Circus by Day, Assassins by Night

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All My Love Is Books

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"Logan, come on. Hurry up. We are going to be late." A voice in the darkness hissed. Of course they wouldn't be late, they still had 6 hours of nighttime, but she would rather get on with it and get it out of the way so that she could sleep. "Okay… won't be late, but just still hurry up. The guy isn't supposed to take longer to get ready than the girl." The voice spoke up again, the wood of the support beam that held up the tent, creaking as the body moved from the doorway into the tent to make sure that the man she was talking to was even awake.

The brown haired, green eyed girl, though it was hard to see in the dark, walked over to the bed that was at the far side of the tent and peered down to see if a figure was there. Dressed in all black, with a hood and mask to complete the ensemble she even had a few sheaths hanging at her side. She looked like she was about ready to go out on a raid, which was partially true. Except this girl was an assassin. Her job was to go out and kill high end targets that would then turn into cash for them from some higher power.

"You had better not be asleep." Markie Cane muttered, reaching down into the bed. "I'm tired. I did my set late tonight. I want to sleep." By day the two of them were with a traveling circus. Markie was close with the Ringleader and was able to always get them close to their destination for their next target and this time she had been lucky enough to land them in the same town as they needed to be so they time to do this right. "Come on, you big lump." Markie pushed the blankets around searching for her partner.

Markie sighed softly and turned to look around. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and now she could see inside of his tent a bit better. He had his own which made getting him up on their assassin nights easier to do so. "Logan," she whispered into the darkness to even see if he was around.

The two had been together since they were young teenagers (who were now in their young 20s), having trained together so that way they could be the best pair of assassins that they could be. She knew him and he knew her and that always caused conflict. Such as right now, when Markie was trying to find him and he was nowhere to be found. Hopefully he wasn't with one of the girls… she had been there and done that and it had not been pretty. "Please… do not be where I think you are." She talked to herself as she turned to the bed one more time to see if he was curled up somewhere just out of her reach.
 
The young man strolled naturally between the tents, ignoring the sounds coming from them. Occasionally, he would hear snippets of a conversation, a moan of ecstasy, or even a gasp as some someone realized that Logan walked among them again, just beyond the tent . To an outsider, Logan would be rather unassuming. He had dull black hair and olive skin, his eyes the color of charcoal. He wasn't that big, either, and that made it easy to slip in and out of crowds. All in all, he looked like a typical circus preformer, and would be ignored by most people. When he was a child, that happened even more often, being seen as nothing more than a Spanish, or maybe Italian or Greek, boy who had no use anywhere else so her joined the circus. That wasn't the case, of course, but he wasn't going to take the time to correct them.

As he was walking to his own tent, he realized that his collar was glowing. As part of the aftershow events, one of the girls had worn full body glow-in-the-dark makeup, including her lips, which had been nearly all over him after a few nicely placed words came from Logan's mouth. He hadn't done more than kiss her, though, wanting to be able to start over in the morning, a new day, a new girl and that. But now, Logan's collar, and various other places on his clothes and skin, where glowing a green color, in the perfect shape of lips. Frowning at that, but knowing that Markie would be even more angry should he keep her waiting longer, he kept walking.

Soon, he was stepping inside his tent, almost immediately seeing her standing over his bed. "If you wanted me that badly," he said sarcastically, "then why didn't you do it while we were together?" Grinning at her, he said, "Let's do this thing. Where're we going, who're we killing?"
 
Markie turned around and saw immediately where he was standing because of his glowing... lip outlines. "I should kill you myself but you would know how to beat me." Markie growled and walked over to him. She slapped the piece of paper, a rather forcefully, on his chest that held the information for their target. "I'm sure you remember how to read. I'll meet you at the horses." Markie tugged on his collar, pulling him in close. "I can't believe you." Then she pushed him away and left his tent with a sigh.

Out of the two she was the more forceful one that would take charge and was glad to do it. In their relationship she wore the entire pants and he was simply in her front pocket. She weaved through the tents, ignoring the sounds that came from them. The circus was so close and there seemed to be no care about privacy unless it involved Markie and Logan. They were the two outcasts of the group, having only recently (within the last two years) joined. But they were good at what they did. Markie was a tight rope walker and also one of the animal controllers.

At the corral, Markie grabbed their two horses and led them out. She had saddled them earlier before going to look for Logan so they were both ready. Now she just had to wait on the slow moves of Logan. "I don't know what I am going to do with him."
 
"She was pretty!" Logan called after Markie as she was leaving. Letting out a breath after she was gone, he took the paper outside, looking it over in what little light there was. It seemed simple enough, and as soon as he had read it, Logan was heading towards the horses, trying to rub off some of the glowing makeup from his face and neck. However, all he managed to do was rub it around, and he ended up with glowing green streaks. Frowning, he sighed, thinking of how he'd hurt Markie. He could tell that each time he did that it hurt her, on some level, but he couldn't help it.

When he came upon the corral, he found Marckie. "Hey," he greeted her, a smile coming to his face. "Ready to do this thing?" Smoothing out his clothes from where the girl had been grabbing them, he made sure he looked somewhat normal, besides the glowing parts. "I...should probably go wash this off..."

Walking to a water pump on the far side of the corral, he pumped some water into his hands. Rubbing the water into the places where he had glowing lipstick, he tried to get most of it off, and succeeded, for the most part. He even got the makeup off his face, something he was glad for. Returning to the horses, he said, "Let's go."
 
Markie looked over at Logan with slightly narrowed eyes when he came over. He still had the glowing lipstick on her and now it was just starting to piss her off. It wasn't that she was mad he had been with another woman. She didn't like him that way.... at least she didn't think that she did. It was just the fact that he was fraternizing with other people when they had a job to do. Any other night and Markie would have slept soundly.

"I just don't see why you can't focus on the task ahead." Markie told him, throwing the reins of his horse to him. Even if he didn't catch them, the horses stayed right where they were. Even as animals they seemed to know that they were an important part of going places and they always stayed quiet. "I mean while you were busy making out with that girl, I was out here getting them ready. Thanks for your help." Markie climbed up onto the saddle and stared down at him.

"I don't even know why I bother to argue with you. Let's go. I want to sleep tonight." Markie muttered, taking off at a nice pace.
 
"Look," Logan said. "I'm sorry. Okay? I forgot about the job tonight, and it wasn't until we were already making out that I remembered, and then she had already decided that she really liked me. It took me like thirty minutes to get her off me." What he didn't add was that he had like her glowing kisses. He'd have to find her after their mission, if she was still awake.

Swinging into the saddle of his horse, he had to spur his horse with his heels to catch up with Markie. "Look, I got the makeup off me...be glad for that, 'cause I'd be a beacon with them. And she was just a one-time gig. She just preformed tonight, tomorrow she'll be gone." Hopefully, a voice in his head added.

"I don't even see why you're jealous of her...I mean, it's not like she means anything to me...not really..."
 
"I'm not jealous of her." Markie added, far to quickly for her tastes. She looked over at him and stared. "There is nothing to be jealous about." She even said that with a straight face. "If you wouldn't have gotten the makeup off, I wouldn't have taken you with me and they would be hearing about it. I just can't believe that you forgot. We don't do this for fun." Markie told him with a light glare.

She had heard rumors of what happened to assassins when they didn't do their missions and none of them had sounded pretty. She liked her head, tongue and body parts where they were supposed to be. "You've heard the rumors as well as I have. I don't want to end up a mute for the rest of my life... or worse being dead, thank you very much." Markie turned forward again and pulled her black horse to a slow as they came up onto the town where their target was hopefully asleep. "According to the map, he is in the center of town. So we have to make sure that we do this quiet because if we raise the alarm getting out will be impossible." As they moved from dirt to cobblestone, the sound of the hooves was muffled by the wrappings that Markie had done around all the hooves of their horses to keep their presence quiet as they moved through the dimly lit streets.

Inside of the town there was a large fountain that was turned off for the night and behind it sat the biggest house of the entire town. "Obviously that is where we go." Markie whispered and slipped off her horse, letting the mare drink from the water of the fountain so that she would be ready to ride quickly back to their caravan. While the mare drank, Markie canvased the entrances and exits. "Inside there are two guards who guard each floor." Markie added, looking over at Logan.
 
"Soo..." Logan said, pretending to think. "We just go in through a window, kill the guards, then kill our man, right?" he asked. Logan was the sort who preferred to cut all loose ends, and he didn't want the guards to accidentally find them. "Simple, efficient, quick plan, right?" Though she would probably call it selfishness, Logan was doing it for her. He knew how she loved her sleep, and decided that he would do his best so that she could get to sleep.

Besides that, if they killed all those in the house, he could sleep in a real bed that night. Not on the bedroll that he slept on in his tent, but a real bed with soft pillows and blankets. Just the thought was enough to make him pining for it. "Does our man have family...?" he asked. He'd never been good at killing women and children. Maybe it was because he could still actually remember his mother and his younger brother, from before he had been taken into his apprenticeship and induction into the assassins group.

Reaching inside his jacket, he felt for the two knives he kept there, his fingers itching to close around the familiar hilts.
 
Markie looked over at him. While he preferred to get in and get out, she was the exact opposite. No unnecessary killing. She had lost her family to unnecessary killing and she had vowed that she wouldn't be that way unless the plan absolutely called for it. "Yes he does and he sleeps in the same bedroom as his wife so that means that we have to make sure we don't disturb her. I brought some sleeping powder just in case though." Markie pulled the bottle out of her front pocket. The white substance looked like flour, but when thrown onto someones face they would instantly fall asleep and sleep for a minimum of 8 hours. Handy when they needed someone like a wife to stay asleep.

"Let's just go through the window and see where the guard is. You know I feel about senseless killing. Maybe the guard has a family too." Markie murmured and left the mare there. She wouldn't leave. Just as the assassins were trained, the horses were trained to stay where their master left them. "Come on. We are going to have to do some climbing. He lives on the second floor, but we are going to have to find an open window. I doubt that he leaves his open."
 
Logan cursed audibly as she relayed to him the information concerning the target's wife. "Fine, fine," he eventually consented, deciding that he would try to have decent morals for the night. Only kill the target, no one else if you can help it.

Walking around the house towards the back, to where it would be less dangerous to sneak in from, he tried the windows, even using his knife to try to pry one or two open. A couple times, he had to duck beneath the windowsill, seeing one of the guards walking past. One of those times, he nearly got caught, and the guard opened the window, peering out into the darkness. But he didn't look down, something that Logan was glad for.

Heart still pounding from that ordeal, he finally found a window he could open. This time he didn't even have to break a window to get in. If he did, then Markie probably would have gotten angry at him. Sliding into the house through the window, he made a signal to Markie before assuming a crouched position, thankful that he had washed the glowing makeup off of him before going on the mission. It was almost pitch black in this room, and he had to put his hands out to feel for anything so he wouldn't make any noises.
 
Markie let Logan do all of the searching for windows. He had better strength than she did when it came to climbing and hanging on things. She relied on brute strength if it came to fist fighting and she liked it better that way. On the signal to come up, she was able to climb up quickly and she slipped in next to him. She reached out and grabbed his arm to make sure that he hadn't left her. Then she squeezed it three times. It was the signal that one would go left and one would go right. Since she was on the right, she would go that way.

Her hands out in front of her, Markie moved slowly. She could hear the sound of breathing coming from what seemed to be the middle of the room. If only the moon had been shining more brightly tonight. She moved and finally found the bed. She was at the end and she reached out to see if Logan was there. She wasn't exactly sure what side of the bed that their target slept on and so she wanted to be at the same pace as Logan because if she ended up on the wrong side then he wouldn't have the sleeping potion for the wife.
 
As he searched the room, he thought, I hope there's not a dog in here. Sometimes, he knew, people would sleep with their pet rottweiler or pit bull, who would attack at the slightest sound. Logan didn't need another dog on his list of those he had killed, nor did her want more scars from a dog's bite. However, he thought he could only hear two people breathing. He and Markie had been trained to keep their breathing almost silent, so that no one could hear them.

When he found the side of the bed, he followed it to one side before he reached a wall, and turned. As he followed the bed, he could hardly stop his heart from beating itself out of his chest. It sounded like it would wake the dead, and he was surprised when none of them did. Creeping down the other side of the bed, he soon caught up to Markie. He wished he could turn on a light, but that wouldn't work at all. Frowning in the darkness, he wished that he could just kill both of them without feeling the guilt from it, but he knew that wouldn't work either.
 
((I've decided it is impossible to concentrate with your signature staring me in the face. It's truly the creepiest thing I've ever seen. ._.))

Markie grabbed his hand and then pulled him in close. She grabbed his hand and turned it palm up and placed her fingers down in the shape of an "L" in his palm. It was meant to be a way to communicate in the dark and not have to say anything. It meant she was going to check the left side of the bed first to see where the wife and where their target was. With light touches, her other fingers just barely brushed over the bed. It was obvious who was where because the woman was much smaller compared to her husband and she was sleeping on the left. That was Markie's side. When she brought her fingers back from the bed, she changed her hand from an "L" to spell out "O-K" in his hand with sign language.

Then she moved away from him. Depending on where their target was, the partner who killed varied. She had taken the last two and now it was his turn. She would take care of the wife if she became a problem. Waiting, Markie already had the sleeping potion open. Because it took so long to get to them, she only used it when it was absolutely necessary.
 
((He will consume your soul!!))

After recieving the signal, Logan moved towards the right side of the bed. Over and over in his mind, he said, 'Silent as the wind, silent as the wind'. It was his mantra, and kept him focused on being quiet. Taking in a shuddery breath as the man shifted in his sleep, he counted to ten after the man had settled once more before moving once more.

Reaching into his pocket, he drew out a piece of cloth, holding it over the sheath of his knife as he drew it out of it. It muffled the sound some, and he was extremely thankful that the man didn't shift anymore. Getting up to his feet, he crouched over the man, holding his breath in order to not disturb the man. In one swift motion, he drew the blade of his knife over the soft skin of the man's neck, biting in just enough that he would die in seconds. Pulling away almost immediately, he winced each time the man made a choking noise as he died, drowning in his own blood.
 
((OHGAWD.))

Markie knew when Logan had made the move as the man began to choke. For a few moments the wife didn't stir and Markie was hopeful that they had gotten a wife that could sleep through anything. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and she woke up with a start when she heard her husband. Quickly, Markie reached out and grabbed the woman and pushed her back down before sprinkling some of the powder on her face. Some made its way into her mouth and she went back to sleep, but not before getting out a strangled cry.

"Come on." Markie hissed as she heard the guards moving around outside the door. She was quick to cap the powder and hurry back to the window. She frowned when she realized that they were going to be blocked by the two men who were outside. "Prepare for a fight." Markie told Logan as the door flew open and the two men entered.

Markie reached into her pocket and right as the light came on she threw a small throwing knife and it landed in the mans leg with a solid thud. He cried out and went down. The second man turned to the two assassins and pulled out a small pistol. "Crap." Markie muttered as she dodged out of the way before he let off a shot. "I hate guns."
 
((The black stuff coming from his mouth is YOUR SOUL.))

Drawing his other knife, not caring about making a racket or not, Logan ducked as he heard a gunshot. He didn't hate guns as much as Markie did, but he didn't like them all the same. Rolling forwards, he swiftly made an upwards cut at the guard shooting, feeling his knife cut through clothing and skin. As blood fell onto his hand, he spun away towards the window, gesturing for Markie to follow.

"Leave them, let's go!" he shouted, throwing himself out the window. There was less than a second of freefall, before he hit the ground. Rolling with a grunt, he looked up, hoping that Markie got out. Though he wanted to be a true assassin that didn't feel anything for other people, he couldn't help but feel worried for her.

"C'mon, Markie, you can get out of there...you can," he told himself, a worried frown on his face.
 
((Yup... still creepy....))

Markie had been waiting to jump in if necessary to help Logan, but when he gestured for her to come, she followed. Halfway to the window the man she shot in the leg had managed to get up and tackled her. With a grunt she landed face first and it was rather painful on the rough wood floors. The scuffle didn't last much longer than that though and Markie pushed the dead man off of her, a knife wound in his upper chest. She climbed out the window and landed beside Logan.

"I think he broke my nose. Jerk." Markie muttered, looking cross-eyed to see the damage. It was too dark though and she would just have to have Logan fix it as he had done many times before. "Come on. Before the alarm is...." Now all the lights in the house were on and people were shouting. "raised...." she finished with a frown. "This is why I hate wives. Men should just sleep on their own. We wouldn't have a problem that way." Markie began moving towards the horses who were already on high alert. Markie swung herself up onto the saddle and settled herself to let the dizzy wave pass. Oh yes she definitely broke her nose... again.

"Come on." Markie urged the horse into the shadows which they would use to their advantage to leave the town.
 
Hopping onto his horse, he tried calming it. His horse had been startled by the loud noises and the smell of blood, and was slightly skittish as Logan moved his horse into the shadows of a dark alley. "Glad you got out of there," he told Markie, grinning in her general direction. "Would've been bad if you'd died or gotten arrested...then I'd be the only assassin in the area. And you know my work ethic." He chuckled, but was trying to keep quiet.

They reached the city's edges without any trouble, and were soon riding back to the circus' tents, the lights sent off from the torches making it easy to find them. "You think we'll get in trouble for the mess up?" he asked. "They've probably figured it out that the man was killed and it wasn't an accident or anything...do you think it was light enough to get a good look at our faces?" He shivered at the thought. If an assassin was caught, they were silenced before they could spill any of the secrets they knew, usually by an assassin that they were close to. Logan could only ever hope that if it came to that, he wouldn't have to kill Markie, and vice versa.
 
"Unfortunately I know it too well." Markie muttered, but not loud enough for him to hear. She was silent until he asked the question about if they were going to get in trouble. She hadn't left any witnesses that would remember them and be able to identify them, but it had been sloppy. They would probably just get a written punishment instead of being summoned to the Assassins Court and being formally and physically punished. "I hope it's just written..." Markie murmured as they rode out of the town.

She was silent the rest of the way back and when they got back to the corral, she pulled Benekli to a halt. The mare snorted a few times and Markie slid off the spotted horse (which is what her name stood for in Turkish which is where Markies paternal grandparents had come from) and looked over at Logan. "I'm going to need your help setting this." Markie told him as she pulled off the saddles and gave the mare a snack for being such a good girl. After a nuzzle from the wet snout and a light brush, the horse was happy and ran around with the other animals.

"I don't have any more bandages though. Ran out. Had to help the stupid man who put his hand inside of the tigers cage and enticed it. I told him to not do that. Do they listen though?" Markie rolled her eyes.
 
Once back at the corral, Logan took off his horse's saddle, all the while humming to himself. After feeding her an apple from his hand, he smiled at her, gently rubbing her neck. "Good, Jasmine," he told her softly, running his hands through her hair. When she had run off, he sighed softly before turning to Markie.

"I think I have some bandages at my tent...I hope that girl isn't there," He muttered that last part, hoping that Markie couldn't hear him. Coming back with a different girl to find the one he had been kissing earlier waiting for him would be bad, and might cause a fight. "Let's go," he told her, gesturing. Once upon a time, he might have offered her a hand, or maybe placed his arm around her so she wouldn't fall, but too much had happened, and it would only make things awkward, he decided. "C'mon."
 
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