I had held a bloody dagger as Kaeli’s cold eyes stared back up at me in my nightmare. The Nightshades said that I was too rebellious. This job didn’t support, or want, people who were too rebellious and let their emotions rule. That's why they had assigned me to kill Kaeli, because the Nightshades didn’t trust me. I had one week to kill the most powerful girl in the village. One week to kill the newest member elected to the ruling court. One week to kill my best friend.
I had all the physical skills necessary to kill her but emotional skill was another story. Every time I thought about her a tidal wave of sadness and guilt washed over me, and the swelling waves leaked out of my eyes. With her title, Kaeli could have locked me up years ago when I was still living on the streets, stealing stale bread and mushy fruit from vendors. All of Kaeli’s kindness was worth nothing now because unless I wanted to go back to my thieving ways, I had to kill Kaeli.
I paced up and down my room so fast that I felt like a blur of light. I had been thinking of ways to not do this mission , but all of them ended with me being dead or kicked out of the Nightshades. ( Not doing it at all and just lying? Dead. Try to escape the Nightshades? Dead and they would get rid of me so fast. Try and send a warning letter to Kaeli? Guess what? Also dead.) There was no way out of this. No matter how much I didn’t want to do this it was the only way that I could prove to the Nightshades that I belonged. That, just like the rest of them, I was a killer. All I wanted was a place to belong. Kill Kaeli Brooker and I would always be respected. No one would question what I was capable of. Even though I had never believed in the gods that everyone else did, I sat at the end of my bed and prayed that I wouldn’t have to live in a world without Kaeli. I knew that I needed to think of something, so I did.
It was 10:32 pm. I’d sent Kaeli a letter saying to meet me at 10:35. I told her that I had important news she needed to hear. Hopefully that news would intrigue her enough to meet with me. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, but no matter how hard I inhaled it felt like no air would enter my lungs. I was really doing this, I was going to kill the only friend I had in this city. I tried to get air in my lungs one more time before disappearing behind a street cart.
“Aurelia! I thought that I wouldn’t be seeing you for a while?”
“Kaeli! I know but while I was away I learned news that you need to know.” Technically the first part was true, I had told her that I would have to leave for a while, because I thought I had an assignment. “We’ll have to go somewhere more private, I don’t want to risk anyone else hearing this information,” I said, hoping she would lead me to a place where no one would hear her screams when a blade sunk into her chest.
“Of course. Come with me, I know the perfect place.”
The place that Kaeli had in mind was an old abandoned watch tower; I made sure I still had my dagger. “Well here we are. Can we spare the niceties and get to the important news you have for me? I will need to tell the village about it as soon as possible. Although I guess it won’t be my problem who they elect instead of me after they find me dead with a blade in my chest.” Kaeli turned and smiled at me. I stopped dead in my tracks, shocked. How in the world did she know what I was here for? “Oh please, don’t look so surprised. Aurelia, did you really think that I wouldn’t find out about a team of assassins hiding in my village? Of course I would’ve sent a spy to figure out your organization's plans.” She was laughing. Why was she laughing? This was a very serious situation.
“How are you laughing at this right now! I’m here to kill you!”
“Yes, you are but if you really thought that I was going down without a fight, then you truly don't know me at all. So let's fight.” I wanted to fight but I also knew this was my only chance. This was a way out of this whole mess. Together we could start new and figure out how our two lives could coexist.
“Kaeli, listen to me. I don’t want to kill you, but it was an assignment and I can’t disobey the Nightshades or else I would be greatly punished. But now you know why I'm here. Now we can work together so that no one gets hurt.”
“No one gets hurt?! Oh that's funny! What about all the people who you and your little organization have killed? Is that what you call no one getting hurt? She was screaming at me now.
“Please I know that it must look like innocent people are being killed-”
“Because they are."
“But trust me, those people were bad people. The Nightshades don’t kill without reason.”
“Then why were you assigned to kill me, Aurelia? Am I a bad person?”
I sighed and walked toward Kaeli. “ I was assigned to kill you because you are the most powerful person in the village and the Nightshades think that if you are gone then they can take control.” Once I had reached her I put my hands on Kaeli’s shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. “But I'm not going to kill you. I will not let them take control. We can run away if we have to. But we can figure this out. I really believe that. Please believe me, Kaeli. I never wanted to kill you.”
“You are a very kind and honest person. I do hope that the gods will take that into consideration when they decide your final resting place.” Suddenly I saw a flash of silver and then I felt a hot sharp pain pierce through my heart. I gasped and looked down. Sure enough a blade stuck out of my chest, blood running in small rivers down my chest. My legs lost strength and I fell to the floor. Kaeli leaned down and took the blade out of me. “I truly am sorry, but the village needs a sane voice of reason, and your Nightshades are not the answer. May the gods have mercy on you.” As I lay there feeling my blood form a pool around me like a beautiful crimson lake, I thought that maybe this was the gods’ answer to my prayer to not live in a world without Kaeli. As I took my last breath I greeted the gods as if they were old friends.