Child

Assassination

"Ramona!" you run to hug her, but something's off.

Ramona Vein looks at you purposefully, with her hands on her hips. Just two years ago, she had given that look to anyone who poked fun at you for being strange or bald. Now she looks like she's never seen you outside of her worst nightmares before.

"Ramona?" you ask. "Mother?"

"I'm not your mother," she says. "You said it yourself."

"Okay, then why did you come looking for me?"

She takes her hands off her hips. "I have been looking for you." she snaps. "I've looked for you for so long. I wanted to apologise. Explain to you that I love you and all I want for you is for you to be surrounded by people who will make you a priority." she comes up closer to you. "On top of being a bounty hunter," she says. "I am now an assassin and you are wanted for crimes worse than I have ever done or will ever do."

"Wait!" You step back. "I can explain. Can you trust me one more time? What about making me a priority?"

She points her gun at you. "I've made something else my priority."

You cover your face with your hands as she pulls the trigger.

The bullet bounces off your arms without leaving a scratch and hits Ramona Vein right in the middle of her forehead. You both stare at each other. Ramona drops her gun and falls backwards. You always thought your bones were weaker than average. Maybe telekinesis has become second nature for you after all the things you did with Nirmal, Billie, Idowu and Orso.

You don't want the gun, so you smash it on the ground with a rock. It's easier than you expect. You look through Ramona's pockets for more weapons. You find a bunch, but one of them is an incinerator gun, so you incinerate all the other weapons and then destroy the incinerator. You're not sure what to do with Ramona, so you just leave her there. As you pass over her, you look in her eyes. She's not like Nirmal. She looks more sickly than she ever has and not just because of the bullet in her brain.

You can't help feeling a bit sorry for her, even though that's exactly what she was planning to do to you. You didn't mean to kill her, or hurt her at all. You only wanted to be safe and free. Maybe that's an oxymoron.

You walk alone, dishevelled and your gas mask only has one pointy ear now. You miss your friends a lot more than you expected in such a short time. You wish you could still be with them. You turn into a free hotel. A drag queen wearing a name-tag that says Effervescent Cordial greats you. "You look like you've seen better days." she says.

You look up. "Have I?"

"I don't know. I hope so. Would you like a room?"

"If it isn't any trouble."

Effervescent Cordial reaches over the counter and hands you a key with her long fingernails. "Room 17 on the fourth floor." You take the key and nod your thanks. Effervescent taps her fingers on the counter. 

Your room has a dark red four poster bed. A bedside table with a peppermint already there, sitting on the table and a drinks menu. There's a wardrobe with nothing in it and a window with a view of the whole town. There are no curtains on the window, which makes the room feel less indoorsy. You put your jacket and gas mask into the wardrobe and slump onto the bed, key in hand. You're so tired you're pretty sure you could fall asleep right now, but you don't. You go back downstairs. The key to your room in your pocket.