Amelia wondered why all rich people had to be so arrogant.

The woman she'd accidentally bumped into gave her a piercing death glare that seemed to cut through her heart. But she could have sworn that stare had morphed into a look of envy—after all, her midnight blue dress was quite the catch. Paired with white satin gloves, she resembled the model on the month's Cantonesia Vogue cover. In fact, the dress seemed almost...identical. Amelia shook her head to brush away the superficial, irrelevant thought. She had to focus on the mission. However, she did recall her aunt, the Bauhinia's stylist, telling her the dress gave off a regal presence and should be worn by someone with immense power.

But Amelia didn't feel like she had a lot of power, nor did she have much say in her outfit choice. The Bauhinias believed that if a superior gave out an order, it had to be executed as accurately as possible and to the best of one's ability. After all, she was just a pawn in her father's many elaborate schemes.

That was why she decided to deliberately disobey Ah Ba, just for tonight. She was tired of the stiff regulations the Bauhinias upheld.

Amelia ascended the stairs, weaving her way in and out of the intermingling crowds. The older ones laughed heartily while talking to one another. Glasses of plum wine were clenched in their pale hands. Others–usually the younger generation—kept to themselves and occasionally engaged in small talk. They held glasses of champagne in their slightly trembling hands. Such was the way of the Cantonesian society: you had the seniors reminiscing about their traditional, conservative pasts, while people like her were looking toward the West and reaching for the future.

Keeping a hand on her purse, just in case—you never knew what could happen—and another around the glass of champagne someone had offered her, she continued her journey upwards.

"Enjoying the party?" A man stopped her on the staircases. Amelia felt a wave of familiarity wash over her: was this one of Ah Ba's ex-colleagues? Wasn't he the one in charge of 'international affairs'—missions outside of Southern China? His name was Ah Wing; she thought he'd been arrested a few years back.

The young woman chose to smile wryly. "The party's a bit boring. I have to admit the guests don't make the best conversational partners."

The man chuckled. "You tell my daughter that, then. She's the one who organized this entire gathering. This event is so that she gets to know more people in our community and hopes to forge strong connections with them. I believe it's quite the noble and incredibly thoughtful deed, don't you agree?"

Amelia mentally facepalmed. No, this wasn't Ah Wing; it was the Governor of Cantonesia, Richard Lau. And his daughter Elise was Amelia's target tonight. 

But he seemed to be concealing a scroll of paper behind his back—how peculiar.

"In that case, don't tell her I said anything to insult her or the party," Amelia countered and shook the governor's hand. "Have a good night."

With that, Amelia slipped into the crowd. She wasn't daft—she'd studied the ballroom floor plan a few days ago and knew of the small staircase leading directly up to the indoor balcony. Squeezing her way through the party guests, she was reminded of the crowds in the underground railway stations, a prominent public transport in both Hong Kong and Cantonesia. She was fortunate enough to rarely take it but had boarded it on the occasional mission. However, Amelia never got used to blindly feeling her way through insanely large crowds, nor would she ever be accustomed to the jerking motion of the train cars.

Amelia shook her head, turned towards the back staircases, and began the climb.

Yes, she knew Ah Ba had distinctly told her not to go there and blend in with the crowd instead, but what harm could it do? Ba knew nothing about how weapons worked in correlation with one's surroundings—he never had to do any of the 'dirty work' like her. Besides, she had hidden in the shadows all her life. There wasn't much difference if she stuck to her old ways; after all, it had kept her alive and out of the law's grasp for long enough.

And one could always see more when they weren't in the picture. Amelia had to find her target. She was on a mission, after all—not the most exciting task, albeit the victim was a governor's family member—but she'd had more of these cases than she had fingers, and that was already saying something.

The balcony was an interesting place to hide out in. While completely separated from the rest of the party members by heavy drapes, Amelia was involved in much more than just one conversation. From here, she could see the glint of a knife hidden in the back of a man's suit. A small pistol was strapped to the back of a woman's leg, hidden in her dress. Another was holding a bottle in their right hand, and casually poured the contents into a nearby tray of champagne. Was it a vial of poison or something of the sort? Amelia wondered. Maybe people were better at committing suspicious deeds than she thought they were.

And with more ulterior motives came more people targeting the innocent elites. Especially the one who was the hostess. Amelia needed to find her before the target retired for the night.

Amelia scanned the crowd and absentmindedly rummaged for her compact weapon in her purse. She found it peculiar that there were no bag checks or guest lists before she had entered the ballroom—she supposed the rich were too trustworthy for their own good. However, the foldable bow and arrow in her bag doubled as a water bottle—credits went to Ah Kan, the weapons expert for the Bauhinias and her grand-uncle.

This had obviously been arranged by Ah Ba, and Amelia had a feeling Ah Kan had protested vehemently. But Ah Ba wasn't the type to listen to others. Although he told his daughter to mingle with the crowd, there was no place to use the bow and arrow with everyone noticing. And despite everything, he had insisted Amelia use the long-range weapon in her mission.

***

"Why a bow and arrow?" Amelia had questioned her father and Ah Kan.

"The Bauhinias like to leave their mark yet remain untraceable." Mr. Yeung had said enigmatically. Amelia had rolled her eyes.

"And what does that mean?"

"When authorities investigate our victim's death, they'll find our arrow and know it was us. But they won't be able to find out who did it and why, since you'll be wearing gloves. The software installed in the arrow will also erase any fingerprints. But just to be sure, blend in and strike at the right time."

"Sure thing, Ah Ba. Whatever you say."

***

Finally, Amelia sighed in relief. Elise Lau was chatting to a party guest with a champagne glass similar to hers. The young woman was about Amelia's age, and for once, she was almost sad to know about the victim's fate. After all, an innocent person shouldn't be harmed for others' transgressions, she mused.

Amelia studied the photo concealed in her bag and looked at her target closely. She was almost sure it was Elise, but there was something off about her. Maybe it was because her father had said she would be wearing a pale blue dress, not one which looked as if it were pure gold. Her stylist must have suggested an outfit change, but it was peculiar and rather spontaneous of Elise. Her profile said she was meticulous, and the files that the various Bauhinia agents made were always correct.

Amelia wondered why she was assigned this mission in the first place. Maybe it had something to do with the necklace she'd retrieved for her father earlier in the week. Her father would usually reveal more details about the motives of her tasks, mainly because she'd ask questions if he didn't give her the answers.

Amelia remembered her first assignment was to retrieve a stolen vase from a collection point.

***

"Ah Ba, where's the vase from?"

"None of your business."

"But why do we need the vase? We have tons of them in the antiquities room---"

"Yeung Tze Kei, stop asking questions and get the vase for me. You talk too much and do too little."

Young Amelia frowned. "I just want to know—"

"Less talking, more doing, Amelia. Be grateful you're allowed to take on this assignment--usually, the Bauhinias leave this kind of work to the big, strong boys. You should be staying at home and taking care of your siblings at this age."

***

Amelia felt the familiar burning rage that had erupted inside her, which had started upon hearing that statement. She had gotten the vase back to her Ah Ba in less than fifteen minutes that night, but he'd just told her to be more careful with 'precious items like these.'

From that day onwards, she'd faced the hollowing realization that she was nothing more than an object in the Bauhinias' vast arsenal of employees.

But how could she escape? She hadn't made a name out of herself. Yet.

Bringing herself back to the present, Amelia unfolded the bow and docked the arrow without hesitation.

As soon as I finish Miss Lau off, Amelia vowed, I will no longer live under Ba's prejudiced reign.

Now, she had her arrow aimed at the target's back, a perfect shot despite the crowded ballroom. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she pulled the bowstring taut and prepared to let the arrow fly.

But then, Elise turned around and looked directly at her, finding her on the balcony as if she'd known Amelia was there all along. She winked.

Amelia stared in alarm, and her body instantly froze over. She had never been discovered before, not even when officials were right on her tail. After all, the Bauhinias were the most notorious mafia family in Cantonesia for a reason. She subconsciously released her arrow out of pure terror, continuing to stand paralyzed on the balcony, and watched as Elise Lau swiftly caught the shaft she had let loose. Elise then took off a hair accessory, and her long, straight, dark brown locks cascaded down her back. It was a comb, which was dark green and had a pink porcelain flower attached to the top of it. She smirked at a horrified Amelia, who willed her body not to just stand there in shock and do something.

But Amelia's body refused to cooperate, and a minuscule dart spiraled from the comb, swiftly riding through the air currents. It somehow managed to dodge all the elite party guests—zigzagging its way through the oblivious partygoers—and pierced right through the skin on her right arm.

A horrific thought appeared in her mind. Had Ba been right when he told her to mingle with the crowd?

Then, Amelia Yeung's world instantaneously turned pitch black.

***

Another young woman caught Amelia as she collapsed. The woman looked almost identical to the 'Elise' who had snatched the arrow—except she was in a pale blue dress. She dragged the mafia boss's daughter away from the balcony swiftly and silently.

Meanwhile, Elise's doppelganger walked up the stairs nonchalantly and turned a corner, heading towards the unconscious Amelia and her captor.

Word Count: 1892

(A/N: Sorry for the long wait--I'll try and update more frequently. Hope you enjoyed this!)