HOME | DD

Description
Jill stood on the pinnacle of the roof, her lithe frame delicately silhouetted against the blindingly full moon. The light cast from it was enough to illuminate the road below where she balanced, slightly bent against the wind. The breeze was warm, for an October night, and she had shed her jacket about an hour after she left her house. Suddenly, her head flicked to the side, draw by the whisper of feet on the dry ground.
"Finally…"
Her client was tiptoeing through an alley toward the deserted street. When he reached it, he looked all around, and breathed a sight of relief when he saw the absence of life. And he never breathed again.

"Ack! Damn it, Serbah, don't DO that!" I ran my fingers across my shoulder, where his paled fingers were gingerly resting. "Make some noise before you scare me!"
He laughed quietly. "Well that would sort of defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?
…And he walked away. Darn it, he was strange. I had been working with him since I came to XIII Enterprise 8 months ago, and even before that, when I was an independent, we still got paired for more… able clients. The superiors just couldn't get it into their heads that even though I've only been in the business for a year and a half, I'm perfectly capable of dealing with a feisty client. I'll admit it, someone of my age in this field is a bit of an oddity, but I'm only 5 years younger than Rox, and he's got almost as many kills as Lark. Anyway, I still can't sense him coming, and it annoys me to death!
"Oi!" Serbah was calling me from down the hall. "New client. 35, works for Hear * T * less," he briefed. "At the office right now, don't know exactly why he's on the list, I think it had something to do with Xem and that party last week. Maybe he was the one that spiked the punch…?" I took a breath, and started my normal questioning.
"Location?"
"Main office, on Ultima road."
"Name?"
"Reno, no last name given."
"Appearance? We don't want to hit the wrong person again, the Kairi incident was bad enough."
"6 or so feet tall, dark red hair, falling to the mid-back, green eyes."
"Sounds a whole lot like Axel."
"I said the same thing when I went and scoped."
"Job type?"
"Quick and quiet"
"So, no torture?"
"Correct"
"Preferred weapon?"
"Kunai. But do it from a distance. He has a taser and a staff."
I stopped talking and looked up. The main building for Hear * T * Less was probably the largest skyscraper in all of Twilight Town, aside from XIII's main office of course. 38 stories of navy glass soared into the clouds, far above the horizon. Just looking at it made me feel diminutive, despite being tall for my age. (at 4' 3", I'm tall for an eight-year-old, but short in general) Taking a deep breath, I checked the converted purse my mom had gotten me for my birthday. It was tannish-brown leather, and had been adapted as to resist the countless razor sharp blades of the dozen or so throwing knives I kept in it. I slipped a finger into the pouch to extract a kunai, then spun it around my pinky until it became an unidentifiable blur.
"Jill!"
Serbah's voice snapped me out of my daze; we had reached the office door. "Wow, I didn't even see the stairs go by, I must have been pretty out of it…" My voice trailed off as a got my first glance of the floor. "AAhhh…" Everything sparkled and glimmered like faceted diamonds coated all of the surfaces. "This isn't an office, this is the frikkin' Marriot…"
Serbah could only nod in response; he too was transfixed by the utter splendor.
A gruff voice reached my ears, "Hey! This is private property!"
"Damn, they found…" A sharp cuff on the back of my neck cut off my voice. "Hey!" I yelled to Serbah as soon as I could breathe, "Client resist- maneuver 8 wolf end curb."
"Taken," came his calm voice. Serbah could stay calm in the most frazzling situations- I never got how he did it. Maneuver 8 was a series of feigns followed by a wounding, not killing blow, most often used in tight situations where a hostage has been taken. The words following it were telling to eliminate the final blow. In other words, he'd feign until I could kill.
I heard the glance of steel off of some other metal object- Serbah must have drawn his scythe. That thing was seven-and-a-half feet of cold, hard fury. A wrought iron handle shaped like a slithering serpent was bonded to the blade. The blade was two-and-a-half feet long, and sharp enough to remove a head with a tiny flick. I would know- I've seen it happen many times. However, a severed head would leave tons of incriminating evidence, where a few well-placed kunai would kill cleanly and quickly.
"Erg… What are you kids even DOING here? All I wanted to do was have a cup of coffee, and then go back to work-"
"Dit bloed is vergoten voor mij en anderen, ik terugkeer van de ziel, mijn vriend, aan de Heer. Goodbye, my friend."
As I brought the knife down for the final blow, my back went suddenly rigid. A pair of sharp metal prongs straddled my spine, threading a stunning charge through my spine.
"Sh-" Once again, my words were cut off, though this time by the bleeding darkness spreading across my vision.

Description
Jill stood on the pinnacle of the roof, her lithe frame delicately silhouetted against the blindingly full moon. The light cast from it was enough to illuminate the road below where she balanced, slightly bent against the wind. The breeze was warm, for an October night, and she had shed her jacket about an hour after she left her house. Suddenly, her head flicked to the side, draw by the whisper of feet on the dry ground.
"Finally…"
Her client was tiptoeing through an alley toward the deserted street. When he reached it, he looked all around, and breathed a sight of relief when he saw the absence of life. And he never breathed again.

"Ack! Damn it, Serbah, don't DO that!" I ran my fingers across my shoulder, where his paled fingers were gingerly resting. "Make some noise before you scare me!"
He laughed quietly. "Well that would sort of defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?
…And he walked away. Darn it, he was strange. I had been working with him since I came to XIII Enterprise 8 months ago, and even before that, when I was an independent, we still got paired for more… able clients. The superiors just couldn't get it into their heads that even though I've only been in the business for a year and a half, I'm perfectly capable of dealing with a feisty client. I'll admit it, someone of my age in this field is a bit of an oddity, but I'm only 5 years younger than Rox, and he's got almost as many kills as Lark. Anyway, I still can't sense him coming, and it annoys me to death!
"Oi!" Serbah was calling me from down the hall. "New client. 35, works for Hear * T * less," he briefed. "At the office right now, don't know exactly why he's on the list, I think it had something to do with Xem and that party last week. Maybe he was the one that spiked the punch…?" I took a breath, and started my normal questioning.
"Location?"
"Main office, on Ultima road."
"Name?"
"Reno, no last name given."
"Appearance? We don't want to hit the wrong person again, the Kairi incident was bad enough."
"6 or so feet tall, dark red hair, falling to the mid-back, green eyes."
"Sounds a whole lot like Axel."
"I said the same thing when I went and scoped."
"Job type?"
"Quick and quiet"
"So, no torture?"
"Correct"
"Preferred weapon?"
"Kunai. But do it from a distance. He has a taser and a staff."
I stopped talking and looked up. The main building for Hear * T * Less was probably the largest skyscraper in all of Twilight Town, aside from XIII's main office of course. 38 stories of navy glass soared into the clouds, far above the horizon. Just looking at it made me feel diminutive, despite being tall for my age. (at 4' 3", I'm tall for an eight-year-old, but short in general) Taking a deep breath, I checked the converted purse my mom had gotten me for my birthday. It was tannish-brown leather, and had been adapted as to resist the countless razor sharp blades of the dozen or so throwing knives I kept in it. I slipped a finger into the pouch to extract a kunai, then spun it around my pinky until it became an unidentifiable blur.
"Jill!"
Serbah's voice snapped me out of my daze; we had reached the office door. "Wow, I didn't even see the stairs go by, I must have been pretty out of it…" My voice trailed off as a got my first glance of the floor. "AAhhh…" Everything sparkled and glimmered like faceted diamonds coated all of the surfaces. "This isn't an office, this is the frikkin' Marriot…"
Serbah could only nod in response; he too was transfixed by the utter splendor.
A gruff voice reached my ears, "Hey! This is private property!"
"Damn, they found…" A sharp cuff on the back of my neck cut off my voice. "Hey!" I yelled to Serbah as soon as I could breathe, "Client resist- maneuver 8 wolf end curb."
"Taken," came his calm voice. Serbah could stay calm in the most frazzling situations- I never got how he did it. Maneuver 8 was a series of feigns followed by a wounding, not killing blow, most often used in tight situations where a hostage has been taken. The words following it were telling to eliminate the final blow. In other words, he'd feign until I could kill.
I heard the glance of steel off of some other metal object- Serbah must have drawn his scythe. That thing was seven-and-a-half feet of cold, hard fury. A wrought iron handle shaped like a slithering serpent was bonded to the blade. The blade was two-and-a-half feet long, and sharp enough to remove a head with a tiny flick. I would know- I've seen it happen many times. However, a severed head would leave tons of incriminating evidence, where a few well-placed kunai would kill cleanly and quickly.
"Erg… What are you kids even DOING here? All I wanted to do was have a cup of coffee, and then go back to work-"
"Dit bloed is vergoten voor mij en anderen, ik terugkeer van de ziel, mijn vriend, aan de Heer. Goodbye, my friend."
As I brought the knife down for the final blow, my back went suddenly rigid. A pair of sharp metal prongs straddled my spine, threading a stunning charge through my spine.
"Sh-" Once again, my words were cut off, though this time by the bleeding darkness spreading across my vision.