Adrian

August, 22
Gotham: 3:14am

          I woke up in a suffocating cocoon of silk.

         I clawed at the bedding until I broke free from the humid prison of soft fabric; the cold air feeling foreign in my lungs.

        Upon assessing the fact that I was back in my own bedroom, I swung the Arabian purple sheets off of me, and rushed into the bathroom.

        Once there I twisted the nob of the vintage fosset, and splashed icy water onto my oblong face. My heart was beating feverishly and my breath rigid matching its pace.

        I fell against the wooden door, before sliding down to the checkered flooring. I pressed my knees into the temples of my fore-head; the storm colored fabric of my sweatpants absorbing the liquid.

        I have been plagued with nightmares ever since I could remember. Petrifying reminders of every awful that has happened in my miscible life.

        This one in particular has been starring in my dreams and thoughts of the late: The scorching fire closing in around me from all directions – smoke so thick, it was nearly impossible to muster a single breath without having the moisture evaporate from my lungs. The sense of panic flooding through my body and clouding my mind.

        The water crashing into the porcelain sink invaded my hearing once more. The pounding against my rip-cage started to subside.

        I rubbed my hands over my wet face and ran my beige fingers through my tangled hair. I hoisted myself up.

        I turned the fosset off, inhaling deeply as the last of the transparent liquid vanished into the drain. Taping my fingers rapidly against the counter, I came to a conclusion: sleep was overrated.

********************************************

August, 22
Gotham: 3: 18 am

        My movements were soundless as I crept through the corridors of the old manor, and into the kitchen.

        The chilly ivory and ebony tiles felt smooth against my bare feet as I scurried over to the stainless-steel refrigerator.

        The artificial light reflected off the metal plated ceiling, and bathed everything in a dim luminescence; the spacious room the was adorned with polished wood cupboards and white marble counter-tops, an old cast-iron stove, and ginormous metal sink that aligned the cream walls.

        I peered back into the fridge, where I saw an arrangement of fresh ingredients – all of which required effort to make edible.

        A vexed sigh escaped my chapped lips. I  began to close the door, when a brown object caught my eye from the top shelf; there stood on a porcelain plate, a singular piece of chocolate cheesecake wrapped in shimmery plastic-wrap.

        Joy blossomed inside me as I retrieved the delectable pastry, shut the refrigerator door, stole an antique fork from a drawer, and hopped up on the long island in the middle of kitchen.

        My toes leisurely scrapped against the flooring as my legs gently swayed over the edge of the counter-top. I dove my fork into the last bit of the cake and scooped it into my mouth.

       I jumped off my make-shift seat and placed my dishes into the sink.  I didn't know how explain it, but I couldn't shake the lingering feeling of eyes being locked on me – it wasn't due to the lack of light since my enhanced retinas gave me the ability to see fairly well in the dark. But I couldn't help but think that there was something – someone lurking just beyond the shadows of the kitchen.

        With the shake of my head, I forced the thought out of my mind, and made my way to the glass door which opened out into the garden.

        But even after I left the arched corridor and wandered through the stone path, I still couldn't rid myself of that dreadful pit inside my stomach.

      Only when I was in a yard's reach of the wine cellar, did whatever was stalking me decide to make itself known.

        A falter in the acidic – salt air was the first thing that I noticed. Then a nearly silent hissing hung above me, before growing much louder. I leapt out of the way just as a ginormous winged being descended from the cloudy sky,  and swept down towards me.

        My heart caught in my throat as I rolled across the damp grass. When I regained an up-right position, the creature was gone. My face contorted with confusion as I racked my emerald eyes over the mist-filled terrain.

        Amongst the maze of trimmed rose and fern bushes stood an eerie water-fountain that has disturbed me  since my childhood; it was a simple pool of water with seven angels encircling the center – each one representing one of the seven deadly sins.

        For Wrath there stood an armored angel with an rageful expression, clutching his sword and shield in a defensive manner.

        Beside it stood an angel adorned in bracelets and necklaces; plentiful stacks of coins and jewels laid at their feet.

        Next to the Angel of Avarice was a dreamy winged figure curling its head inward so that its cheek rest on its folded hands.

         The following angel had a handful of grapes dangling by its palm, above the angel's mouth; growing from the grapes however, were dozens of vines that engulfed the angel's body, and had begun to creep onto its face.

        Alongside it was a provocatively posed angel with its only piece of dignity being a scarf that was loosely wrapped around his lower torso.

        The next angel was lower than the others, with its wings narrowed and a dagger hidden behind its back. The Coveting Angel peered up at its neighbor with a menacing smile gracing its stone face. 

        The seventh angel had its wings spread out much wider than the others, stroking the wreath around its forehead as it smirked down at Envy.

        I had to forcefully advert my gaze from the disturbing decor when I heard a deep chuckle sound from behind me. That's when I noticed the living heat burn through my back.

        Someone tightly grabbed my wrists and shoved me against the entrance of the wine cellar; the rusted metal bars creaking loudly.

        "Looks like someone's being a bad kitty." Cody whispered in my ear before pulling his head back, and smirked down at me.

        I couldn't help but take notice of his bare chest; his tan skin felt extremely smooth and warm as he pressed his six-pack against me. "I could show you more." He said, acknowledging my gaze.

        "But you're in nothing but your boxers, won't you get sick?" I asked. It wasn't entirely genuine though, I just didn't want to nurture him if he got sick.

        Cody threw his head back and laughed. I guess he really doesn't care about his physical heath. "Forget it." He said with a blinding smile.

        I stared at him for a moment. "Why are you shirtless?" I asked. It's freezing.

        Cody chewed his lip and lowered his face closer to mine. "Isn't the more intriguing question: 'why are you out here at such hours?' " He asked, the honey dripping off of his deep voice. "But," Exclaimed Cody as he withdrew his face. "if I hadn't removed my shirt, how would I have snuck up on you?"

        My eyebrows scrunched together. Noticing my mystification, Cody sighed and extended his midnight black wings.

        I don't care how many times he flexed or fluffed them, I always became captivated by his massive wings. "But seriously," Cody said as he cocked a brow. "what brought you out here so late? And don't bothering saying that you were star gazing."

        "Come with me." I dryly said as I slithered under his arm, and opened the cellar door. I had just begun my descent down the dark stairs.

********************************************

August, 22
Gotham: 4:00 am

It's alright, Cody said as he leaned closer. I don't mind if you touch.

"A-are you sure?" I asked in a worried voice. I don't want to over step. Cody smile and placed a hand on my cheek.

      "It's fine, I promise." He said. I steadied my breath before I reached over and touched him. Cody tensed and he covered his mouth in his hand; his vigilant green eyes clouding as they locked on a crack in the old stone flooring.

        I chewed my lip as I nervously continued to stroke; it was extremely soft and almost slippery. A muffled sound escaped Cody's lips as he tilted his head back and shut his eyes.

I froze. "A-are you okay?!" I asked, fright coating my words. I knew this was a bad idea. "Was I going to hard or something? I know that these things a super sensitive and I –"

        My sentence was cut short by low laughter. Cody moved his hand over his face as he grinned brightly. "Adrian," He said in between hysteric laughs. "They're wings, they're super sensitive. Trust me, you're fine." I looked down at his reflective onyx wings, then back at him.

        "So I didn't hurt you?" I asked and received yet another fit of giggles from my poorly dressed companion.

        He shook his head after a moment. "Not at all, I'm just not used to people petting them." Cody said and took another swig from the wine bottle that he clutched lazily in one hand.

Relief washed over me. I plopped back against the wooden rack that was filled with a plethora of different types of wine. I took a sip of red wine as I intently studied Cody. "What" He asked, slowly pulling the green tinted bottle away from his lips.

"How do you preen?" I asked, my dark green irises focused on Cody's wings that were comfortably stretched out across the cellar.

        Cody snorted and wiped the crimson alcohol from his mouth. "You're a very curious person, aren't you?" He asked me with a playful fire dancing behind his words.

        "Well you can't blame me," I said with my lips twitches into a small smile. "I've never met an angel before."

        Cody let out an almost pained laugh. "Angels aren't real." He said.

His smiling face gleamed with ecstasy although his voice was bitter and saddened. "Aye, since you've been asking so many questions, may you indulge me by answering one about yourself?" Cody cheerfully asked.

I knitted my eyebrows curiously. "Okay, sure." I said with uncertainty and brushed my messy brown locks way from my face. Cody wrapped his arms around his loosely crossed legs.

        "Where are you from?" He asked and tilted his head to the side; pieces of his medium-length quiffed hair stuck out in odd ends, symbolizing that he had just rolled out of bed before following me outside.

      "Uh – a small village in Japan." I said, my body frozen.

"But you're Arabic." Cody said with a raised eyebrow.

        "Half," I said defensively. my father was Caucasian." Cody slowly nodded, clearly not interested in my heritage.

        "Right, so what was life like there?" He asked. I wasn't sure if I should have been thankful for him changing the subject, or resentful of his topic of choice.

        "Eventful." I said. "Care to elaborate more?" Cody asked, suspiciously intrigued. I couldn't manage to respond.

The air froze in my lungs as broken images of my mosaic past flashed across my mind. "It's getting late." I said with a shaky breath. "I should probably head back to bed." I cleared my throat and began quickly advancing towards the door.

"Can I join?" I turned back and saw Cody smirking. "Well yeah, our rooms are in the same direction." I said and ran my fingers through my messy cocoa hair.

Cody released a peeved sigh as he stretched his long limbs before joining me. "Oh, and Joseph won't notice the missing liquor?" He asked as we reached the cold steps, and jerked his wine bottle which sounded nearly empty.

        I shook my head. "The cellar gets refilled weekly, I seriously doubt that he'll miss some wine that's been down here since the Civil War." My response seemed to be enough to ease his mind, for Cody pursed his lips and let out and amused hum; his massive hand gazed my back and he quickly marched up the steep stairs.

********************************************

August, 22
Gotham: 5:42 pm

        I was silently walking down the grimly shadowed halls when shouts of rage broke through my earphones.

        I wrinkled my brows and pulled out an ebony bud. "For the last fucking time, Richard" Joseph's voice thundered through hallway. "She was a stupid whore that got herself killed." And my curiosity died; it was the same argument that has been going on for the past week.

           "Joseph, it's Katherine. Do you honestly believe that her murder was pointless?!" Richard exclaimed as I neared to where the voices spewed from.

        "A person doesn't do anything without a reason," Joseph said in a lower voice. "but to say that someone from King Enterprise hired the hit without any solid evidence is completely absurd." I neared the oak door, my combat boots skillfully moving across the wood flooring.

        "She was our friend –" Richard began to say but was sharply by Joseph.

        "Ally. There's as a fine between an associate and a friend." My God-father said bitterly. A spine-chilling silence filled Joseph's study. "Look, I know that she meant something to you, but the stakes are far too high to be meddling with military business right now."

        "I'm sorry" were the words that Joseph's pride wouldn't allow him say. "Figures." Richard said and stormed out the door.

         "What was that about?" I innocently asked as I tried to keep up with his brisk strides. Richard was wearing a scarlet button-down, dark wash jeans, and black vans.

        His tensed shoulders slacked a bit as he looked at me. "Nothing." Richard said with his sharp jaw locked in refrained anger. His intelligent pale eyes darted back and forth as an non-the-less evil scheme formulated in his head.

        "Grab your coat and tell Cody to get his ass out of bed." He said suddenly and began walking to his bedroom.

        "Okay," I said, blinking a few times in confusion. "where are we going?"

         Richard froze in the middle of the threshold. "The Guild." He said before entering his room.

********************************************

August, 22
Long Island: 6:16 pm

Graffiti stained the old walls of the abandoned subway station.

A rat scurried past us as we exited the singular subway-car. I shivered in disgust and wrapped the ebony ends of my ash grim reaper coat tightly around my sides.

        I inched next to Richard as we walked across the cracked flooring, and slowly made our was towards the exit.

When the earth's first began to fall, people feared that all underground transports would become flooded due to the tides; thus meaning that they abandoned them and left underground assassins like Richard and myself use them for speedy transport in between locations.

The three of us weaved past the wooden planks that were seemingly to block access, and officially entered Long Island.

The cold-dampness that consumed the subway would have seemed impossible after stepping foot onto the warm pavement, and breathing in the humid air that smelled sickly of decayed fish and seaweed. Much like it's distant sister-city New York, the streets of Long Island were painted with the wreckage of past battles between Abnormals and Standard military officers.

        Blackened ash marks stained the sidewalks and surrounding architectures. Disembodied car parts were scattered across the burnt grass, and loosely lined the broken roads; the occasional flame dominating the scrap metal.

My keen eyes fell on the paint-chipped docks; along the worn port were dozens of boats that had once bustled fish in and out now hung dormant, awaiting the rare opportunity for a scientist to take them out on the devastatingly polluted sea for some fertile experiment.

As we wondered through the depressing bay-side-village, some of the sunken eyes of its inhabitants fell upon us.

        My chest pounded against my tight silver tank-top. I flipped my deep onyx hood over my head in a lame attempt to shield myself from their envious gaze. It wasn't uncommon for city dwellers to venture out to here – before it all began, Long Island was rumored to have been a prime tourist destination.

        Many civilians from the neighboring cities supposedly used to visit the once cozy town to indulge in coastal dining and this thing called surfing.

        Long Island once glowed with positive energy and welcoming people – but that was all before humanity took their thirst for power to an extreme.

"Don't worry," Richard calmly whispered to me as we passed a depressing patch of wilting flowers. "We're almost there." I couldn't quite fathom why he had to in form of the time that we would arrive at our destination; Richard and I have visited the Guild many times growing up – but no matter the amount of times we walked the carnage covered streets, Long Island always seemed gloomier.

        "Well good," Cody said, butting into the conversation. "Because this is starting to look like something out of a horror movie."

I snickered in agreement I tilted my head up at him. Cody flashed me a cheeky smile, his stunning features were so much more magnetizing in the bleached sunlight.

        Richard scoffed and roughly gripped my arm, before man-handling me onto a biking trail that was faintly etched into the dirt.

We followed the path until the ghostly town began to fade into the distance. After awhile we ventured off the path, and enter the gloomy mountain-side forest.

        Rust colored pine needles snapping under our feet. I couldn't help but cringe at how loud my companions were as they marched beside me. Granted it was hard to be swift-footed while trailing the side of a mountain that was infested with dying pine trees, but why couldn't they at least make an effort to be sneaking?

I decided to tune out Richard and Cody's blabbering and focused on the tranquil sound of the lead waves crashing against the sharp obsidian rocks behind us.

        I have read in stories that the seas and oceans were once coveting shades of blues and greens – but now all natural water sources ran in sickly variations of gray. "Dude," Cody said in a sing-song voice. "Are you ever going to let Adrian's arm go?" His question caused me to look down and see that Richard still had his hand wrapped tightly around my arm.

Richard shot Cody a glare before letting me go. "How much longer?" Cody asked as the blood returned to my bicep.

        "We're almost there." I said as we broke through the dense forest and neared patch of slate rocks that crawled up the mountain; a few young trees daring to grow amongst them.

Cody's face morphed with uncertainty when Richard and I began to enter a narrow passageway hidden in the rocks. "I don't I'll fit." He said with a cocked brow.

        "Then crouch." Richard said dryly, his shoulders squished together and head lowered. Cody scoffed in protest but complied.

The darkness slithered along the gray stones as we navigated our way through the muggy labyrinth, guided by the torch of my iPhone. "I think that I should've gone first." Richard whispered in my ear.

        I rolled my eyes. "We've been through here how many times?" I asked, my irritation echoing into the shadows. "Yeah, but there could be bats or something." I stopped dead in my track.

"We're assassins for Sinclair Incorporation," I said looking up, my cold glare focused on Richard. "I think I can handle a few bats."

        His ivory face fell and his ice blue eyes looked like they were on the verge of melting. I absolutely adore him, but sometimes Richard's protectiveness can be a tad overbearing.

A sigh passed my lips as I snaked my fingers around his, and continued to guide the three of us through the tunnel. How and why human beings got so emotional over things was beyond me.

We walked a few more paces before a long stone wall appeared before us. "So did you guys take me out to the middle of no where to kill me?" Cody asked in a skeptical voice as he tried to back away but Richard grabbed a hold of his brown leather jacket, and yanked towards the wall.

        "No need to be so rough, Dickie!" Cody exclaimed as he stumbled.

        "Don't tempt me to hurt you." Richard said darkly and squeezed my hand tightly. I shoved Cody out of the way and pulled a strangely placed rock from it's place on the wall; once I did, a ruby red light blasted out and scanned my face.

"Identity confirmed." Said a robotic voice before the stone barrier folded into the shadowed ceiling.

"I can't decided if that's brilliant," Cody said as blaring lights poured into the cave. "or a comic book cliché."

********************************************

August, 22
Happy Harbor: 7:09pm

There was many things that I hated about this planet – with human being at the top of the endless list – but there was one thing that aggravated me the most about this self-righteous creatures: how fucking giddy they got over everything.

"Oh my God," A high-pitched female voice exclaimed as we entered the room. "Richard, Adrian, I've missed you so much!" As I tried to get a hold of the ringing in my ears, a ginger haired girl came running towards us.

        "Florence," Richard said as he opened his arms out and embraced her in a warm hug; her petite frame was nearly swallowed whole by Richard's massive military jacket. "it's been so long! How have you been?"

It's been two weeks – two fucking weeks, not a decade. "Boring without you here." Megan said as she stepped back and adjusted her sleeve-less white blouse. Richard laughed and rubbed her shoulders.

        Florence was of average height with peaches-n-cream skin that was glittered freckles over her cheekbones and turned-up nose.

"I'm sure you and everyone else managed just fine for a few weeks." Richard said with an awkward laugh; he quickly let go of her when an extremely built guy in a black shirt and dark wash jeans came over and looped his arm around Florence's waist.

"Long time no see." He said with a small smile. His name was Caiden Birch – the classic brunt that was gifted with extraordinary strength and equally as destructive anger management problems; which made him the perfect match for one of my mentor's forced – I'm sorry, recruited sets of Abnormals and Standards that he creatively named Guardians. They then were placed into units – or Guilds all over the country.

Tapping nervously on my thigh, I cleared my throat and said: "Yeah, Richard and I have been a little caught up with getting our new member settled in." With that, all eyes turned to Cody who quickly hid his shocked face with a confident smirk.

        "The name's Cody," He said and extended a hand, which Caiden accepted before his girlfriend could. "Cody Arzy."

After what seemed like a lifetime of awkward hand-holding, Cody pulled his arm back behind Richard and I. "So, this is where underground assassins hangout?" He asked with a slow nod as he examined the room. "Gotta say, it's not what I expected."

Richard rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Guys, meet our new Guild member!" He exclaimed, and got a set of heads to peek over the lip of the couch the was tucked away at the end of the room.

        "Don't we have enough?" A deep-voiced girl asked in a defensive tone. She was partially of Vietnamese heritage with tan skin and large cheekbone, that were accented by closed almond eyes and honey blonde hair.

"Babe, don't." The voice of William Cliff said as she swung her legs over the steel colored couch, and marched over to us.

        William sighed in defeat and ran a hand through his wavy, ruby hair.

        The twenty-year-old walked with the graceful movements of a tigress on the prowl, her high ponytail swaying behind her like the flicker of a cat's tail, and her brown heeled boots clicking in a menacing manner.

Cody's jaw fell from his mouth as she came to a holt in front of him. "Name's C –" He began to say but was cut off by the pissed feline.

        "I heard." She said, her dark gray irises barred into Cody as if she was contemplating whether or not to rip his Adam's Apple out with her teeth. "I'm Evelyn Sterling, sharp-shooter." Evelyn crossed her arms over her olive crop-top, the crunched up sleeves of her brown leather jackets stretching around her elbows.

"And I'm William!" Exclaimed the red head who was comfortably sprawled out on the sofa, snacking on some Red Vines.

"Adrian!" Florence suddenly exclaimed, her perky voice causing me to flinch. "How about you come help be prepare dinner, while the others get acquainted over a friendly game of pool?" She smiled and shot a glance at Evelyn – who in returned rolled her eyes – before grabbing a hold of my wrist, and dragging me towards the kitchen.

Another thing that I hated about people: their compulsive desire for communication.
While most of the Guild spent their hour filed with obnoxious laughter over stupid bar games, I was trapped in the kitchen with a telepath who was more than capable of single-handedly making a pot of jambalaya.

It wasn't that I minded helping Florence, she was a pretty introverted person which made working in the kitchen quiet for the most part; but what peeved me was the questions that she would ask over long periods of time.

They didn't have any intelligent or philosophical weight to them, they just floated through the filtered air as freely as the random ingredients and kitchen supplies that loomed over Florence's ginger-pixie-sporting head.

By the time I began to cut celery, I wanted to scream and stab my knife into her jugular. "So how have things been with Joseph?" Florence asked, her cheery voice piercing smoothly through the gleeful uproars of the other Guardians who were cheering over a scored point.

        "Same as it usually is." I said with a sigh. I tried to concentrate on my task, but it became rather difficult when artificial wild flowers invaded my nostrils.

        "Okay, better question," Florence whispered, her warm cinnamon breath tickled my ear and made me shift uncomfortably.

Before I could move away from her, the amber eyed woman wrapped her arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. "how are things with a certain charismatic hacker?" Her touch burned through my jacket and simmered my flesh; the fire rushed throughout my bloodstream and exited through my cheeks.

        "Richard has been busy with his research and handling Cody." I said sharply and shoved Florence away.

She didn't seem phased by my action, instead she grinned mischievously and smoothed her hands over her matte rose-gold tube skirt.

        Florence casually hummed and leaned against the shimmery onyx counter. "So you two still haven't –?" She asked, expecting me to finish the question.

        " 'Still haven't - ' what?" I asked in true bewilderment. Why human beings were so cloak and dagger about everything truly confused me; if you have something to say or ask, just do so without hesitation.

Florence laughed for a moment before her face fell. "Wait," She said in a dead voice. "You're serious?!" I nodded slowly, turning back to the celery.

        "That's too cute!" Florence exclaimed and twirled around the spacious kitchen. I blinked. Why does everyone say that whenever I question one of their statements or actions?

"What's so cute about him?" Richard asked as he appeared at my side, a proud smile gracing his strong features.

        "Uh," Florence said as her gaze darted between Richard and I. "nothing. Adrian was just telling me about how excited he was for school to start in a month." That was not what I said. I have no desire to return that hell hole.

"Really? Usually I have to drag him out the door school mornings." Richard said and gently placed his rough hand on the small of my back.

        Unlike Florence – or really anyone else's touch for that matter – Richard's didn't feel like fire being injected into my veins; on the contrary, his felt like soothing ice spreading across my skin.

        "Oh come on," Florence said, regaining my attention. "It's your guy's last year, right? Who wouldn't be excited for their Placement Exam?!" I for one despised the idea.

"Yeah." I said through gritted teeth. Agreeing was the best thing that I could do, even though the whole concept was stupid.

        "So, you wanna help?" Florence asked Richard who did not seem pleased the idea of having to do manual labor in order to obtain food.

        "Sure!" He exclaimed with a forced smiled and grabbed a knife that floating dangerously close to his face, before taking the other side of the island.

"You're cutting them wrong." Richard said after a few minutes of slicing lime green vegetables.

        "And why's that?" I asked and slammed my blade onto the bamboo cutting board.

        "You're celery's uneven. Look in the bowl." He said quietly and gestured his head towards the rust colored bowl that laid to my right. Pure terror washed over my face as I examined the contents of porcelain container and saw Richard's statement true.

No, no, no, no. This can't be happening – I was careful. I grabbed the bowl to get a better view. How could I have made such a miniature mistake? I'm better than this. A mistake so clumsy would be expected from Cody – or even Richard, but not from me. I was better than this. I am better than this.

Richard chuckled. "Stop looking like you just quickened humanity's path towards distinction." He said, resting his knife down.

        "We can fix it." No we couldn't. I just wasted perfectly good food. Fresh produce and meat was hard to obtain due to the government's tight grasp on everything that
King Enterprise and Sinclair Incorporation released to the dwindling population.

My heart accelerated and my grip on the bowl tightened. The walls of the underground facility began to close in around me. I couldn't believe that I let this happen. The Guilds were designed to protect Joseph Sinclair's best interests for the world – and here I just fucked up some of its Guardian's opportunity at a presentable meal. I have to start over.

Before I could toss the ruined celery away, Richard grabbed my wrist. I hesitated before making eye contact.

         "I'm teasing." He said with a smile; his grip wasn't too harsh where it hurt, yet it was secure enough so that I was trapped under his palm. "Look, Florence is almost done and I'm famished." Richard said, he words slowly beginning to calm me.

"B-but the celery–!" I exclaimed, my small emerald eyes moistening. "–is fine." Richard spoke over me, gently rubbing my wrist with his thumb.

I shut my eyes and sighed before nodding my head in agreement. "Awe," Cody's honeyed voice infiltrated my ears. "you guys are just like a domestic married couple!" He exclaimed as Richard's grip tightened around me.

        "Shut up, Cody!" He exclaimed in a defensive tone. I opened my eyes to see Cody setting his elbows against an opposing counter-top, his usually shit-eating smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. Cody chuckled, his chest beating against his teal v-neck.

"Whatever you say, Dickie." He said and raised his rough hands in surrender. Richard rolled his eyes and snatched the rust bowl from my hands. He then walked over the stove where Florence was humming some pop song as she happily stirred the jambalaya with a wooden spoon.

"You've been getting better with your telekinesis, I see." Richard said as he handed her the impure celery, while simultaneously dodging a flying pepper container.

        "Well I've bored with Mister Sinclair keeping you and Adrian MIA for the past two weeks." Florence said and dumped the contents into the massive pot.

        That's it, dinner is officially ruined. "Sorry 'bout that," Richard said, running his pale fingers through his dense ebony locks. Joseph kinda grounded us for defying orders.

Florence cocked an eyebrow. "I take it the incident involved a certain Zac Efron look-a-like?" She asked and glance at Cody.

        Richard pursed his lips and flashed his eyes in annoyance. "Adrian and I found him at the sight of a murder in New York." He said and earned a gasp from the Abnormal.

        "No way!" Florence exclaimed as telekinetically threw the black pepper at my face; I quickly ducked out of the away and the glass container collided with the white cupboard mere seconds later.

Florence gave me an apologetic grimace which I waved off and brushed my bangs out of my oblong face.

        Cody chuckled behind me as I stood. "What?" I mouthed at him, knitting my eyebrows together.

        "Nothing." Cody mouthed back and dismissed me with a small hand flick.

"So you and Adrian left your mission to follow a blood trail?" Florence asked, trying to clarify the recently presented information.

        "Well actually Adri picked up the scent, I merely followed." Said Richard, kindly correcting her. "But that's not even the best part."

        Florence furrowed her elegantly scalped eyebrows and tilted her head. "The dead body belonged to Katherine Storme." All of the flying objects fell.

"You're kidding." Megan said with disbelief. "Is Joseph letting you investigate it?" Richard shook his head sorrowfully. "Bruce thinks that the New York Military should handle it." He said, his answer not pleasing the ginger. "That's ridiculous, Katherine was one of us!" She exclaimed.

        "Not in Joseph's eyes." Richard said quietly and shifted his feet, his sharp gaze honed in on Florence.

        "I heard shouting," Evelyn said and she joined us in the kitchen. "what's going on?"
Florence, Richard, Cody, and I looked over at the sharp-shooter. "Katherine's dead." I said dryly.

        Evelyn's face morphed in pained shock. "No." She said, her voice quivering as a transparent liquid began to fall from the seems of her eyes. "It can't be." Evelyn whispered as she cupped her golden hands over her mouth.

I didn't understand why humans did this when they got bad news. But non the less Evelyn dashed over to me, and buried her face in the nook of my neck. "Adrian," She whispered to me. "who did this? This isn't fair!" I sighed and placed my hand on her head.

There was plenty of unfair things in this world – plenty of beloved friends and family members died daily, but Evelyn for some reason took this insignificant death personally.

        Katherine was a Guardian yes, but she didn't have an important role in life. All she ever did was have sex with King Enterprise workers in order to steal Intel and report it back to Sinclair Incorporation. Maybe steal the occasional hard-drive, but that was it.

"I don't know." I whispered back, deciding that was the bests possible answer. The rest of the Guardians soon poured into the kitchen, all asking the same pathetic questions: "What's wrong?", "What happened to Katherine?", "Who would such a thing?".

That last question pissed me off the most. It was someone who worked for King Enterprise, of course.

        It wasn't unfamiliar to have a Guardian die at the hands of an assassin on the other side of this underground war. Just like Sinclair Incorporation, King Enterprise acquired Abnormals and Standards to try and gain the upper hand in this deadly game for power.

After surviving through the awkward period of everyone but Cody and I getting emotional, Florence finally remembered that she still had food boiling on the oven.

        She quickly smeared her dripping mascara under the shaping of her round eyes, turned off the flame, and ushered us to the living room.

        Florence then came back a few minutes later with a wooden tray over-loaded with cream bowls. She made her way around the room making sure to hand each of us a bowl and napkin, until setting next to Caiden on the edge of the sofa.

"Hey," William said, looking around in confusion. "where's Malcolm?" I looked around the living room, suddenly aware that our Guild was missing a member.

        "I heard that he had some business in Brooklyn with Dinah and Matthew." Caiden said, pulling out his phone. He ran his hand through his his sort black hair as he search for the supposed message.

To this day, I am still awestruck at how an idiot such as himself could work an iPhone. "Yeah, something about Alaric being angsty and refusing to go on a mission again or something." Caiden said.

Of course they already knew. Dinah was so motherly that she probably was asking every Guardian in America about him. "He did say that he might swing by later though." Said Caiden as his sapphire irises scanned over his illuminated screen.

I once again faded out of the conversation when it grew uninteresting, and nibbled at the food that I ruined.

        I honestly didn't care about what was going on in everyone's lives, because the chances are that they didn't obtain to me.

Once I had forced down my portion of jambalaya, I set the bowl down on the metal coffee table and rested my head on Richard's shoulder. I noted Cody snicker at my action, so I flipped him off and continued to pretend that I was listening.

But after an hour or so, fear blossomed in my stomach. My body tensed.

      I snapped my head up, attempting to sense any disturbance in the atmosphere. And there it was: "Hello, is anyone there?" I heard the voice of non other than Dinah Knight call out from the training room.

        "In here!" Richard exclaimed with his hand partially cupped over his mouth so that his voice echoed.

Dinah wasn't the cause of my weariness, nor was it the fact that I picked up on Matthew and Malcolm's presences as well. Someone else out there. Someone dangerous. I felt my primal instincts go crazy.

        Whoever this person was, every atom in my being told me that I needed to kill them before they had the chance to kill me.