinity with her. She presumed there were more silent observers.
"Sam, calm down," a voice laced with authority bellowed, interrupting Nekoda's thoughts.
A growl replied in kind, "she tried to kill Emily!" Nekoda simply assumed that was Sam, and by the hostility she also assumed that this 'Sam' was the man who had nearly strangled her to death.
"How do you know she tried to kill Emily?" a relatively younger sounding voice replied. Nekoda nearly snorted, what else could she have been doing? Sam seemed to be thinking the same thing as he echoed her thoughts soon after, only with more anger and venom. The room filled with chatter. Nekoda bristled in frustration as she tried to follow the multitude of comments being spurted out, but her head was pounding.
"Quiet!" the authority filled voice bellowed once again, Nekoda's pounding head hoped he did not bellow everything he said. "Now that we are settled down...," he continued in a thankfully softer voice, "we need to decide our next step."
"She tried to kill Emily! She should be dead by now," Sam spat.
Nekoda decided she would much rather be involved in a conversation of her fate so she made a dramatic groan informing the others that she had regained some consciousness. The room stilled into silence. Nekoda blinked open her eyes, willing the world to come into focus. She slowly lifted her head, her eyes doing a quick sweep of her surroundings. There were five russet skinned bodies in the room before her. All five of them male with identical features.
"Feels like my culminación all over again," Nekoda muttered. Without missing another beat Nekoda smiled at the group before her, "I did not expect to wake up alive," she paused thoughtfully, "or wake up at all."
Translations:
Mierda - shit
Por fin - finally/at last
a diosa fortuna - lady luck
cabron - asshole
¿Qué pasó? - what happened?
Ah, sí. - ah, yes
amante - lover
Mierda así, las leyendas eran ciertas - Well shit, the legends were true
culminación - culmination
Well... the wolves appeared. Sorta. There will be more of them in the next chapter if the story continues... Thoughts? Should I continue or is this just complete rubbish?