The Contract - Is it worth the Price?

‘You’re being promoted.’

‘Promoted?’

‘Yes, promoted… to the Syndicate.’

It was a bitter night and the frosty air ran through my spine, I tugged my hands into my pocket for warmth as I headed for the location scrawled messily on the note I had.

‘Stop joking, Chief’

‘Am I smiling right now?’

‘Well…no.’

‘Good, I think you might’ve understood what I’m talking about. You will meet them at this place at 11 tonight.’ Chief tossed a small note at me and I caught it with ease. Its contents were illegible and whoever wrote this note literally hated writing.

Meet us,

On the 5th of this month at 11pm,

The local tavern.

We heard you’re the best they've got.

I stared blankly at the flashing neon lights, the‘t’ and‘v’ hung limply flashing a brilliant blue. I stepped into this world of nausea and regretted it immediately. A cacophony of wolf-whistles were shot at me while I earned a nasty grin from the bar owner showing his yellowed teeth. The stench from the tavern was almost unavoidable and I sighed. What have I gotten myself into?

‘Why?’ I asked icily. ‘Isn’t it enough that I’m doing this for my life? Or have I already become a disposable cog in your rusted organization?’

‘Not exactly Lin.’ Replied Chief. ‘In fact, you’re actually the knight in this game of war,’ He smirked. ‘I think you’ll enjoy it a lot… with an added bonus too…’

‘You’re making no sense…’ I narrowed my eyes. Was this some sort of plan so that he could get rid of me?

‘Doubt is clearly written all over your face, Lin. Let me give you a piece of advice if it helps you in anyway…’ I almost snorted; we were dealing with the underworld here. If you actually gave damn about anything in this business, they’d toy with you until you lost your head or you were out to fend for yourself. I never trusted anyone here…even if they were my acquaintances.

‘This Syndicate you’re going to work for…don’t believe them in anyway. Trust your instincts when you’re in a nasty situation.’ He stuck out his hand motioning me to shake hands. ‘For all I know, they could turn against you sooner or later...’

I shook hands and nodded, trying to apprehend his advice. He chuckled slightly, ‘Well…this is our last meeting…I’ve got nothing more to say to you.’

I nodded slightly in agreement and turned, heading for the door. As soon as I grasped the knob, I heard him say, ‘Be careful...’

I looked over my shoulder through my dark bangs, waiting for the rest.

‘Good luck.’

‘Room 102, missy.’ Replied the bartender when I asked him where they were.

He was grinning, and I started towards the stairs. This place was so horrid; it’s like a page out of a murder sequence. It smelt of rotten wood and the last time it was renovated was half a century ago, how do I know this? It’s written on a piece of yellowed parchment and pinned carelessly onto the wall.

I scrunched the note I had in irritation. I took a few steps when suddenly, a man who smelt strongly of vodka grabbed hold of my wrist. ‘What’s a pretty girl like you doing in this dump? Why don’t…you…come back to ma place and…let’s have some fun…’ Those pauses were evidently filled with hiccups.

I broke free from his grasp, rolled my palm into a fist and aimed a blow at the left side of his jaw. As soon as I struck him, he was knocked out and slumped lazily to the floor. A small applause came from somewhere inside this tavern and I looked over my shoulder to see who it was.

‘Well, well, looks like our future member got one heck of a right hook.’

I relaxed and headed towards the guy, he nodded towards the door on his right and went inside. I followed him in; it was a small room, not much of a view at this late hour and there was one more person sitting at the far back with a stack of papers on the table beside him. His figure was masked and I couldn’t see him clearly. Both of them had this annoying smile on like they were laughing at a private joke that I couldn’t realize.

‘So you’re the famous assassin your organization’s been going on about…’ The man in the shadows asked, ‘From the profile your company sent in, you specialize in cords, wires and knives, am I right?’

‘Yes.’ I replied apathetically. I was here only for one reason and one reason only; Money. You might think “that’s it?” But I had a cause for the wealth I was trying to accumulate.

‘Your real name is Shicheng Lin. Well, we’ll use that as your civilian name…but lose the Shicheng; your new name is Yu Lin.’

Guess I don’t have a say in this…

‘Is it all right if she’s not of one of them?’ The man who led me in asked, ‘That’s the basic prerequisite right?’

‘I think she’ll be a very useful addition to the Syndicate…But first,’ The man in the shadows pointed at me, ‘you have to go to a specific camp; outskirts of Tokyo.’

One of them? Who’s them and hello? I’m an assassin, I don’t need training.

‘Here’s your plane ticket, it’s scheduled to leave at four in the morning.’ I glanced at my watch. Damn it’s already 1am. I took the ticket and pocketed it.

‘You may go,’ I turned on my heels almost immediately. Before I could grasp the knob, the man told me ‘Your messier code will be KA350 and you new partner…’

I didn’t need a new partner…

‘BK201.’

I froze.