The Other side…

The wind whistles by me as I race a cross the rooftops. My heart ponds deep within my chest. Adrenaline is pumped viciously through my veins. A single thought dances in my mind: My first mission! This is my first Mission! A gleeful smile glows across my face, but is hidden by the dark scowling mask.

Soon I arrive at the targets location, and it's exactly what they told me to expect. Across the alley lies an old rundown apartment. The bricks have been carelessly chipped away by time. Rust runs up and down the fire escape like vines choking a tree, and many of the windows are shattered or cracked. I circle the building looking for the target; it's not a long search. Luck seems to be on my side tonight, for it's on the same level as I am. My hands tremble as I reach into one of the pouches that's securely fastened to my waist, is it excitement or fear? I can't tell so I ignore it and do a few breathing exercises before I reach again. This time the hand stays still, and at long last I am finally ready for the one action that will change my life forever.

I slip my finger through the hole at the end and bring the kunai up across my shoulder. Cold steel rests peacefully in my hand and I wait… and wait… and wait… Seconds pass like minutes and minutes pass like hours as I wait for the opportune moment. My right foot begins to tap on the edge of the roof as I grow impatient. And then… There! My hand snaps out in a perfect arc, but after eleven years of training I should be shot if it happened any other way. The Kunai flies through the night silently until it crashes through the window. The target doesn't have time to respond as the weapon drills through its windpipe and gouges the artery. There's a small thud followed shortly by a louder thud, and then silence.

I sit there for a while letting my feet hang off the edge. I can't help but think that they were all right, you're first mission is a lot like you're first time having sex. Incredibly nerve racking, exhilarating beyond belief, and over way to soon. I roll up my sleeve and check my watch. I've only been out for fifteen minutes, and I they said I had half an hour to complete the mission. As I sit there relishing in the moment a treacherous impulse wades into my mind. Curiosity. I can't help but wonder who it was, but I know I'm not suppose to go. Too many have been… "Exiled"… for being a little too nosey. The Mission always comes first. But I can't resist.

I take a few steps back form the ledge to get a running start. My feet pound across the tar and gravel till they give the final push and send me sailing through the air. At about Ten feet away I duck my shoulder to protect my head as I obliterate what was left of the window. Timing was something I was always good, and I hade timed the mid-air roll perfectly. I land on the tangy carpet of the apartment. The first thing I do is carefully pull my Kunai out of the wall, it can be my excuse if I need one.

The Target was female with long golden hair, but by no means attractive. She was another one of the endless Crack addicts who owed us money. Another wasted life eliminated from this earth and I felt relief. I was glad it was no one important. No one with a role to play, but I hade too make sure. I gave her a quick pat down. Starting at the head. A small joint lay a centimeters from her mouth covered in blood. I smile to myself as I reach the neck. It was a clean cut. Her head lay half way back balancing on the cartilage form her spine that kept the two halves together. To put it simply… She looked like a pezz dispenser. There was a carton of cigarettes in her left breast pocket of her yellow T-shirt and I felt more relief sweep across me. It was more proof that she was trash. Finally I got down to the lose blue jeans she wore around her stick legs. My hands dance across the pockets until I find what I'm looking for, her wallet.

Still hunched over the corpse I snap the wallet open and check how much money's inside. There was about a hundred and fifty dollars left. I must have caught her as she was heading out to restock. I slip the money under my belt as I begin flipping through the pages that could contain anything of interest, but there isn't much. Just a few pictures of her in her glory days. I start to check the card holding area of the wallet but there's a soft crunch behind me. My right leg darts out behind me kicking the corpse against the wall while my arm shoots out into that perfect arc, but this time there's no thud. The kunai twirls around my middle finger, halted by a slight bend in it. A four maybe five-year-old child stands in front of me staring in silent awe, and I feel a slight pain in my chest.

Slowly I rise to my feet, and the pain worsens. I didn't kill some worthless trash, someone who doesn't have a meaning in life. I killed a mother. My heart feels likes it's being crushed. The child's eyes, once transfixed on mine, slowly began to wander down my uniform, and knowing that he's seen it before sends a chill up my spine. Finally his eyes find the corpse and I watch his little moth drop open. His eyes widen with terror. The crushing grip on my heart worsens, and I'm having problems breathing now. For a few delicate seconds there's silence. Then his eyes start to mist over and soon the apartment is filled with the child's cries for his mother. The grip grows tighter around my heart and my feet feel like lead. A strange thought begins to squirm around in my head: What have I done?

A socked foot sends the child skidding across the floor. I flinch when I hear the crunch of his nose. "Stop ye'r fucking bitch'n ya little piece of feces! Or do you want an'ther beating tonite!"

The man wobbles on his foot for a moment before attempting to slam it into the ground menacingly. The only result is that he hurls his stomach across the boy and the floor. Some of it almost lands on my feet. That's when he notices there's a ninja in his house. His response is surprisingly the same as the boys, but he starts at my feet instead. By the time his eyes reach my head his whole body is trembling, so he makes the wise decision any normal creature in his position would do. He turns around and runs like hell. By now the crushing grip on my heart is so tight my left arm goes numb. I know what that means. I know what I have to do. I turn around and run like hell.

My feet pump vigorously, my veins don't. I lunge from the window and fling my self across the alley. My Sternum collides heavily into the ledge of the opposing building. Air rushes from my lungs as I scramble for a handhold, but I'm too late. I plunge down into the alley. My claves manage to catch the ledge of a fire escape and I begin to roll in the air. Then it all stops with a metallic clang. I've landed on top of a closed garbage dumpster. My whole body aches now, and I can hear the blood rush past my ears. I laugh, as I lay there sprawled across the hard steel. I can't believe that worked… I can't believe that worked…

Slowly I began to rise, very aware of the pain and aches that scream from my body. Again I roll up my sleeve and check the time. I had ten minutes left. I stood up very carefully, making sure nothing was broken in the process, but it seemed luck truly was on my side tonight. I hop off the dumpster and walk out from under the fire escape. I crouch down and then silently burst upwards. When I land on the roof my calves scream in protest, but I ignore them.

As I make my way home I push the images of the boy from my head. Morals are for the weak. There is only strength, only power. I tell myself this over and over again on my way over the rooftops, and slowly the boy begins to fade. I start to feel normal again. No one has the right to decide what is good and what is evil. This is the truth of the world I live in. This is the truth of my family. This is the truth of the Foot.