Chapter Text
Amir checked his phone. Not that he hadn't already memorized all the information he needed, but it couldn’t hurt to look at the file one more time. Considering his job, it would be unfortunate to make a mistake. He was sure the people hiring him wouldn't be too happy if Amir killed the wrong person.
Once Amir finished reading the file about his target, the blond put his phone back in the inside pocket of his jacket. Couldn’t risk losing it, he managed to pass a very hard level in the game he downloaded last month and wasn’t going to do it all over again. It was a game about taking care of a small fish and avoiding the biggest ones visiting your place to eat it. It was fun, and he was attached to the little bunch of pixels that were his fish. It was a koi carp he named Bubble -Amir never had a lot of imagination for that stuff. There had been cooler starter fishes, but he picked this one because it could evolve into a sea dragon later. That sounded cool.
Damn, Amir thought. He had never been a gamer but those stupid mobile games could get you addicted. At least he knew better than to spend money on it.
Amir grabbed a hairband from his pocket and assembled his blond hair together into a messy ponytail. No matter how much he tried, his hair was impossible to tame and always went in all directions. Honestly he didn't care much, it was Marik who bothered with details like this. Unlike his brother, Amir liked things less polished, more raw.
The Egyptian man eyed his surroundings. The neighborhood was quiet at this hour and the streetlamps had gone off hours ago. There was a small moon tonight, providing enough light for Amir to see where he was going, but he had been here long enough for his eyes to adjust to the obscurity. He walked to the house of his target.
It was a nice neighborhood, the houses were all of decent size with a garden. The one Amir was aiming for was in the middle of the street. There was no barrier to close the garden, only an alignment of bushes, so nothing stopped Amir from entering the property. However, he didn't go for the front door. Opening it would take him a minute and while it was unlikely for someone to be outside this late, Amir wasn’t risking it. He turned around the house and walked to the back door he spotted last week when he did his scouting of the area. Amir took his leather gloves out of his jacket, sighing. He didn’t like wearing them when working, it was the only time where he was actually welcoming sensations on his skin, but he knew better than to leave handprints everywhere. Once he put them on, he tested the door’s handle. Amir raised an eyebrow as the door opened. Oh? Someone forgot to lock this one apparently. Good for him. Amir wasn’t a thief, and he wasn’t one known to be delicate. Breaking into someone's house while not making a fuss wasn’t his strong point.
Amir slowly opened the door, eyeing inside the house. It was dark, but a blue light was coming from the room. Amir could hear noises, it looked like a television was on. It was safe to assume it was his target watching it. From what he had read about him, the guy lived alone. He had a girlfriend but she had her own place, and there were no kids.
Good. While Amir didn't care about what was going on in his targets’ life, he didn’t like it when kids were involved. No matter how much Amir’s targets could be a piece of shit, or deserved what was coming at them, no child should see their parents in a bloody mess in the middle of the living room. If the people he had to kill had a family, Amir would make sure they were away before he acted.
Amir reached for the knife on his belt and secured it in his hand with a firm grip. Some would say that guns were more effective, but Amir only used one if he didn’t have other options. He preferred a knife. He liked the sensation of the blade slipping through the skin, the way it would dive smoothly into the flesh, and then the heat of the spilled blood. A gun was too detached. Amir needed to feel his kill, to touch it. Besides, guns were too noisy. It wasn’t rare he had tinnitus after using one, which was annoying as hell.
As Amir guessed, he found his target in the living room. The man was on the couch, snoring loudly as a boring night program was playing on the TV. Three empty bottles of beer were on the coffee table, two others on the ground. Amir frowned. Did the guy drink himself to sleep? How boring. He didn't like when they were drunk. The alcohol numbed their sensation and sometimes they wouldn't even realize they were being stabbed. How boring. Honestly, Amir thought about leaving and going back another day, because this was ruining his fun. He would have, if it wasn't for the fact that his client paid extra cash for the kill to be done quickly. Amir sighed as he walked to the man. He kicked a bottle on purpose, but the sound didn't wake his target.
"Well, let's see how many stabs you can take before waking up, I guess."
Another thing why Amir was usually chosen when people needed a hitman. Amir's kills weren't pretty. They weren't delicate things. They were a messy fest, he was leaving bodies in the same state as a cat would leave a mouse after getting bored once it wasn't moving anymore. Amir was called when a point needed to be made. It wasn’t rare that his kills were used to threaten someone else that shouldn’t be killed yet. Some people didn't fear death, but they feared pain and torture.
Amir's first stab went for the man's thigh. He didn’t hold it, diving the full length of his blade into the muscle. He counted two seconds, probably the time for his victim's brain to register something was happening, then the man jolted awake in a scream. The next one went for his tongue.
"No matter how much fun we have, we can’t make too much sound, can we?" Amir grinned.
—
Amir took a picture with his phone. He looked at it for a few seconds, then a satisfied smile appeared on his face. People were always saying how his murders were gruesome, messy, and absolutely disgusting. Amir wanted to differ. There was something beautiful in the way the blood was dripping on the now white skin, how the guts were gently reflecting the blue light from the tv, how you could feel the ferocity of the act in the way the body had been torn apart. It was fucking art, Amir thought. Marik would probably agree, his brother always had the eyes to notice pretty things, if his phobia of blood didn't make it impossible for Amir to show him his work. That, and the fact that Amir would never expose him to any violence.
The blond sent the picture to his agent. Amir met him before but he didn't know his real name, he only had an alias, “Yami”. This man was as creative with names as Amir it seemed. Well, the blond didn’t care for his identity. Yami was the one making the connection between Amir and his clients and that all Amir wanted from him. Sure, the guy was taking a commission off his payment, but it was a cheap price to not have to deal with people himself, he hated it. It was Marik who was the one good in social situations, Amir never had the same talent. Where his twin could charm with sweet lies slipping off his pretty mouth, getting someone exactly where he wanted, Amir would just seem rude and antisocial. It wasn’t that he didn't like people, just that the blond didn't know how to act in a way that would please them. Amir didn't see the point in lying and would never fake liking someone, his humor was a bit too morbid for most, and even his smiles were said to be scary. Not to mention he could get overwhelmed if he was in a crowded place, he could get violent if someone got in his personal space. No need to say that Amir wasn't doing too well in parties. Well… Not like he had friends to invite him to one anyway.
Violence was the only way he had to deal with his feelings and frustrations. No one taught him otherwise, and the wrong people along the way made him dive deeper into this hole. Not that Amir was sad about it. He enjoyed his job. It was fun. Amir was aware that it wasn’t something normal, that his brain was probably fucked up because of past traumas, but he didn’t care. It was his life and he was fine with it. At least he wasn’t killing random people like a fucking serial killer. He was paid for it and wasn’t interested in doing it in his free time. Oh, he could seriously punch a few assholes if they annoyed him, but he wouldn’t do homicide for free. Someone had to really piss him off past his limits for it, which fortunately hadn't happened yet.
The blond put his phone back in his vest once he had the confirmation his message had been seen. He would get the money in his bank account within the hour. Good. He needed to change his mattress, he had accidentally got it dirty with blood after his previous work and couldn’t remove the stain no matter what he used. While Amir liked to get his hands bloody during work, he had some standards and didn't like sleeping in a dirty bed.
Well, time to go home. He turned around and walked out of the living room. When Amir stepped in the corridor, a loud cracking sound suddenly made him freeze.
It was coming from behind him. Something like wood being snapped- No, more like being crushed. A sound that was not natural and should not exist in a room where Amir left nothing but a corpse.
The blond immediately turned around, his right hand had found the gun attached to his belt and he was holding it in front of him.
Amir's eyes opened wide.
Next to the body, something was crouched. The first thing Amir saw was white. White skin, white hair, and an endless mass of white feathers. The thing next to the body looked somehow human, if it wasn't for the three pairs of wings on its back. Not to mention it had smaller wings at other places of its body. Two wings were on its head, like a crown, four others on his waist. The second color Amir saw was red. Red from its mouth. It had a piece of flesh between its teeth and blood dripping on its white skin. Its hands were red too, holding a now torn apart heart that was still fuming. The rest of the red was coming from all over its body. Little spots of red that wouldn't stop disappearing and changing places. Amir needed a few seconds to realize it was eyes. Eyes as red and dark as dried blood. They were blinking, but most importantly, they were all looking at him.
In this precise second, Amir felt two emotions.
The first one was that this creature, whatever it was, was beautiful. A surreal beauty, but in the same way a microbial culture could be. Sure, you could get pretty colors and delicate forms, but you could see at the same time the disgusting texture that would remind you it was germs you were looking at. That wouldn’t stop it from being fascinating however.
Amir second's thought was that it was the end. Whatever this thing was, he would stand no chance. He felt it deep into his soul. The hair from his hair had risen and cold sweat was running through his temple, breathing was becoming harder, like the air had become too thick to pass his lungs. For the very first time in his life, Amir felt like a prey. It was a disturbing sensation. It made him nauseous. He hated it.
Amir instinctively knew that nothing he could do would save him. That didn't mean he wouldn't try. The moment the creature moved to stand up, he shot it. The bullet landed right between its eyes, the ones of its face. Amir held his breath as the thing made one step back, losing its balance. Instead of falling however, it raised its head again to look at Amir.
Amir shot again. He hit the same area, but again the thing didn't fall.
He was about to empty his gun on it, when the creature suddenly shouted.
"Can you stop that?! It's not because it doesn't hurt that it's not annoying!"
Amir blinked. He expected to be charged by the thing, to be mauled to death by it, not to… Be scolded by it? He didn’t move however as the creature sighed. It shook its wings a bit, like a cat would move his tail to show annoyance, and massaged his head with its hand. There was absolutely no wound on the skin. Now that he had a better look at it, Amir could see it looked like a young man…. Or woman? He wasn't sure. It had long white hair and its face was rather delicate, a bit like a fine porcelain doll, but its chest was flat. It was naked, however two wings around his hips covered its genitals -well, if it even had any.
"Don't come closer!" Amir hissed when the thing made a step in his direction.
Honestly Amir was impressed at his own ability to keep his head clear. His heart was beating fast, his brain was already analyzing all the ways this thing could kill him, and he was absolutely freaking out. But his job made him deal with stress and adrenaline, he learned how to keep his cool despite it. How to not give in to the panic and keep thinking straight.
The thing looked at him, at the gun in his hand, then it chuckled softly. It was almost cute if you ignored the human blood around its mouth. His chin was soaked in it. One part of Amir’s brain thought it looked beautiful on that pale skin.
"You're not dumb, you know you won't hurt me with that thing."
"Doesn't mean I can't try."
It smiled softly, amusement could be seen in its eyes.
"You humans are always so cute."
Amir could have thought it was an insult, but it sounded like a genuine compliment. The thing wasn’t seeing him as a threat. It wasn’t scared. It knew it had the upper hand. It looked at Amir like one looked at a kitten hissing at them, finding their attempt at being threatening absolutely adorable.
"But you don’t have to worry!" It smiled as it clapped its hands together. "I just want to talk with you! Actually, it's been a while since I wanted it but I didn't know how to approach you."
"To… talk?" Amir didn't lower his weapon, but looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I wanted to thank you, of course!"
… … …
Amir blinked.
What?
"What?"
"Do you have any idea how boring it is to hunt?! You have to find a prey, but have to make sure it won't end in a mass extinction by taking the wrong one or too much. Not saying that it happened to me before, hm. Well. Who cares anyway? Then, when you get the right one, you have to kill it and eat it. Honestly, only the eating part is fun. But you!" It pointed at Amir with his right hand, smiling. "You always leave full prey behind you! Whole prey! I don't really get what you get from it, but it means free meals for me!"
Free meal? Amir glanced at the corpse. That was the meal? He didn’t understand a thing the creature was saying, but he got that it was eating the bodies from Amir’s kills. Suddenly it made sense. Amir's agent had asked him a few days ago if he saw something out of the ordinary, because the last three bodies had been discovered to be more damaged than Amir left them. At the moment the blond didn't think much of it, it wasn’t his problem, but now he connected the dots. It was this thing's doing.
Amir gasped. The creature was suddenly in front of him. It moved so fast, he didn’t see it coming. It wrapped its arms around Amir's waist before the blond could react.
"I'm so lucky to have found you!" It happily exclaimed, giving Amir a wide smile.
Amir's whole body froze and he held his breath. It took him a moment to realize the creature wasn’t attacking him. It was… Hugging him? Yes. That was definitely a hug.
Seriously…
What the fuck?!