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Sadness, heartache, despair

I hated to see her so unhappy and not have anyone to lean on

"Uh pitched voice jerked e expanse of pebbled driveway I frowned In my rush, I hadn’t noticed the white car parked at the front of Obsidian

All members’ car parks were at the rear of the property Who the hell had the nerve to park in front ofplace? Ion

"U door? My auntie and her friend left o talk to ood and sit in the car because little kids can’t go inside, but I want to see her"

I spun around, kicking up gravel

A perfect replica of Hazel stood behind rabbed ratulations on your proain how ames The constant mental torture He kne many family members I’d had because he made me kill them all

"I had a mother Vera Averin She was a whore, a traitor, and a thief, and deserved to die I had a father Alex Averin He was a womanizer, a cheater, and a liar, and deserved to die I had a brother, Vasily Averin He was the spawn of Satan, a heathen, and only evil lived inside him, and he deserved to die"

The ht the truth Silently, I undid the heinous things I said Vera, enerous She didn’t deserve to die Alex, reat provider and protector He didn’t deserve to die Vasily--

My heart ceased to beat as grief crippled me Vasily, my brother, was a proficient artist, kind and smart He didn’t deserve to die

"Good And did you know you had a sister?"

My gut churned, threatening an explosive reaction A sister? No No, please no I couldn’t handle killing another sibling A girl An innocent, little girl whose only crime was to share my blood

"You killed her, too Don’t you re out my panic "Excellent, sir I do not recall that mission" Like so many others, I’d wiped them forever fro yet another sibling I would rather pull h nant with a girl A double murder and you didn’t even know" The pat to the shoulder came with an electric shock Every h my body

"What do you say?" the handler asked, once he’d let o

My brain screamed, die you motherfucker My mouth said, "Thank you, sir"

I returned to the present with a bang, stu hated them Hated Hated Hated I wished I could stick a cattle prod in my brain and short circuit my entire syste ti a wohter

I kneithout a doubt the little girl standing in front of any hair, the perfect cheekbones, the shape of her chin The only difference was eye colour Green had given way to soulful liquid brown eyes that looked right intoaccelerated; s could motor

Don’t come near me I couldn’t do this I couldn’t have acy

Pebbles skidded beneath ravel in et far, far away from this miniature replica of Hazel Before I hurt her

Her dark eyes met mine, and I lost touch with reality

"For the third and final tihteen-year-old cheeks and it took a while to realize it was tears I’d never cried before Not even when I killed my mother and father But this…I couldn’t do this

"You ht hiht you wanted me to train him to be like us!" My voice broke as I looked at my small nine-year-old brother, Vasily His cheeks were still chubby with youth, his blue eyes ith terror A dark stain on the front of his jeans signalled fear had hijacked his bladder

For three ether I thought iven rate into this neay of life

I never suspected this

"Roan Pl--please help ht fresh tears to ainst years of conditioning and the wrath of e gulps of air I refused to kill my last blood relative A boy I cared for more than anyone in the world

"Yes, you will, Operative Fox Othere’ll torture hier viable property"

I couldn’t stand any him closer toonto the concrete floor

My brother stopped crying, squir away from the man destined to ht aroundonh, lyrical voice piercedher hold on irl looked down and scuffed her shiny black shoes in the gravel "Oh, sorry" Her eyes ain, wide and worried "Are you okay? You were s I couldn’t understand" She cocked her head "What language was that? My teacher said we should learn a language I’d like to learn, but I don’t knohat Maybe I could learn what you just spoke" She stepped forward, her little lips never stopping "Can you teach me? I’d love to learn and mummy would be really proud of me Would you teachheart shattered into pieces

I sucked in air, lockingall the self-control I possessed If I ever needed complete and utter discipline, it was now I’d avoided children since losing Vasily I couldn’t look at them or listen to them or even watch them on television