I always hated change.

It lurks in the shadows-- waiting to follow you when you least expect it. That's when it strikes, pouncing on you like a panther and taking your life into a spiral. Once it has you in its jaws, there's no way out.

Magic in my veins pulsed through me. The kill rush controlled my adrenaline. Power tempted my senses, yet my soul craved to be filled like a wild animal left hungry and untamed. Emptiness consumed my goals with no escape in sight-- leaving me with no memory of the past fifteen years.

Seventeen. That was how old I was. I couldn't believe how much I changed in appearance but not in heart. The world I lived in didn't change from what I remembered. No one knew what kind of hell I went through to forget everything, but dwindling in the past left too many wounds on the weak minded.

I looked to the clock on the wall, passing 4926 on the way out the door. It was time to test my top recruit. I trained many others, but 6078 was the best one.

"Good luck today, 635202," 4926 said.

"Only wimps need luck." I kept a stern gaze.

"When Zolona trained me, she said a child should always have luck."

"Don't talk about that. Ever."

"Sheesh..." 4926 mumbled. "Just do your job, okay?"

He walked past me.

I wonder if things are gonna get messy? If 6078 lost the battle, it'd mean a huge cleanup on my part.

She was the best of her group, but she was sloppier than a ghoul even if her skill was there. Was skill even the right word? A slob was nothing. She didn't leave my trails of blood and dedication. Slobs were crap in my book. I wanted her to lose.

I rushed down the hallway of our black-walled castle, fiery torches lighting the way. The huge red door screeched open.

I knocked on the wall. "Mistress, it's 6078's test today. She might make it."

I was the left hand of my hero, my mentor-- Zolona. She rose from her chair facing the fireplace. A long, black sequined dress shimmered from the flames' light, and her pale skin contrasted against it. Her flowing ebony hair angled towards her face, wavy and out of place. Long, claw-like nails stroked a piece of hair off her forehead.

"You're ready to do what's necessary?" Zolona's voice— sophisticated and British— boomed with control and confidence.

She turned, her glowing red eyes gazing at me. They could pierce through one's soul if she wanted it. They were rose-red, not a blood-red like someone would expect. Zolona could sure as hell make you think otherwise.

I bowed, letting my ebony locks touch my chest. "I won't let anyone beat that test. I'm the only one who ever has, Mistress Zolona."

She smiled. "Good. We don't want just anybody winning and joining the highest of the ranks. We only have two serums left after all."

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

"Mara? It shouldn't take her much longer, and if it does, she'll have another good excuse."

Zolona's right hand, Mara, was an interesting character. We looked up to Zolona, but Mara somehow still expected me to look up to her. I don't know how the heck she expected me to look up to someone shorter than me, but it made me laugh to think about it.

I wonder what it'll be this time... a smile crept on my face, but I stopped myself.

Smiling showed happiness, something forbidden, not by Zolona's force but my own. Positive emotions were a weakness, one I couldn't afford to have as an assassin. Sure, a laugh was necessary once in a while for mocking someone or keeping your sanity; but true joy, love, and friendship were worthless to my line of work. I had no time to make friends. I had a test to administer.

"Go to the courtyard and do what's necessary," Zolona ordered.

I bowed to her. "Have I ever disappointed you?"

"Not since before you passed the test."

I left the room.

The test observed your physical and mental abilities against people who were your mentors and trainers. Losing the test meant death to the ones who attempted it and failed— sometimes in the worst ways possible. Failure was no option for Zolona. It made it more important to pass.

When I got onto the field with my two blades, I gazed out onto the dry, paranormal landscape.

Mist fogged the ground, dry to the touch and crunching beneath my boots. Darkness loomed on the horizon. The light of the red moon clashed with the misty sky's gray tone. All was quiet besides the intensity of the wind. Jagged tree branches danced from the wind's power, and leaves fell. Here, it was always night time and everything had an eerie aura-- a perfect place to fulfill my duties.

I belonged there; there was no doubt about it. I didn't belong in the 'real world.' It'd only tempt me away from the things that were important. Why go to Heaven if Hell gives you more to enjoy?

Blood would coat more than just the sky tonight.

"Hey, Silver-Eyes! Ready to lose?" 6078 raised her fists. Her black jumpsuit complimented her dark features.

My eyes were silver, a pale metal-like gray. A little lighter and less metallic and my eyes would look ghostly white. What the heck would those jerks call me then? Only Mara, Zolona, and I had weird eye colors, but I was the target. Did my Latina background intimidate them? They were obviously jealous. It didn't stop me from cursing under my breath.

I brushed a piece of my ebony locks behind my ear. "If I'm going to lose, why are you sweating?"

6078 looked to her feet, fear coursing through her veins. The quivered lip, shaking knees, sweating, a furrowed brow; she had the classic signs. I intimidated her. I couldn't do my job if I didn't.

We engaged in combat. I dodged 6078's first punch with ease. I cut her arm using my knife-- just enough to create a flesh wound and cut through two layers of skin, bursting many blood vessels. She squealed in pain as I stabbed her other arm, making sure to capture the moment and feel her life draining out.

She jumped up and punched my face.

I wiped blood off my nose. "Pitiful."

"You're scared to admit I'll win!" She kicked me in the stomach, sending me to the ground. Like that would stop my next move. I knew how to beat her.

Would it be cheating to use an unfair advantage? I took a deep breath, and invaded 6078's memories. It was a magic I didn't know much about, but I could use it. It was one of the few things I always knew I had engrained inside me, and it remained my only link into my past.

The pain level was based off how prepared someone was for me to enter their mind. Every kill was personal, connected with my own mind. 6078's screeches resonated over the field, images of training and hard work passing through my all-determined brain. I couldn't care for them. Many others had shown me their pain, their sorrow, before I took their lives. Still, that didn't leave me without seeing each of their potentials in Zolona's squadron. 6078 might have been a slob, but every fiber within her bones wanted to prove to us her worth was more than a number.

Too bad none of us were deserving of that praise.

She collapsed into the grass, her unconscious body twitching, shivering as I left her consciousness. I sighed. I knew what came next. Some people looked at me with pity, others with worry etched across their tired faces. Their jumpsuits were gray in color, but many had accessories to stand out. The crowd was a mixture of men and women-- all came to see the test. Eyes glanced towards me, waiting for my next move.

I took a longer knife from my pocket and presses it against 6078's throat.

"No... please!" a voice said.

I enjoyed these moments the most. Many died from the test, and people pleaded me to let them go. I just wanted to see red. Those who couldn't keep up with me went extinct. I slit her jugular vein and felt the last breath of her air touch my skin, wheezing for life before giving up completely.

Blood spilled into the courtyard from the wound in 6078's forehead. The bleeding went on forever. If I ever knew who abandoned me, I wanted them to see my eyes before I killed them. I wanted shades of red to coat their clothes, their skin, their souls until nothing was left but a carcass. Zolona watched me from the balcony and gave me a nod as she turned to leave.

People disposed of 6078's limp body, blood dripping from her corpse. I looked at the match's spectators.

"Back to work," I said.

A crackling sound snapped behind me. Not like lighting a match, but one like a portal was opening. A portal formed in front of my eyes, composed of black water and ash.

Mara had returned to the surface world with new people for me to interrogate and train, but I didn't know what to expect. This day would change my life forever, whether I wanted it or not.

Even Hell knows I wanted anything but too much change.