Chapter 2: Life Before Hell

Aries was on his one hundred and twentieth kill. Though he had killed more than that, he could only count the head of his main target.

At the age of nineteen, he had been killing people without feeling a bit of sympathy towards any of them. The death of others was survival for him.

He wanted to continue his existence and he wanted to live it in luxury.

He had been an assassin for ten years. He climbed from the lowliest spot to the second seat of the elite twelve. And he was holding on to that seat for three years.

He would not allow anyone to take that seat from him.

He was only twenty-nine and he was hoping to kill more and earn more until he could retire and roam the world with all the money he had earned..

For each of his targets, he would prepare for at least a month to make sure that his first attempt would be a success.

Dusk was his ally. He can move through the shadows as if he were one with it. Once he entered the perimeter of his target's haven, everyone inside that entire area will certainly die within an hour.

Before his enemies could notice his presence, they were already dropping dead and he had finally slit the neck of his main target within less than an hour.

"Oh. I guess I was late again."

Aries glanced at the door and saw a beautiful woman standing there. Countless thoughts and confusing emotions had raged within him but in the end, all that was left in him was anger.

But he did not allow that to show. He had to calm down and kill that nuisance.

The room was dark. He had easily merged with the shadows and concealed his presence from the strange woman.

It was unusual for him to see that someone with a sweet voice and harmless sapphire blue eyes could stay calm after discovering that she was with an assassin that slaughtered everyone in that vacation house.

Even after hiding himself in the shadows, the woman remained calm.

"If you didn't kill that man, I would have," she raised her right hand that was gripping a knife.

It was no ordinary blade because the silver hilt had an intricate design. A rose with three leaves.

"I guess I should thank you," the woman tucked the knife back at the sheath dangling at the belt underneath her navy-blue overcoat. "What do you want?"

Aries reappeared in front of the strange woman and pointed a knife at her throat. The blade was so close to her skin that it had been lightly pierced but she did not look scared. She did not even take a step backward. She appeared calmer than a nun.

"Who are you?" Aries asked as the blue-eyed woman intrigued him.

"Pieffer Celestine," she reached out her hand to him for a handshake. "And you are?"

Aries slashed the knife at the throat of the woman, but he failed to kill her because he hesitated, and the woman took advantage of that. She swiftly and quietly concealed herself within the shadows.

"That's unfair of you," the woman said as she reappeared at the right side of Aries and grabbed his wrist. "Tell me your name."

It was more of a command than a request. Aries felt compelled to obey.

"Aries… Del Luna…" he answered while wondering how that woman managed to sneak beside him unnoticed and easily asked him to spit out his name. He could not even pull his hand away from her grip. It was like he had completely fallen under her peculiar charm.

"Nice to meet you, Aries," Pieffer smiled and gripped his hand for a handshake. "Maybe we should talk somewhere… less bloody?"

^##############^

For an assassin like Aries, emotion was a hindrance. He had abandoned all his emotions when he decided to become a killer.

But with only a single night and with that bizarre encounter, his life had changed, and he had become powerless to stop it.

"Stop coming here," Aries came home from another mission and found Pieffer sitting comfortably on the couch while watching a series.

"If you don't want me to come, you would have changed your passcode by now," Pieffer turned down the volume and walked over to him. "You would not have taken me here in the first place and allowed me to see your passcode."

"Stop," Aries raised a knife and pointed it at the throat of the blue-eyed woman.

"Enough with the threats," Pieffer lightly touched his weapon hand and pushed it away from her throat. "If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it that night."

"Who sent you to spy on me?" Aries sheathed his knife and walked towards the kitchen.

"You know the answer to that," Pieffer took a seat around the dining table. Her eyes were always on Aries, but it was not that uncomfortable. Even the smile on her face was not bothering him at all.

He wanted to put his guard up whenever that peculiar woman was around, but he kept on forgetting about it after a while. It must be because he had run a background check on her and found nothing to be worried about.

She had been raised in an orphanage and had to work hard all her life just to earn a college degree. She acquired a job at a cruise ship and traveled around the world because of it. She had a few acquaintances but no close friends or even long-distance relatives. She was all alone. Just like Aries.

"I'm here for two reasons," she finally said while peeling an orange that she had taken from the fruit bowl in the middle of the dining table. "First, I think I like you."

Aries glared at her which she only ignored and went on saying, "Second, I want you to help me find my older brother."

Aries slammed his sheathed knife at the dining table and reminded the strange woman, "I am an assassin. I kill people."

"I think my brother is also an assassin like you."

"I don't care," Aries grabbed his knife and took an apple from the fruit basket. "I will not help. Leave and make sure you are not followed."

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"I will follow you until you help me out," Pieffer seriously declared before leaving his house.

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Pieffer Celestine did follow him in his every mission and Aries was only learning about it after he had killed his last target. It was always like the first time they met.

He had to admit that the strange woman was better at him in hiding under the shadows. It was like her portal to wherever she wanted to go.

And because of that, Aries started paying attention to the shadows around him, particularly when he was using the comfort room at his house.

Unfortunately, he could not sleep well while a single light was on. He eventually had to turn it off.

And in one of those lightless nights, he had been awakened by a slight movement at the edge of his bed.

Aries bolted up from his bed with a knife in his hand.

"Did I frighten you?" Pieffer laughed softly.

He quickly recognized her as his eyes adjusted against the darkness around him.

The peculiar woman was sitting at the edge of his bed.

"What are you?" Aries finally asked and followed it up with a ridiculous question. "Are you… passing through the shadows?"

"I will tell you my secrets if you help me in finding my brother."

They exchanged serious glances for a few minutes.

"Answer all my questions and stop following me then I will help you find your brother."

"I have to see your willingness in helping me before I tell you my secrets and I will tone down my stalking, but I will not stop until we find my brother."

"Why are you thinking that your brother is an assassin?" Aries lowered his knife and opened the lamp at the bedside table.

Pieffer pulled the sheathed knife from her belt and tossed it at Aries.

"My brother gave me that knife before he left the orphanage," there was a sad reminiscent smile on her face as she said those words. "He told me not to look for him because he will live a life that is totally different from mine."

"Then don't look for him," Aries tossed the knife back at Pieffer who only rolled her eyes and lay down on the bed beside him.

"What are you doing?" he was glaring at the strange woman who only gave him a sweet smile.

A sweet smile that he would be remembering even in his afterlife.

"Are you going to stare at me until the sun rises? Or will you ask all the questions you wanted to ask?"

Aries cleared his throat and said, "If he already told you not to look for him, then just listen. Stop looking for him."

Pieffer rested her head on the pillow and stared at him with a smile as she said, "If I am the obedient type, do you think I will still be here?"

"I don't think I will be asking questions for now," Aries pointed at the closed door using the sheathed knife in his hand. "Leave. Let's talk after I get some sleep."

"You will help me, right?" Pieffer eagerly asked.

He glared at her and asked, "Don't you want to?"

Pieffer hopped excitedly off the bed and marched towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good Night, Aries," she winked at him before leaving the room.

She truly was an odd woman.

But Aries liked her so much.

He should not have agreed in helping her search for her brother.

Everything had been ruined when they did find him.

Everything had ended.

Her brother, Sunrei, had killed Aries and Pieffer.

Yet even in her death, Pieffer was smiling so kindly at Aries.

How can she smile like that at the person who had killed her?

Yes. That was correct. Sunrei was not the only one who had killed her.

I, Aries Del Luna, had stabbed her.

I killed Pieffer.

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