IT HAD BEEN months since Devora had last seen Liam Pine. Back then, he was a recurring nightmare that Devora had to face every single day in school, a scene that she couldn't wake up from. Thinking back now, Devora couldn't understand why she was so smitten by the boy. He might be handsome but he made life a living hell for her. There was no sane reason why Devora would cling onto the emotion as though it was her last lifeline.

Safe to say, Devora no longer held any feelings for the boy other than nostalgia and maybe even hatred. When she had caught his name on the case file Julius Cain had thrown at her team, she couldn't even help herself but smirk at the coincidence of it all.

After longing for her old life, something from her past had finally arrived to greet her, albeit not in the way she had originally desired.

A part of Devora wanted to be the one to end Liam Pine's life. After all, he was one of the main reasons why she was in such a mess in the first place. If he had been nicer, if he had been kinder with his words, or if he had just ignored her altogether, she might still be home, safe, untainted. However, she was now awash with red, a stain in her record that could never be wiped away. Devora blamed it all on Liam Pine.

Another side of Devora wanted to let him live. However, it would also go against the orders she had received from her higher-ups. After all, Liam Pine was still someone from her old life. He was someone Devora once thought was a prince, dazzling and bright like the morning sun. He was always surrounded by that grand aura that came with his appearances.

Of course, everything Devora liked about him was as superficial as it came. She finally understood now that it wasn't love or even a liking. It was just a sickening infatuation that messed with her head and corrupted her heart. It wasn't worth her time. Back then, she hadn't known what real love was— not between friends and not between lovers. It was easy to mistake any and everything as that sacred emotion.

The sky darkened ominously, storm clouds gathering in dense packs until the world above was nothing but navy-gray. Their team of four had been patiently waiting for the perfect time to strike and the oncoming rain would provide a desirable shield and shelter from the patrolling guards' eyes. There was no better time to make their move.

Once she received the green light from Nathan and Dallas, Devora slipped past the shrubs, sliding quickly into the building after slamming both guards in the face with the point of her elbow. Since they hadn't seen her coming, they went down without a fight and much noise. Careful not to let their bodies slam on the ground and create a ruckus, Devora carefully caught both their limp bodies, laying them down gently so that no sound would echo.

Not wasting time, Devora pulled the two pistols out of the guards' holsters, slipping them into her own pockets before dashing down the corridors as silently as she could.

"Find the main office and kill both Pine and Ursula Trucker. Travis will take care of the rest of the guards so don't go out of the way for them. Dallas and I will locate Horace Trucker and meet up with you shortly. Be very careful. Remember what you've learned." Those were the parting words Nathan had left her.

Her mission had been clearly explained to her and she had no intention to fail it. It was a fairly simple task. Devora didn't have to handle all of the lower-ranked men alone nor did she have to assassinate the boss of a crime syndicate. If anything, Devora might even say that her task was the more enjoyable one out of the three given options.

It didn't take long for Devora to locate the doors to the main office. The building plans that they had received served her well and it was a breeze for her to navigate her way through the winding hallways and maze-like turns. Each and every detail was provided by the mole that had been planted in the gang months prior, including the access code needed to enter the office.

Jamming the right code into the digital keypad at the side, the doors clicked open, signaling that it had been unlocked. Devora raised a leg, using her foot to kick the door open as she poised and aimed her gun to shoot immediately upon entering.

Inside the office, a man and a woman were inside, discussing plans over a large blueprint of a building just as Devora entered. At the sound of the door, both of them looked up, their eyes wide with shock at the sudden entrance of a stranger.

There was no time to waste. Even a second could mean the difference between life and death. Before either of them could react, Devora aimed her gun at the woman. Ursula Trucker was just reaching for the waistband of her pants when the bullet from Devora's gun punctured her forehead. Her body went limp, the gun that she was reaching for flopping onto the ground when Trucker's grip loosened on it. With surprise as the final look on her face, she collapsed to the ground, dead with her eyes wide open.

The safety of a gun went off in a soft click and Devora instinctively twisted her body. In the time that Devora had taken down an opponent, her other enemy was already armed and ready. Liam Pine's gun was aimed for where Devora's head would've been if she hadn't moved out of the way at the last second.

Reaching for the chair to her left, she hoisted it up before flinging it in Pine's direction like it weighed nothing. The wood crashed down on the floor, nearly hitting its target but alas, Pine was just as agile. He had weaved out of the way, holding up his gun. However, ever the inexperienced, he couldn't right his axis after rolling a short distance. Once Devora moved from her position, Liam Pine could no longer find her immediately.

Making use of the opportunity, she shot at Pine's leg. She wasn't going to kill him immediately. If she had done so, it wouldn't be fun anymore.

Devora had decided to toy with this mirage of her past under his last dying breath.

"Ah!" He screamed as a wound bloomed on his thigh.

It hurt, Devora was sure. After all, she had felt the same pain before. Unlike her odd resilience, however, Liam Pine crashed to the floor, his knees thudding against the wood as they landed.

She wasn't going to wait for him to stand. Making her way over, Devora fired another shot, this time on his opposite arm. Scarlet blood started to drip from his body, leaking from the punctured holes Devora had left in his flesh. It soaked through his shirt before staining the light wood floor, coloring it in a wine-like color before leaving a copper stain.

Pushing him by the shoulder, Devora barely even had to exert strength before Pine was sprawled on the ground. She clicked her tongue under her breath, her lips coiling in sadistic delight as she reveled in his pain. He was on his back, nose and eyebrows scrunched in agony as he gripped at the flesh surrounding his injury.

"Look how the great have fallen, Liam Pine. The golden boy of our high school is now nothing but a writhing worm at the sole of my foot," Devora chortled. She raised one foot, stepping hard on the wound she had left on his thigh.

"A-Ah! W-Who... Who even are y-you?" Pine gasped for air, choking the words out between breaths.

"You don't remember me?" Devora pouted. "I'm a little disappointed. It hadn't been that long." Squatting down so that her face was now closer to Pine, she reached out to grab his face, her thumb on one cheek and the rest of her fingers on the other, pulling him even nearer. "Take a good look. Maybe that might jog your memory. After all, I have a pretty memorable name."

Pine squinted his eyes, desperately trying to carve out a name from the depths of his memory. Then, suddenly, his pupils brightened. His jaw dropped agape with surprise.

"Evans?" He asked unsurely. "Devora Evans? What are you doing h-here? What h-happened to you?"

The inner bookworm in Devora wiggled in joy.

"You happened," she replied. She had always wanted to try saying that cliche line.

"You died, Evans. There was a f-funeral and everything. H-How are you here now?"

Liam Pine, confused as ever, looked almost as though he had forgotten about his pain. Devora examined the five o'clock stubble on his chin, sighing a little at how they had both aged so much in the last couple of months. Life wasn't smooth breezes for her but it certainly wasn't much better for Pine. He looked exhausted.

"I did," Devora replied evenly. Her statement made Pine even more puzzled than ever. "I crawled my way up from the burning depths of Hell."

"Ha!" Pine dryly laughed. "You should've stayed dead, Evans. The human world isn't all sunshine and daisies. A girl like you won't last a day up here."

"Maybe." Devora smirked.

Holding the barrel of her gun right against Liam Pine's temple, Devora watched in amusement as his face blanched white. He started to struggle, pleading, begging for mercy. However, it all fell on deaf ears. Devora was too enraptured by the sheer delight of ending her teenage nightmare.

She leaned in, hovering right by Pine's ear as she spoke. "Maybe it's like you said and I'll die tomorrow. However, it still gets me going knowing that I've lived longer than you."

At the end of her sentence, she pulled the trigger without waiting to hear his reply. His body lost all strength and ceased its struggle. The blood from the blast splattered a little on Devora's ear and the side of her face but she didn't care. She stood to her full height, half of her face colored red and the other half as cool as ice. When she looked at the door, ready to exit the building and report the success of her task, she noticed two figures standing there watching with grave expressions.

She simply smiled, half-filled with the lightness of escaping from claws that haunted her and half from a sense of delight that would even make the devil shiver in fright.

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