“What?” I asked, puzzled, unable to believe what I was seeing nor feeling.

  I could feel that his arm was holding my heart. He could feel my heartbeat from the source.

  “Sorry, Mary. It seems like I need to go now. As for you, you failed. Your trust in humans… in me was your grave mistake.”

  “Were you planning… on killing us from the beginning?”

  “I did not care about you. Whether you died or lived was none of my concern. Until we made a contract, that is. After that, I tried my best to ensure your survival. Your honey trap did annoy me, but not enough to kill you. I… enjoyed your body…” he whispered the last part and continued talking in a cold and lacking compassion tone, yet his hand was trembling.

  “Until I find what I was looking for, that was the case.”

  “Did you find it?”

  I coughed up some blood.

  “I found a way to find it.”

  “For that, do you need to kill me?”

  “Yes. Any last words?”

  A lot, actually.

  I smiled and began, unable to hold my tears.

  “One of my regrets is that you couldn’t come with me to help me better the place I live in. Another one is not getting to know you better. I would have loved to go on a date with you, spend more nights with you… have children thanks to you… I deeply regret the death of my friends… I regret failing the mission…”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Tell me the details of your mission. For the rest, I cannot do anything, but I’ll do my best to finish what you have started. Let’s say it is the last thing I will do for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  I moved my arms slowly. Every movement hurt. I pulled a small black rectangular iron box from my bra. It resembled a USB drive.

  This was the “object” we had to transport. After we retrieved it, I made sure to keep it with me most of the time in a safe place.

  I gave it to Raven.

  “In the city of Ottawa, in the bar Oak Leaf… you have to order black tea at noon. After it’s given to you, you have to leave the box next to the tea and exit the bar… That is the password we have to use to deliver it. It’s of utmost importance to the organisation I’m part of…”

  “Noted. Is that all?”

  For the mission – yes. But, I also want to know more about you…

  “… Can you tell me your real name?” I asked what I wanted to know the most.

  “You are… such a fine woman…” he whispered and gritted his teeth.

  Fine woman? More like the worst. I myself didn’t know how much they all meant to me until they died. I didn’t know how much you meant to me until you had to kill me.

  “It’s not true… I’m a bad person… I’m such a bad girl…”

  Such a bad daughter….

  “For me, you are a good person. Not many would be able to see their true feelings even right before death. I saw how you regretted your friends' loss. I hope I myself realise what I truly want before I die… Your mission. Your deaths. The time we spent together… I will finish the mission for your sake. Don’t blame yourself. You did your best. As for my name, I don’t really remember it. I remember its meaning. My name means ‘God’s gift’. Now, rest. The world is too cruel for you.”

  “Thank you and I love you.”

  As I was finishing our goodbye, the rubble got cleared and my heart got squashed.

  It started getting cold fast. My senses dulled. Yet, in my last moments, I could hear that he was speaking.

  “Goodbye, Mary. Goodbye, one fine woman. Goodbye, one of the few people I didn’t want to die,” he whispered, not for me, but to himself.

  I was cold. It was hard to breathe.

  I saw what came out of the rubble before I lost my vision completely: Brutes, Stalkers and more, but there was also a strange creature.

  It was unique compared to the others. She was holding a girl in her arms.

  I closed my eyes and began to slumber, never to wake up again.

  Sorry, mother. It seems like I’ll be reunited with you sooner than either of us wanted.