Chasing His Assassin

4. The Twin

The wolves that Leah had battled earlier had posed no trouble for her. To be very honest, very few immortals could get the better of her. She’d been about to decapitate their leader when some invisible force held her back. Leah had tried but it was almost like she’d been bound by some unseen restraints.

In the midst of the battle she noticed that the restraints only kept her from finishing them off, it didn’t stop her from harming them. She realised her best choice was to incapacitate them to keep them from interrupting Noah and that was what she did.

The mission was over but she couldn’t shake off the strange feeling she had. It wasn’t the first time that Leah had felt a presence around her but it was the first time the presence had ever meddled in her work. Whatever stopped her from finishing her mission had angered Caspian in turn and that was what upset her the most. He was so disappointed in her. She let out a tired sigh and turned away from the water. It wasn’t going to happen again. She was going to complete her mission perfectly tomorrow. So perfectly that Caspian would have to acknowledge her efforts. Not even a single mutt would be spared at her hands tomorrow.

But even then while she was alone in her room, she could still feel the presence stalking her. Leah could only hope that the next mission would go smoothly. She hopped off the sill and tossed the blade she wore around her hip to floor before collapsing into her bed face first. Before she let herself nod off, she turned to the side where a picture frame sat on her wooden side table and smiled.

The picture both calmed her and brought about a wave of nostalgia. It was the only photo she’d taken with her deceased twin sister. They were about ten years old in the photo. They were identical, no stranger would be able to tell who was who from merely looking at the photo but while they looked similar, they were very different.

Laura’s eyes had been a much darker shade of green than Leah’s and her sister had sported a deep cut on her eyebrow from an accident that occurred when they were younger. Their friends could tell who was who from their demeanour alone. Leah had been the shy little sister who was often taken advantage of because she couldn’t speak up for herself while Laura had been the protector who fought on her sister’s behalf. Laura could never hold back her tongue and it often landed her in trouble. Without even realising, Leah’s eyes began to tear up. So many years had gone by since her passing but Leah still missed Laura greatly. She missed her spit-fire older sister more than anything. Many a times she wished she’d been the one to die in Laura’s place. Her sister had had so much more to live for.

Laura would have done so much better in her place. Leah barely had anything to live for. The only thing to her identity was being Caspian’s assassin and she couldn’t even seem to do that well. A good number of times, the thought of ending her life had crossed her mind but she could never bring herself to do it. Not when her life had been a product of her sister’s sacrifice.

If she died then it would mean Laura died for nothing so no matter how tough things got Leah had to push forward.

That night, Leah fell asleep clutching the picture frame to her chest.

***

Like any other day, Leah was startled awake by a nightmare. It was the same dream or rather memory that had haunted her for nearly a century. The scene of her sister’s death. No matter how hard Leah tried, the dreams were a constant part of her life. Each night she watched the same monster rip her sister’s skin off her bones like she were a piece of cooked meat.

It was early hours of the morn when she got up so the sun was barely out. At her age she should have been weak to the sun but her demonic genes diluted the effect it had on her. While other young vampires slept through the day, she could move about so long as she covered every inch of her skin. Not doing that would mean terrible sunburns.

She’d forgotten to pull the blinds over her window before falling asleep the night before but thankfully she’d fallen asleep in her outside clothes. Her face that hadn’t been covered as she slept was only slightly red.

Leah pulled the blinds down before she stripped out of her clothes. She hadn’t taken a bath either so she reeked of sweat. She bunched up her used clothes into a ball and tossed them in the laundry bin before heading to the bathroom. Her bathroom was small but modern with a shower stall, ceramic sink and toilet.

After moving in, Caspian had modernised the old castle, making it a convenient place to live in. It had been a lot of work to do since the castle wasn’t even in the mortal realm and he couldn’t easily get human workers but somehow he’d done it. They were currently in a pocket realm attached to the mortal realm. It was a good hiding place for Caspian as very few knew where the gate was located.

Leah had no idea how he’d discovered the place all she knew was that he held onto the gate key like it was a sacred piece of treasure.

Leah let the water run cold as she needed the relief it would give her slightly burned skin. She cleaned herself and stepped out of the shower using one towel to dry her hair while another was wrapped around her body. Leah turned to the mirror hung over the sink to inspect her face. It was like she didn’t resemble a tomato when she woke up, no sign of the burn. She was pretty again. There was only a hint of redness underneath her eyes, a tell sign that she’d cried the night before. Well she liked the rugged look anyways, no need to cover it up.

She went back into the room and changed into her clothes for the day, a pair of black combats and a black turtleneck. Her wardrobe consisted of mainly black as black protected her best from the harsh rays of the sun. She would throw on a black cloak to protect her face when she was stepping out. Come to think of it, they hadn’t discussed what time they would be leaving for the witch’s abode today. Noah hadn’t mentioned what time the witch would be there. She should probably go find out. Leah pulled on her favourite pair of black boots before heading out of the room.

Folks would probably still be asleep but she would get something to eat while she waited. Leah stepped out of her room and made her way to the dining hall that they used for their meals. She was surprised when she met someone standing over the table and staring at something on it.

“Good morning.” Leah greeted, startling Noah. The girl whipped her head in Leah’s direction before letting out a shaky breath.

“Good morning.” She said before returning her gaze back to the large piece of paper spread out on the table. “You’re up early.”

“You don’t say.” Leah answered, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. She walked over to the table and stared at the paper Noah was so interested in. It was a blueprint of a building.

“My bad, I forget you’re a leech sometimes.” She was using the human stereotype of vampires as creatures that had little to zero sleep to make fun of Leah. Leah ignored the very obvious snide comment and tapped on the piece of paper.

“What’s this for?” She was curious as to why this witch was looking at a building plan by four in the morning.

“Its the layout of the witch’s home. It obviously an advantage for us to know the place we’re going to.” Leah couldn’t refute that, they had better chances of completing their mission if they were well prepared. “The Lycan queen is going to send more men after us so it’s best to be prepared.”

“I can handle the mutts easily.” Leah said as she moved to take a seat at the large table.

“I don’t doubt that you can but not everyone is a muscle head like you are. If you make a slight slip up and one of them comes after Freya and I, I’ll be dead.”

“I wouldn’t make such a mistake.”

“Wouldn’t you? You made quite the mistake yesterday.” A low growl slipped out of Leah’s throat at that and she stood to her feet. She takes back what she said about Noah being a good person, this witch was really pissing her off. She already felt like s**t she didn’t need this b***h to remind her of her screw up.

“You seem to have a problem with me.” Leah glared at her.

“I would say the same about you.” Noah retorted matching her gaze. If it was a fight she wanted, Leah had no intention of backing out.

“Good morning Ladies!” A loud voice called in a sing song voice. “I believe its too early to be picking a fight, don’t you think?”

“Good morning Gerald.” They chorused when caught sight of the greying man.

“Good morning.” He answered back with his signature smile. “Noah. I believe Leah already feels bad about yesterday, I don’t think she needs you to nitpick at her.”

Noah huffed before grabbing her paper and walking out of the room.

“Don’t take her words to heart, she’s only upset about failing the mission of yesterday just as you are.”

“My mistake had nothing to do with failing the mission. She was the one who let the witch out of her grasp plus she wasn’t the one who got scolded yesterday.”

“True, but that’s just Caspian’s way of showing affection to you. Just because she wasn’t scolded doesn’t mean she can’t be upset. Just see it as an uneeded transfer of aggression and don’t take it too personal.”

Leah had heard that statement from Gerald one too many times. Caspian obviously gave Leah the harshest punishments and yet each time, Gerald would equate it to the man showing care for her.

“She isn’t a bad person, I’ll talk to her, try and get her to understand how you feel.”

“Good luck with that.” He smiled again

“Shall I ask the cook to prepare a meal for you?”

“Yes please.” Leah answered before sinking back into her seat. Gerald smiled before walking out through the same door Noah had gone out from.

Gerald the butler, a former mortal who messed with something he shouldn’t have. The old man was among the few mortals who knew of their existence. Centuries ago he’d made the mistake of pursuing a relic that gave immortality and used it on himself. It worked. He became an immortal but he was frozen as the old man that he was. He gained no powers, meaning he was no different from a mortal who didn’t age. Like any other immortal, a decapitated head would end his life so he needed protection. Their world was a dangerous and cruel place to the weak so sticking to someone powerful was his only means of survival.

In this case he’d stuck to Caspian. Leah didn’t know the details on how they met but she did know that Caspian respected the man. For that reason, no one in the castle dared cross Gerald despite how much weaker he was. He was a kind man who naturally garnered the respect of those around him so it wasn’t hard to like Gerald.

“You won’t convince me Gerald!” Leah arched a brow when hear ears picked the sound of someone yelling. “She’s selfish! She knows she’s Caspian’s favourite that’s why she can’t understand the trouble she causes for the people around her when she screws up. No, not that she doesn’t understand, she doesn’t care!”

Leah chose to tune Noah’s voice out and focus on something else as she knew listening to that conversation would only rile her up. Noah was obviously Caspian’s favourite so where did she get the courage to spout such bulls**t.