Chapter 4

A woman stirred awake and her reflex was to check if there was anyone on the bed with her and her search came up empty. She had expected it so she gathered the duvet around her bare self and that's when she heard the sound of paper rustling. She switched on the bedside lamp, pulling the cover with her and saw the fallen hundred dollar note. She left it on the floor, scanned through the room and saw that her clothes - every one of it - were on the nearby chair. Despite being hurt over the fact that she had left without saying goodbye, she couldn't help the smile that graced her face at the mannerly gesture.

V E N D E T T A

It was just over 3a.m. when she arrived at her place. She had stopped by at the convenience store to buy some gums as her irritation at the drunk she encountered at the elevator made her crave for a smoke. It had been at least half a year since she tried to stop smoking - in fact, she hated smoking because of the smell and its harmful effect on her health. She was addicted to it the first time she took a whiff and found out that it relieved her stress, as if it burned away like the cigarette stick as the flame consumed it. She had had withdrawal symptoms before and failed a couple of times so she tried gums and they worked wonder! She no longer smokes but there were times when her hands shook, her sight blurred and the frustration made her reach for those cigarette sticks. Although she knew it's bad, she couldn't help but buy a pack to keep on her in case gums cannot subdue her urges.

She keyed in her password, ripped open two gums and chewed them. Inside, her living room was bare - no photo frames, no fancy wallpaper, no pretty lights. There were a sofa and a lovers' couch arranged in L position with the sofa across the 10 inch TV set. Her apartment was in one of the upper class neighborhood so the view from the living room was exquisite and wonderful, the flower garden just two blocks away stretched endlessly and there was a small water fountain at the center. She had purposely picked a place a little far from any neighbor for privacy since she often come back at odd hours; either early in the morning or really late at night. She didn't need people gossiping about her. She wasn't exactly the typical rich, pompous lady. She didn't dress extravagantly and she certainly wasn't one of those heiresses who flaunt their beauty or wealth so people always wondered how she managed to afford the apartment. If they had known of the hours she spent outside the house, returning only at the dawn, who knows what kind of rumors would spread.

She took off her shoes, abandoning them at the entrance, took off her socks near the sofa, leaving trails of dirty clothes behind her. She picked up her discarded blouse and threw it into the laundry basket. Her phone was dead so she left it to charge and walked into her bedroom with a tank top and a pair of leggings. She immediately sunk into her bed, sleepy. Although she was used to the not-so-common schedule, she can't help feeling tired even when she wasn't on any assignment yesterday - or maybe that's the reason why. She was constantly on assignments and when all of a sudden she had none, her body shuts down.

However, it has been a few months since she had so much fun as last night. She was enjoying a glass of white wine at her favorite bar, easing the tensions in her shoulder and letting herself relax when she was approached by a very sober woman. She wore a pair of 5 inch deadly high heels, small but expensive diamond earrings, a sleeveless black mini dress that was only held in place with thin straps and she was carrying a hot pink purse with her. They soon got caught up in a conversation, skipping the introduction and soon found themselves checking into a rent-by-the-hour hotel.

She wasn't sure why the woman approached her in the first place, her suspicion was on the bar master. She was always onto her, being overly caring, sometimes nosy but they've formed some sort of relationship throughout the time she frequented the bar. She wouldn't call it a friendship, just business relations where she paid her dough and the other give her booze. She wasn't aware or maybe she was just turning a blind eye about a possible side business that the bar master was dealing. Either way, she had enjoyed it.

Her mind drifted away for the dreamland and she was about to let go of the conscious world when she heard a creak somewhere inside her apartment. Her eyes flew open, she stood up almost instantly and hide within the shadows. There were nimble, quiet footsteps walking around, careful not to make noise and yet in a rush. She had forgotten to switch off the dimmed light in her apartment due to her fatigue and cursed at herself for being way too laid back, readying herself for an ambush if necessary. The footsteps stopped in front of her door, she could see the silhouette of a person. Tall, lanky and male. The door fall flat onto the floor; he had kicked it off its hinges.

She acted fast, she brought down her fist but was stopped by a strong arm defense and she was pushed roughly to the wall behind her. She was still fighting to fend away the sleepiness that she was unable to move fast enough to dodge three fast punches to her center mass. Whoever he was, he was strong in spite of his seemingly small built than average man would possess. The lights in her room was not on since she just flopped straight onto her bed so she wasn't able to see his face, depending solely on the sound and the barely visible outline of his body to land a hit and defend against incoming attacks. She was trained to operate in whatever situation so being in the dark was the least of her problem as she was in her turf. No one knows the inside of her apartment as she do and she could take that advantage to defeat him.

He was strong but she was light on her feet, so waited until he swung his fist and side stepped just in the nick of time and sent a powerful kick to his side. He was a heavyweight so he didn't get thrown too far so she used the opportunity to quickly escape outside, flicking off the lamp switch and blend into the shadows. She was glad that she was wearing a dark gray tank top since it helped to camouflage herself. She heard a grunt from inside her room - clearly the man was caught off guard and wasn't expecting the attack - and he stormed out into the living room. The whole apartment was now pitch black and quiet; both were careful not to make any noise and not one of them moved.

Suddenly, her phone rang and while she was surprised, she didn't yelp out, unlike the man who cursed under his breath. She was able to pinpoint his location - by the sofa close to her room - so she sneaked her way, skillfully avoiding the table and the TV cabinet in a zigzag manner, grabbed a tie lying conveniently on the same sofa he was standing next to. He was taller than her so she mindfully put her weight on the sofa, hang it lose in front of him and pulled it tight towards herself, strangling the invader. He struggled against it, using himself as a pivot to throw her over his shoulder and since she was standing unsteadily on the sofa, she was thrown off her center of gravity. Her body crashed onto the coat stand and it broke into two, nearly impaling her but she kicked the wall, pushing herself away from it and landed roughly on the ground.

As she struggled to get back on her feet, the man massaged his neck and coughed and gasped to get oxygen back into his system. She was on her knees, crawling to get the broken half of the coat stand and did a 'tucked sideways roll' where she sat on her heels, tucked her chin into her chest and hugged her legs careful not to hurt herself with the makeshift spear and rolled sideways. The man hadn't realized that she had gotten up and was hiding behind him as he attempted to squash her. She raised the spear up high and stabbed his abdomen from behind and kept pushing it until it pierced through his body. He fell onto his knees, his abdomen bleeding and it dawned to him that he was going to die.

"Who are you and why are you in my house?"

"…"

"Speak, and I shall end your misery."

"I.. I was se-sent b-b-by…"

"By?"

He coughed up blood, his sight was getting blurry and the loss of blood was making him confused and cold.

"I-I-It wa-was a t-test. I.. Wha-what's your name?"

"A test? Who's testing me?"

"I… am not s-sure myse-myself. Your n-name?"

"Name? I discarded my identity the moment I became an assassin, but if you must know, call me Victoria."

With that, she pulled the spear out of him in a flash, blood spurting out of the bleeding site onto herself. What she did killed him and he was dead on the ground in her living room. She abandoned the broken coat stand near the body and stood expressionless. She was furious. Someone dared broke into her apartment under an order to test her and made such a mess. She wiped away the blood from her face and wiped her hand on her tank top.

Then, she broke into a grin, her eyes were like that of a hunger tiger; pupils dilated, murderous.

If someone was bothered to test her by sending a pro to her apartment, they were trying to gauge her ability and skills. They were up to something and if they thought that she'll lose, well they're wrong but if they thought she'll win, that meant that they sent him on a suicide mission.

She walked over the dead body and went to fetch her phone to dial a number.

"It's me. Have the cleaning team over to my apartment. Also, if you're involved in this testing BS, quit it. I'm not playing games."