The Legacy

Kain had her head held down while Abbadon ranted on and on about how disappointed he was in her. It had been a week and he still went on as if it happened yesterday. It was a mistake she wasn’t supposed to make. It was one she couldn’t afford to make. How could she have let it get away? where was her head at? Was she too incompetent to understand a simple mission? To complete a simple mission. He doubted her skills. He doubted his own judgement. All because she didn’t catch that blasted fae!

She had her head down but somehow, she couldn’t get herself to feel ashamed of the lie she kept feeding him. Sure, she did let her original target get away, but she also did kill one non the less. It might not have been the intended fae, but it was a fae. The dark image of its red eyes still haunted her. she could still see the blood dripping from its mouth. The blood that belonged to yet another fae. One she had felt sorry for. One she had abandoned her intended target to save. And failed. She failed that night. Not because she let her target escape. Not in the sense Abbadon was scolding her for at that very moment. But because she was too late. She could have saved the fae girl if she had been faster. She failed because that fae girl died and there was nothing she could do to save her.

Kain lifted her gaze from the ground to look at Abbadon’s desk. It was a beautiful piece, made from the darkest wood to be in existence. There was a shine to the wood which was the result of constantly being polished. The desk was exceptionally clean, with neatly piled documents. There was a separate document in front of him which he toyed with while naming all his disappointments. “I assure you sir, Kain is considered one of your best. She will not make the same mistake again.” She heard Gavin say in her defence. She couldn’t tell if she had imagined it, but she could have sworn that there was a hint of anger laced in Gavin’s voice. Yes, they were dating but the number one rule they learned at the Academy was that their emotions should be neutral. Standing in front of Abbadon, Gavin was a hunter first. He was a fighter first. and yet in between his deep respect for Abbadon, Gavin still stood up for Kain. He still defended her. against their master. Against the man who had trained and raised them. Kain let her gaze wander towards Gavin’s face. He bore no expression except for a defensive fiery burning in his gaze and an almost unseen, clench in his jaw. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly but she took care not to let Abbadon see it. Who knows what kinds of words he would let out about that? They’d never hear the end of it.

Abbadon sighed, “that will remain to be determined.” he said in return not sounding very convinced. He opened the document he was toying with, looking down at its contents, “let’s see if you can redeem yourself then.” Abbadon said with a quick, unmissable snap directed towards Kain. He was done ranting but still haven’t forgiven her. Kain snapped back into attention and stared down at Abbadon’s hands. His rough, scarred hands which paged through the loose papers. She couldn’t keep herself from wondering, how many necks he had choked with those same hands.

Forcing her focus back towards the open file, Kain tried to wipe the thought from her mind. Thinking about the violence Abbadon is capable of is the last thing she should be doing right now. Especially when he was this close to murdering her. Kain caught glimpses of images within the pages Abbadon was paging through but couldn’t make out what the pictures were of. “It seems that there has been another attack last night. I am sending you out to go investigate it.” Abbadon said, eyeing Kain, “I’m sending Gavin with you too. I need him to keep an eye on you.” Abbadon added flatly. His cold eyes pin-pointed at her face. Kain felt her face flush. She loved Gavin, but this was an insult to her dignity. Abbadon never sends anyone on a mission with her. he’s only doing this to spite her for her mistake. It was a mistake she was starting to regret. “You are sending Gavin to baby sit me!” she said a little too loudly. She felt Gavin wrap his hand around her arm. A cold shudder went through her spine.

Abbadon’s fist clenched almost like he wanted to strike her. Kain bended her head down as soon as she realized what she was doing. She was speaking out of turn as well as questioning his orders. A growl erupted from Abbadon’s throat, “You are giving me no choice Kain!” Abbadon shouted making both Kain and Gavin flinch. Abbadon rarely shouted. He was the kind of person who remained calm. It was that kind of calm that made your insides cringe and urging you to run as fast as you can. Shouting meant that Abbadon was on the verge to kill you. Kain knew she had crossed the line. It was time she just shut her mouth.

Abbadon threw the document towards them. Kain watched it slide over the glossy table until it stopped just short of falling off from the edge of the desk. Gavin was the first to recover and took the document into his hands before it tumbled from the edge. “It will be done.” Gavin confirmed with a curt nod. He took Kain’s paralyzed hand and forcibly pulled her out the door.

“You really know how to piss the wrong people off, don’t you?” Gavin remarked as soon as they were in a safe distance from the office. Kain only shot him a deep scowl but remained walking beside him as they headed to the Rec-hall. She didn’t even bother ripping her hand from him either. She knew if she did, she would stumble and fall. Her legs felt like jelly.

The Rec-hall was much quieter than usual, not that it bothered Kain at all. She was still trying to recover from Abbadon’s fury and didn’t want the others to know. They would eventually find out. They always find out when she, Kain the apprentice, makes Abbadon angry. She was his favourite pet after all. Kain always had watching eyes on her. Whether it was adoring, envious, or scrutinizing and watchful. This is what she gets for being the best and the only student to ever be Abbadon’s chosen one. She didn’t feel like his chosen one anymore. In fact, at this moment, she felt like a cockroach, he had just stepped on out of disgust. “The attack we are supposed to investigate is another fae attack.” Gavin mumbled with his nose in the document and oblivious to the staring eyes. He never gave much thought about the attention he had on him for being an apprentice and he also happened to be the only one who didn’t wish to be in her shoes. She wished that she wasn’t in her shoes.

“Another?” Kain asked faintly, stirring her tea. She hoped desperately that her hair hid enough of her face to be unreadable. Did the Academy know about the attack she evidently didn’t mention?

“The first we know of has been about four days ago,” Gavin said flatly. This was news to her. Kain raised her eyebrows. She didn’t know about that attack at all. So, the Academy didn’t know about the one she was lying about. It wasn’t the only one either. She lifted her head to gape at him, “why is this the first time I hear about this?” she asked him. Her brows furrowed together and her mouth hanging slightly open. Gavin closed the document and handed it to her, “I guess you’re not Abbadon’s favourite pet anymore.” he said dismissively as he shrugged his shoulders high before breathing out in one long breath. He took a big bite out of his food. “We should get on this immediately.” He added all business like, his mouth full of food. Kain gaped at him a little longer. She knew Gavin didn’t mind the attention she got from Abbadon, but she didn’t think he thought of her as his pet like the others did. She decided that it was no use defending her honour. Breathing out a long breath, she stood up from the bench and walked out of the Rec-hall. Leaving Gavin to eat on his own.

The night sky was cool against her skin, her hood drawn up to conceal her face. They had waited until just before midnight before they went to the morgue. Gavin stood crouched in front of her, his eyes surveying their surroundings. He motioned with his hand for her to follow as they sneaked close against the wall. Their dark cloaks concealing them in the shadow. They inched towards the closest window and listened. Once they were positive that there was no-one close by, Gavin pried the window open without making even the slightest scraping sounds. His eyes still surveying the area as he held out his hands for her to climb onto. Kain grabbed onto the window frame to support herself before she shimmied through the opening. She landed quietly on her feet. Her eyes scanned the room for any kind of movement before she turned towards Gavin, “all clear.” She whispered.

“You go ahead, I’ll stand guard outside.” Gavin whispered back through the opening before his head disappeared from the view. Kain rolled her eyes, of course she had to do the dirty work on her own. She didn’t mind, since the mission was supposed to be hers from the start, but she didn’t expect Gavin to leave her by herself either.

Kain crouch-walked through the room, desperately fighting the urge to shiver. Cold tendrils were crawling up her spine and they weren’t from the freezers. A few inches from her, stood rows and rows of small square doors, embedded into the wall which contained dead bodies from different times. Yes, she was a killer but that doesn’t mean she particularly likes the dead. Besides killing fae was a whole different thing. They were technically not human. They were abominations of nature. The Academy does the world a favour to execute those filthy creatures.

In the centre of the room stood two long metal tables of which one of them had a long vertical object laying on top of it. Not an object, Kain realized. A body. A body concealed inside a large black bag as if it was trash waiting to be thrown out. Without a doubt, Kain knew that it was the body she was looking for. New bodies were found on metal tables, weren’t they? She prayed that the body hasn’t been handled yet which would have meant that their evidence would be contaminated. Slowly Kain raised herself into a standing position, hesitantly raising her hand to unzip the bag. She kept on having that feeling. The kind of feeling that a superstitious person gets when looking at a dead body for too long. The kind of feeling that the body would suddenly jump up at her as she opened the bag.

It didn’t, which gave her a small bit of relief. The smell was the first thing that hit her, and she had to force herself not to gag. It wasn’t the usual smell of rot which belonged to a decaying body. This was more of a different kind of rotting smell. She recognized this kind of smell. She had smelled it only once, but she knew from where. She pulled apart the flaps to reveal more of the body. Just as she suspected. The body’s stomach was ripped open with the traces of black stains on the edges of the ripped skin. Much like the fae girl she had failed to save the other day. Although this body belonged to a human. She studied the wound and saw something that made her brows furrow together. There’s something missing from the body.

Looking further she noticed something else which made her blood run cold. There just below the ear was a symbol. Somehow Kain recognized the symbol. In the same breath she also knew that she had never seen this symbol before. Something wasn’t right about these attacks. She had already suspected something but now she was certain. She took out her dagger and gently removed the symbol. Then she shoved the piece of skin into a plastic bag which she wiggled into her cloak pocket. She took another plastic bag and scraped the thicker pieces of the dried black substance form the stomach wound before zipping up the bag again and wiggling it inside her other pocket.

“Hurry up!” Gavin hissed from outside the window. Kain breathed as she moved towards the small squares and swallowed. Each square door had a number on them, labelling each dead body. Kain looked down at the slip of paper Gavin had scribbled on. It was three numbers. Kain quietly opened the three doors the numbers represented and inspected each body as well. All her findings where the same. Exactly the same. She took out her dagger again and removed the symbols from these three bodies as well before closing each door. Once she was done, she cleaned her dagger with the bottle of pure alcohol standing beside the sink before walking towards the window and climbing back out again.

Gavin was standing against the wall, his hands folded and looking bored. He turned towards Kain and watched as she closed the window again. “Anything?” he asked in a whisper. Kain gave him a scowl of disgust before she nodded in return. Gavin had to supress his laughter with a hand. “Next time, you dig around the bodies.” Kain hissed. Both made their way back towards the Academy. They didn’t talk until they were well out of town. Getting away is much easier than sneaking in. “What did you find?” Gavin probed as soon as they were well within the forest. She wondered how long it would be before he asked. He wasn’t one for waiting. She gave him a long look, “I’m supposed to wait until we reach Abbadon before I tell you. it is my mission after all.” she said with a smirk. Gavin bumped his shoulder into hers as they climbed a small hill. She took out the plastic bag with the black substance and handed it to him, “I removed this from one of the bodies. The other three had the exact same substance around the edges of the open wound. All of which had their stomachs ripped open.” Kain reported flatly, supressing the urged to shiver again. the image of the dead fae girl trickled back into her mind. It was the same with her as well. Was it the same kind of fae that killed the others?

Gavin inspected the contents of the bag before shoving it into his own pocket, “anything else?” he asked unphased.

“Hey, you weren’t supposed to take it.” She moaned. Gavin gave her a raised eyebrow, ignoring her complaint. Kain rolled her eyes, frustrated she thought about her other findings. “None of them had livers.” She said, her brows furrowing together. She tried to think of reasons why the missing liver was significant to the attack. Why take the livers? Did the fae eat it? Gavin stared at her, his eyes wide with surprise, “what?” he asked bewildered.

“Their livers where gone. Not one of the bodies had livers.” Kain repeated. This time unable to keep the shudder from running through her again. She convinced herself that it is because of the cold air. Gavin studied her for a moment, an eyebrow raised questioningly, “anything else?” he asked. Kain hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, “that was all I could find.” She answered, hoping that Gavin couldn’t see past the lie. The symbol meant something, and she wanted to know what it was before she revealed it to Gavin. Before she revealed it to Abbadon. It might mean nothing. She had to find out first either way. She didn’t like keeping secrets from him, but this felt bigger than she was. It made her feel confused and bewildered. She shivered. Her mind filled with the sensation of strange memories she couldn’t remember.

They walked through the quiet woods. The first lights from the Academy’s ground became visible through the branches of the trees, “Do you really think Abbadon is shoving me to the side?” she asked quietly, thinking about what Gavin had said back in the Rec-hall. Gavin turned slightly towards her, amusement playing at his eyes, but his lips remained a straight line. She didn’t care what others thought. He knew that but she couldn’t help but wonder. “What brought this on?” he asked instead of answering. Kain shrugged her shoulders, “I was thinking of what you said,” she answered, kicking at a rock in her path. She kept her eyes down as they walked. “You mean about not being his favourite pet anymore?” he asked bewildered. She nodded. Gavin took hold of her shoulder, making her stand still. She lifted her head to look up at his face, “does it really matter?” he asked gently. Kain thought about it a moment. Did it really matter? She wondered. “Kain,” he said, bringing her attention back towards him, “you are still the best hunter in the whole Academy. Whether you are some asshole’s pet or not. You shouldn’t let the idea make you question your abilities and I’m not just saying this because I’m your boyfriend. I mean it!” He said, slightly bending so that he could look her straight in the eyes. Kain gave him a half smile, then leaned her head to the side, “you’re right.” She said, pressing her lips together, “I’m sorry.” She added apologetically. She looked over his shoulders, trying hard to avoid his eyes. Her eyes were burning, and she knew if she looked at him, her emotions would betray her.

He bended his head to the side, forcing her to look at him, “Kain, don’t be sorry. Just don’t ever think that you need anyone to tell you that you are good.” Kain just nodded a few times. Gavin pulled her into him, “you don’t need to prove yourself to everyone. You don’t need to be the best.” Gavin whispered as he rubbed her back. Kain pulled away slightly, looking up at Gavin. He didn’t know what he was asking her. She did need to be the best. She had to be the best. Abbadon wouldn’t want it any other way. Gavin leaned forward, giving her a gentle kiss, before straightening up again. Kain sucked on her bottom lip, the taste of his minty breath lingered on her mouth. She gave him another small smile. Gavin took her hand and led the rest of the way towards the Academy gates. It was already well past midnight. The early glow of the sun had already begun to flex its rays over the horizon. The buzz of insects greeted the day along with the early songs of a thousand waking birds. The trees around them yawned in the wind as the forest burst with waking life. the world around them was waking and all Kain wanted to do was go to sleep.