The Silent Killer Ch. 01

Hey guys! So I decided to go through and make some major changes. I'm going to eventually do this with all of the parts because I just felt like it wasn't flowing quite right for me. I'll probably end up doing this several more times just because. At least until it's done. I always keep the rough drafts of my work so I can go back and look at them for reference. If you see anything you don't like or that doesn't flow let me know! Likewise if you see something that you particularly enjoyed that's different also let me know! It's the same story just with a few changes and corrections. I hope it makes it better!

Thanks for all the support!

-WIP

One

Devyn clenched her teeth against the pain that shot up her side. She had a broken rib and a sprained ankle. There was blood dripping from a deep cut on her forehead that would probably require stitches later. If Devyn didn't get somewhere safe soon she was a goner. Somewhere safe meaning she needed to at least be out of the line of fire or anymore blows to her body. She struggled with her right ankle as she took off down an alley. She sprang up, grabbed a fire escape, and hurtled herself up on the balcony of a dark apartment. From there she used her training to pick the patio door's lock with a bobbi pin she pulled from her hair. She slid the door open then closed. Devyn didn't bother to relock it. If the man she was supposed to be taking down wanted in he'd get in.

She was almost to the bathroom of the empty apartment when an arm came around her neck tightly from behind. Devyn clenched her teeth and through her elbow back knowing damn good and well it wouldn't do anything. It probably wouldn't even slow the fucker down. It just hurt her elbow and sharp pains shot up her arm as if she'd hit it against a granite wall.

Devyn had never been this badly hurt by a 'job'. A job was an assignment essentially. Her boss, Stew, gave her a name and files on a certain 'being' or 'person' and she'd take them down. She worked in the supernatural community. Her perps consisted mostly of vampires, werewolves, and, occasionally, a daemon or two. Stew had reassured Devyn she'd be fine. "This guy's gonna be easy. He's been running so long he'll be relieved when you put a stake in his heart." Devyn cursed the man mentally in her mind remembering his words.

Devyn was good at her job. She'd always been great at it. A 'natural' was what most at the office told her. A lot were envious of her skills. They hated what she could do with her bare hands alone. Give her a weapon and she was a weapon of mass destruction. That's what Stew had given her this assignment. She was the best even for her age. At twenty--nearly twenty-one--Devyn excelled at everything she did when it came to her job. She fought with the best of them and she even taught a few training classes to incoming assassins. She knew what to do when she was between a rock and a hard place. That's why Stew had hired her when she was eighteen--nearly three years prior. He knew she had what it took. Most couldn't go through with the kill because they couldn't just shut their emotions off. For lack of a better way of describing it Devyn was just a genius at shutting her humanity down. When she was on the job that was that. It was a job. She got paid to kill supernatural beings. She'd read their background; their file. She'd decide the best way to attack. Then she'd go in for the kill. Most people who worked for the academy took a few days to kill their perps. She took a day; two days max.

Devyn knew the real reason she was so off her game. She'd been having weird dreams lately. They were so vivid and real that most times she'd wake up in a cold sweat and she wouldn't go back to sleep. It caused her to get a little less than two hours of sleep most nights.

The dream was always the same--it had been for several weeks now. She'd be running through a field and someone grabbed her. As soon as they grabbed her they held a knife to her throat and made her get on her knees as she watched dozens of people being murdered before her eyes. There was always the end that was missing, though. It would cut off just as the person holding her started to speak. His voice was always garbled, though. It was almost as if he had one of those machines that distorted his voice. It was more like a nightmare Devyn guessed. She didn't really know the difference between dreams and nightmares; both portrayed horrifying things. One was extremely horrifying because of the subject matter. Dreams were horrifying because most times they only portrayed things a person wanted but couldn't have.

Devyn struggled against the vampire holding her and knew it wouldn't do her any good. The being was over 1,000 years old. He had a lot more power and experience on her.

"Where you think you're goin', doll face? You think you can sneak attack me and get away with it?"

Alex Kensington was his name and he was pissed. He'd been on rogue alert since Devyn had been with the academy since she was eighteen. He'd been so under the radar that when he finally popped back up Stew took a chance with Devyn. The rest of the assassins already had their hands full with other assignments. Stew had been so confident that Devyn could take this one down. In turn some of that confidence had oozed off onto Devyn. In that moment, though, Devyn was she she was a goner. Devyn ignored the sharp pains shooting through her ribs as the warm body pressed against her back pulled her back into the bedroom.

"I asked you a question, bitch." The voice was harsh with a slight hint of an Australian accent.

Devyn gritted her teeth tight and brought her elbow back into the Alex's gut before slamming the back of her head into his nose. She knew it would hurt her arm like a bitch all over again but it did take him off guard this time so when Devyn slammed the back of her head back into the front of his his grip loosened and she was able to get away.

The man was momentarily stunned giving Devyn the upper hand. She took off for the front door. She yanked it open realizing it wasn't even locked and took off down the hall. There was a window at the end of the hall that overlooked a busy street. She did the unthinkable and took off toward it. She broke through it and ended up landing in a dumpster. She'd never failed at a job. Not once. She'd hesitated just a little and now she was fighting for her fucking life.

Great going, fuckhead, Devyn thought to herself as she climbed from the dumpster and took off down the sidewalk.

She was at a full sprint by the time the man hit the ground. She hailed a cab and had it take her back to her apartment. She knew that was a bad idea. In the back of her head, Devyn just knew that was a bad idea. That vampire could run faster than the cab but when she looked back he was gone. She had a bad feeling, though.

It was a ten minute drive from where Devyn had been to where her apartment was and when she got there she rushed inside and set the security system. She also made sure every lock in the place was secured. She closed all of the curtains and headed for the bathroom. She ran warm water into the bathtub and grabbed a bottle of clear solution. Instead of just dumping a few capfuls in like usual she dumped the rest of the half a bottle in. She watched as it coiled around in the water until it was completely mixed. She never asked what was in it but it helped the healing process. She already had a speedy recovery rate but this stuff seemed to help her ten times more.

Devyn stripped quickly and carefully wincing a little when she moved her right arm just so to the point where it made a searing hot pain go through her right side. She climbed into the tub and let out the breath she'd sucked in. Devyn leaned back against the rounded end of the tub and let her legs bend at the knees and rest apart. The apartment was so quiet Devyn could hear the clock in the next room.

A sound came from the kitchen and Devyn was immediately alert. She got out of the tub and grabbed a towel from the cupboard. She grabbed the gun she kept in the towel cupboard and, holding the weapon behind her back, snuck out of the bathroom quietly. The water dripping from her lithe, towel covered body was the only thing besides the clock that could be heard throughout the whole penthouse. There were no squeaky boards or anything that could indicate she was moving stealthily across the floor.

Devyn wrapped the towel around her further tucking it just so she could let it go and it wouldn't slip to the floor. She had the gun held down in both hands and a finger resting near the trigger. Every hair on her body stood on end as she rounded the corner to her kitchen. No one was there. She sighed and let her shoulders relax. Damp strands of hair hung around her shoulders, annoying her. She rolled her eyes and laughed at herself. By the time the arm came up around her neck and cut off her airway, it was too late.

"You broke my nose, kitten. Drop the gun." The gruff voice said against her ear.

Devyn clenched her teeth and held herself completely stiff. She dropped the gun and kicked it gently away. It cascaded across the hardwood floor and stopped at the center island. She cringed as the large man's even larger, rougher hand trailed up her thigh and pushed the towel up.

"Do you speak?" The man's tone was taunting and it pissed Devyn off.

"Do you think?" She spat back as she tried to connect her elbow with the man's gut again.

He caught it, though, and laughed. He clucked his tongue as he moved his grasp on her so that he had her arms pinned against her chest. His lips violated her neck and his teeth grazed against the vein which, by this point, was protruding ferociously from the side of Devyn's neck. It had a way of showing up when Devyn was angry. It was actually a family trait; her father and brother both had the same vein.

"I believe we've already been through this tired routine, kitten. Why don't you just give up?" The man's hot breath was all over her, and it was starting to seriously gross Devyn out.

She brought her head back into his face again, so hard this time that she heard the audible crack of his nose being re-broken. She scrambled across the dining room to the kitchen where she dropped to the floor where the gun had landed. She was going to regret that later. The man was after her, and she shot at him twice. A bullet lodged itself in his chest and another in his bicep. He swore and glared at her. His eyes glittered with anger.

"You little cunt," he growled, just before dropping to his knees right in front of Devyn and grabbing her ankle to pull her towards him.

"Get off me you sick fuck!" Devyn screamed at the top of her lungs as she kicked and fought against him.

"Didn't your momma ever teach you it ain't polite to cuss?"

Devyn, in reply, spit a large amount of saliva into the man's face.

For such a sick bastard he was cute. If it weren't for the fact that he was on a hit list or the other fact of his personality, Devyn might have looked at him twice. Devyn stuck the gun right to the vampire's head and pulled the trigger. Just as she laid back, the vampire dead finally, and let the gun fall loud bangs sounded on her front door.

"Devyn! Devyn open up the goddamn door! Now! Devyn!" Devyn cursed and pushed the man off her with her muscular legs before getting up and going for the door.

Liam... Well Liam was just another person. Actually he was her co-worker and a long time family friend. He and Devyn's brother had been friends when they were in kindergarten and the bond had only ended when her brother turned eighteen and fled the coop. Liam had worked for the academy since he'd graduated college at twenty-one. He didn't have any other family. His parents had been killed in a freak accident and his eldest brother had ODed on crank.

"What the fuck was that, Devyn? Huh?! How the fuck did he get back here? You were supposed to fucking kill him at the apartment!" Liam was shouting as he motioned around the dead body.

"He's dead! Alright? That's all that matters!" Devyn cried back pulling the towel tightly around her.

"But he got back to your fucking apartment, Devyn. Your fucking apartment." Liam was angry and his face had turned beet red. His brown eyes were bulging and the vein in his forehead was popping out angrily.

After a few minutes of silence Devyn just rolled her eyes and walked away from Liam. She went back into the bathroom but the bath water had gone frigidly cold. She drained it and ran more water as she poured more of the clear solution into the scalding hot water. She stepped into the tub and sat just before Liam walked in and fixed her with an icy glare.

"That's it. You're on a leave for the time being. You're under observation. We can't take the risk. Stew agrees with me. I just got off the phone with him." Devyn ignored him but listened as he sighed and stepped towards the tub and knelt down so he was at her level. Luckily the bubbles covered all of her privates.

"Devyn.. I promised your brother and your father I'd watch out for you. How can I do that when shit like this happens? You fucked up. And you don't realize how much that scares me." Devyn ground her teeth and glared at him through tear-filled blue eyes.

"When Max left? I promised I'd take care of you. I promised him that. You've always meant more to him than anything on this earth, Dev. You know? I can't just break that promise. I can't let you slip between my fingers. When he left, you became my little sister. My pain in the ass. And I accepted that did I not?" Liam gave her a pointed look and Devyn nodded as the tears broke through the dam and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

The truth was Max, Devyn's older brother, considered his three little sisters to be a nuissance. That's what it was. That's why Liam had felt so responsible for them in the first place. Liam was thirty and so was Max. They'd grown up together. They'd done everything together. So when Max left it was only 'fitting' for Liam to watch after the three girls (Lizzie, Kayla, and Devyn) especially after their father had passed.

Max was the child from her father's first marriage which had ended badly. Their father had been awarded full custody due to the fact that Max's mother was a drug addict who couldn't get a grip on her life. She went through men like most people go through underwear after the divorce and, inevitably, ended up overdosing on pain pills just before Max's sixteenth birthday.

Max had a rocky life and when he turned eighteen he flew the coop. He was no longer under anyone's authority. He went away to college but after his freshman year they never saw him again really. Devyn had seen him at their dad's funeral but that'd been it. Her own mother had passed away when Devyn had been eight and their little sisters, twins Lizzie and Kayla, had been three. After that Max rarely came home because well... Home was painful for him. His trust fund was enough for him to start his own communications company in Japan. Lizzie and Kayla were both going to a boarding school Devyn never remembered the name of in Europe. Devyn was.. Well.. Devyn was working for an academy that produced thousands of assassins a year. She killed vampires and werewolves and other supernatural predators for a living. Her family couldn't really be involved with her. She called the girls a few times a year but she had stopped trying to contact max when all of her attempts went without a response. She knew he'd been back in the area because of the stories Liam would tell and it always dug into her heart like a dagger when she had to listen to how much fun Liam was allowed to have with Max but how Devyn could never even get Max to answer a measly email.

"How come he doesn't ever talk to me, Liam?" Devyn asked in choked voice trying to keep the lump in her throat at bay.

Liam sighed and stood. "Because it's better that way, Dev. I promise you that."

Devyn didn't believe him but she didn't stop him from leaving. She wanted to be alone anyways. She soaked in the tub for a long time knowing that tomorrow would be a long day without her job. She was sure Stew would have a lot to say to her the next time he saw her. He'd probably yell a lot and lecture her about being safer and more accurate with her kills. The last three had been pretty sloppy. By sloppy she meant it had taken her two days longer to even sink a bullet into them. That was out of character for her.

Devyn finished up with her bath feeling 100 times better when she stepped out and wrapped a fresh towel around her pruny body. She dressed in boyshorts and a t-shirt before climbing into bed. She lay there in eery silence and dark for a long time before sleep finally took her.

***

Devyn was running. She was conscious of the burning in her legs and lungs. She didn't understand that. She was in good shape. She ran and then finally saw what looked to be a clearing in the middle of the trees just a few yards ahead. She was almost there in the sunlight when an arm clothes-lined her knocking the wind right out of her as she landed hard on her back.

The person didn't speak as they roughly pulled her up off the ground and roughly shoved her forward. There was a knife at her neck and Devyn felt the bile rise in her throat. She swallowed hard a few times before she was kicked to her knees and forced to look straight ahead.

There. Right there in front of her. Dozens of corpses and dozens more people fighting for their lives. She was being forced to watch. She let out a strangled cry and felt the knife that was still against her skin make the smallest of cuts. She saw someone get kicked down in front of her and for some reason that made her panic more and she cried harder.

It was a man. She saw the person behind him raise a gun and aim it right at the back of his head. Devyn tried to scream but nothing came out and then everything went black.