Ch 52

It was starting to get a bit chilly as we waited, crouched in the dark in the alley behind the pub. There had been little of interest going on for the last two hours and now, although quite dark outside there was still a lot of noise coming from within the pub as patrons drank and conversed with one another drunkenly.

I had made a few attempts to make conversation with Lilly, but she had only bade me to be quiet and stay alert. Now, I focused on those who were walking passed in the street. After a little more time had passed something finally happened and I perked up a little where I was crouched behind some bags of garbage and random debris.

Three men had dragged a fourth out of the pub and into the alley behind it where we were currently hiding. The three seemed rather brawny and their words were quite slurred. The fourth man was slender and appeared to be afraid of these others.

“You spillededd mah drunk!” exclaimed one of the drunken men angrily while pointing a meaty finger at the cowering man who was being detained by his comrades. “What arrr ya gunna do ta make ups for it uh?! You says you hasn’t even gots any measly coins ta replace ut wuth!”

The drunk was obviously enraged although a little difficult to understand with how badly his words were slurred. “I- I’m s-sorry!” cried out the detained man in fear. “I came and spent my last coin on an ale, and I was on my way out when you bumped..”

“YOU BUMPED INTA ME!!!” Suddenly enraged the drunken man got in the face of his victim and screamed before slapping him with a vicious backhand. As the crack resounded throughout the alley I moved to go out and intervene, but Lilly stopped me with a hand on my arm and a quick shake of her head.

The man who had been detained was sobbing now, between the pain and the fear of what was going to happen to him he was beginning to break down. “Yes, yes, I’m so sorry. How clumsy of me to bump into you in my haste!” After having been hit and reprimanded he quickly changed his story to match what his assailant said, trying desperately to placate the man.

“Yah shee gentsh, heh ehven ahdmihts *hic* ahdmihts it.” The men who were holding the poor fellow on either side were now chuckling stupidly. “Shinse yous is khind enuff to uhdmit yur rong, I’m Feerin generuss.” At this point the man who was being held began to stop crying and smiled a bit.

“Thank you! Thank you so much! Now if you’ll kindly let me go, I have to get back to my wife and kids.” The man was speaking quickly, now having some glimmer of hope. “Hoo shaid anythung abut lettun yous go?” The drunk was smiling viciously now. “Ah onee shaid ah was feelin genruss. That means ya getsh ta liv”

After he had finished speaking the drunken man began to start raining punches down upon the restrained and terrified man. He screamed for a few moments and then went slack. As urine darkened his pants, I could tell that he was still conscious but had retreated within himself.

Once the drunk had worn himself out his friends dropped the now unconscious man who was covered in blood and missing a few teeth as well as likely having a few broken ribs. They quickly searched through his pockets and then stood up and cursed. One of the cronies spoke up. “Looks like he wasn’t lying about not having any coins left. Too bad for us, time to go home I guess.”

His greasy, nasally voice was irritating to me, but I held myself in place after having received chastisement from Lilly once for trying to leave my position. After a while the man came around and groaned for a bit before dragging himself up and limping away.

As soon as he was gone, I turned to Lilly and spoke quietly. “Why did you stop me? I could have saved that poor man from getting a beating he obviously didn’t deserve. Those thugs were just trying to rob him and would have succeeded had he anything worth taking.”

Lilly looked at me for a long moment and then replied. “You are not training to become a champion of justice here. You are training to become an assassin. If we go out to help every poor soul who gets caught up in trouble, then we are just being vigilantes. If you are going to continue training, you must learn not to act impulsively.”

I didn’t want to admit that Lilly was making sense and I couldn’t argue further so I shut my mouth and went back to waiting in silence. After a while there was another occurrence.

First there was a woman walking down the alley. She was young looking, brunette, slender of build and body and average height. She was moving quickly and kept glancing behind her as if afraid she was being followed. A few moments later a man came down the alley following her.

I wasn’t sure at first but as soon as he opened his mouth to speak I instantly realized that this was the same man who had beaten the poor soul earlier, who had ended up pitifully pulling himself up using the wall and then stumbling off some little time later.

As the young woman reached the back of the alleyway she stopped, suddenly finding herself facing a wall instead of an escape. This alleyway was a dead end. “Where ya goin ta gahlie?” the drunk asked in his sopping tone.

“Please,” she said in a voice that was high with fright, “please just let me go, I shouldn’t be out by myself but please!” she had spread her arms out, grasping against the wall behind her as if desperately hoping that it would disappear and allow her to escape.

“AH HAHAHAHA *hic* yous aints goins nowhere gahlie. Mah drunkin whas cut shot and nows mah lads hav gon homm. I was justs bouts ta go mahself whensh ah shaw ya shittin there all alones lahk. Am thinkin gonna havva good time with ya befoor ya go.”

As he was speaking the young woman’s face turned pale and she began screaming for help. The drunk just kept laughing as he stumbled towards her, grabbing her hands and pulling them over her head before pinning them there with one arm and forcefully kissing her.

I once again was about to move to save this poor girl when I remembered the chastisement given to me by Lilly before and so looked at her instead. Her face was pale, but her face was set sternly, and she gave me a short shake of her head.

I kept thinking that Lilly would change her mind, kept hoping that any moment she would give me the order to commit my first cold-blooded murder, but she kept silent, watching the whole thing.

She did not speak when he tore her dress open, ruining the dyed fabric and spilling her pale breasts out for him to see. She did not move a muscle when the girl’s screams devolved into sobs as she gave in to her fate. She didn’t respond when he lifted her dress and forced her legs apart with his knee. She did not even twitch when the drunk finished pumping into the young woman and went limp for a moment with a gasp.

After the man had finished his business he stood there for a long moment, leaning his heavy frame onto the body of his victim while he was awash in the feeling of physical pleasure and satisfaction. He then pulled out and wiped himself off using her dress and without another word turned and started stumbling back the way he had come as if he had now forgotten about the girl he had raped.

As soon as he was out of the alley, Lilly quickly gripped my shoulder and whispered in my ear. “Follow him. Do not be seen or heard. When he is at home, and asleep in his bed, kill him and make it look like a drunken accident. Leave the body behind but do not leave anything that will cause the guards to investigate.”

I should have asked some questions. I should have hesitated. Truth be told however; I was so eager to hurt this bastard that I barely waited for her to finish speaking before I dashed out into the night. Tonight, I would make my first kill as an assassin. It would not be glamourous, and I would not make any money on it. What it would be was satisfying.

It isn’t often that one gets the chance to kill a legitimate piece of human garbage after all.