Page 30 of Anathema
Instructions should be apparent upon arrival.
God, I hated Adrian and his cryptic bullshit. This was far from apparent.
“Fuck you, Adrian,” I whisper-hissed to myself.
My instructions were clear when I first arrived here, and now they were wholly fucked, just as much as my vision from this fucking tree.Goddamn these leaves. Frustrated, I speared my fingers into my hair and tugged at the roots. I was internally screaming; my insides felt as though they were on fire from the pressure threatening to burst from my chest.
Nonetheless, I had a job to do, a task to finish. I would not let my uncertainty get in the way of it. In hindsight, I wondered if I was supposed to prevent her from killing him instead, I sure as fuck hope not. Another reason why this task was so utterly fucked right now.
“Fuck it,” I growled as I prepared to launch my body through the window. One step back, two... I flexed both hands before locking them into fists, inhaling deeply; I charged—taking light,purposeful steps on the branch to build momentum before launching myself forward, gripping a strong branch overhead, and using it to swing over the gap between the tree and the window.
Feet first, I crashed my body into the glass, shattering it as I landed with the grace of a trained assassin. The glass from the window sprinkled all over the floor like confetti, my gaze trailing up to meet those of the woman still standing on the bed. I clenched my jaw and ground my teeth from the loose glass digging into my knee; luckily, she couldn’t see my pain, not with the black gaiter covering half my face.Fuck, it hurt like a bitch.
“Well, well, well. Look who decided to join the party.” The woman cooed, stepping down from the mattress, not even giving two shits as her bare feet met the glass-covered floor.
Who was this woman? Was she expecting me all along? I swallowed, standing to my full height, my breathing labored from the jump. Rolling my shoulders and neck, I squared myself, ready for any move she was poised to make.
“You’re a little late and overdressed, but I won’t blame you for that, and I should have known you would choose the dark assassin route instead of using the front door.” She chuckled in amusement, stepping towards me, one foot in front of the other, the glass not bothering her. “But I must say, the front door is far easier and less…messy.” Her movements were graceful, like a dancer.
I didn’t answer her taunts, remaining silent and digging my heels into the plush carpet. I already knew where this was going andwas ready for it.
“Not going to say anything, are we? Fine then.” She sighed, already bored of me. “Let’s get this over with then, shall we?” She flipped the knife’s handle in her hand right before lurching forward, aiming the blade towards my chest.
Startled by the sudden attack, I jumped back, just out of arms reach, before pulling my knife from its sheath. Realistically, I should have reached for my gun and made this quick and easy for myself, but I was always up for a good challenge, and this woman looked like she would give me the fight I deserved.
“You want to tell me who you are and what you’re doing here?” I ground out as I knocked her knife out of the way with mine and drove my shin into her side with enough force to throw her off balance.
“She talks!” A huffed laugh escaped her painted-red lips as she staggered for balance before charging again, knocking me down to the floor, the glass shards biting into my back through the leather jacket.Son of a bitch!
I rolled to my side just before her knife embedded itself in the floor where my head was split seconds ago. Fuck, this woman was fast and agile. She was a carbon copy of Chyler in how she moved with her blade, trained to kill with her bare hands, and feared nothing.
Jumping back to my feet, I managed to catch her with the handle of my knife to her temple as she reached to retrieve hers from the floor. My breaths were coming out as pants as I analyzed my surroundings for a way to disarm her without pulling my gun, but I was running out of time.
Without thinking, I launched myself forward, moving to grab the knife from her hand before she had a firm grip on it, but she had anticipated my move, and a hand fisted my hair.
I screamed as I was aggressively yanked down to the floor by my hair, and she straddled my hips, one hand pinning my right, which was holding my knife to the floor, and the other digging hers into the carpet beside my head. A twisted grin hovered over my face; she was every part a psychotic bitch. I growled as I squirmed under her hold, attempting to throw her off my body, glass digging further into my back with the movement.
“Abigail Brit, but you can call me Abby. Too bad you won’t be around long enough to use it, though.” Her eyes were wild, her voice dripping with malice.
She reminded me so much of Charlotte; their similarities were uncanny. Did Charlotte have a sister? Could she have had one and kept her a secret? I don’t believe that any of us—Chyler or Madison—were ever close enough to gain that kind of information from her before she died.
I could lay here and question their potential relationship connection, but it wouldn’t matter even if I were right because Charlotte was dead, and this bitch was about to be too.
“Too bad you don’t know who you are fucking with,Abby.” I spat, venom coating every word as I grabbed a fistful of glass with my left hand and threw it into her eyes. I didn’t care that some of the pieces embedded themselves in my palm; it was the only move I had left to get her the fuck off of me so I could putan end to her.
Abby screamed, releasing me from her grasp as she fought to remove the shards from her face, temporarily blinded. I could see the blood dripping from the corners of her eyes; she was making it worse the more she rubbed them.
Taking this as my only opportunity, I stabbed my knife into her side before bucking my hips and rolling with all of my weight to throw her off my body. Even through all my layers of clothing and gloves, I could feel the sting of the glass searing into my skin. I was on fire. This glass was every-fucking-where.
Red bled across my vision as I stood and pulled my gun from its holster. I’m done fucking around. I wasn’t going to spend another second fighting like this. I didn’t even know how I would pick out all of these shards when I got home. I wished Madison was here to help me in times like these, but she’s been too busy and out of touch lately.
Rolling my neck and shoulders, I pointed the barrel at Abby’s head and pulled down my gaiter so she could see my entire face. What did it matter if she knew who I was? She would be dead soon, and I wanted her to see the reaper that ended her pathetic, fucked up life.
“I’m sorry, Abby, I don’t always take the easy way out, but I’m not in the mood to play knife tag with you anymore,” I spoke coolly, showing her just how determined I was to complete my task.
Abby rolled onto her back; the laughter leaving her lips was unhinged, like a woman descending into madness. The handle of my knife sticking out of her side.
“Oh sweet, Alexis Lochlan. Tell Adrian I send my regards.” Her laughing continued as she choked on her words, blood beginning to trail down the side of her mouth.
