Chapter 1: The killing

Henrietta goes on yet another mission with Jose, but ends up snapping due to a threat given by a suspicious character....

      As the sun sank low over the far off landscape of Italy, I walked with my handler, Jose. I made sure to stay as close to him as possible, always just one or two steps behind him. Occasionally, our footing would become out of sync and I would accidentally trip him with my feet. Whenever this would occur, I would smile at him shyly, and fiddle with my violin case.

The two of us are known as fratello. That means brother and sister. We aren't related by blood or by marraige, but we are linked together in a special way. Our bond is like no other.

As we walked on through the cool, late afternoon, we were suddenly stopped by a hissing black cat just across the way. This can't be a good sign. All around us, street vendors were closing up shop and ready to go home to their angry wives. The smell of salame filled the air. Clothes hung from ropes attached to windowsills. This was Italy at it's finest hour.

The sun blazed a bright shade of red, purple and orange over the town of Rome. And as I walked ever so close to my handler, Jose, he didn't seem to mind. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to be able to smell his clothes. His skin. His soft, warm skin. But most of all, I wanted to hold his hand. He had such large hands, that I thought mine might get lost in his...

"Henrietta?", said Jose, as he twisted out of my strong grip. "What on earth are you doing?"

I felt my face go red with embarrassment. I had been so lost in thought that I had subconsciously tried to hold his hand.

He smiled as he realised that I meant no harm, and then said, "Lets just not forget that this is serious business. We have no time to waste. This isn't just a stroll around the block"

"Understood", I said, trying to keep the monotone out of my voice. I wanted to be as norma as possible. Not a cyborg, but a real, live, human girl. Well, I am a human girl. But I'm not like other girls...

 

   "Are you ready?", Jose asked me as we approached the motel. "Yes", I replied.

"Remember, you are not to shoot unless the target has been confirmed or if a clear threat has been made. Do you understand me?", he said, in that gentle voice of his. I stared into his brown eyes and said, "Yes".

We walked up three flights of stairs and down two hallways until we came to a room marked, "212".

Jose looked at me as if to confirm our situation and what lay ahead. I nodded. Then he looked back at the door and knocked three times.

I heard voices from inside. Because of my altered hearing, I could hear them clear as a bell. Where as someone like Jose could probably only hear muffled voices.

"Shut up, we've got company", "I thought we told the manager not to let anyone up?", "Ssssshhhh! Just shut up, you idiots!", "Johnson, look through the peep hole". Then, I heard the shuffling of feet across carpet. There was a pause.

"Boss, your not gonna beleive this, but.... It's a man and a..... a little girl"

Another pause....

Then, the door slowly opened just a tad...

A person who appeared to be a white male around 30 years old stood in the door way, hiding behind the slightly opened door. He glared at Jose, then at me. He didn't appear to be a possible threat.

"What do you want?", he said.

"I'm a local journalist and I've heard about the delta project that has been going on for quite some time now. I heard that the president of that agency was in this building and I wanted to get first hand information for my company's newspaper...."

Jose was cut off by the man saying, "Well this isn't the room".

He then began to slam the door but Jose logged his foot firmly into place so that it couldn't shut. "Please, I'm positive that he's in this building", he said.

The man glared at him, then flung the door at open and went into the hallway.

"I said this is the wrong room! Are you hard of hearing?", he yelled. He then grabbed Jose by the collar and pinned him to the wall. "How 'bout I knock some sense into you right in front of your sister?", he growled, his face inches away from Jose's.

That was where everything went wrong. I couldn't think. All I could do was act.

I lost track of reality and the only thought I could process: protect Jose.

I snapped open my violin case and was quick as lightning. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear the bullets fired. I didn't even watch the men drop like flies.

All I could think of was Jose.

Keep Jose safe.

Keep Jose safe.

Keep Jose safe.

 

There was screaming, bleeding, death... But then everything went deadly silent. None of the men in that room were alive. I had just killed them all.

 

I froze once I realised what I had done. I looked around me. The couch had somehow been knocked over on it's side. behind it were the bodies of the men who had previously inhabited the room. The curtains now sported fresh blood stains. The blinds covering the windows were also blood stained and badly disheveled. The walls were riddled with bullet holes. And bodies riddled the room as well. the most disturbing part was the blood. It was splattered everywhere. The carpet, the walls, the sofa...

I also noticed that a single bullet hole marked the window. This was deffinatley not my doing. I would not have missed my target at such short range. It must have Triela's work.

 

My face grew hot again and I began to sweat. I held my gun like a baby in my arms. Jose looked a me and sighed. "You've done it now", he said. Then he pulled out his cell-phone and told the commander what had happended. "I repeat, the mission has failed", he finished.

"C'mon, lets go", he said as he slowly exited the room. I stepped over a few bodies and made my way to the hallway. I found my violin case. it had been hastily tossed to the side during my previous rampage. In front of it was the body of the man who had threatened Jose. Five bullets in his chest. That was how he was killed.

 

we stood in front of the building, waiting for another fratello handelor to pick us up. Jse turned and did a double-take at my arm. "Henrietta! You've been hit!", he said, motioning to my right arm. It was true. a small, bloody gash marked my upper side arm. I hadn't even noticed.

When the fratello officer drove the limosine to our side, Jose opened the door for me and I hopped in. I was happy when he sat next to me. I could smell him from there. His calogne. His scent....

"Henrietta....What went wrong up there?"

My thoughts were cut off by the sound of Jose's voice.

I didn't answer him. My eyes began to rim with tears. I felt so stupid. What must he think of me now? He was probably scared of me...

Me. The deformed cyborg girl.

 

"Jose....I...I just wanted to protect you, Jose", I wimpered. I clutched the violin case firmly in my lap. Jose looked at me sadly. he seemed upset. I had never meant to hurt him. I just wanted to protect him.

Protect him at all costs. I would do anything for him. Even if it meant dying.

I would do anything, if it meant that I could protect him...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

This was how I imagined Henrietta felt during the first episode.... I'm sorry for all the spelling and grammar errors... Please regard me kindly :3

Reviews

[Leave me alone....]

this is awesome! i have not seen the anime, nor read the manga, but i have a pretty good idea of what happened through this. It was amazing, i could picture everything perfectly. Nice job :)