Atticus Cordell

It was January 8th, 1905. The cold air bit at my neck where my collar had been loosened to cool off. I wiped the blood off my knuckles and onto a white hankerchief. My large shoulders rose and fell as I slowed my breathing from my recent....excursion. I smiled darkly to myself considering the dead man in the ally as a job well done. I faded in with the night crowd walking in the streets of London. I strode down the sidewalk at a quicker pace. In my coat pocket was a letter that I had read 50 times already. "My dearest Paula, it is with a heavy heart that I must now depart from this life with you. Mysteries call to me and I find that It's my duty to travel far and leave you behind. Love, George." I scoffed at the letter once more. This man, George was now dead and his obituary in the London papers. No one knew how he died nor did anyone care to discover what had happened, much less me. I did however wonder what happened to the wife, Paula he left behind and their children. Last I heard they were setting off to America. It was my job to know everything in London and potentially beyond. They never knew me, I was just a passing face, a dark man of mystery. An assassin, a cold killer. I threw the letter and bloody rag in a lit trashcan letting them burn up. On the other side of the road I heard a girl laughing immaturely. The company she kept were almost as foolish as her. She ran right out into the road as if begging to be hit by a car. She squealed and ran right into me. I hadn't stumbled back, my feet planted. She however, slipped directly in front of me. I looked down at her with a calculating stare. My left brow slightly raised. I didn't speak, nor did I care to. She simply rose to her feet and straightened her posture. Her thin brows knitting together with curiosity as she kept her blue eyes locked on my gray ones. She looked young and innocence radiated off of her like the perfume she wore. He golden locks cascading down her back. Her nose and cheeks were rosey from the cold and a stark contrast from her tanned skin. Most girls tried to have fair pale skin, but she, this girl didn't. I imagined she spent most her days out in the sunlight, galvanting around in fields with her friends. It wasn't until minutes of eye contact that she then spoke up.