My Little Assassin

Sighing as he watched his apprentice go up the stairs, he set about taking the sheets off of the furniture, sneezing occasionally. Folding the last one, he stacked them all into a pile before taking them to a linen's closet upstairs. "Just fold the sheets over your furniture and put them in the closet out here. I'll just wash them later," Thane called, opening the closet. Ignoring the mothballs that rolled at his feet, he put the sheets into the closet, shutting the door. Eventually, he walked into his own room, the one on the left. It looked just like it did so many years ago, save for the dust and the sheets. Pulling off the sheets, he was glad to see that mice hadn't gotten to his bed. He wasn't sure about the other rooms, but he hoped that his room was a proper example of the rest.

Leaving his room, he walked down the stairs, checking the kitchen for food. There wasn't anything that wasn't expired. He sighed, deciding he would drive into the town nearby, buy some supplies. "Don't turn on the water!" he called out to March, after trying the sink for a drink. Checking the cabinets, he made sure everything was intact. "Seems this house has fared better than I have," he murmured, running his hand along the markings on the wall, remembering fondly the years that he had spent here.
 
He found the room he wanted, which was just as simple as the room at Thane's other house. A bed, a dresser, the walls painted a bright blue colour. There was a box labeled 'Toys' in a corner, but March didn't dare open it. After all, it was none of his business to go snooping around, as old as the house may be.

He followed directions and pulled the sheets off of the bed and the dresser, folding them neatly and stepping out into the hall to the linen closet. Afterward, March considered running around a little and snooping every nook and cranny. His energy would have to wait though, what would Thane think if he saw his apprentice acting like a small child? Instead, March hopped down the stairs, two at a time, almost tripping and tumbling down the last few. He caught himself though and walked slowly now.

"Thane... Err... Mark? Whatever, but... Whose house is this?" he asked, finding his mentor.
 
"Who do you think?" Thane answered as he mentally started to make a list on the things he would need. "It," he sighed heavily, "used to be my family's. I think I still own it, but since it doesn't look like anyone lives here, I can assume I do...Or no one's found it yet, and we've just gotten lucky." He grinned briefly before sighing again, looking around the house nostalgically. "And seriously, must you go down the stairs like that? What are you, five?"

After memorizing the list, he went to the living room, sitting down on the old couch. "Shame we couldn't stay in the city," he said to himself. "The buildings there would've been great for training March." He had picked out a great old building that had been under construction for a few years but was abandoned. He'd already been up there, to the top floors, and was testing it out for a later date, a few weeks ago, but now he guessed that it would be a long time before he would see himself in the city. Oh, well, the countryside had plenty of places to practice stealth work.
 
"I'm sorry," March said gently, putting his head down. That was embarassing, he thought, sighing a little. He'd have to work on his self-control and maturity, he knew that much. He was feeling a little sad now, feeling like he was an actual five year old who'd just been scolded by a parent. Or an uncle, in this case...

March turned and started walking back up the stairs, though he stopped half-way and called down. "Hey! Do you need me for anything? I can run errands and stuff, or we can train more!" he said.
 
"No," Thane answered. "I will be heading into town in an hour or so, but 'till then consider yourself free." He sighed, standing up and picking up his bags. Taking them upstairs, he set his own in his room before taking the plastic one to the bathroom. Running the water in the sink for several minutes, until the water turned from brown to a semi-clear color, he started filling the basin with water, before taking out what was in the plastic bag. It was hair dye. Thane had known that one day he would fail in a mission, and figured that he would need to disguise himself.

When he came out of the bathroom, his hair had gone from a light color to a deep mahogany color. Sighing at himself, he decided that he rather missed his old hair. Moving to his room, he changed into cleaner clothing before calling for March. "We're going. Try to act competent while we are in town."
 
With a slight smile, March walked out of the door and headed toward the grass. Since he wasn't being watched, he decided it'd be okay to act like a kid for one last time. And so, he set out doing front-flips and cartwheels, and the occasional somersault. Afterward, before his mentor called for him, he went back inside and up the stairs. March dusted himself off picking himself clean of grass and dropping it out the window. Looking himself over, he decided he did a pretty good job in covering his tracks.

When Thane called for him, he hurried out the door. He smiled a little when he saw his mentor's new hair. "I like it," he said, "The colour looks swell on you." At the command of acting 'competent,' March's smile disappeared and he nodded. "Don't worry," he said, following Thane to his car. "I'll act competent alright."
 
Thane got into the car silently, turning the key in the ignition. As he drove along the long driveway, he made sure he had enough money with him to buy supplies for a week or so. He was hoping for another job from his superior. At least then, he would be able to show March how to properly kill. "Until I make you an ID," he said, "you are Connor Anderson, nephew to Mark Anderson, author of books. Don't slip up, people'll probably be asking about us in town. Glance over any reason why you're living with me and not your parents, or come up with something logical."

After thirty or so minutes of driving, they came upon a small town. It was exactly the type of rinky-dink small town you would expect to see this far out in the country. Old men and women sat on rocking chairs on house and store porches, pies on windowsills, and fields everywhere. As they stopped in front of a tiny store, he got out, telling March, "Do your best to avoid people looking at the wound. And if anyone asks, fruit and a blender." Giving him a stern nod before opening the door, he got out, trying to act as if he hadn't been inside the store a million times before.
 
March got in after his mentor and sat quietly, listening to everything her said. He made a mental note of his name and their relationship, then quickly thought of something to tell people if they wondered why he was living with his 'uncle.' Finally, he decided on, 'parents are on a yacht cruise, Mark's my only guardian.' As they drove into the town, he looked around. It was really nice, quiet, and relaxing, compared to the city. Under any other circumstances, March would've contemplated moving there.

As they arrived to the store, he got out of the car. Again with the fruit and the blender, he thought, smiling a little bit and nodding. "This seems like a nice town," he said as they walked to the entrance of the store. "Really... Friendly looking."
 
Thane nodded, not answering him. Walking into the store, he nodded at the cashier, who was a pretty young woman with a nice smile. Finding the things on his list, he would hand them to March as he walked. Finally, as he got everything, he went to the register, pulling out the money while making polite conversation with the cashier.

"What brings you into town?" she asked, smiling at him.

"I'm an author," he replied automatically. "My book is going to be based in a small town, and I thought that some first-hand experience would be good. I bought that house outside of town, down White Hill Lane, the white one...d'you know where it is?" He smiled amiably, simply making conversation. As he continued to speak, he introduced himself and March before thanking her as another person got behind him in line. As he turned, he recognized that person.

She was aging. Not old, but not young either. Her name was Mrs. Johnson, he remembered, and had once upon a time been the nanny to him and his siblings. As he locked eyes with her, offering her an apologetic nod, she asked, "Do I know you? You remind me of an old friend of mine, um, Mr Micah Whitaker?" Thane struggled to keep his face straight.

"I do not think so," he answered. "You must have me confused with someone else..." As she gave him that harrowing stare she used to in order to see if he was lying or not, he gently excused himself before leading March out of the store, chills running up his spine. "Damn, she's still got that crazy stare," he muttered ruefully as he left the store, waving at the cashier as he left.
 
He followed him around the store, carrying everything that Thane handed over to him. Basic supplies... Food... Pretty much everything they'd need to live. By the time they got to the register, March's arms were feeling sore and he sighed with relief as he put the items down. March stood quietly by, giving the cashier a polite nod as he was introduced. She seemed very nice and was rather pretty, March was thinking.

As the older woman behind them in line started talking to his mentor, March was ready to butt in with a, 'Hey, Uncle Mark, we've got to go,' though the exchange was quickly over. Outside of the store, he turned to Thane. "Did you know that lady?" he asked quietly, "Because she seemed like the kind of lady that makes cookies for people. She looked nice."

Almost immediately, March gave his mentor an apologetic nod of the head. "Um... Nevermind, sorry. I didn't really think before I spoke," he apologized, getting into the car quickly.
 
"No, you did not," answered Thane, getting into his car. Still, he continued. "But I did know her, once upon a time. She was my nanny, for when my mother and father weren't around. Admittedly, that was pretty often, so it's no surprise she recognized me. My dad had this color hair. Old woman needs to get some new glasses, though," he added as he started driving for the park, deciding that a while out might be nice, "thinking I look like my father..." Frowning, he pulled over in front of the park.

It was old, too, but still nice. He was surprised to still find the wooden playground still standing. That had been built when his father was a child, by the citizens of the town. On one side of it were still the names of the volunteers, though the paint was fading. There was a lake in the middle of the park, as well. In the summertime, older folks would fish there, though there hadn't been fish in that lake for at least fifteen years. "Been years since I've been here," he muttered, before getting out of his car, deciding to see what had changed in the years since he had been there.
 
"Do you?" March asked. "I mean... Males do usually end up looking more like their fathers than there mothers. I... Wouldn't really know though," he admitted. He remained quiet for the rest of the time, merely looking around in wonder. It was so quaint. It was like one of those little towns you would read about in books. Where they were simple and nice, only this town didn't seem to have any bad things coming its way.

When they stopped and Thane got out, March stayed inside of the car. He wasn't really sure if he should get out or not. His mentor seemed to be enjoying looking around, he didn't really want to bother him by following him around like a puppy.
 
As he wandered by the lake, his cellphone rang in his pocket. Picking it up, he answered the call with, "Hello?" It was his superior. As he was given the details of his next target, Thane got the wild idea to simply throw the phone into the lake, walk away, and pretend that he really was Mark Anderson, and try to live a normal life. Of course, if he did that, the organization would send a kill team to make sure Thane didn't spread their secrets--forever.

Giving the affirmative that he knew what he was to do, he hung up before silently returning to his car, a dour expression on his face. "We've got a target..." he told March. "It's in the next town over. We'll leave tomorrow night. As soon as we get back, we are training, understand. No foolishness." He purposefully didn't tell the apprentice about his intention on making him doing the actual killing of the target, not wanting March to chicken out so early.

Pushing ten miles over the speed limit, he drove out of town, racing for home. As soon as he got there, he said to March, "You've got until I get everything inside to go hide in the field behind the house. Stay within a twenty foot line on each side of the house, but go as far back as you want. Try to avoid me for as long as possible. If you are adequate, you get better bandages and some alcohol for the cut. Go." He gestured for March to leave before getting out of the car himself.
 
March watched his mentor, raising an eyebrow as he walked back to the car quickly. Before he could ask what had happened, Thane told him that they had a target. "Wow..." March said lightly. He then nodded and sat up straight in his seat. "Yes sir, no foolishness, I promise," he said, "I'll do whatever you tell me to do."

When they arrived back to the house, he listened to Thane's instructions. "Yes sir!" he said, getting out of the car. He took off for the back of the house. He looked around, analyzing as much of the field that was in his line of sight. He started running to the back, trying to find a place to hide. It was going to be hard, but he didn't want to disappoint. He would try his hardest to avoid his mentor. Finding a patch of overgrown grass, March ducked into it. In the back of his mind he was thinking about snakes that could be lurking there, but he kept quiet and low.
 
Thane took his time in taking the things inside. Only putting the things that needed to be cold in the fridge, he left the rest out, whistling to himself as he worked. He was surprised that the fridge still worked. Normally, something that age wouldn't work properly, but he guessed that since it hadn't been used, it must have kept its useability. As soon as he was done, he made his way towards the back door.

Standing on the back porch, he watched the grasses carefully for any sign of movement. To his left, he heard a faint rustling, but it was too tiny to be March. Not whistling anymore, he remained on the porch for as long as it took to try and decide where March would most likely be hiding. He knew he didn't give him enough time to get too far back, so he narrowed his search area to about a four hundred foot square area.

Stepping out into the field, Thane strolled over to a patch of grass about thirty feet from house, trying to be as silent as he could, in order to surprise his apprentice once he found him.
 
March saw Thane coming from in between the grass. He moved back, deeper into the grass. He tried to move slowly, very slowly, do so as to not make to much noise. His mentor would probably notice, but maybe March could play it off as the rustling being due to a small animal. Like a bunny. Shaking his head, March continued moving. Thane was very well trained and experienced, it would take more than moving slow to fool him.

He tried to find the edge of the grass, hoping to get out and move around to the front again, then finding another place to hide. It seemed like the grass would go on forever though.
 
Thane wandered about the field, occasionally hearing a soft rustling in the bushes. It was probably a small animal, he would dismiss it as, and continue on his way. After a minute of this, he simply stood in the middle of the field, slowly rotating in a small circle. As he turned, he silently listened for any signs of his apprentice in the grass.

As he did so, he frowned. The only sound he could hear what that rabbit or snake there in the grass and it seemed to be moving slower than any other rabbit he'd been with. Then, it hit him. Letting a small smile appear on his face, he walked towards the patch where the rustling had been. He made no noise, wanting to scare his apprentice as much as possible.
 
Finally, he found the edge and let out a quiet sigh of relief. Still keeping low, he tip-toed around the grass, ducking back in a few feet away. Again, he went on slowly, though his pace was a little faster this time. Adrenaline was rushing through him, as if he were being hunted down by some predator. He froze for a moment, his expression becoming blank and his face pale. Had Thane ever made any of his targets feel like this...?

Shaking the thought away, he continued again, keeping his eyes and ears alert for any movement. After all, his arm was hurting and he was in need of those bandages. Besides, it was a fun exercise, he'd give his mentor that much.
 
As Thane was searching for March, a little speck of red in the grass caught his eye. Kneeling down, he took the few strands of red-stained grass into his hands. It had blood on it, and there was no question on who it belonged to. It must have come from the wound in his arm. He immediately hoped that the police hadn't gotten a hold of the blood because they could probably use it to find them. Frowning, he crept into the brush, trying to find his apprentice. Suddenly, he felt like a lion stalking his prey. The thought bringing a smile to his face, he listened for the sounds of his apprentice. When he thought he figured it out, he leapt forwards, pouncing on March and pinning him to the ground. "Give up?" He asked, his voice low like a growl.
 
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