Prologue

The whimpers of the beagle echoed throughout the girl’s ears. Strong scents of blood filled the girl’s nose while the dog continued to cry out in pain. She could see the dog was struggling to hang on to the life it had. It was like having a dagger pierce her heart with each time the dog whimpered from the pain in its leg and side. No one seemed to care about the canine that had been abandoned in a small wooden box and left to die in a cold and dark alleyway on the streets a city without law or order. Only the howling echoes of chaos and gunfire rained throughout the nights. There was no safe haven in the city, simply survival and hoping that death would come with haste if the flames of life was to be snuffed out.

There was little the girl could do for the dog as it continued to cry out. She wanted to take it with her and nurse it back to health, yet, even if she could have, there was the fact that she could barely help herself. The girl struggled to body alive, often fighting through the pain of hunger for two or three days and nights. Her grommet meals consisting of half eaten food that people threw away without a care in the world. Still, she wanted to help the poor animal in some way. While she pondered at what she could do, she noticed a shadow looming over her from behind.

Standing over her was a woman with an intense aura about her. She could see the golden hazel eyes stare down at her. They were cold, lifeless and looked as if they were in pain. The woman was dressed in a set of military olive-drab clothes with a black beret leaning slightly off to the right side of her head. Strapped to her left thigh was a hostler carrying a pistol that was plain as day for anyone to see. A pounding deep within the girl’s chest was all she could hear as she looked to the woman. Her nerves continued to show signs of her fear that this was the last breath her lungs would draw before she entered into the eternal slumber of the abyss. A deep and endless pit where no one returned from, a cold abyss without pain or sorrow.

The woman did not speak a word as she took a step forward. For a moment, the girl could feel her heart skip a beat. Closing her eyes from the fear of the reaper before her, she awaited her end. Yet, it did not come. Looking beside her, she could see that the woman was kneeling down while her eyes locked on with the puppy laying in the box. There was a moment of silence between the three of them. Reaching out her hand to gently pet the dog, the woman sighed before finally speaking.

“This dog is suffering.”

There was no life in the woman’s voice. Her tone was almost monotone and did not carry any sign of sympathy in it.

“Can you save it?” the girl asked.

“There is nothing I can do, other than put it out of its misery.”

The girl was silent. She knew that the lovable beagle could not be saved but she did not want to face the truth. Tears began to flow down the girl’s cheeks as she looked to the woman who continued to show no slither of care in her eyes – no emotion in her expressionless face. As the girl continued to cry, the woman pulled out a small white cloth from one of her pockets and gently wiped away the girl’s tears.

“All living things will one day die, this is the one common truth that connects us.”

Pulling out the pistol strapped to her thigh, the woman clicked a small switch downwards one time. She carefully handed the gun over to the girl, ensuring that the barrel was facing away from the both of them.

“It is best to end the suffering of others than extend it.”

The girl could feel her heart beating rapidly as she looked at the weapon before her. Turning to the dog, she knew what the woman wanted her to do. Her mind raced with thoughts of what she had to do. Was she ready to end the life of the creature that she wanted to protect and save? Gripping the pistol in her hand she looked to the dog and back at the woman. She did wanted to save the dog, name it, give it a home, food and water. There was so much that she wanted to do even if she did not know the dog for long. Staring down at the puppy, she could see the pain in its eyes. It was begging for its life to end; it did not want to die.

“The best gift you can give this creature is the release from its suffering chains. Be sure that you ready for that task if you wish to ensure its happiness.”

With heavy breathing, the girl moved the barrel of the gun closer to the puppy’s head. Her hands continued to tremble at the thought of what she was about to do. What was running through the dog’s mind? There was only the sounds of the girl’s breath as she tried to steady her mind from the thoughts that raced within. She was about to take the life of a living creature that had some form of sentience to it. Even if it could not speak it had a life, a consciousness, a set of memories, the ability to taste, smell, hear, see and touch everything within the world. It was a living being, like her and she was about to send the dog off to a permanent state of sleep where it would never wake up again. Was she able to do it? Could she even do it? The girl could only cry more as the dog looked up to her with its sad eyes. In some strange way, it could tell. The hour of death was upon it. Yet the dog did not reel back in fear, nor did it try to run. It simply remained silent as the girl carefully pulled the trigger.

In that moment, the wind was still, all noise had seemed to die in that single second. One sound rang out through the alleyway. The ringing of the handgun sealed the fate of the puppy as it laid there in a lifeless state. A single bullet hole through the head was the prominent feature on the sleeping dog. There was no more pain, no more whimpering, only a still silence that lasted for a brief moment. The limp dog laid there in the wooden box as the girl’s hands began to shake violently. She had snuffed out the flame of life the dog had and granted it a peace that appeared all to surreal.

Before she could question what she had done, the girl felt a hand on her shoulder. The woman carefully took her weapon back and ensured that it was safe to hostler. Once the pistol had returned to her side, the woman stood to her feet and stared down at the girl.

“This world is cruel and full of hate. It is unfair to all. You can help make it fair though and give those that were treated unfairly peace.”

The words the woman said echoed through the girl’s ears. Wiping away her tears from her eyes, she smiled as she stood up. Looking over the little girl, the woman could see she held the resolve to live with what she had done. There was some semblance of peace in her tone, the way she carried herself. Looking into the ocean blue eyes of the girl, it was clear that the girl was enthralled by her. In that single moment, the two of them had formed a bond.

“If you wish to follow me then we should probably do something about your appearance as well as sate your hunger.”

Looking over the girl, the woman could see that she was thin as a twig, her clothes torn and ragged. Her only features that made her stood out was her long blue hair that appeared unkempt and unwashed while her tan skin made her a petite beauty that could rival a model.

“What is your name, girl?”

“My name is…”

#

The screams of a man struggling echoed throughout the girl’s ears as she opened her eyes. Around her, was the world she had forgotten about due to her trip to down a ten year memory. She looked over the room she was in and what she doing. Pristine white walls were stained with crimson red blood, the soles of her sandals leaving small traces of her petite feet throughout the room. The girl watched as the man crawled for the door with two bullets that had ripped through the bones of his knee caps. She smiled as she looked to the man and pulled out the pistol she had strapped around her left thigh. Before the man could speak a word, the sound of a single shot echoed throughout the room.

“And now you’re free from your suffering,” the girl said as she giggled happily.

Twirling around on the ball of her foot, the girl took a moment to bathe in the job she had done. The smell of fresh blood filled her nose as she calmly made her way towards the exit. Entering into the hallway, she could hear the sound of footsteps closing in on her position. Echoes of the guns they carried sang tunes in the girl’s ears while the sounds of their boots told her exactly where they were. With a smile, she rushed over to the corner and ran through exactly how she would kill each of the six targets that were preparing to turn the corner. She knew they were all carrying an AN-94 rifle with the Glock 26 model handgun on their carry belts. In total, they could put out 10,800 rounds if all of them were able to catch her off guard.

Six targets, six bullets. It must be the fate of the goddess of death, the girl thought as she noticed the barrel of a gun poking out from the corner. Gripping the barrel of the rifle and kicking the leg of the man as he came into view, the girl ensured her pistol was up against the man’s chin before firing a single shot. Within a fraction of a second the flame that the man had was snuffed out and he fell over dead. The girl smiled while capitalising on the delayed reaction of the confused guards. Aiming her weapon at head that was closer to her, she fired off one round and rushed forward like a wolf attacking its prey. Grabbing the barrel of the rifle in front of her, she forced the man aside slightly and fired off two rounds into the heads of the men bringing up the rear. With a swift kick, the girl propelled her sandal off her foot and into the last man that was bringing up the rear guard. Using her petite figure to worm her way past the final man’s defences, she quickly brought him down to the ground by flipping him over her back and locking his arm in place. Looking over to the other man who had been disoriented by the sandal, the girl fired off one round into his heart and held the barrel of her pistol against the man’s head that she had on the ground. The last thing the man saw was the smile of the girl that would end his life. As a single shot rang out, the only sound that could be heard was the bullet casing hitting the ground.

With a pleasurable sigh, the girl looked over all the dead bodies she had killed. All of them were clean shots that was worthy of being among that of elite special forces. Grabbing her sandal from nearby, the girl looked over her outfit. Her white tee-shirt had splatters of blood on it along with a bit that had dripped onto her blue jean shorts. After slipping on her sandal, the girl headed for the exit. The night air filled her nose with a pleasurable scent as the sounds of gentle breeze blew against her skin. Looking at the wristwatch on her left arm, she took note of the time. Causally strolling down the wide open parking lot, the girl could feel something vibrate in her pocket. Pulling out her cellphone, she answered the number without looking at the caller identification and held the ringer up to her ear.

“Is it finished?” the voice on the other end asked.

“One second…”

The girl used her free hand to reach down into her shirt and carefully pulled out a small device. It was small and black as midnight with only a bright red button on top of it. Pushing down the button with her thumb triggered a loud explosion inside the building she was in.

“The job is done,” the girl said in a cheerful tone.

“Good. Return here on the double, Katia should also be finishing up soon.”

In the distance, the sound of a faint explosion rang out through the night.

“Looks like she just finished. By the way, Ririna, you promised if I did good you’d buy me a present, right?”

“I did.”

“Yay!”

“We can talk about that when you return.”

The girl ended the call and placed the phone back in her pocket. I think I’ll have Ririna buy me some ice-cream as a reward, the girl thought as she twirled and danced on the tips of her toes while the building burned and crumbled behind her.