“You are not the only one. . . . None of us chose this life.”
His words hitting me somewhere in my chest, I put my hand over my heart, each beat feeling like an omen of worse things to come.
Chapter 6 Murder Or Mercy
After a sleepless night and a breakfast of cold pizza, Shane and I discussed our strategy in more detail as we waited for nightfall.
He pointed to the map in front of us. “Mr. Browning’s house is here, and there are no neighbors across the street. There is a canal and a lot of trees that go through his backyard, so the neighbors behind the canal won’t be a problem. To his right, there is a tall wooden fence to separate him from those neighbors, which is good for us. But on the left, the only thing dividing their properties is a few small lemon trees. If anyone sees you go inside, it will be them. This area is mostly lower middle class and below, so there are hardly any security cameras at the households. Obviously, Mr. Browning has no security system in place. You will not be recognized.”
I nodded, balancing my small hand mirror on my knee and applying mascara. I was trained in altering my face with makeup, masks, and wigs, but this Assignment didn’t require me to make myself unrecognizable. Instead, navy blue shadow colored my eyelids, and my lips were sticky with glittery, pink lip gloss. My long, sleeveless black sweater thoroughly covered my weapons belt, and I also wore boots and black pants; the materials of my clothes were specially made, designed for stealth and easy movement. Before knocking on the door, I would put on my elbow-length gloves.
“My concern is also the proximity of the neighbors. My orders are for him to know it’s coming, so I can’t just slit his throat and be done. I’m gonna have to knock him out first, then tie him up and gag him,” I said as I applied blush. It was important for this Browning man to find me attractive, or I wouldn’t be able to get inside as easily.
Shane didn’t look happy. “And then just wait for him to wake up? What if you hit him too hard and kill him?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t insult my abilities. I just have to hit him hard enough to disorient him. I don’t spend the majority of my time training for nothing. It will be fine.”
Shane sighed. “I’m not insulting you. Everyone knows you’re the best, ok?”
I thought he sounded a little sarcastic, and I shrugged nonchalantly. He didn’t know that it was really Ash who was the incredible one.
“Maybe he won’t even be home, and we’ll have to wait for another day.” The thought filled me with equal parts of hope and dread.
Shane picked up his phone and shook his head. “Don’t count on it. Observer Carol is watching him right now. Earlier today, he went to the gas station for some beer, but he’s home as of now.”
“Super,” I said, standing up. I bent down to touch my toes, testing the pain in my side. I endured and stretched left, then right. It hurt, but I could still fight if I needed to.
As we waited, I triple-checked my equipment. Ash was coming alive inside of me now, barely uncontainable. My body bounced up and down as I stared at the alarm clock, each minute the equivalent of an hour. Shane watched me warily, staring at his phone the majority of the time and murmuring calls to Carol for the rest.
At eight o’ clock, Shane nodded to me. “All right. I sent Carol home now that it’s time. Are you ready?” he asked.
I clipped on the earpiece that would connect me to Shane and covered it with my hair.
“Ready,” I said.
“Then let’s do this. Meet you at the car.”
When he left the room, I stared numbly at the closed door.
“Are you ready . . . Ash?”
The glee that ignited within me, the anticipation, the crazed energy—I almost fell to my knees due to the potency of her wordless response. I leaned against the wall, the rush of adrenaline making my heart skip beats.
“I suppose that answers my question,” I gasped.
I stumbled after Shane, holding on to the dim hope that somewhere in the future, I would somehow gain back the Ashley that was slowly being consumed by another.
***
“Can you hear me?” Shane’s voice echoed in my left ear as I walked down the cracked sidewalk.
“Yes,” I replied, my lips hardly moving. He was parked a few streets back.
There weren’t many people outside except for a few who were on their porches smoking cigarettes and talking on their phones. I felt nervous as I passed a teenage girl walking her poodle. She smiled and I nodded, my hand automatically going to the sweater pocket holding the cyanide pill.
Sweat ran down my forehead, trickling into my eyes. I wiped my face, completely forgetting about all the makeup. I looked down to see blue-black smudges on my fingers.
“Would you relax? You’re making even me nervous,” Ash said inside my head.
“It’s hot,” I snapped.
“It’s Florida. What did you expect, snow?” Shane said in my ear.
I groaned internally. How had I forgotten about the earpiece so quickly?
“Sorry. Target’s house is the next three down,” I murmured.
I pulled out my sensor. The device detected life forms, and it was designed to look like a cell phone, so I was mostly calm as I scanned the area.
I studied the scan. “Target is still alone. Commencing Assignment.”
“Confirmed,” Shane’s voice crackled.
Mr. Browning’s house was small and wooden. The yard was nothing but dry, brittle grass. On the other side of the lemon trees, the neighbor’s house was completely dark. I quickly scanned the house to see the readings of four large life forms, one small enough to be a cat or a dog. Hopefully, the darkness of that house meant the inhabitants were already asleep.
I quickly walked up to the front door of Mr. Browning’s home, putting my gloves on. An old truck was parked near the house, the one I had seen in Mr. Browning’s file. The only other indication he was even here was the flickering light of a TV through the shaded front windows.
“Now you listen to me,” I thought firmly in my mind. “Do not blow my cover. Let me get inside first, and then you can have your fun.”
“You are so ignorant sometimes, Ashley. This is really my area of expertise here. I’ll know when I’m needed.”
I rapped on the front door. I heard a fumbling sound, then nothing. I waited for half a minute and knocked again. A curtain slightly shifted, and a wisp of a shadow moved near the window before the curtain fell back into place. It didn’t seem like he was going to answer.
I sighed and reached for my lock picking tools, but the door clicked and opened abruptly.
Logan Browning was a short, well-fed man. His hair was a greasy black, and his mustache was in bad need of a trim. He wore a white T-shirt and stained shorts, and he smelled like a brewery. There was also the smell of smoke coming from behind him, but not the cigarette smoke I recognized from living with Ruth.
I felt my face light up brightly with a big, rare smile. He was drunk. This was going to be too easy.
“Who are you? What do you want?” he asked angrily, but his eyes were approvingly appraising my torso. This specific sweater was not my usual Assignment attire, and I had picked it out because of the front zipper. I’d unzipped it halfway down as I’d crossed the lawn, and I knew he could practically see my entire bra.
I leaned against the doorframe and looked up at him with admiring eyes, ignoring the sickness in my stomach that swelled from flirting with this trash.
“What do you mean, who am I? You called me.”
Mr. Browning didn’t look amused, but his eyes never left my chest.
“I’m sure you’re mistaken, little miss. I don’t know you.”
I let my smile turn mischievous. “You’re not meant to. Our little group of girls, we keep our names anonymous. But you can call me whatever you like, sweetheart.” I winked at him.
He seemed unsure and began to close the door. “I didn’t call you, whoever you are.”
I put my boot in the way, slid
ing in a little. “Perhaps I got the wrong house. But you know what? I don’t care. You’re just so sexy. . . .” I licked my lips a little, bile in the back of my throat. “I think I’d like to stay with you for just a little while. And if you have anything fun, and you be nice and share, I won’t even charge you. I mean, it is my fault after all, picking the wrong house.”
His eyes went wide enough that they looked as if they were going to pop out of his skull. He opened the door all the way, and I stepped inside quickly.
“I got a few beers in the fridge. A-And a couple joints in my bedroom. Why don’t you, um, follow me there?”
I closed the door behind me and locked the deadbolt, smiling at him. “Lead the way.”
As soon as he turned around, Ash’s hand was on the dagger, so fast her movements blurred. The hilt cracked against his head, and he slumped to the floor with a quiet groan.
“Disgusting,” Ash growled as his eyes flickered, his hands twitching. He wouldn’t be out long.
“Jeez, Ashley. That was interesting,” Shane said in her ear.
“I’m in, aren’t I?” Ash snapped.
She went into the kitchen and grabbed a chair. She put it at the end of the hallway, and then she went to Browning and dragged him toward it.
Her teeth sank into her lips, fighting the pain in her side as she towed the heavy burden. The only sound in the house was the noise coming from the glowing television. Her strength was indeed impressive as she hauled him up into the chair.
He began to shift and moan.
Lightning-quick, she took the metal wire from the weapons belt and tightly tied his wrists together behind his back. Blood burst from the skin and dripped to the floor. The same happened as she bound his ankles together, and for a moment, she stared in wonder at the glistening color that flowed from his limbs. She longed to bring the blood to her lips, to taste his suffering.
Gripping the dagger, she slapped him hard with her free hand, jolting his head to the side.
“Wake up, idiot!” Ash hissed at him.
Her only reply was a grunt, so she slapped the other cheek twice as hard, ignoring the stinging in her palm.
Logan’s eyes fluttered, and he tried to focus on her. When he finally came to and looked down at his bloody ankles, his mouth opened to scream.
Ash was faster. The dagger went inside his open mouth, and she pulled the automatic knife out, holding it to his throat.
“Scream, and this is going to be so much more painful. Take my advice, and be quiet,” Ash soothed.
He swallowed hard, his eyes crazed, but he didn't scream.
“Good boy. Now, I’m going to take this dagger out of your mouth; I’m sure it feels a little uncomfortable. Then I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. You’re going to answer my questions quietly. Blink twice if you understand.”
He blinked. She pulled the dagger out, but kept the knife at his throat.
“Now, do you know why you’re in this little predicament here?” Ash asked sweetly.
“N-No! I haven’t done anything, I swear!” Logan gasped.
Ash bent to his level and cocked her head at him. “Interesting. Always innocent, right? Well then, do you know who I am?”
“A killer! A crazy person!”
I winced internally at the accusations, but Ash pressed on, unbothered.
“Close. Ever heard of a little group called Merciless?”
Logan’s eyes widened. He fought against the wire, making the metal bite deeper, and his blood started to flow faster.
“I didn’t do anything! Why does your cult want to kill me?”
Ash fought the urge to spit on him. “Maybe because you killed your wife and your unborn child! Ever consider that?”
“I didn’t! No! They died in a car accident weeks ago! I’m beside myself, and I’m lonely, and that’s why I let you in!”
Something in his voice, his expression. Something in his eyes.
I didn’t care if she was in her element—I ensnared Ash with a ferocity I didn’t know I possessed and took back control, pushing her down inside of me.
I also did something I’d never done before on an Assignment. I clicked off my earpiece connecting me to the Observer outside.
“What do you mean they died in a car crash? I have it on authority that you were the cause of their death. You pushed your pregnant wife down the stairs. She went into a coma and never woke up.”
He continued to struggle in vain. “There’s not even any stairs here! Please, I didn’t do this. I loved her. I love her so much. . . . You know what? Go ahead. Kill me! Kill me so I can go to them! I-I can’t l-live without them, ˮ he said, his voice breaking as he burst into tears.
I slowly stood up and watched him. I knew the tears and begging of a sinful man. I knew the manipulation and pleas of a guilty woman.
This was none of those things. Something was very, very wrong.
“If you make a sound, you will be introduced to a new world of pain you never dreamed existed. I’ll be back.”
I left him crying and went through the house. I couldn’t find any stairs, not even on the back patio. I looked inside one of the bedrooms. It was a nursery, and no one had bothered to clear out all of the unnecessary things. The crib, the mobile hanging from the ceiling, the changing table, the bunny wallpaper—everything was still in place, like he couldn’t bear to change anything.
Was it guilt that kept the room intact, or something else?
Something stronger than fear, something I had no name for, pulsed inside of me as I rushed into the master bedroom.
Resting on the dresser was an assortment of photos of a beautiful, smiling woman. Many of them were of her with Mr. Browning. Some were bent and wrinkled, as if somebody had clutched the memories with all of their strength.
On the bedside table were ultrasound pictures and an empty perfume bottle. I leaned over and breathed in the floral scent of the bed. The entire bedspread was drenched in rose perfume, as if he’d sprayed the whole thing so he could smell her as he slept.
Shaking, I returned to the hallway where he sat. His face drooped against his chest. Around his neck was a silver chain with a thin gold wedding band, the ring too small for a man’s fingers. He looked up at me, pure misery and anguish in his eyes.
“You didn’t kill them.” My words were stone.
His shoulders sank, and he shook his head slowly.
“Then why would . . . ?” I trailed off, confused.
Merciless didn’t kill innocent people—doing so would contradict everything we stood for. What did this mean? How many innocent people had I killed? Was this the only exception?
I reached down and untied him carefully, and he moaned as the wire fell away. Doing my best to ignore the scarlet liquid, I leaned down to him as he slumped back in his seat, no fight within him whatsoever.
“Is there anyone you know who would want you dead?” I whispered to him in a rush.
He shrugged pitifully. “I-I don’t think so. There are a couple of co-workers I don’t see eye to eye with. And my wife’s mother and I never got along well, but that’s the way it is with most in-laws, right?”
I couldn’t bear to look at the broken man anymore, and as I studied the floor, Ash burst through the lock I’d put on her.
“What . . . are you DOING? You stupid, stupid girl! We have to kill him!”
I shook my head. “I can’t. I won’t.” I felt Mr. Browning’s eyes on me, felt his pain in the very air around me.
“We must! He knows who you are! If they find him alive . . .”
I rose from the floor. “I will not kill an innocent man.”
As soon as the words left my lips, my right hand twitched and jolted. Without my control, it gripped the dagger at my waist.
I fought Ash with every ounce of strength in me, but I was losing. Quickly, with my other hand, I reached into my sweater pocket and pulled out a cyanide pill.
“Here, take this.” I shakily dropped the pill into his open pa
lm as I fought the killer inside me. “L-Listen to me carefully,” I said through clenched teeth. Ash was vicious, and my veins were filled with her venomous fire. “I . . . am sorry I cannot do more for you. After to-tonight we are both most likely dead. But if . . . you see anyone approaching you that looks suspicious, swallow that. F-Follow your intuition. It will . . . be less painful if you die by that pill. Get out of here. Do . . . do not come back. Leave the country if you can.”
I backed away, my hand clutching my head, my other hand gripping the hilt so hard my fingers were going numb.
His face was full of shock and something akin to apathy. “What is this?” he asked in a dead voice, holding up the pill.
“Poison. I’m so sorry,” I choked.
I turned and went out the front door, making myself slow my steps as I left the yard.
Ash let out a crazed scream inside my head, loud and long, and I winced at the sound of her rage.
“Do you realize what you’ve done? They’ll know you spared him! You are dead now, and so is Ruth!”
“Ruth,” I whispered.
I broke out into a sprint, not caring who saw or how suspicious I seemed.
Because Ash was right. I was as good as dead now, and I wasn’t the only one who was going to face the consequences.
Chapter 7 Fault
As soon as I saw the car, I heard Shane start the engine. I slid to a stop at the passenger door he’d opened and leapt inside, breathing hard. Shane pulled onto the road and started in on me.
“You better have a good explanation for turning your earpiece off! What happened?” he shouted.
“Not in the mood, Shane. Take me home.”
“Is Browning dead?”
I looked down at the blood on my gloves; they were stained from removing the wire. I took them off and threw them onto his lap.
“See for yourself,” I replied coldly.
Shane appraised me. “What is it? What’s gotten into you?”
“I just killed someone. What do you want, for me to throw confetti into the air and then do a cartwheel?”
He sighed. “You killed a killer. Eye for an eye. Stop acting like you’ve killed an innocent.”
Ashes of Merciless Page 7