Eve and the Artemis (UNEDITED)

03

    "Orked. Belikan roti canai 2, sangkut dekat pagar rumah aku."

     "Sure sure. Delivery fee 20 ringgit." Orked answered on the other line of the phone.

    "Eh siot. Berkira."

    "Bro you made around 80k per client. Siapa yang berkira sekarang?"

    "Tch. Yelah Ked. Nanti aku bank-in. Belikan eh roti canai dua keping. Kalau boleh Ibrahim Maju punya. Sedap. Cakap tak nak kuah kari. Sebab kuah kari diorang masin. Amik dal je. Terima kasihhh," M ended the call immediately. He knew Orked would complain had he not done so.

    The mobile phone he had been sandwiching between his shoulder and ear was moved to his right pocket before he continued setting up his equipment. It's currently nine in the morning. He was on top of the abandoned building he scouted yesterday. The road below, like the usual weekdays at Kota Maju, wasn't busy at all. There were only about two or three people passing by every 15 minutes. Most people living in Kota Maju went out to work at the neighbouring big city, West Gold.

     M installed his sniper rifle on the ground after making sure the floor was flat. He then laid on the ground to keep his eye levelled with the rifle's scope. As a sharpshooter, stability is like the backbone of every successful annihilation.

     He started adjusting the rifle's minute of angle according to the target's distance estimation to ensure its point of impact. M then glanced at his watch. Should be here any minute now, he thought.

    Srtt

    M turned to his back, alerted. The sound he heard just now was like someone's shoes.

    Is someone here?

    Impossible. The way to the rooftop was blocked with rubbles. The only accessible path to the rooftop was the external wall-mounted ladder. Unless the person is about to assassinate someone, they should not have any logical reasons to risk their life climbing the rusty ladder to the rooftop of an abandoned building.

    M stood up, eye taking a second glance at his watch. He then took out a handgun. Is it a spy?

    Suddenly a figure came to his sight, fast. M adjusted his stance, ready to shoot.

    "Ah sial, kertas rupanya." Without wasting any more time, he rushed to his previous position. Both eyes open, the right one on the scope. He waited again while managing his breath.

    "Gotcha," M grinned and pulled the trigger when his target came to sight. At the same time, he set off a bomb on other building near the one he was on. Nothing too explosive, just to shift the focus of the sound. Afterall he is not the type to kill the innocents.

    As always, never check whether the bullet hit the target or not because it always does. His accuracy was just like a gift from heaven. He sometimes thought that he was meant to do this. God let him live on His earth to sin in a helpful way.

     M packed everything up in speed. His rifle went onto his guitar case. The cap and mask that concealed his face he adjusted to his comfort. It took him less than a minute to pack up. He then turned around, ready to go home.

     And then, M froze in place.

     "Agak dah! Abang ni Artemis kan. Yang tembak-tembak orang dalam berita tu." a girl, around 8, looked at him in amusement. At that moment, 17 possibilities ran through his head on how he should deal with this situation. 5 years of his assassination career, this is the first time someone saw him in action. A kid, at that.

    He closed himself to the kid and closed her mouth with his gloved left palm. "Listen kid, I'm going to kill you right now. Got it?"

     The girl frowned and forced her muffled voice through M's palm. "Tak fahamlah, cuba cakap melayu."

     "Aku nak bunuh kau." M gritted his teeth.

    "Eh bang rilek rilek, Ayana tak bagitau orang." The girl who just addressed herself as Ayana put both her hands up.

    M was in total confusion. Not by what the girl just said, but at how carefree the little girl was. The sight of an infamous assassin shooting people should be traumatising, no?

    "Ayana datang sini bukan sebab nak report polis, tapi sebab nak abang tembak seseorang. Abang pembunuh upahan kan?" she continued talking behind M's palm which had loosen a bit out of confusion.

    "Say what now?"

    "Ayana nak guna khidmat abanglah, duh. Memang tak faham melayu ke? Abang orang cina ke?"

    This kid can't be serious, he thought. Is she someone sent by spies? But all these times everyone that tried to track him down has always been so many steps behind. He is someone that does everything with precision. He never considered carelessness, as of why the whole situation caught him off-guard.

    "Kau ni spy ke?" M asked directly.

    "Spy? Ingat ni movie ke? Takkanlah budak-budak jadi spy bang."

    M can't deny that the kid's tone offended him. Pissed off, he tightened his gloved palm onto the girl's mouth. Not tight enough to suffocate her. He did not mean it when he said he will kill the girl. Even if he acknowledged that he will totally go to hell for his tragic heroism, he never has the guts to kill the innocent.

    "Kira sampai 50." M suddenly gave out an instruction.

    "Tafi afhang fufup fulut fayana?"

    "Buat je! Aku tembak ko kang!"

    "Urghhh. Safu, fua, tifa, emfat, fi- fi.." The girl started looking like she's on cloud. Not long after, she fell down, unconscious.

    "Well that worked," M said to himself. The glove he used on his left hand was actually infused with chloroform. Right from the start, he thought it's better to take (read: kidnap) the girl home with him. After all it's not safe to stay at the crime scene for too long.