Chapter Text
[27/DEC/1997]
[St Ptrsburg, Noobia]
Senka Kaska :
It was a cold day in the city; clouds hung still in the sky, snow covered entire streets. I walked the road headed to the park. My hands were deep within my slacks' pockets, a hunting knife was hidden in my coat.
There was a man ahead of me; brown scuffed hair, thick beard, tiered eyes and pale yellow skin - he was smoking a cigarette. I approached him, and asked for a cigarette as well. He smiled for a second and accepted, after giving me the cigarette he lit it.
I didn't waste a second, I took out the knife and sliced thought his stomach. He fell and I stabbed him a few more times to ensure his death. I ran away into the park out of fear any potential witnesses would call the authorities, however I doubt it - it's still very early in the morning.
As I walked the stony path I cleaned the blade with my gloves which were already tattered from the numerous times I've cut myself. I do this a lot if you couldn't tell.
All that's left to do now is head back to HQ.
After stuffing the knife into the coat pocket, I proceed with walking and eventually get out of the park. My next stop is the police station, you may be wondering why as I just killed a man about 10 minutes ago.
Well, the answer is quite simple actually.
"Hey, Senka. How's it going?"
I entered the station, luckily no one else was here to watch on us.
"Fine, things are going as intended" I replied and took something out of my wallet: a 5000 Noubles bill. I gave it to the cop and he kindly thanked me as per usual.
His name is Miloslav; easygoing, cowardly and hardly loyal. People like him are the perfect target for corruption. He already knows what to do, to not tell a single soul about our operations, and he does it quite well - he should, we threatened him after all...
"Anything you'd like to tell me?" he then asked with a rather precarious tone in his voice "I meant we aren't really... friends, but if there's something you'd wanna talk about, I'm all ears"
My eyes shifted, "You're right, we should talk more. But I just wanna get home right now"
"Ah. Okay then" he sighed, "Have a good day then"
"Same for you" I told him as I opened the door and not a second later I was already outside, the freezing winter air hitting me like a bullet.
Speaking of bullets...
It took a me a while to get back to that dingy condo backed away in a street corner no one was gonna notice anyway, except for its tenants. I just rang the bell and the doors unlocked. I rushed up the stairs, the apartment's one of the highest and as expected from buildings like these an elevator was lacking.
I knocked on the door quite frantically, another voice was heard on the other side:
"Who goes there?"
"Me of course, open the door!" I replied
as requested, the girl unlocked the door
"Christ, there's no need to be so demanding"
I tried to justify myself, "I am tired, alright?"
"You went on a walk and stabbed a guy to death" she simply explained to me
"Well, the job is done now. Why did that guy wanted him to die either way? He seemed nice.." I began to wonder while throwing the knife on the couch, I then proceeded to take off my coat and gloves
"He sure must've had his reasons, or maybe not, people like that exist too" she replied
And I guess this is the perfect time to tell you about us. That woman that I just talked to is Felicia, she founded this small group named "Hammer and Bullet"
We're guns for hire, we kill people for cash and cash is hard to come by these days.
Felicia is our brains, to say. Short curly hair and a look to her face that would make you question what kind of person you just met. She has a plan for every occasion, and if that plan fails she has another plan. But that doesn't mean she doesn't get her hands dirty.
Our next member is Dariy, our only guy. Many men got drafted in for the war against NETO, but not him because he was able to fake an illness. And that speaks to his intellect or rather cunningness. He has very average looks; not too tall, nor too short - not muscular but still relatively in good shape, that's to say if you ignore the drinks, smokes and the occasional drug hit.
Then we're got Agniya, she handles the meetings and monetary situation for the most parts. Raw looks but still able to looks somewhat refined, must be her choice of clothing. Has a serious personality but is at the same time that kind of person who might give you company at the bar - I guess it really depends.
Finally we have me, Senka, the go-to assassin. I wouldn't stand out in a crowd which is perfect in this line of work. I also try to provide money for my mother since my father is now serving in the army (thanks to the war I mentioned earlier). It's safe to say everyone here has economic problems, I just don't know the others that well so they haven't told me the details just yet.
I walked towards the kitchen where Dariy greeted me, he was sitting on one of the wooden chairs with a newspaper in his hands
"Hey there. How'd it go out there?"
"Pretty well" I replied "What are you reading?"
I stepped in closer to take a look, seemed like orderly stuff to me
"A bit of everything here: economics, government stuff, celebrity drama, war updates..."
"Oh dang, the war..." I muttered underneath my breath
"Eh, in my opinion it's a waste of time. We'll lose either way, just like we did in the cold war" he told me and took his eyes off the paper to take a better look at me
"It's likely", I sat back into the chair facing his
"Are there any news related to found bodies?" I then asked
Dariy skipped ahead a few pages, "Hm, here. It says police found the body of a girl who was dumped near her friend's house"
"That's not the one we killed last week, is it?"
"No, it's not her... I mean, it's a good thing law enforcements aren't looking for us yet. Miloslav is really helping us here"
"Yeah, the money we have to give him though..." I sighed disappointingly
"Don't be greedy, Senka. Those cops only shut their mouths if you pay them enough", Dariy then crumpled the newspaper into a small ball and threw it in the trash with great accuracy
"Well, yeah, I'm just worried we won't be able to afford the bills one day"
the boy chuckled slightly, he sounded worried as well but tried to hide the fact "We can always run away if we need to"
After that I stood up from my seat
"Going to see Agniya?" asked Dariy "She's in her bedroom, dunno what she's doing"
"Oh uhm, no but now that you've mentioned it, I'll go check out on her"
I walked out the room and straight into the bedroom, the door wasn't locked but I knocked anyways, didn't want to come in at a bad time
"Uh, sure. Come in" the composed voice on the other side said
"Hello? I just came back and uh, how's it going?" I greeted awkwardly
"Fine" she replied, her hand meticulously scrubbing the blade of a machete
I came a little closer to her, curiously peering over the weapon
"Whoa, where'd you get that from?" I asked in awe
"The butchery" she shrugged, eyes still fixed on the blade
"Did someone just... give it to you or did you like, steal it?"
"It was a gift from the owner, we've been friends for a long time" she explained
"A machete for a Christmas gift? Sounds miserable!" I joked
"Yeah? Then what'd you get?"
"Uh... nothing"
"Exactly"
My face was lowered in embarrassment, but Agniya knew I never mean to say anything spiteful, in fact she just laughed it off... quietly.
"I don't know why, but I feel like this is gonna come in handy to us" she continued
"You think so?" I asked surprised "When I think of stealthy killing, a machete isn't exactly the first time that comes to mind"
"Well, yeah, they're not exactly concealable but they can sure pack a punch", she then lifted her hand to throw the weapon in a straight line.
Immediately, I dodged. The thing just hit the door frame and got stuck in there
"..."
"..."
"See what I mean, Senka?"
I remained silent, inside I was shaking - what made think she could just do that all of a sudden?
"Sorry, I should've warned ya" she excused
"Uh... yeah... That was a great reflexes test" I added in between heavy breaths
The woman go up and headed over to pull out the machete and then examined the dant made, running her finger over it. I turn trying to make sense of what she was doing in that moment
"The cut seems deep enough. This thing is sharp" she stated as she looked down at her own reflection coming from the steel
She always kinda seem to have an affinity for weapons and liked to analyze them, it made me wonder if she worked as a hunter before coming here
"I do still need a human test subject to test its full potential though..." she continued as her head turned towards me, eyes soulless as they stared at me
I quickly tried to defend myself, "God, what do you want from me now?"
Agniya blinked and her lips curled into a smile yet again, maybe she found my trembling body and oozing anxiety to be amusing... I'd love to see her reaction to almost getting killed...
"Hey, it's not like I'll kill you" she reassured me, but I could feel the thought of me cut into thousands of tiny little pieces still lingered in her mind somewhere "You're my coworker after all and it just wouldn't be nice. Not to mention Felicia would get pretty mad at me"
"You surely want to keep the people you work with alive, am I right?" I asked, my voice still shaking
"You are right. But if you ever decide to betray us... then I won't think twice" she continued
I slowly backed away form her threat "Haha, that's very kind of you Agniya. See you soon!" I told her before hastily walking away to my bedroom
"And why am I the one that gets to do the killing when she seems to the one who's enjoying it the most?" I ask myself as I close the door behind me
"God if they're messed up..."
But hey, the world is messed up too
In fact, if it wasn't, we wouldn't have discrimination, war and stuff like that.
Who wouldn't want that? A lot of people, I tell you!
Maybe the evil we have to endure is necessary, obligatory even. Maybe we need balance in order to achieve the perfect world...
...
Ugh, fuck all that, I just want the money
[15 minutes later]
Felicia :
"Hey, so um..." began Dariy "... Doesn't Senka seem weird lately?"
I looked over at Agniya who was still polishing her dear machete, "She's just anxious, that's not weird"
"Yeah, but it's almost as if... she doesn't wanna be here, you know?" he retained
"Probably because she doesn't have any other choice, duh!"
"Guys stop" I exclaimed trying to hush their fighting, and as expected they listened and let me speak up
"She probably just needs to open up, I mean it's been two months and we... don't know each other that well yet"
"You're saying our relationship should expand more than being coworkers?" asked Agniya before turning to Dariy "I don't know if I wanna be friend with this junkie"
"Eh? Then I don't wanna be friends with a weirdo that brags about weapons!" he replied
"Says the one who brags about sleeping with women out of all things!"
I could tell this was going to be hard
"What if all just, have a break, all together?" I suggested keeping my smile
"A break from killing you say?" asked Dariy, a bit confused
"Yeah, we can just go out and have fun"
"So you do want us to become friends" scoffed Agniya with her arms crossed
"Exactly!" I told her
"I think we should tell Senka, what if she doesn't wanna go for example?" then asked the boy
"Simple, we find a way to convince her"
And that became its sort of little legacy.
You know, in any kind of workspace - be it a legal or an illegal one - respect and support is at the basis. You don't tend to work well with people you barely know, and that's why I strived for a connection, a friendship if you will...
and who could've seen the true weight its impact beforehand?
Nobody, not even me.