Chapter 359 - The Order of the Red Hand

The headquarters of The Order of the Red Hand was not something that was under the ground. It blended in with the rest of the surroundings in this sub-city. It was a small building and they occupied a whole floor. See? It was not even that high security.

Well, no one in that place would be needing security when they all have a gun under their desk and behind almost everything where a weapon would fit.

Christina strode inside, glasses on top of her nose. Everyone had their eyes on her the moment that she entered their field of vision. She was one of the youngest assassins at this point. She paid no mind to the looks that everyone was giving her and walked to the end of the room where the boss was in. "Is he in?" was the only question that she asked the secretary.

Before the spooked woman could answer, she already saw it in her eyes. Christina twisted the knob and the heavy door opened. This was the most protected room in the floor. It had metal walls and bulletproof windows. Every order rooted from here.

"Ah, my prodigal daughter returns," Jaws said. It was his codename because he had this huge scar that ran almost end to end of his jaw. He claimed that someone tried to kill him before and failed miserably. 

Christina tossed her glasses on the empty seat. "I'm not here to return."

"Yes," said the lean man from his tall chair. "I already got that idea when you didn't start your mission. Are you here to sign your resignation?"

The tension suddenly filled the room. Resignation, meaning her death. "Actually, I have a better idea than that." I'm going to kill you.

Jaws laughed from his seat, swiveling it slightly from side to side. "You think you can kill the hand that fed you? You think you can kill your father?"

"You're not my father," she said. In fact, she never knew her parents were. "I don't want to be a part of this anymore."

"It's the Qing boy, isn't it? Handsome man. He got the look of someone who would make a huge difference in the world. He just got promoted, have you heard?"

Christina's muscles tensed. "He got promoted because you had his grandfather killed," she said through clenched teeth.

Jaws raised his hand in a gesture that it was out of his hands. "What do you want me to do? Cancel the whole mission just because you refuse to move?" he shook his head. "Of course I would have to send someone else in your stead."

"When are you planning to kill me?"

"After your third warning. But it seemed like the second one worked because here you are. What do you want me to do to you?"

Christina glared at him. "I want you to let me go."

"You already know that there's no turning back. You agreed to these terms."

"When I was six," she said with emphasis. "What else did I know about the world, then? Huh? I was starving and I was in pain. You offered the sweetest candy and I just had to take a bite."

"Of course!" said Jaws with a smile on his face. "Isn't that the point of getting kids to sign up as assassins? Just dangle the sweetest thing that you could find in front of their faces and they would do anything for you." Jaws inclined his head to the side. "Wasn't your body count already more than ten before you turned seven?"

Christina felt her skin crawled. Men… she had killed men… at the mere age of six. She did not know what she was doing that time.

Jaws picked up a pen from his table and fiddled it with his hands. "You are one of the best kids I have ever had, Christina. So good. So beautiful. You are my favorite. Weren't you glad that you didn't end up with your parents?" he laughed.

Christina's stomach turned. "I wouldn't know."

"Oh, you would know. They could not offer you anything. You wouldn't have this life if it weren't for me. YOUR MOTHER LEFT YOU ON THE STREET as soon as she was out of the hospital. A man found you because of your insistent crying and took you to the orphanage.

"You were nothing… nobody wanted you. You spent six years on that shitty house before I came in and broke you out of it!" He was now glaring at her. "I fed you! I dressed you! I housed you! I made you who you are today! Now you have the nerve to tell me that you're leaving?!"

Her throat closed up. Jaws had been good to her, most of the time. "But you made me a murderer." 

He leaned back against the chair. "Everything came with a price. People want other people dead but did not want to get their hands dirty, they come to us. Nothing is free. Aren't you happy with how you turned out? I am pretty proud of you. I'm even thinking about naming you my successor."

She smiled at him. "This ends today."

"Can you really kill me?" he challenged.

In a second, the gun from her waist was already at her hand and was pointing at him. "Good bye, Jaws."

But of course, as soon as she pulled the trigger, he was already out of his seat and was under the table. Christina dove behind the couch. 

"You are not going to be able to kill me, daughter!" Jaws snarled. "Quit this and we'll talk about another arrangement."

There were insistent knocks on the door and screaming. But they would not be let in not unless a button was pressed. Christina could hear Jaws loading a rifle. "I don't think so," she said and pulled the pin on two hand grenades. She threw it in the air on both corners of the room, leaving Jaws no options to hide.

A few seconds later, the grenades exploded. The sofa was lifted with the blow and Christina's ears rang as it toppled over her. She did not waste a second to kick if off her and went for the glass.

It cracked with the explosion of the grenade. Jaws body was bloodied on the side, his eyes closed. His chest was not rising nor falling. She shot the windows and with a kick of her feet, the bulletproof glass was out of its frame.

Just then the door opened. The other assassins were too shocked to move.

"Don't come after me. I will kill you," Christina said and threw herself in the air, pulling the pin of another grenade and pitching it back inside the room.

Before she dropped to the floor, she heard the boom. She rolled on the ground, feeling the pain on her shoulder. Then she sprinted back on the busy street until she got into a taxi.

"Airport please," she breathed out.