[WP] In a school for assassins and mercenaries, you're a beloved lunch lady. You ruefully realize that you're the only person nearly everyone trusts. Then you get framed for placing hemlock in an administrator's meal. The school board rushes to fire you, throwing the academy into turmoil.
*****
The scream rang in our ears and sent shivers down my spine.
“A-Amanda w-“
“Stay calm and keep quiet, Maria. For all we know, we could be the next people to scream out our friggin’ lungs. Stay alert.”
Damn, I thought, curling my hands around the trigger of my pistol as I tried to get my heart to stop beating erratically. Arrhythmia would be too much of a burden on Amanda at the moment, so I =took deep, quiet breaths, trying to stop the panic attack I could feel brewing.
And then the lights came back on.
For a second, we squinted as our eyes adjusted to the light, before looking at each other. The same thought struck us like lightning. “Who screamed?!”
We ran out of the room and down the wing into the courtyard, looking at a point where students and staff gathered. We reached there, and Amanda shot once into the air to dispel everybody there. On the ground lay Inosuke Kubo, the Unarmed Combat instructor.
I recognized the injury. He had been stabbed in the chest and forehead, and his blood pooled around his pale, stiff body, which was stuck in the unnatural pose in which he fell. The size of the wound made it seem like the weapon used was something with a similar width to that of a cleaver.
The Hunting Unit, I thought. That’s the only place a blade of this nature could come from.
“What the… shit!” I exclaimed.
Amanda turned to face me. “What’s up? That’s more emotion than I’d expected you to show. If I remember correctly, you hated his guts.”
I nodded. “I did. He was my suspect in this case actually, and now he’s dead, I’m damn confused. Is he innocent? Whose side was he on? Is this a conspiracy, or what the hell is going on? I’m f*ckin’ confused here, dammit.”
She was about to respond before I noticed some movement on the floor above us. It was opposite us, and I looked up to see a hooded figure. “Amanda, duck!”
I fired first as the other students and staff scrambled. I didn’t get him, but the bullet did graze him because I heard the groan as he beat a hasty retreat. It was a distinctly male voice, even though I couldn’t place the voice.
I looked around, memorizing the faces of all I saw present at the scene as Amanda raced up the stairs, her gun at the ready. I followed suit after telling them all to stay pit, knowing that the staff wouldn’t take that instruction, and soon, the students won’t either.
On the way up, the Camouflage and Infiltration instructor cornered me. She was a young woman, about the same age as me, and was an even bigger recluse than Eunice. What made her creepy to me was her ability to switch personalities as she pleased. If you saw her in a different setting, you would be amazed at how much she changed to blend in with her surroundings, from her looks to her accent.
“You’re taking quite a proactive role in this case, Maria.”
“I don’t understand where you are coming from, Nina. Is there something, in particular, you have to say?”
She walked on, and I followed at her pace as we reached the floor, scouting for any suspicious movement. “I’d like to say that you’re way in over your head, but then I doubt it’s in my place to say that, since it is more than likely that Amanda is the one who asked for your help, being the only one she can trust. And even though I understand that you’ve been through quite a lot of training under Amanda, evident in your display just now, you’re handling something that’s far too dangerous for a ‘petty dabbler’, if I may, in the acts of killing and espionage.”
That was the most I ever heard her say.
“Do you care about me, or do you detest me that much?”
“Neither. Nothing interests me more than the paycheck I get from Amanda at the end of the month.”
“Then if money is your only motivation, there should be a price to betray Amanda, shouldn’t there? I wonder if a payment has been made already, hmm?”
She smiled. “Amanda has thought you well, I suppose I’d be offended at that insinuation, but then you don’t know me, and even if you did, that’s not enough to trust me. I turned down a life of espionage and mercenary work to tutor here at Spyder because I have a certain level of integrity. Amanda spared me once and saved me twice when I was active, and in all three instances, she was my target and/or enemy. She said she needed my help here, and that’s why I’m here.”
I nodded, “If that’s right, then your motive for involving yourself in the hunt for the assassin has nothing to do with Amanda’s welfare. True, you care about her, but you’re not in this to save her, or at least that’s just a side objective. What’s your main?”
She stopped and turned to face me, smiling broadly now. “You know, I take back what I said. Or a bit of it, at least. You’ve got a good head on those shoulders, and your brain is sharp. I’m just in this for a few random reasons. Boredom is one of them... it’s been really long since I’ve done any real fieldwork. Don’t get me wrong, this peaceful life is blissful, but sometimes I want to have my heart racing, you know? Second is that I don’t like the idea of Spyder being attacked by these people from within, and people being killed like the instructors here are worthless."
We rushed to meet up with Amanda who was searching, even as we knew that the man had escaped. To where, and his identity was still unknown at the moment. The question on my mind as I took short sidelong glances at Nina was...
"Is she really an ally, or is she trying to get Amanda for the fourth time?"
*****
To Be Continued.
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Gahh I ran out of tips and chapters to read ;;-;; it's getting goooooddd But why kill the man named after inosuke OnO