The Liberal Assassin

One Man, Many Faces (1)

The pitter-patter of footsteps outside my door was an inadequate warning for a deafening slam against my door so early in the morning. It was as if someone had run at full speed only to go splat.

Jolting out of bed with a blade in hand and bleary eyes from my half-asleep state, I prepared for an attack that never came. Nash would be proud of me if he knew how well-trained I'd become. The knocking sound persisted and immediately my mind narrowed down to the few people who had the tenacity to request my attention at this ungodly hour.

"Open the door!" a keening whine grated on my nerves. That was definitely zeroing my options to one very noisy Alastair Campbell.

Another set of knocking had me stumbling for my pants while finding a safe place to hide my Night Walker related equipment. "Cool your jets and let me find my pants!"

The pounding on my door ceased long enough for me to contemplate ignoring the i***t outside. Maybe he would go away if I pretended to forget. It was over a minute before the sound returned, twice as strong as before. "Sirius darling, did you find your pants yet? If you haven't, could you find it later? Let me in now, please! I have something important to show you!"

"Is it very important?"

"Not really but I wanted to show you first before anybody else!"

"Can you come another day?"

"Maybe I could but since I'm here, can't you let me in? It's okay if you're not wearing anything either!"

Deep breaths… take deep breaths, Titus. You can do this! Just don't lose it and kill this imbecile. Graduation is only three months away… you can't act in the heat of the moment and become arrested for something as silly as murder.

Checking once again to ensure everything was stashed out of prying eyes, I went over to the door. It clicked open and Alastair tumbled in. I swear someone has to teach this boy some basic form of manners. Giving in to every whim of his isn't going to help. Io will not hear the end of it after I kick this pest out of my room. That overly doting sister has spoilt this kid absolutely rotten!

I deadpanned when Alastair rubbed his nose. "Ouch! Why do you always do that to me, Titus? You're so mean! What will you do if my nose was broken, huh? They'll definitely put you under supervision. You should go find someone and get laid already!"

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I reminded myself to take deep breaths. Alastair Campbell was Spxtro's biggest moron and as someone more intelligent, I should be more understanding. That aside, it was impossible for a third generation body to break so easily. Alastair's nose will remain intact unless he annoys me more than usual.

The kid loved to exaggerate and was always poking fun at me ever since I told him I wasn't interested in girls or boys for that matter. My lower half wasn't malfunctioning. It's just that the ones Alastair recommended left a foul taste in my mouth.

They were all credit suckers that Alastair fell victim to every single time. Some honeyed words and empty promises later, the boy would be giddy and love-struck. I don't understand how the Academy hasn't done anything about it, especially when this has become a monthly occurrence.

Once I felt the control return to me, I shot the boy my meanest glare. "You have five minutes to explain why you disturbed me from my sleep. I'm busy so keep it short."

Alastair pouted. "If you're going to be busy you would have woken up a lot earlier. Don't think you can lie to me, Sirius."

"Four minutes and fifty seconds. For the record, stop with the Sirius thing! I'm not your shining light to success. Go pester Raoul or someone else."

Feinting hurt, he clutched at his heart and bemoaned, "How could you reject me? I came all the way to your room to pass you some first-hand information and this is how you welcome me? You're a horrible friend! No wonder nobody likes you."

"You have three minutes left," I said, conveniently filtered his comment about my social life.

This boy must have nerves of steel and guts to be unfazed by my killing intent and icy glare. Then again, maybe he didn't possess the intellect to pick up on my foul mood.

"Ok, ok! Sheesh! Don't get your panties in a bunch now. I just wanted to show you this article." A news tablet was shoved into my hands and the article read "Partners in Crime: Night Walker Strikes Multiple Times".

Several pictures of the Night Walker, that I recognised as my decoys, and the picture of my play date with Spencer almost made me smile. The photographer had a decent angle this time. My handsome jawline was highlighted by the flashlights, not too shabby at all. I felt the corners of my lips twitch a little but stopped them before they could curl into a smile. The last time I let it slip, the platinum-haired boy had overstayed his welcome by an hour.

I glanced up and tossed the tablet back to him. With a neutral voice and an annoyed expression, I growled at him.

"Is that all you came for?"

The olive-skinned boy looked confused. "What do you mean by that? It's big news! The whole of Luna is in a frenzy. The ladies are swooning over him as usual and I heard that Spencer refused to make any statement to the press. The Night Walker had outdone himself this time… I'm not sure how he did it but attacking two places at the same time and breaking into two very different places within a night? Only he could pull this off. I mean, Area Forty-One is all the way near the border towards the West shores of Luna and Area Six is way up north."

I yawned and started dragging the unwelcomed visitor out of my room. There was nothing to be amazed about when you knew all the shortcuts in Luna. Sometimes travelling on foot using the shortcuts can be a lot faster than travelling in a wheeler. The only setback was how physically tiring it proved to be.

"Yes, I heard you the first time. Now you can get out of my room and go talk about it with someone else. Good night." The door slammed shut in Alastair's face and I smirked. The colour language he possessed never ceased to amaze me as I caught a few new vocabularies when the curses ricocheted off the door. I casually added them to my vocabulary bank for future use.

The sudden emptiness in my room gave me time to think about last night's events. Even though there were pressing matters like reporting to Nash about my findings from the lab and digging information about that underground connection between Area Forty-One and the Slums, I found myself playing back the image of Mia's smile and her cold dead body like an unstoppable record.

Deciding to keep my hands busy so that I can push the memories aside, I picked up my knives. Even though they weren't in terrible condition or in need of attention, I decided to polish them anyway. An unfamiliar feeling coiled at the pit of my stomach, threatening to suck my entire existence like a black hole.

Mia's cell samples were the only things keeping me sane. Replaying last night's event, I regretted running. It wasn't impossible for me to take Mia back to the Slums. Why didn't I do that?

A clanking sound jolted me from my thoughts. The dagger laid there innocently but it tempted me to grab it and draw blood. It didn't matter whose blood, the more the better. With a sigh, I picked it up. This isn't working. My emotional state is in chaos and it was affecting my judgement. Stowing away the knives, I decided a nap was what I needed.

The ceiling was a dull grey as I lay on the bed. Before I knew it, the ceiling had turned a molten orange colour. I didn't notice when I fell asleep but I was glad I did anyway.

With a sigh, I stretched and heard some bones pop in satisfaction. The feeling was now mostly gone and my mind was clearer although I knew the bloodlust was still simmering beneath the calm exterior. I knew what I wanted to do and a shower sounded like a perfect start. After that, I had seventy-two babies in need of my attention. Some of them are in need of some good fine tuning.

A good shower later, I was back at the desk contemplating what to do first when my communicator buzzed. For a moment I thought it was Nash calling me but I quickly remembered that I had switched back to the Inner City's network. Nash wouldn't be able to get through unless I contacted him after receiving a notification from Cain informing me of his attempt to call me.

Donning my playboy persona as a precaution, I answered. "Hey baby, you called?"

A very manly chuckle from the other end of the conversation had me cringing. Big mistake! "Well, my apologies for interrupting your fun night. Would you like to reschedule this conversation?"