A/N:

I'm having such a blast writing nowadays! ;D

Hopefully, you'll like the extra plot I've put into the story: just to spice the gameplay up!

Chapter 6:5

1776, June 28th

As soon as I saw Alex disappear from my view by the window, I scurried down the hall in search for a jacket.

"What are you doing?"

"Searching..." I mumbled and soon discovered something appropriate for the weather in the thickness of the overflowing coat-hanger. "Found it."

"Where do you think you're going?"

I sighed and quickly dressed. "What do you think?" I asked snappishly and pulled my hair into a braid. "You heard him; Connor is going to be hanged."

"And what do you have to do with such trivialities? He's going to die sooner or later, right?" came the reply sarcastically.

I rolled with my eyes. "I liked you better when you were quiet, sergeant," I said irritably and searched for suitable shoes. The rain was still hailing down and I heard something deeper rumble in distance. "And could you stop waving that gun around like that? Whenever something happens, would it be Alex or Connor, you just show up with a gun barrel pointing at their faces."

"He deserves to die. Both do."

I whipped around, expecting William to stand at the same place as he had all along, but he was standing directly behind me and pulled out the bullets in the flintlock pistol. He looked calm enough as he nonchalantly fired the emptied gun. It made a clicking sound. "The Assassin really is begging for it." He scoffed. "People thinking that they can go around killing other human beings are sick, especially when they're justifying their actions with 'for the future'. Now, why don't you just let Destiny do her job?"

"'Destiny'?" I wondered and paused in my rampage. "Who's that?"

William chuckled. "Don't take me too literal; it's just a way of using words. Soldier's language, so to speak," he explained. "Death, Destiny and Doom, three sisters of blood and law." He paused as he saw my astonished expression. "It's just a story, Rawling."

"Don't call me that," I groaned and the right corner of his mouth twitched in something that almost was a smile. "I mean it. Don't."

"Because it reminds you too much of the idiot?" I glared at him and he chuckled again. "He is if he listens to Elizabeth. The stupidest idiot in the world- or wait, that's me because I helped her out first."

"Cut to the point, Sergeant Somerset," I replied angrily. It felt like he was playing me with his words, knowing exactly which ones to say to catch my attention, and we both knew I was being pressured by time. Connor's execution could be anytime now, even though I had seen that the time of the hanging was appointed to half past four. The grandfather clock was ticking dangerously close now. "I don't like games."

He knows what I want to know and is baiting me with it, I thought and grimaced. And here I thought that he would've matured during the past year. "I don't know how you do it but you do," I admitted reluctantly and met his gaze. "But I am really not keen on beating around the bush; either you tell me or you do not. Stop with the teasing."

William was serious as he opened his mouth to answer me, eyes regarding me with a hurt expression. "It's a long story," he said, apologetic. We stared each other down before he exhaled and threw his hands up in the air in a defeated gesture. "Alright, I'll tell you later. Go then, to save him. Good luck with that."

I nodded and flung myself out of the door and almost slipped on the staircase but got out without any injuries. I was instantly soaked in the cold rain and ran towards the nearest market-place.

It's pouring, I stated quietly as I moved between and past other people, careful not to knock into them. I can impossibly climb the roofs in this weather; I would fall and break my neck. Let's only hope I'm running towards the right place. Auntie told me that this was were they "usually" executed traitors. I tried to calm down my rapidly beating heart and slowed down as I passed a corner next to a bakery. Another thought was gnawing on my mind but I didn't want to give it any more thinking for the moment. I had a mission and I would focus on it only.

He kissed me.

My cheeks flushed with color as I waited for a wagon to pass. I tried to shake my head clear of the memories that came flowing back to me.

He touched me so tenderly.

"Stop it..." I muttered and pinched the bridge of my nose, crossing the cobblestoned street as fast as I could. "Focus."

He's killed so many. He's a cold-blooded murderer.

"Stop it," I repeated, this time a bit louder then started running again. I was drenched even through my clothes and shivered, though not because of the cold. Who exactly is this Elizabeth? How comes she knows so much? Is she also a Judicator? What is this organization even doing and did Alex speak the truth about the consequences of the battle between the Templars and the Assassins? Was it the Judicators who kept the world in balance all along? I shook my head again.

He deserves to die and you know that. Same hands that caressed your cheeks so gently have killed countless of Regulars. They've touched Death more than a human should possibly do and still you long for them and them only.

"Please stop it..."

Don't you just hate yourself for your weakness? Your fear?

I was too busy with my thoughts to see when I stumbled into a person and both of us were knocked to the ground. I heard a heartbreaking yelp of shock and immediately got up on my feet with a swift movement – even though my backside hurt immensely – to help her up. But as my eyes finally found hers I was struck dumbfounded.

Elizabeth.

"Oh my Lord, I must apologize," she blurted out and tried to find her now muddied umbrella. Her beautiful, navy blue dress was in a horrible state as well, but she didn't seem to care, seeking only for my forgiveness. "I'm so clumsy and didn't think while walking, you see I'm blind and I usually have a walking stick but forgot it at a friend's. I'm so sorry, sir."

I didn't know what to do. Should I just mimic someone else's voice and walk away? She can impossibly-

Her fingers caught onto my leg and she lighted up. "Oh, is it you Melissa? I didn't even recognize you! What are you mumbling about?"

I froze. How in God's name did she... "Erm, is that you, Elizabeth?" I asked and tried to keep my voice steady. "I'm so sorry I ran into you, I was just in a hurry and-"

"Call me Liz," she said and smiled widely. "And I'm fine, no harm done to me."

To my jealousy, Elizabeth was still the most handsome woman I had ever seen even when soaked and dirtied. She made the clean and polished people around her look gray and pale in comparison to her golden hair and pretty face. And she was blind! She didn't even show her eyes and she was so beautiful.

Some people are just born lucky, I thought and felt irritated. "Alright," I said and helped her up. "I got to continue but it was nice to meet you again."

Standing in front of me like this, I couldn't think of her to have any menacing plans. She didn't at all look like someone capable of spreading rumors, keeping secrets or being two-faced. But then again, that's probably what made her so successful in her endeavors. Elizabeth was so deceptive and sweet, but children even half of my age were taught that a blunt knife can kill as well as a sharp and I started walking again. I did not yet know anything about her, but my instincts told me to avoid her whenever it would seem possible.

"Melissa."

My breath caught in my throat as she suddenly gripped my arm. I stiffened and slowly turned around, trying to calm down my panicking heart. I didn't think she would be able to fight me in any situation – if she wasn't armed with a gun – but her blindness scared me in ways I couldn't understand.

Elizabeth wasn't faced towards me but I heard her voice good enough even if it wasn't more than a whisper. The rain was still pounding the city with its merciless force but even nature seemed to subdue to her will as it diminished when she spoke.

"I know the secrets," she said and giggled. "I know it all."

Her hand loosened around my wrist and I shrugged it off. I wished for a second to rip off the band around her head, but feeling that what might lie beneath would maybe be worse than what I already saw, made me ignore the urge.

"Excuse me?" I asked sternly. "What secrets?"

Elizabeth crouched down to pick up her umbrella and pulled it open above her head. The rain started falling again. "Everything you need to know to see the truth," she replied teasingly then looked over her shoulder. "Oh, are you still here? I thought you were in a hurry."

How can she see? "Let me see your eyes," I demanded and now it was me grasping for her arm.

She took a step forward to avoid my hand and raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you want to see what hides beneath," Elizabeth gestured in front of her face, "this. But I am blind or I wouldn't walk around with this stupid thing."

Her otherwise so sweet voice was gone and replaced with something harsh and much colder. "Though I wasn't born blind if that's what you wonder," she continued bitterly. "There was a time when I was able to experience the world as you and even more so on."

"So your jealous of me?" I asked, surprised by her sudden change of demeanor and also feeling slightly more confident by her acknowledgment. "Because I can see?"

Elizabeth laughed and then she was her joyful self again. "You?" she exclaimed and pointed at me. "Absolutely not. Your life? No." She paused and her finger wavered almost imperceptibly but I noticed it in an instant. "I want back what is rightfully mine."

"I have no property of yours," I replied immediately and shrugged before realizing that she couldn't see me. "I really don't want anything from you."

"How fortunate," she said and smiled. "And what I'm talking about isn't exactly a certain object of some sort... more like a man. Officer Will."

I scoffed and crossed my arms, ignoring the fact that she was unable to see me. At least I feel better this way, I thought as I opened my mouth to speak. "Sergeant Somerset, is presently injured," I answered nonchalantly. "I fear he's quite cuckoo in his head; always lifting his gun for no reason. Even indoors."

"Don't try to be funny with me." Elizabeth's fair countenance turned dark. "He's not yours to keep."

"Last time I checked, he's a free man," I said and examined her. She was furious, I could easily see it in the way she was clutching the handle of the umbrella. Why not provoke her a little bit more? "I think he was born noble actually. That's at least what he told me."

She pouted with her soft lips. "How sweet to hear that he can talk to other women than me," Elizabeth replied venomously. "But he's not supposed to." She sighed and turned forward. "Well, a loyal dog always knows his place and that's by his owner."

I was utterly disgusted by her words and made it clear as I answered her. "Oh, did I mention that he called you a despicable liar and a bitch?"

She ignored me started to walk away, but I wasn't ready to let her go just yet. Our meeting had only led to more unanswerable questions for me than ever and even though I wanted to get as far away from her as possible, I wanted more an answer to the question that had been caused by William and was gnawing in the back of my mind ever since.

"Wait!"

She stopped. "Something else I would like to know about Will?" she asked teasingly.

I took a deep breath before answering, making sure that I wouldn't sound too curious or too distressed; both of the feelings quickly enveloped me as quickly as the rain had soaked me earlier and was still.

"Is my sister alive?"

I held my breath, watching her face as intensely as I could, but she didn't seem surprised at all. It felt like she had anticipated the question all along and I realized to my dismay that she had.

Elizabeth smiled contently. "Send him my best regards, Melissa, and have a continuously good day. Though I doubt there will be any joy when I tell you that the time is in a moment hitting five..."

The sound of a nearby church's large, moving clock started resonating throughout the city, interrupting what Elizabeth had to say. But I didn't care; I had missed the execution.