The Assassin's Codex

A thin stream of pale blue light filed in through the small gap left in the cheap curtains. The tired grey, cracked, stained walls did not allow any of the sunlight to cheer up the sad interior. An eyelash stirred. On the old mattress a young woman was curled up tight without any semblance of decency. Her pitch black hair was spread wildly over the mattress as soft breaths of air came from her mouth. Gently her heavy eyelids began to open and a pale pair of silver eyes began to squint at the hateful sun disrupting her precious slumber.

Nothing else stirred in the apartment and all was silent save for the activity of the alleyway beyond the thin walls. After what seemed an age, the woman gently sat up with a great deal of effort and slowly scanned the room with her gaze. What met it was the sight of a drab, grey apartment with dirty walls and floor. An old gas stove was positioned against the far wall and except for the few cubboards, the chair and the foldable table, the apartment was empty.

Zoey sat up and went to pick up the clothes roughly scattered to the floor the previous night, not wanting to deal with much after the the murder from yesterday weighed on her mind. she wore the same clothes again and put on a deep purple hoodie from the cubboards to cover the fine dress. She put on her rubber heeled boots on as well leading to quite a haphazard looking outfit. It didn't matter. When she wasn't on a mission Zoey really didn't care about her looks or outfit. It mattered even less when she considered that everyone else in the red light district was dressed much worse than her, be it the p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.es, beggars, gangsters or even the occasional drunk office worker. Her outfit in comparison was pretty decent. The jacket hanging on the chair next to the table caught her attention for a brief moment before she staggered over to the thick metal door leading out of the apartment.

In front of the door, Zoey took a moment to prepare her mind as there was no knowing what she would find in this district. Once prepared she unlocked the heavy door and made her way out into the alleyway.

It was early in the day and unlike the nightlife where many drunk businesspeople were staggering about looking for brothels and getting mugged by beggars, the daytime was unusually quiet. It wasn't until about six o'clock pm that the beggars started to congregate in the street. She had been preyed on a few times over the years but her quick reflexes had always allowed her to thwart any attacks.

Quickly Zoey made her way out of the district and into the real city as quick as she could.

Zoey had been walking aimlessly around the city all day, occasionally grabbing a bite to eat from one of the copious amounts of street stalls. And for some reason, lost in her thoughts, she had found herself climbing up a long flight of stairs.

The dim bulb light and strange bleach smell didn't distract her wondering thoughts that had repetitively come back to Michael's dead eyes of the previous night. 'Is it all worth it?', she thought to herself as her graceful legs continued to climb the stairs.

It had been four years since that day, four years since her life had transformed into a looping cycle of murder and loneliness. Even to this day she could clearly remember coming home having just finished her last day of college. She had run back with a broad smile on her innocent face hoping beyond all hope to spend some quality time joking around with her little sister and her parents. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. She arrived to a cold, barren room with the doors and broken furniture signalling to the intense struggle that her family must have faced only hours before. The bloodstains on the floor gave ominous vibes that struck right at Zoey's heart... She dropped to the floor, shocked. She couldn't believe that such a situation had happened to her family.

For a while she sat on the floor, too surprised to shed even a single

tear. Suddenly a loud ringing noise pierced the deafening silence of the home. Shakily, Zoey reached into her

bag and brought out her phone. She moved it up to her ear before answering the call, her breathing; ragged. "H- hello?", she answered not really listening to the call as she was still trying to absorb everything in front of her eyes. "Zoey Morton.", a menacing electronic voice sounded on the other end of the phone. This got Zoey's attention. "Who are you? How do you know my name?!",

"Woah- calm down Nightingale. We have your family."

Immediately Zoey halted and looked at the phone incredulously.

"Are they hurt, are they okay. YOU BETTER NOT HAVE HURT THEM! YOU BASTARD!!!",

"Don't worry Nightingale, nothing will happen to them as long as you follow our instructions. Oh and don't go to the police Nightingale. We have our ways of telling if you do that and if you do...", "Mmmmmm! Mmmm!", the scared muffled cries of a young girl could be heard from the other end of the phone. Zoey's eyes opened wide and she seemed to lose all reason. "Lucy? LUCY! It will be all right. Don't worry! I'll get you all out of there!",

"You need one million credits to buy them from us agent. Your first mission is worth one hundred. We will phone you soon Agent Nightingale.", Zoey slumped to the floor and this time she couldn't hold back the tears.

Dazed, Zoey blinked a few times and found hersefl on the edge of a rooftop. She mused jumping off a few times before shaking her head in regret and pulling her hood up further over her face. She stood like that on the edge, pondering death for a good while. Bzzzrt... Bzzzrt... A trained hand reached into her hoodie pocket and fished out her smartphone before quickly bringing it up to her ear. The imposing electronic voice sounded out from the receiver. "This is a big one Nightingale.", Zoey's eyes flashed for a moment in a mixture of greed and hatred. "Detective Inspecter Beth Solomon. Kill her and you will receive ten thousand credits!", the voice cut out as the call disconnected. Zoey's greed filled eyes shone in the sunset as the words "ten thousand credits" kept repeating itself in her mind.

'Mom, Dad, Lucy. I will get you back soon.'

And without she stepped down off the roof and into the dim shadows of the stairwell...

The hunt had begun anew.