Xavier wiped the cold sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve, gulped through his dry throat, and looked around the deserted field as he waited for his victim in Lunaris. Mentally he could smell the rotten bodies of the people Xavier and his gang mates had shot dead in this very place.

It was always this hard.

His trembling hand gripped the gun tighter. At any moment, the unfortunate man was going to be there. It was Xavier's last murder; the reassurance was setting his restless mind off the fact that he was about to kill someone in cold blood.

Xavier walked silently over the wet grass, waiting for a sign of movement. The cold wind blew. Goosebumps formed all over his skin despite his leathers. The sun was about to set, and the nature's painting before his eyes was so beautiful, it ached. He thought of every marvelous sunset he was going to see after this day, its red reminding him of blood, its purity tainted with regret.

He told himself that he didn't have a choice, but then a voice echoed through his system. You'd made your choice the night you killed your father.

His jaw clenched at the thought. Before he could torture himself more, he heard footsteps. Xavier hid behind the large trunk of the tree in the middle of Lunaris, shutting his eyes tightly. After a moment, he peeked through the trunk and saw the man.

He wore a black suit. He glanced at his wristwatch, shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants, and inspected the field as if waiting for someone. Xavier knew this dance. It was Sean who'd summoned him there. Everything was preplanned. Everything was a part of the scheme. Did this man think he was about to strike the deal of a lifetime? It was amusing as much as it was dark.

Xavier stared at him for a while, wondering if he'd seen him somewhere. His eyes, though from afar, were undeniably familiar.

Was he doing the right thing?

He didn't get the time to think through his plan as the man turned his back to him. It was the perfect time to carry out the deed. Xavier didn't waste a single second. He placed his finger on the trigger and pointed the gun at the man, aiming for his head. His other hand wrapped around the dominant one. Xavier paused, breathing heavily. With the support of his other hand, the gun stopped trembling.

He wondered how he'd gotten the title of the 'Best assassin' of the gang when this was the amount of effort it took before he shot someone.

This was it. He heard a distant scream that was impossible to be true because it belonged to someone six feet under the ground.

Blinking away the pain in the corner of his eyes, he stepped away from the trunk, and out in the open. The sound of his footsteps made his victim turn around.

It all happened in slow motion for Xavier, and probably in a blur for the man, who raised his hands in surrender, his eyes bulging in shock. His mouth parted as if he was about to say something.

This is for you, Giselle.

The man shut his eyes, and his hands flew to cover his face, but the bullet beat him to it. A loud bang and the birds flew, screaming for mercy as Xavier's bullet punched a hole between the victim's eyes. His body fell to the ground with a thud.

He was dead.

Xavier gulped and stared at the lifeless body for a while, the noises inside his head dying with the man. He felt a piece of his soul chip away.

How many cuts would it take to ease this pain?

A faint ringing of someone's phone snapped him out of his reverie. He looked around once and then walked over to the dead body. He fished out his phone and looked at the caller's ID.

His heart hammered.

Giselle.

Giselle.

Giselle.

It couldn't have been his Giselle. There were many Giselles in the world. His heart pounded against his chest at the questions that cluttered his mind.

The ringing had stopped. He didn't know when. Another phone started ringing. It was his. With trembling hands, he picked it up.

"Tell me, you haven't killed him!" Stewart screamed the moment Xavier answered the call.

"I... Stewart..." Xavier wanted to put the gun on his temple and shoot. He couldn't think anymore. He couldn't breathe properly.

"God!"

"Stewart, damn it! Tell me what's the matter!" He stood up and stared down at the body.

"I swear, Xavier, it was Sean's plan. He thought that this was the only way to get her out of your life. Ashley just told--"

"Who is this man?" Xavier didn't want to know the answer.

"Xav..."

"Who is he?" He yelled into the phone.

"Her father."

He stopped breathing. "Whose father?"

"Giselle's."

The phone and the gun slipped out of his hands and fell on the floor with thuds. Xavier dropped to his knees beside the man he was supposed to meet that day.

What had he done?

His head started pounding, his vision blurring. He felt blank. There was deafening noise in his head but he couldn't make sense of anything. And then the realization hit him like a bullet; he'd killed Giselle's father. How could anything go back to normal after this?

He could bury the body and never let her know, but she'd know eventually.

Maybe he could tell her the truth; she'd understand. But what if she left him? Could he afford to lose her? No.

Maybe he'd tell her that her father was killed by someone else.

But what if she found out?

It wasn't my fault; he wanted to scream. Sean tricked me! He felt nauseated. His body shook.

With trembling hands, he quickly grabbed the man's phone and wiped off his fingerprints with his sleeve.

The shock made way for anger to settle in. He gritted his teeth, got up, and ran. Sean had asked for it.

His feet ached but didn't stop running through the lane, past the gate, the gang members a blur on the sidelines, and into the den. Xavier's blood boiled with rage inside his veins.

Entering the house, Xavier caught a glimpse of Sean's bald head. With five long strides, he pointed his gun at Sean's skull and grabbed his collar in his other hand.

"You, son of a bitch!" His voice echoed, his whole body shaking.

Sean smiled, then placed his hand on Xavier's chest. With one swift motion, he had Xavier face-down on the floor with his arm behind his back in which he held the gun.

Sean said, "Father used to say--"

Xavier spat on the floor beside him.

"--that you should never trust three kinds of people," he continued, his tone amused, "the ex-lover of your wife, the person who did you a favor, and someone you've once ruined."

Xavier struggled, trying to get Sean off of him, who snatched the gun from his grip and got up. Xavier followed. He clutched Sean's collar in his right hand, again, uncaring of how easy to kill he was at the moment. Sean smiled mockingly as if he, indeed, was no threat to him at all.

"So, which one are you?" he asked, his eyes burning.

"He's the wife," muttered Ashley jokingly, obviously enjoying what transpired, but no one paid her any attention.

Sean slowly clutched Xavier's collar as well, his smile fading as he said, "Don't you remember Sasha?"

He stumbled back a few steps as Xavier shoved him.

"Sasha was like a sister to me!" he bellowed. "I never wanted her to die! It wasn't my fault she came between me and my target. I was just practicing! I was new! She should've known better."

"You couldn't have stopped! You couldn't have saved her?" he roared.

"She was dead before I knew."

Sean, as if hit in the guts, pointed the gun at Xavier, losing all his cool. Xavier crouched down and hit him on the knees with his head. Sean lost his balance and fell. The gun flew out of his hand onto the floor. Xavier scrambled to grab it, got up, and pointed it back at Sean who looked at him with panic in his eyes. Nobody dared to make a move.

Sean got up, dusted off his pocket-less, checked shirt, and looked at him. He managed a smile. "Xavier, Xavier, Xavier. Father used to say--"

"Shut up!" he bellowed.

The world quietened. The silence had its own sound. Sean stared at him in shock.

"Shut the fuck up!" Xavier's hand trembled.

"Stay in the gang, and I will forgive you," said Sean desperately.

"Are you fucking insane?" yelled Xavier, gun pointed at the leader. "What are you saying? Look at what you've done! What do you want? Do you want revenge? Do you want me to stay? What do you fucking want? You ruined my life!"

Sean blinked. "Xavier, you need us."

As a reply, Xavier laughed at him without humor, pointed his gun beside Sean's feet, and shot the floor twice. Sean jumped up in surprise. He would've thought of it as funny if it hadn't taken all his willpower not to shoot him in the heart.

Taking advantage of his shock, Xavier pointed his gun at Rais, Jake, and Eugene, shooting them dead one by one before they had a chance to react. He wanted to finish off Sean's reign.

He glanced once at Ashley who cowered behind Stewart and a new boy who'd been recruited that day, staring at him with wide eyes. He looked at the bodies he'd dropped and walked away. None of the gang members he'd spared had the guts to follow him.

He wished he could've just ended Sean as well, but maybe letting him live with Sasha's memory was a bigger punishment.

Walking toward Giselle's house, he decided to tell her the truth. He knew she'd understand that it wasn't his fault. He was tricked into doing it.

Why would I purposefully kill her father? It was insane! She'd have to understand.

He had it all figured out inside his head.

Xavier had killed Abbott Beaumont.

Giselle had to understand.

It was not his fucking fault.