Tarasha

didn"t know what to expect, she didn"t even

allow him talk before she ended the call. He

waved off his bodyguard who was moving close

to him thinking he needed something.

He picked his smaller phone from the centre

table and proceeded out of the living room to

speak with the security men outside.

He returned five minutes later after giving them

orders and headed to the computer room. Edet

was surprised on seeing the man walk into the

room.

"Good morning sir" Edet stood up to greet.

"Good morning Edet" Chief Gab replied, taking

his seat beside the young man"s chair. "Let"s

see the entrance, I"m expecting a visitor"

Edet quickly responded to the instruction and

the computer displayed the happenings outside.

Nothing was going on except for the usual

pa.s.sage of vehicles in the estate.

It was after twelve minutes that Chief Gab

spotted a black range Rover driving from the

left towards the gate.

"Tell them to open the gate" he said to Edet

who picked up a landline and quickly dialed the

men at the gate.

The car was driven in in few seconds. The

driver, a lady whose face was not visible due to

her mode of dressing came out of the car, she

had a bag strapped to her back. She was led

into the house by two men as Chief had

ordered them earlier.

They led her to the large sitting room and took

their leave. Chief watched her as she stood in

the middle of the living room and brought out a

tablet device from her bag, she begin to put in

some commands. Chief decided it was time to

meet her, he cleared his throat and adjusted his

Agbada before walking out of the computer

room with his personal guard.

Tarasha already brought out a gun by the time

he entered the living room with his guard. His

guard who was proactive brought out his own

gun and pointed at Tarasha. Her facial

expression was not clearly seen but the Chief

could hear a chuckle, he motioned his

bodyguard to drop the gun.

Tarasha released four quick shots to the four

edges of the rectangular room, destroying the

planted cameras. She returned the gun into her

pocket and faced the Chief.

"Good morning Chief" she greeted in a cheerful

voice, "Happy new year"

"Good morning Tarasha, same to you" he

answered, both of them still standing. He

signaled to the bodyguard to leave the place

and the guy quickly obliged. "Please have your

seat" he motioned Tarasha to one of the thick

leather sofas. She removed and dark gla.s.ses on

her face as she sat down but still left the mask

which covered the lower part of her face and

the face cap which covered her forehead.

Nevertheless, Chief Gab could still see her eyes,

she wasn"t what he was expecting, she looked

too young to be a professional a.s.sa.s.sin. He

could place her between the ages of twenty to

twenty five, she was in the same age range

with his first daughter. He felt a pinch of guilt

as he sat on the sofa facing her. He needed

not to ask her what led her to becoming an

a.s.sa.s.sin, he knew how it happened.

"What can I offer you?" He asked.

"The truth" she answered sharply.

"What?"

"The truth" she repeated.

"I mean something to drink or eat" he said with

a smile.

"I want you to tell me the truth only" she

reiterated.

"Well…" He became speechless, he wondered

what kind of conversation she came for.

"Why are you killing all these people?"

He was taken aback by the question and he

stammered, trying to find his voice. He thought

Vladislav had told him that she killed without

asking questions, she was bred to be like that.

"I mean you don"t tell me what you have against

these people you send me to" She added, "most

of them are loved by the people of your

country"

"I don"t think I am obliged to answer you" he

answered, getting up from his seat.

That was true, he wasn"t mandated to answer

her. She herself was to ask questions, she

came to Nigeria to kill and wasn"t supposed to

have pity for anyone that she was sent to or

anyone that tried to stop her.

She thought she had lost all emotion until

recently when she killed the Rivers State

Governor. She remembered the look on his

face, it was the look on the face of her first

loved one that she killed. Her fifth a.s.signment

during her training, when she was just fourteen

years old.

***FLASHBACK ***

– April 9, 2020 –

The innocent looking fourteen year old girl

stood only clothed with a black bra and very

short black skirt in the extremely cold weather.

That"s how they were being brought up; to be

able withstand any kind of weather, sometimes

they were fully clothed in very hot weather. Her

body shook as a mean looking man placed

something into her hands.

She looked around her and found gazes of

young girls of the same age as hers, some a

little bit older. They were up to four hundred in

number, young but had all lost their virginities

to men who were old enough to be their

fathers. All dressed in the same way, most

were shivering in the cold while the others who

were adapting quickly to the treatment stood

still as they watched.

They all looked pale waiting for their colleague

to go through her test, some of them had

already gone and pa.s.sed through the test while

a lot were still waiting in line but one thing was

sure they could not escape it.

She stared at the dagger for a couple of

seconds before making her way into the

fighting cage. She could see her reflection on

the shining metal, it was so sharp that it could

cut through the body of any animal just by

falling on it. That was the same dagger that she

had been asked to use on a man who she had

grown to love over the years.

Loving was a crime in the clan; that"s what she

had just been taught in her last lecture. The

hardened Roy had spoken to the girls in her

cla.s.s that loving or having affection for

someone was wrong. Affection and love were

only for the weak minded people. He also

informed them that the topic he taught that day

had practicals. The day was Tarasha"s practical

day, she had to kill Stanley who had been like a

father to her and other girls who stayed in their

block.

Stanley Bob was a citizen of America, aged fifty

eight. He was brought to the Nefary Clan ten

years ago. He was kidnapped during one of his

political campaigns when he vied for the post

of the Senate President n his nation. Being

known for good in the country, he was sure to

win the election. His enemies had then

contacted the Nefary clan to get rid of him. He

was lucky not to have being killed but brought

to their headquarters in Russia to work as one

of the cooks for the a.s.sa.s.sins trainee and

trainers.

He didn"t know where in the world he was but

he still nurtured the hope of getting out some

day and returning to help his country but it

seemed he has team out of luck already as the

inevitable death stared at him in the face.

The cage was locked from outside immediately

Tarasha got in. She looked at him from afar, he

bent his neck and stared at her like the zombie

that he had made, gnashing his teeth as saliva

dripped down his lips. The man had already

been injected with substances that made him

lost his will; all he could see Tarasha whom he

used to love as was an animal to devour.

Tears flowed out in drops from Tarasha"s eyes,

she remembered how the man had cared for

her at a time she was sick, ignoring the death

punishment he would get if caught. He had

taken her to his room secretly and made a

mixture that healed her and saved her room the

child hands of death.

The zombie approached her violently with a rod

in his hands. He struck the rod against her but

she dodged, swerving to the right as the rod

landed on the floor. She moved farther away

from him but he surged forward against her

with the rod, she kept moving backwards until

her back touched the wall of the cage. He

struck the rod once again, this time she bent

down and it missed her head. She escaped by

pa.s.sing below his arm and ran to the other side

of the cage.

The monster was relentless in his quest to

devour the girl, he picked up his rod and

charged towards her again.

"Kill him Tarasha, what the h.e.l.l is wrong with

you?" She heard Vlasdismir shout. She looked

backwards to look at the angry man, she looked

at the faces of her colleagues too as if to

receive permission to kill Stanley. She couldn"t

make out what they wanted from the look in

their faces, they all stared at her like mourners.

The rod hit her face as she turned neck back to

focus on her attacker, she fell down on the floor

heavily, blood gushed out of her nose as the

dagger fell off her hands. The zombie raised up

the rod again to land it on her head the second

time but she had quickly recovered. She opened

her eyes just in time and rolled away quickly.

She touched her bleeding nose as she got up,

her head was banging already. It was then she

gave up and decided to end the man"s life, he

was going to kill her if she didn"t kill him first.

The man charged towards her again, she bent

and gave him a kick behind his knee to take

him down. The man only staggered as the kick

from her tiny leg could not have much effect on

him. He turned back and watched as she picked

up her dagger.

He widened his eyes and let out a loud growl as

he ran towards her again. She slid and pa.s.sed

beside his legs, he almost fell as he missed his

hit, before he could turn back to her, she had

pierced the dagger into his side.

"Don"t just kill him, I want his neck" somebody

shouted from outside the cage.

Blood rushed down the left side of the zombie"s

stomach as he fell on one knee, his rod fell off

his hands. He turned back to attempt a last

attack on Tarasha but she ran the dagger into

his neck, his blood spilled on her face and into

her mouth as she removed the dagger and the

man fell down lifeless, his blood gushing out

profusely.

Her eyes was full of pity and remorse as

Stanley fell, his head sidewards with his tongue

out. But it wasn"t over yet, she still had to cut

off his neck and take it out to the boss. She

trembled as she knelt down to disjoin the head

from the neck.

Tears had stopped dropping from her eyes by

the time she was carrying the head out of the

cage, she had lost every pity for the man

already. She couldn"t have pity anymore, she

wasn"t created to be with emotions.