Thorns

It was a dark and cool night as a young woman strolled through the town for the first time. She noted the quaint and quiet atmosphere that would be almost unsettling to anyone but those like her. Middle class housing give way to the more luxurious upperclass housing before she strolled passed mansions of the mega wealthy. She had been walking through the rural community for nearly two hours before she finally got to the biggest and most out of the way mansion in the town. Rathford was written on a gold plaque embedded into the stone that served as pillars to house the gate that granted access to the palatial home. She reached out to the buzzer to speak to the house.

"What business do you have here at this hour?" The gruff voice spoke as to imply that riffraff was unwelcome and doubly so when it was at such a late hour of the night.

"Sorry to intrude upon your evening, but please ask your young mistress if she would be interested in a flower grown in the shadows." The woman asked.

"I'll inquire." The man said in a much more dutiful voice.

*Clank*

The gate clicked open and the automated system pushed the gates inward allowing access to the mansion.

Without a sound the woman made her way out from the dark and into the well lit foyer of the mansion.

"This way." A nervous looking butler said as he greeted the woman and ushered her into a dimly lit room that was illuminated only by the fire crackling in the fireplace.

"A rose from the garden of hope for the saddened princess." The woman called Rose said as she kneeled at the feet of her master for this mission, as was protocol. As she had met the person she was meeting before she removed the concealing hood from over her head.

"Ugh, your dumb little code phases and shit are too annoying!" Vivian said with disgust.

"We do this in case anyone is listening I must insist we continue in this manner." Rose spoke as firmly yet cordially as she could to this arrogant bitch she had **** but to work for.

"Look, you know who to kill and here's the money I have to pay up front. Besides no one is listening and if they were I'd just have them offed too. Now piss off, I'm trying to find out why my so called friend has been ghosting me. I sent May like 20 texts and she hasn't gotten back to me. Maybe I'll have to give you extra to off her too. I don't like being defied after all." Vivian said as she literally threw her money into Rose's face.

Rose had to resist the urge to click her tongue in disgust. Every part of Vivian rubbed her the wrong way. As a matter of fact when she saw Vivian was the only time she felt anything at all. For years her family had beaten emotion out of her to make her a killing machine, but there was just something there under the surface that no amount of beating could erase. While Rose herself didn't have the emotional experience to process and identify the emotion she felt it would be clear to most that she felt jealous. Jealous of the cushy life Vivian had, and most importantly the love she received. All tied to the secret yearning of a woman that would never experience love, who's hands were too dirty to ever wash clean, and who's fate was sealed before she could choose a different path. She was jealous of Vivian from the time their paths crossed all those years ago. Now it was an inferno of rage that threatened to boil Rose's core as she could see that all this love and affection Vivian had at her disposal, and Vivian still took it for granted. Rose hated Vivian with a passion but duty prevented her from biting the hand of the one who held her leash. Like a broken mongrel she had not a choice but to obey, so she wouldn't waste anymore time in the presence of Vivian.

"Hey, before you go. I forgot to mention something." Vivian stoped her as she was about to leave the room.

"What?" Rose turned her head around to lock eyes with Vivian.

"I want this to actually go well so I should tell you everything about your target." Vivian continued.

"Was it not all included in your contract description?" Rose asked in an annoyed tone.

"No, I needed him gone and you guys wouldn't pick up the request had I included it." Vivian stated.

"What do you mean?" Rose said as her gaze at Vivian turned to a glare.

"You'd have thought I was some dumb kid playing a prank using her fathers influence. You'd have reprimand father and I and declined if I included it." Vivian said.

"Well out with it then." Rose said with a sigh.

"That guy...has powers." Vivian said hesitantly.

"What like Spider-man?" Rose scoffed.

"No, well he can't cling to walls, but he does have superpowers of some kind." Vivian stammered.

"Fine I'll play along. What's his super power." Rose said.

"If he writes his name on something it's his. He can use it on objects and even people. When you kill him do it from afar. Don't let him get close enough to write on you." Vivian said.

Rose had been well trained in the art of detecting lies. From reading micro-expressions to detecting changes in a person's body language, she was good at catching a liar. Vivian wasn't lying, she at least believed he had powers.

"Fine I'll take action from afar." Rose said with a nod and left.

Derren had just given permission to May to be able to go to sleep for the night. He had kept her up for two days straight already, and **** her to do exhausting tasks like going for a marathon length run. Was it cruel, yes, but it was vital in showing May where she stood, and that it wouldn't be easy to defy him. He had, by telling her she could speak freely to him if it was cordial, given her an out. Whether she could figure out the loophole and actually decide to utilize it was another matter. If she struggled to the end she would be punished severely, but if she repented and apologized genuinely out of her own free will then she would be spared, it all rested on May now.

"Hey, I'm giving Mia and Miko a ride back to their houses and then I'm going to have dinner at mine. You need me to pick up anything while I'm out?" Florence asked as the three women were walking out the door.

"Nah I'm good. You guys have fun at home for once." Derren said with a smile.

"See you later." Florence said.

"Later dear." Mia said.

"Bye love!" Miko said.

It had been rare lately for Derren to be completely alone. However, when faced with that peace and quite he found himself dozing off.

Boy was this guy not on guard at all! Rose thought as she took aim at Derren through the scope of her sniper rifle. She had a clear shot at his head and the house had just cleared out. Even though she was just going to do recon this couldn't have been a better set up. Her gut was calling out that it was too easy, that something was wrong, and that she should stick to the plan and stick to recon. But this created a perfect opportunity for her to nip this mission in the bud early. After all, the longer she had to deal with Vivian the more she was going to lose it. So, against her better judgement, Rose took the shot. It hit him square in the head and it was over. The only thing left was to confirm the kill and she needed to act quickly. She couldn't be caught and she needed to make this look random. However, she never got a change to make it to the body because as soon as Rose stepped into the house she was jumped by the Japanese girl her target called Miko.

It was clear to Rose that Miko was an amateur when it came to fighting as Miko came after her with erratic swings from a blade that Miko once concealed. Yes, this much was easy for Rose to deal with. She was much stronger and better trained than this kid flailing about. Rose produced her own concealed blade out from under her long sleeve covered arm. With precision strikes she broke through Miko's flimsy guard in moments. Rose was annoyed that she had to spill unnecessary blood, but it was unavoidable at this point. She readied a thrust right to Miko's heart, but Miko's smile threw her off enough to hesitate. Rose couldn't figure out why Miko was smiling in the face of ****, and it caused her to back off so she could analyze the situation. In moments she cycled through reasons for the smile, a bluff, a counter move Rose couldn't predict, or maybe Miko was just crazy. What she got to too late though was the most obvious one, Miko was the distraction.

Rose tried to turn around and make a move, but it was too late. Florence and Mia had knocked her blade away and tackled her to the ground. Rose hadn't anticipated that they'd all sneak back, and that this whole thing was staged. Then she realized someway or how they caught onto the ****. That didn't matter right now though, right now she needed to escape. She may have been surprised, but she was still a world class killer, and three high school punks couldn't keep her down long. Rose shook free easily and the girls fought back hard. What they lacked in skill was made up for by sheer determination. They worked tirelessly to ensure Rose never once regained footing. The battle raged for a good 10 minutes before the combo of Miko, Flo, and Mia had knocked Rose into the waiting arms of the recently presumed deceased Derren Smith (only he was very much alive).

She kicked and struggled against him, but she felt something on the small of her back, it was as if someone was writing on her. She was so unsure all of a sudden, she knew she was suppose to kill him but it felt so wrong now for some reason. As doubt crept into her hardened heart she felt his grip slip. Seeing an opportunity Rose whipped around, her killing spirit flared up as she looked forward to ending this farce. She pulled out a second concealed blade and thrust at Derren's face only to stop inches from the targets eye.

"Why?" Rose whispered as she came to grips with the situation.

"I'll move it to your arm so you understand sooner." Derren said as a ticking feeling on her back crept down her arm and onto her left wrist. Black ink slid into place on her wrist and displayed the message:

"Derren Smith's Bodyguard."

Of course! It all made sense to Rose now. How could she even dare to think about hurting her master. Feeling humiliated to have so utterly failed her mission Rose dropped to her knees.

"Sorry master! I wish to bloom beautifully in your garden forevermore, so please punish me for such a foolish mistake." Rose said in a pleading voice to her new master.