Into the Heart of a Killer: Memoirs of an Assassin

Chapter One

The next time I woke up, I wasn't as cold anymore, but I still didn't feel right. There was something about the place I woke up in...it wasn't welcoming or warm like the house with Mother had been. It was dark and cold and scary, like the man who lived in it. When I looked around, I found that I had been sleeping in a bed. It was rather large. I wasn't used to being able to sleep in a bed. Usually, Mother let me sleep on the couch and she got to sleep on the bed. She told me it was because she didn't feel very good a lot of the time and she needed to sleep on the bed. I wanted Mother to sleep comfortably, so I let her sleep on the bed. I didn't mind the couch, but it was weird getting to sleep on an actual bed.

The warm, soft blanket was still around me and I didn't want to leave it, so as I got up to explore I took I with me, keeping it tightly wrapped around my shoulders. I explored the house, squeaking at how unexpected some of the things were. The man had sharp things on the walls. Mother would be very cautious and tell me not to touch them, so I stayed away from them.

I continued to look around, wondering where the man got all the sharp toys from. They looked very shiny even if they were scary, which meant he liked to play with them often. I wondered why he would need such big toys. Mother had little knives she used for cutting cheeses and bread. Sometimes she would let me sit next to her while she made me a sandwich. Bread and cheese sandwiches was my favorite meal Mother made me. She told me they were very yummy and I believed her. They were very yummy, and Mother was the best at making them. My stomach growled at the thought of food and I continued to wander the small house until I found something that looked like a pantry. I hadn't found the man, and I wondered if he had gone out somewhere. I didn't like the thought of being alone in the house.

Inside the pantry were fruits and vegetables and crackers. I took some crackers and munched on them as I walked throughout the rest of the house, looking for a place to sit and relax without being around the sharp objects. There were many things on the walls that I had never seen before. One of them looked like a bended stick with a string connecting the two ends, but I wasn't sure what it was. When I reached up to touch it, I found that it felt smooth. I finished my crackers but found myself still hungry. I didn't want to go back and take more food in case he got mad at me for not asking for permission first. It wasn't my food, even if I did want more of it.

I had just gone back into the bedroom I had woken up in when I heard a door open.

"Child?"

When I heard the man's voice, there was little I wanted to do more than hiding. I was afraid all of the sudden that he would get mad at me if he had found out I had eaten his crackers. Should I tell him? I was just hungry... I didn't take a lot... I was too busy worrying over whether or not the man would be angry I didn't notice he had walked into the room until he spoke.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. I looked up at him tentatively and nodded my head slowly. I was afraid if I said yes he would be mad, but he didn't. Instead, he handed me a wrapped sandwich. I stared at it dumbly before taking it.

I thanked him softly, avoiding eye contact, as I pulled back the wrapper covering the sandwich. I took a bite out of it, pleased to find that it was warm. I couldn't feel how warm it was through the wrapper, but everything inside of the sandwich was melted and yummy.

"Liliana," he said, and I looked up at the call of my name. I felt immediately paralyzed by his gaze. His eyes were dark, like he saw things other people didn't see. I wondered if he could see ghosts. "Do you know why you're here?"

I shook my head. He sighed and looked disappointed, but he didn't move to hit me. I relaxed.

"You're here because your mother is crazy," he said, and I bristled.