His town car pulls up, and his driver steps out, opening his car for him. Gustav rises from the back seat as he stands and surveys the area while fastening his suit jacket. He’s a portly man, balding, tall, with a well-kept short beard and an extremely expensive suit. He steps forward and reaches out his hand. I reach for his, giving it a firm shake as I introduce myself and the house mother. He gives us the once over, me in my cheap polyester trouser suit, starched to within an inch of its life, the strawberry blonde wig cinched tight into a bun at the back of my head, and my thick-rimmed glasses covering the green contacts. And her, with her wayward grey curls and slightly dishevelled appearance, wearing trousers and a slightly rumpled blouse.
She explains a little about the orphanage, and we step inside. We lead him around, giving him a guided tour. He feigns interest, but I take note of the children he takes notice of. He gives us his spiel about donating money to the orphanage, but he also says he would like to adopt a few of the children himself. He would like to take a group of them to his home for the weekend and see who is a good fit. The house mother thinks it’s a great idea and is almost ready to pack their bags for them when I step in.
“Unfortunately, Mr Koch, that will take a little time. I would like to arrange a home visit before we allow any children to leave with a stranger.” The house mother backtracks as I give her a glare.
“Of course, ladies. When would you like to arrange the visit?”
“I can come back with you when we’ve done here if you would like to get the ball rolling, so to speak.” I smile at him, and he nods. We finish the tour, and he agrees upon an amount for his donation. He discusses wanting to arrange for ten children to go to his home at the weekend.
“Of course. I will follow you back now, and we can get started.” I smile and shake his hand; he has his driver and a bodyguard with him, but they’ve stayed by the car the whole time, clearly not seeing any threat here.” I smile internally.Ah, gentlemen, you’re about to have a very rude awakening.
We wrap up the meeting. I follow Gustav back towards his property. When we’re about halfway there, I see the clearing up ahead, where I will lure them in. It’s at the side of the road, surrounded by trees. I shake my wheel erratically multiple times before jerking to the side and skidding to a halt in the clearing. While I get out and head around to the other side of the car, I see them notice and reverse back up the road. I quickly stab the tyre on this side with the knife hidden behind my bra and slide it back in there.
The car pulls up, and the two men get out, leaving the town car running, and I smile to myself. I show them the tyre, and Gustav’s driver and bodyguard start changing the wheel for me. They’re going to struggle astwo of the wheel nuts are welded in place. I head towards the town car, shivering. Gustav takes the hint and asks me to join him in the back of the car.
I climb in, and he starts a conversation, telling me what a great life the children will be getting if they live with him, and I nod, agree, and smile. I slide one hand across his knee in distraction, and the other one, I reach up to get my knife. He rests his hand on mine a split second before I slam the knife into his eye, pulling it out and stabbing it into his neck before slamming it into his chest. He screams out, but it’s too late. He will bleed out soon. I climb over into the front seat and drive off, wheels spinning and firing up pebbles at the two guys beside the car. They take off running after me, but they won’t catch me. No one ever does.
I floor it down the road as Gustav gurgles on his own blood, gasping as he passes out before taking his last breath. I drive to the preplanned secluded spot.
Ten minutes later, Xav pulls up. “You’re fucking late, Xav. I didn’t think you were coming.” I clean up, putting on the spare clothes Xav has brought me. I stuff my jacket in one fuel tank and my trousers in the other and I torch the cars, setting them ablaze with the cigarette lighter from the car. As they go up in flames, I feel smug and sure of myself.
“No, Vic, you’re early as usual.” He laughs, and we head back to the airfield. Pulling up, we leave the bikes and board the plane, heading back home.
I clean up properly on the plane and change into a black jogging suit and trainers. “Father has requested we do the debrief as soon as we land,” Xav tells me as we get ready to descend.
“Is he waiting at the base?”
He nods. He flattens his lips out, trying to hold back the grimace. Taxiing down the runway, I know what’s coming. He’s never happy.
There’s a car waiting to take us to him.
“Father.” We both acknowledge as we enter the board room.
“Ah, Six, Ten. Take a seat.” Father. He’s not our real father; it’s just a title he gave himself when he took us from our orphanages to bring us into The Collective and train us as assassins. He didn’t bother to give us names; he just branded a Roman numeral on the back of our heads, the number corresponding to the order in which we arrived.
As we got older, Xav and I wanted names of our own, so we chose to use the marks on our heads, deciding that if we didn’t get a choice in these marks, we would decide what they meant. We essentially changed them to be each other’s names. Xav is six (VI,) so as children, we got a sharpened paperclip and etched a C beside them, naming me VIC after the Queen of England, Queen Victoria. I wanted a name that screamed power, and she was as powerful a woman I could envisage for myself at whatever age I was. Xav, however, wanted to save me and be a superhero, so on my head, I have X, and he added AV, naming himself Xavier after the guy fromX-Men.
Two deluded children, thinking they could make a difference. I rub at the back of my head. The comfort itbrings, knowing we have each other while in the presence of the only ‘parental figure’ we both know.
“Unfortunately, the mission was a failure. You left behind two witnesses who have now started a manhunt for you, Ten. I’m extremely disappointed in this outcome. We will keep a closer eye on you and send in a team to clean up your… mess. Go home.”
“Father,” Xav gasps, but I stay silent. Father doesn’t like my… what does he call it…? Ah, yeah, ‘incessant whining’.
Father leaves, and I rise from my chair. Xav looks at me with that look he always does when Father disapproves of me, but I’m used to it. I was never the one he wanted. I’m too… what was it he called me? Ah, yeah. Unpredictable. I walk out the door and head home, gritting my teeth so hard they may break before I can get in the shower and start my ritual.
Xav
Chapter VIII
Another journey home in silence. Vic heads into the apartment, and I hang back to give her some space. Her relationship with Father is tumultuous at best. He is always the hardest on her, no matter how she excels. It’s just never enough for him. She didn’t need to kill the other two guys, and there is definitely no way they will link anything back to us. I see to that. I’ve covered all our tracks, and Vic is a chameleon. She never looks the same way twice, so it will not be connected to her even if she was caught on CCTV. Father just won’t let up. It’s almost like he’s pushing her buttons on purpose to get her to slip up, and in our line of work, if you slip up, you’re fucking dead.
I head up to the apartment and slide out my laptop. I need to look into what Father’s up to. It seems more than his usual dumbfuckery when it comes to Vic. Theremust be something else going on. He’s riding her harder than before, and I can’t see why yet, but I will.
There’s another hole in the door when I look, and I shake my head. She’s spiralling. He’s making her crazy, and I need to do everything I can to protect her without Father turning on me.
Vic
Chapter IX
