REVIVAL by Nick Venom (great book club books .TXT) 📕

Zaken laid his back against the cell’s stained wall. He bent his knees, resting his forearms on them. What a day! He thought, taking one of his hands and letting it explore through his messy black hair. His hair was short but long enough for it to fall to the bottom of his ears. Unlike his peers, he didn’t have his hair shaved off - as long hair gave pursuers a greater chance of tracking them.

He dropped his hand back in place, looking up at the window towering above him. It had been barricaded with some new boards, squashing moonlight from entering but missed some spots. A few glints of moonlight escaped through.

Zaken shifted his body, his legs straining while his hands moved to his pockets. He sifted through them but found nothing useful. His weapons had been confiscated by Mind and the Royal Guards.

“Guess it’s my time,” He thought out loud. “I wonder what’ll it be.”

You should fix that bad habit of yours, you’ll end up dead by remaining solo. Sierra’s words of wisdom had fallen deaf on his ears. Instead of listening to his superior and waiting for reinforcements, he’d gone and acted rashly. He was an idiot.

“I wonder how they’re treating him, he should be getting his punishment for my capture soon. I… I actually feel pretty bad for him - getting stuck with my antics, anyway.” Zaken let out a small laugh, filled with more genuineness than he had experienced recently.

The door leading to the cellblock opened up, the squeaky hinges alerting Zaken. He looked at the iron door that contained him, waiting for the person to arrive. The footsteps neared him, lighter than he was expecting. Torturer? The king? Wait… it can’t be her…?

The iron door swung open, revealing the blonde princess that he had saved days earlier. She walked into the room, the door swinging close behind her; a guard peered in to ensure her safety. 

The princess strolled closer to Zaken, her blonde pigtails moving from side to side. Her pale face, a shade darker than usual due to the dim lighting, smiled at him. Zaken noticed that she had a small pointed nose compared to his squashed round nose. He also noticed that her face was devoid of scars and blemishes. Her skin was brand new, not stained and scarred like Zaken’s face. His face had seen the brunt of his wounds, scars under his eyes, over his eyes, over his top lip, under his bottom lip, his cheeks, and a large scar horizontally across his forehead. 

The petite princess stopped a few feet in front of Zaken, against the guard’s wishes. “What do you want?” Zaken grumbled.

“You.” She responded without hesitation. “I want you to become my personal Royal Assassin.”

Zaken jerked his head back, flabbergasted. This girl wants me as her personal assassin? She’s crazy! He shook his head. “I’m not fit to become a Royal Assassin.”

“Then I’ll make you fit for the position.” She responded quickly.

Zaken chuckled softly. “You really don’t get it. I want nothing with the Crown.”

Mary Jane jerked her head back. “Why not? I can help you be pardoned for your crimes and you’ll live a well-off life.” She told him. “Why don’t you want that?’

Zaken shook his head, rising to his feet. Mary Jane backed away a few feet as the guard entered the cell. Zaken, now standing, stared deeply into Mary Jane’s eyes. “The Crown isn’t any better than any assassin organizations. They watch as their citizens are slaughtered. No! They watch us with glee. Like we’re some kind of show.” He spat in her face, turning away from her. “Leave.”

Mary Jane nodded, wiping the spit off her face. He has something buried in his heart. I need to unlock it and cleanse it, then he’ll become my personal assassin. She thought.

With the guard in tow, she left the cell block. Zaken remained in his cell, looking away from the iron door. His eyebrows were furrowed as he stared at the blank wall. If she believes I’ll ever join the Crown… then she’s as childish as she looks.

***

“Run Zaken!” Zaken’s mother, a black-haired beauty, shouted. Zaken was being held by his uncle, being torn away from his parents. In front of Zaken were his parents fighting against the beings that the ground spewed out. Demons - that’s what they were being declared as. 

Zaken couldn’t understand what the beings were or what ‘demon’ meant. All he cared about was his parents, his arms outstretched towards them. However, his uncle grabbed his body and dragged him away.

The young Zaken watched with tears in his eyes as his parents, as well as every person in his small village, were torn apart by the demons. 

“We have to go!” His uncle shouted. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed that a demon was close on their heels. He moved Zaken in front of him, giving him a hard push that moved him forward and not towards the ground. Zaken stumbled for a few seconds before regaining his balance. He turned around to stare at his uncle, who shouted at him to escape. Zaken nodded, something inside him telling him that he should run. He listened to the voice, running away from the demons and his uncle. All he heard behind him were loud snaps and his uncle’s cries as he fled from the demons, eventually escaping. The demons didn’t chase him after a certain point. They appeared to be stuck within a certain boundary.

Even so, Zaken wasn’t happy to be alive. His family was killed in mere seconds and he was now by himself. Nobody in his village escaped but him. He was on his own.

Zaken moved away, heading deeper into the territory of the Tourkon Kingdom. He learned from passing villages and towns that the Crown decided to not release relief supplies or position their companies to fight against the demons. They simply allowed the demons to co-exist with them.

Zaken headed towards the capital, unsure of his reasoning but sure of his destination. However, he wasn’t able to reach it with the few supplies he had. Fortunately, he was picked up, halfway towards the capital, by a man in a bluish-black cloak. He extended his hand to the wandering kid.

“Do you want to come with me? My profession isn’t easy, but you’ll have a purpose.”

Zaken hesitated, unsure of trusting a complete stranger, but the hesitance didn’t last for long. He nodded his head at the man, who he later found out was named Firespy, and shook his head. “Please let me come with you.”

Zaken had become an assassin under the Order since then - long after Firespy’s untimely death. It was the only thing that he treasured. He had a purpose in life and that was more than enough for him. 

Unfortunately, everybody loses what they treasure.

***

“Man, haven’t you seen better days.” A man remarked, appearing in front of him. It was a rank 1 assassin known by his code name of Deadeye. He had a sniper in his grip, pointing the barrel at Zaken.

A small smile crept over Zaken’s face. “Nice to see you again, Eye.”

Deadeye didn’t take off his hood, his emotions being masked under it, but Zaken could tell he was smiling. “Surprised to see you in this state.”

“If anybody’s surprised, it’s me.” He glanced at the iron door before turning his focus on Deadeye. “I’m assuming they put a hit on me already? Don’t worry though, I haven’t said a word.” 

“Good, you were taught well,” Deadeye said.

“Always was.”

“I’ll make sure people remember your name,” Deadeye said.

Zaken shook his head. “Someone like me? It’s better that you forget me.” 

“Maybe so, but there’s someone who won’t. Anyways, the guards will show soon, so I have to make this quick. You wouldn’t mind?” He rhetorically asked. He didn‘t care for Zaken’s permission to kill him, using the question more as a joke than anything.

“Go ahead, I get you’re on a strict timer.” Zaken closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet to enter his brain and destroy it. Soon he’ll be with his family. He already lost his identity as an assassin, so this was the only proper fate for him. Death.

TBC…

“Let’s hope you have a better shot at life the second time around.” Deadeye pressed the barrel against Zaken’s forehead. He couldn’t miss at this distance. 

“Stop with the script talk, hurry up and finish the job.”

“Man, you make this job a lot less fun than it’s supposed to be. Usually, my targets are always begging for their lives or asking me to spare their children. It’s always funny to see their reactions when I kill their children first.”

“Hurry up Eye,” Zaken grumbled, now annoyed that his death was being stretched out. “The guards will be here soon.”

“I know, I know, I know. I was hoping to get a better reaction from you, that’s all.” Deadeye laid his finger against the trigger. “Well, goodbye.”

Zaken kept his eyes closed, waiting for the sweet release of death to overtake him. However, it never arrived, forcing him to open his eyes and see what happened. In front of him were a corpse and a new assassin. The corpse of Deadeye was laying in front of him, his blood already gushing out of him. A female assassin hovered over Deadeye’s corpse, staring at Zaken.

“You’re wishing for death?” She questioned.

Zaken tilted his head, recognizing her voice. “Oh, so it’s you. Well… yeah I am.”

“Why?” She asked.

Zaken motioned to his surroundings. “The Crown captured me. I’m now a prisoner, not an assassin.”

“I could help you.” She took off her hood, exposing herself. She had hair the color of milk, flowing down to her waist. She was in the rare minority of assassins with long hair.

She had a ghost-pale-skinned face that was almost clear of blemishes. Her face was near perfect, except for a single scar over her right eye. 

She wore a black cloak like the other normal assassins, shedding her hood for a few moments. “Why are you giving up?” She asked him.

Zaken shrugged his shoulders. “There’s nothing else for me. My parents, my uncle, my mentor, my girlfriend, and my job. Everything went down the drain.” He coldly remarked.

The girl shook her head. “I didn’t give up on you. I only needed you to mature and regain your aspirations.”

“What aspirations? The ones I had before my family were killed? They’ve been long dead, Liz.”

“They never died. Unless you’re saying our conversations were for nothing?” She tilted her head. “You told me that you have aspirations and goals. You wanted to leave behind the assassin life and live a normal life with me. You wanted to become an assassin and raise a family. What happened to that?”

Zaken bit his lip, scowling at her. “They’re gone.”

Liz