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I raise the gun.
I point the barrel right between Davide's eyes. My hands are shaking. I've never shot a gun before and I don't know what it'll feel like when I finally fired that bullet into Davide's head.
"I don't want to do this," I whisper but no one pays it any mind.
Davide just smiles sadly, before whispering, "Make it hurt as little as you can, please. Make it be over soon, so I don't have to feel it."
Tears roll down my cheeks as I slowly put my finger on the safety trigger of the gun, clicking it off. I realize that I'll have to shoot him at a close distance. Make sure his moment of suffering is over before it even begins.
There's only one way to kill a man, that's what my father always told me. Shoot them right between the eyes, and don't look back.
I fire a shot. When my body and face are sprayed with liquid I can only imagine Davide's blood mixed with the remnants of my friend's body. I start sobbing, my shoulders hunching over, as the gun falls from my hands.
My father approaches me, laying a hand on my shoulder as he says, "Lesson number one. Never leave the safety off."
He lifts up the gun and puts the safety trigger on before placing it back in my hands.
"I want this to be yours now. Not only so you can defend yourself, but so you can start to learn the importance of keeping a weapon close by at all times. And when that's impossible, you'll need to learn to use objects you wouldn't think of as a weapon, to deliver the kill that you must make eventually, Tallulah. Do you want to stay here? Do you want me to walk you out?"
I can't reply. I'm frozen to the spot, my lips pressed together tightly to prevent more sobs from escaping. My dad gently leads me away from the garden. I never look back to see Davide's unmoving body on the ground. From the fact that no sounds are escaping him, I know I did my job.
I did what was asked of me. I killed Davide.
My shoulder burns from the impact of the shot, and I can't bring myself to cry. It seems like all my emotions have left my body, rendering me a shell of who I used to be.
"Were you really going to leave it up to luck?" I ask my father as we enter my bedroom. "You flipped a coin. Were you really going to let me get away with not doing what you wanted me to do?"
"Every magician has his secrets, Tallulah," my father tells me, winking at me before gently helping me on the bed. "Tomorrow, we'll start our training properly. Today was easy, but tomorrow won't be and I need you to be prepared for your body and your mind to be put through all kinds of torture so you can fulfill the goal we set for you. And here. I want you to have this."
He pulls out a gold coin, the one I've seen him carrying around for years. He places it in the palm of my hand, and I look up at him, my bottom lip wobbling as though the full impact of what I've done tonight has just slammed into me, putting a heavy weight on my shoulders that I know will never be lifted.
"I want you to have my lucky coin," Dad says. "I want you to look at it when you're alone or scared and know that I'm out there thinking of you. Even if it gets lost, I'll always be there for you, Tallulah. Once you complete your calling, you'll be able to return home and we'll finally be able to start our lives together as a family."
With those words, he leaves a soft kiss against my forehead before leaving my bedroom. I'm left alone with my worries.
Turning the coin around in my hands, I realize it's fake. Both sides are heads. I let out a bittersweet laugh. I can't believe my father tricked me. Maybe all along, it's all been a lie. But maybe someday, I'll realize there's two sides to every coin, and a side to every story. Maybe my father's truth isn't the one I should be following.
I shake my hand to get the doubt out of it. I can't allow myself to fall down the rabbit hole of doubting my family's words. I need to stay strong for them after everything Xavier has put them through.
Chapter 6
XAVIER
It'sbeenafewdays since I last visited my captive, and since then my guilty conscience has been playing tricks on me.
I'm starting to wonder whether taking her this way was the right thing to do. It's hard to discern what's wrong and what's right in our situation. With Tallulah being an assassin, and me being her brutal captor that will never let her go, everything's messed up. But something is changing inside of me, something that wants to protect her and make sure she doesn't come to any harm.
The only time she'll get hurt is if I'm the one dealing the blow.
Her hat cast has been taken off, and she's been fed properly, even though she remains tied up for most of the time. Today, I've decided to feed her myself. While her hands are tied, she can'z do much anyway. And that blindfold hasn't left her eyes once.
The maids prepare some soup for me, and I take it on a silver platter to her bedroom which still only has a bed in it. When I walk in, Tallulah's laying on the bed, her arms tied behind her back. Her legs are free this time, but the blindfold is still firmly in place over her eyes.
"Who is it? she calls out in fear, drenching every word with a sense of finality.
I wonder whether she's thinking I'm going to kill her one of these days. But after I've been inside her, that's the last thing from on my mind. All I can think about is having her again, making her body bend to mine in all the ways possible. Soon enough, I'll make her kneel for me. Make her tell me how much she loves me and then cruelly sever the ties between us before either of us gets too attached.
So attached, that would be impossible for us to break apart ever again.
