Chapter 8
This House Is a Circus
“In you get,” Elias said. He was holding open a panel in the cockpit, located in the floor between the pilot and passenger seats. It was small, not as small as Mark’s space, but certainly wouldn’t be comfortable for their new passenger.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lucky asked, looking down at the empty hold with skepticism. “A child couldn’t fit in that hole.”
“I happen to know for a fact that a child could fit in there quite easily.” Elias said, letting go of the panel and crossing his arms. Lucky jumped back, the heavy metal rectangle falling flat on the floor of the ship with a bang.
“You don’t only abduct adults, then?” She asked, glaring at him and crossing her own arms in a mirror of his stance.
“What is your problem?” He asked. The woman had been nothing but confrontational since they left New LA three days earlier.
“My problem?” Her voice was shrill in the cramped space of the ship.
“You two should just fuck already and get it over with,” Felix said. He was sitting in front of the workbench, behind Lucky, his chin in his hand and looking bored. “If I have to hear anymore of your bickering I may just take a trip out the airlock.”
“By all means, Felix,” Elias said, leaning around to look at the man, “it would save me the trouble of chucking you out myself.”
“Oh, testy,” Felix laughed, and then his face fell back into his previous expression of boredom. “I’m serious, though.”
“Tcktit-i-zz-zzcktii-ckt,” Mark said, followed by the ringing chirps of his laughter. He was sitting on the workbench, and looked up at Felix.
Elias glared at Mark, and Lucky looked offended.
“I don’t know what you said, little bug, but I’m pretty sure you just agreed with me,” Felix said, holding out his index finger to Mark. Mark tapped the tip of Felix’s finger with one little leg before the both of them turned back to watch Elias and Lucky. Felix had a shit-eating grin on his face, an expression that would probably be mirrored by the bug had he the physiology to smile.
Elias narrowed his eyes at them. “If you two start being friends, I’ll save you the trouble and throw myself out the airlock.” He turned his attention back to Lucky. “To answer your earlier question, I was a child once,” he looked the woman over, “not much smaller than you are now, actually.”
The glare disappeared from her face. She looked from Elias to the hole in the floor and back again.
“No, I won’t be explaining,” he said, cutting off any questions she might ask.
It wasn’t always safe to travel with his merchant father, depending on the planets they landed on. He had spent more time in that compartment than he cared to remember. It took two days for someone to find him in there after the accident. If that soldier was still alive, Elias was certain that the image of the piss soaked and shit stained kid that he was, not to mention the smell, must haunt them. He could still feel the way the light would burn his eyes when his father would open the panel. His dad would appear, smiling down at him after his eyes would adjust to the light, always with a present or treat in hand. ‘Hey, bud,’ he’d say, ‘let’s get you out of there.’ Elias wasn’t about to explain his past to anyone here, least of all to the latest annoyance in his life, Lucky fucking Fandell.
“Now,” he said to her, “you’re going to hide in this hole while we have our visit with Valen, whether you do that willingly or not is up to you. It’s shielded. His ship’s sensors won’t be able to see that you’re here while you’re in it. If, somehow, he finds out that you’re here—alive—you’ll be dead within minutes of us docking. Actually, we’ll probably all be dead in that case.”
“Zzckt-tckti-tckt-ii…”
Lucky turned her head to look at Mark, then looked back at Elias. “He wouldn’t.”
“Oh, yes he would.” Elias said. “No more you, no more me, no more Felix, no more Mark, and no more cure.”
Her face changed after hearing that. The one thing they were sure of after spending three days with her was that she would do just about anything for Mark, something the bug had taken full advantage of. She cooed and fussed over him, bringing him more to drink in three days than Elias would have allowed him to have in three weeks. She was desperate to build a friendship with the beetle, as if it were ever so easy with Mark. If they were still alive on the other side of this, Elias would have to have a talk with her about the booze before it became a real problem.
Her eyebrows were pulled together in thought, eyes on the cramped hidey hole. She nodded. “Ok, fine. It won’t be long, right?” she asked Elias.
“Nah, not too long.” Elias said. “We’ll let you out as soon as we’re out of range of the sensors again.”
She sighed, her cheeks puffing out. Her breath sent a lock of curly hair flying up. The ringlet settled back down in front of her face, swinging back and forth for a moment before she tucked it behind an ear. “You better,” she mumbled, stepping down into the hole.
Elias kneeled down and grabbed the panel from the floor, waiting for her to get situated. It was a tight fit. She was on her side, knees drawn up, with her arms trapped against her chest. “Alright?” he asked.
Her eyes belayed her fear, but she nodded as best she could.
“There’s air. Breathe slow and try not to make a sound,” Elias said, lowering the panel into place. He flattened his palms against it, giving it a push until it clicked. Unlike the panel for the fusion drive, this one was almost invisible once it was locked down. Before now, no one but he and Mark even knew it existed. Well, no one alive, anyway. He stood, returning to the pilot’s seat. Mark landed on his shoulder with a gust of wind, Felix following close behind and taking the passenger seat.
“Are you sure about this?” Felix asked.
Elias pushed the yoke forward, propelling the Barbara Anne into the radar range of Valen’s ship. His chest was tight. “No.”
The ship they approached was a sleek black disk. It was almost impossible to see it through the windshield, a mild distortion in space where distant stars reflected off of the shiny surface. There were no wings, the ship too large to enter the atmosphere of any planet, instead having a shuttle to ferry anyone to a planet’s surface when needed. Elias pulled into the hangar, setting his ship next to Valen’s shuttle. It was smaller than Barbara, looking like a stealth fighter more than a shuttle, and boasted a heavy weapons package.
A woman with deep purple skin and black hair was standing in the hangar. She approached as soon as Elias hit the button for the hatch. She waited, patient as ever, for it to open before greeting them.
“Elias, Mark,” she said, glancing at Felix for an extended moment before returning her attention to Elias. “We weren’t expecting you.”
“Ves, darling!” Elias grinned, hopping from Barbara’s wing to land in front of the woman. He grabbed her hands in his, kissing each of her cheeks. “You’ve done something new with your hair.” It was the same thing he said to her every time he saw her, and it was no less true than it ever was. Ves’s hair, incredibly moldable, was in a new style every day, sometimes twice per day. At this moment, it was close to her scalp on the sides, pulled up into a massive roll that went from her forehead to the nape of her neck like a strangely rounded mohawk.
Her eyes, golden, looked at him with exasperation. “You know I don’t respond to flattery.”
Elias gave her a smirk. “Never hurts to try. This is Felix,” he said, holding an arm out to the man that was standing in the ship. Felix looked like he was going to be sick, and made no move to join them on the deck of the hangar. Elias leaned close to Ves. “He’s a bit nervous,” he whispered, loud enough for all to hear.
“Sorry,” Felix said, shaking himself and climbing down from the ship. He held out a hand, and Ves shook it. “I didn’t know the Wraith, uh, Mr Wraith, had a wife.”
Ves laughed. “Not exactly.”
“Is he in?” Elias asked, already knowing the answer. If Valen were gone, the shuttle wouldn’t be here.
“Of course,” Ves smiled. “Follow me.”
The main ship was smaller than the Merrick Lavigne, but no less extravagant, with the interior looking more like a luxury home than a vessel. Dark woods covered the floors, with even darker panels on the walls. The lights were as dim as candles, hidden so only their glow could be seen. Ves led them to the main living space, where music was playing at a low volume. In one corner, forest green sofas surrounded a short table, in another was a bar. Mark made straight for it, chattering away at Ves while she made him a drink.
The middle of the room was open and free of furniture, the only visible light fixture being the chandelier that hugged the center of the cream ceiling. The lights of it, glowing a soft gold, shifted and phased like they were alive. As the group walked in, the side of the room opposite the bar became visible. A large window ran along that wall, curving with the side of the ship. Valen stood facing it, his hands clasped behind his back, looking out at the stars.
“What in god’s name are you listening to?” Elias asked.
His friend turned away from the window, smiling. “It’s something I heard in someone’s mind recently. An old tune from Earth, if you can believe it. I couldn’t get it out of my head.”
“There you go again,” Elias said, walking up to him, “pretending that anything leaves that head of yours.” He put a hand on Valen’s shoulder, clasping the man’s forearm with his other hand.
“It’s called Troublemaker, in case you’re interested,” Valen said, grasping Elias’s forearm in return. His eyes were warm and mischievous. “Good to see you, Elias. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Elias shrugged. “We had the time after the most recent job.”
“Yes, I see you brought your new friend with you.” Valen gave him a questioning look before turning his attention to Felix, who was fidgeting at the entrance to the room. “Mr. Carens.”
Felix glanced up when Valen said his name, then looked away again. “Mr…”
Valen sighed.
“Now, don’t be mad,” Elias said. He stepped behind Valen, squeezing his shoulders and leading him over to Felix. “This little man is a big fan of assassins. He’s read all about all of us, and he wants to join the business.”
“Really?” Valen asked, looking Felix up and down. “And why would I agree to that?”
Felix shifted his weight from one foot to the other, swallowing. “I don’t really have anything else going for me,” he mumbled.
“Don’t be modest, Felix,” Elias said, leaving Valen to throw an arm around the smaller man. “He’s an ace with a gun and can blend in just about anywhere, not to mention the places he has access to that we never will.”
“Hm.” Valen narrowed his eyes at Felix. “Give me a coin.” He held out a hand.
Elias dug in his pockets until he found what Valen had asked for. He placed a small brass coin into Valen’s waiting hand. Valen walked away, and Elias made for the bar. “No,” he said when Felix tried to follow him, “you stay there.”
“Tcktit-tckt-ii-ckt.” Mark said when Elias sidled up to the bar top. Ves handed him a drink.
“You’re on.” Elias said, taking a sip and sighing. Ves made the best drinks.
Valen didn’t stop walking until he reached the wall opposite Felix, approximately 15 meters away. He pinched the edges of the coin, no wider than an inch, between his index and middle fingers. Facing Felix, he held these fingers up, the flat side of the coin facing out. “Shoot the coin.”
Felix laughed, looking at Elias, who shrugged a shoulder. Mark hopped up and down on the bar. Felix stopped laughing and turned back to Valen.
“Zzcktitii-zzck!”
“You would like that, wouldn’t you?” Valen smiled, but didn’t take his eyes off of Felix.
“What did Mark say?” Felix asked Elias.
Elias smirked. “He hopes you miss.”
“Shoot the coin, Mr. Carens,” Valen said, looking bored, “or I’ll have Elias shoot you.”
Elias pulled his gun from between his shoulders and leveled it at Felix. Valen did love a show.
“Tckt! Tckt!” Mark yelled, flying up to land on Elias’s gun. He hopped up and down on the barrel in his excitement.
“Would you really?” Felix asked, eyes wide. A drop of sweat made a trail down the side of his face.
Elias stared at him, his own expression blank. “Shoot the coin, Felix.”
Felix reached into his jacket, pulling out his chrome and pearl gun with a shaking hand. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve before raising the weapon in a two-handed grip. The hammer clicked when he cocked it.
“And, Mr. Caren’s?” Valen said, making Felix jump. “I’m very fond of my digits.”
“Heh,” Felix huffed a half-hearted laugh, pointing his gun at Valen again. The weapon rattled in his hands. He took a deep breath, let it out slow, and the gun stilled. A shot rang out, the noise surprising Felix more than anyone. He immediately dropped his arms, breathing as if he had run a great distance, staring with wide eyes at the other side of the room.
Valen flexed his fingers, looking at one side of his hand, and then the other. On the wall where his hand had just been was the coin, a hole dead in its center. The ragged edges of the torn metal were bent into the new hole in the wall. Valen grabbed the coin, placing it back between his fingers, and held his hand up. “Again.”
“What?” Felix asked, pale and dumbfounded. “Why?”
“He wants to make sure it wasn’t a fluke,” Elias said, his own gun still pointed at Felix.
Felix groaned, his head falling back on his shoulders. He was still breathing hard. He raised his head and his gun, again taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly while staring down the sight. This time, he wasn’t surprised when he took the shot. His hands were steady, his breathing even. When he lowered the gun for the second time, the coin was whirling on the floor. It spun slower and slower until, finally, it fell over.
Mark let out a disappointed groan, jumping back into his drink now that the show was over.
Elias holstered his gun, jogging over to Felix and shaking the little man. “Felix, you crazy bastard! You owe me ten thousand points, Mark!”
“Tcktit-ii-cktzckti,” Mark grumbled.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Elias laughed, wrapping an arm around Felix’s shoulders. The man was shaking like a leaf, no doubt filled to the brim with adrenaline.
Valen picked up the coin, moving over to them with measured steps. He stopped in front of Felix, holding out his hand—uninjured—palm up. Felix looked unsure, but held his own hand out in return. Valen grabbed it, turning it over, and placed the coin in Felix’s palm. The hole in the metal was unchanged, the second bullet having flown through the target that was made by the first. “You make a compelling argument, Mr. Carens. That’s some of the best shooting I’ve ever seen.”
Felix sighed, his shoulders sagging and a goofy smile on his face. “Thank you, Mr. Wraith. It means everything coming from you.”
Valen grinned at Felix like an amusing curiosity. “Valen, please. Let’s get you a drink.”
The three of them joined Mark and Ves at the bar, the latter serving drinks to Valen and Felix.
“Is this a normal initiation thing?” Felix asked, downing his drink in one go and holding the glass out to Ves for a refill. She obliged.
“Not at all,” Valen said, taking a sip of his own drink.
“What?” Felix asked. “Then why? I could’ve killed you.”
The corner of Valen’s mouth lifted in a smirk, and he looked at Elias over Felix’s head. “Elias wanted to see you shoot at me.”
“Zzckt-tckt!”
“Of course, you’re right.” Valen nodded at Mark before addressing Felix again. “Mark as well.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with you guys,” Felix said, looking at each of them like they were insane. They laughed.
“You don’t get into the books by playing it safe,” Elias said, bumping Felix with his shoulder. “I knew you wouldn’t miss.”
“No you didn’t! You couldn’t have possibly known that,” Felix said.
Elias shrugged. “You shot at me and Mark from a similar distance.”
“Yeah, and at a much larger target,” Felix grumbled, taking a gulp of his drink. The shaking in his hands was almost gone.
“It’s a bonding experience,” Valen said, patting Felix on the back, “and now I know that you’re a better shot than anyone in this room.”
“I’m never doing that again,” Felix said, with all sincerity. “Were you really going to shoot me if I didn’t?” he asked Elias.
“Absolutely,” Elias said. “Valen’s the boss.”
“I hope you don’t mind if I never want to visit you again, Valen,” Felix said.
Valen laughed. “If you want to work for me, you’ll definitely be seeing me again, little man.”
“Speaking of work.” Elias stepped back from the bar. “Valen, can I have a word?”
Valen nodded once, walking away. “Ves, be a dear and entertain our guests while Elias and I talk.”
“They’ll be awhile,” Ves said behind them.
Elias followed Valen through a door that was next to the new bullet hole in the wall. “I can’t believe you let him shoot at you,” Elias said once he had closed the door behind them. They were in Valen’s bedroom. It was almost as large as the previous room, a desk against one wall, a door leading to a bathroom, and a round bed with forest green covering sitting in front of another curved window.
Valen turned to face him. “You set that up, not me.”
“No, no,” Elias said, waving his finger in the air. “I never said, ‘Felix is so good, he could shoot a coin from between your fingers,’ you lunatic. That was your interpretation.”
Valen grabbed his hand to stop the motion, smiling. “It had been awhile since we had fun with a new recruit.”
“So, you’ll have him?” Elias asked.
“Interesting choice of words,” Valen said, staring down at their hands.
“You know that’s not what I mean, you pervert,” Elias said, and Valen smiled. “Anyway, he wouldn’t have you. He’s too scared of you.”
“Mm,” Valen hummed in agreement, his fingers tracing over Elias’s knuckles. “Who isn’t anymore?”
Elias swallowed, but said nothing. Feeling the quakes running through his nerves, he couldn’t disagree. “Valen, who assigned this last assignment?”
The weaver glanced up, his nonexistent eyebrows raised. “You know you can’t have that information, Elias.”
“I do know that,” Elias agreed, “but I want to know who’s trying to get me and Mark killed.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lucky Fandell. You’ll never guess whose name she said when we showed up.”
“This sounds like it will be fun,” Valen said, dropping Elias’s hand and walking over to the bed. He sat down on the edge of the mattress and crossed his legs, giving Elias his full attention.
“Did they not tell you that Lucky Fandell was associated with Merrick Lavigne, working on a project together?” Elias asked. “When I told her we were there to kill her, she asked if Merrick Lavigne was dead. Now,” Elias said, strolling over to sit next to Valen. “I may not be the smartest assassin in the galaxy, but even I know not to assume that this was a coincidence. Does someone mean to show my hand?”
“Are you hiding your hand?”
“Not from you,” Elias answered.
Valen looked down and smiled.
“Valen, I think someone above you means to reveal me.”
“The Huntsman?” Valen asked, his voice sharp.
“The Huntsman, the Stalker, the Tracker, Death, whatever you want to call him this time.”
“A lot of people think he’s dead.”
“Yes,” Elias sneered, “and I’m sure that has nothing to do with the policy changes. He stopped killing assassins when assassins stopped leaving such easy trails to follow. No two targets connected, ever. No more working solo, ever. The boogeyman isn’t dead, Valen. He’s just waiting. I don’t appreciate being used as the bait to draw him out.”
The assassin’s assassin. More phantom than the Wraith that was sitting beside him, and hired by no one. He killed for the pleasure of it, and he only killed assassins. No one ever saw him coming. No one ever saw him leave. He was the story that they told each other in the dark corners of seedy bars across the galaxy. A man whose singular goal seemed to be to the extinction of their kind. Good riddance, Elias would say, were he not among the targeted group.
“This was one of the reasons you brought me on,” Elias reminded the man beside him. “Mark didn’t have a partner to work with.”
“I know,” Valen said. He shifted, facing Elias, and put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I wasn’t taking this seriously. I’ll look into it. Until then, maybe a break is due for you and Mark.”
“A break would be nice.” Elias could feel the exhaustion in his bones. They ached, burning like hot steel beneath his muscles.
Valen smiled, his hand moving up from Elias’s arm to his shoulder. His fingers inched toward Elias’s neck.
“What are you doing?” Elias asked.
Valen pulled Elias’s jacket aside, using his other hand to pull down on the collar of Elias’s shirt.
“Valen.”
“How long has it been since Mark gave you a treatment?” Valen asked, serious.
Elias shook himself, the sudden change in the other man’s demeanor giving him whiplash. He cleared his throat. “I don’t know, Lavigne’s ship. Why do you ask?”
Valen gave him an exasperated look before standing and heading for the door. “Look at your hands, Elias,” he called over his shoulder, leaving the room.
He did. The skin on his knuckles was red and cracked. A small blister between two tendons. Reaching up, he ran his fingers over his neck and collarbone, finding a few more blisters there. Well, that explained why he was feeling so shitty.
Valen returned a moment later with Mark in his hand. “You’re in stage one, maybe stage two. Why did you let it get this bad?”
“Tkckt-ii-ckt-ckt-i-cktzzcktit,” Mark said.
“I don’t care, Mark. You’re not supposed to let him go this long without a treatment,”
Elias shook his head. “It slipped my mind, Valen. Between Felix and… work.”
Valen walked past him to stand next to the head of the bed. He stared at Elias. “Well, come on.”
“Mark can give me a treatment when we leave,” Elias said. “Barbara can fly on autopilot, or Felix can fly her.”
“Elias,” Valen said, “you just told me that your last two targets were connected, and you expect me to let you fly, unconscious, with Mark on his own?”
“He wouldn’t be on his own, he’d have Felix.”
“We can argue all night if you like, but this is happening. I’m not leaving Mark with only Felix to guard him, and you’re clearly not capable of remembering to do it yourself.”
“That’s not why it wasn’t done,” Elias sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was fairly certain that his skull was splitting down the middle.
“I don’t care.” Valen’s voice was loud and final. “You’re getting your treatment. Now.”
Shit.
Reminder: This story is unique in that it’s being posted as it’s being written, and that it’s up to you, the reader, if it will continue. So, don’t forget to vote in the poll above if you’d like to see another chapter. If majority yes, there will be a new chapter. If majority no, the story will end here. :)
Sacrifice your share to the algorithm gods:
Would you like to support my writing debilitating coffee habit?
Felix is moving on up in the world! Well, the underworld. It counts!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this chapter of Amnesiac Assassin. I don’t know how this chapter ended up being over 4k words. It didn’t feel like it when writing or editing it. It was too much fun to have so many assassins hanging out in one place for a bit. I’ll never not be amused by Mark’s casual hatred of Valen either. Gets me every time.
I do hate using so many dialogue tags. Let me know if it’s annoying. With that many people in one place, it was hard make it clear who was saying what without a very liberal use of them. haha
Lastly, the song this chapter is names after is This House Is a Circus by Otherwise, until next time, my friends.
It was okay.
OK
Oh my God, I’m lying. It was great. Every time you add a new character, they’re more unique than the last. What an array of characters. I expected Felix shooting the coin was a trick played on him. I’m gonna have to keep my eye on him.
Keep it coming.
What's the treatment for?? Aarrgh! Leaving us hanging...