Even in the inky darkness I could see the clouds passing by. I'd never been on a plane before and I'd really never had any desire to do so. A metal bullet zooming hundreds of miles per hour, thousands of miles above the earth. Forgive me if that just seems like a horrendous death waiting to happen.

My fingers tapped quickly on my knee. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. The pattern helped keep me calm and my mind off the never ending scenarios of firey deaths.

"One three nine!"

My eyes focused on the woman across from me. Her brows pulled together, small lines forming between them and her lips pursed. She looked no less tense than when she walked me onto the plane. She must have drawn the short straw.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I wasn't sure why I bothered. She didn't care about my apology.

"As I was saying, you're going to continue to use your issued name of Piper Harris. It's easier for beginners to stick to their known name than to worry about following an alias."

I wanted to unleash my smart mouth, to say that Piper was an alias anyway, but what good would that do me?

"This is a long term assignment," she continued.

"Wait, what?"

"You're going to be our first subject stationed in Las Vegas. I have a cellphone in here programmed with every number you'll need. Someone will check in with you every three days. We've set you up with a job, you'll be a dealer at one of the high stakes tables in The Venetian."

"I don't know the first thing about being a dealer," I cut her off.

Las Vegas? Dealer? Permanent? They had never said anything about this. I had been told about short trips, a week max, but I was about to be a long term resident of Las Vegas, Nevada?

The woman waived a hand and rolled her eyes. "That doesn't matter. You will learn everything you need to know when you arrive. You will also continue your training sessions. Twice a week. The location for your sessions, along with everything else you need to know, are inside this envelope." She held the large manila envelope in front of her before setting it on the table between us.

My stomach sank as the plane dipped down and the landing gears engaged. We were nearly there.

"There will be a car waiting to take you to your new home. Everything you will need has already been provided. Should you need anything else, you have been provided with a bank account to purchase what you need. It will be monitored." The woman paused for a moment, her lips tightening even more. "And should you get in any trouble, it's best for you to know up front that there will be no backup to save you. You will be completely on your own. The personnel we have stationed are to keep you in line, not keep you alive. Got it?"

All I could do was nod. It wasn't like I expected anything less from them. They didn't care about what happened to us. We were tools at their disposal. Nothing more.

I looked out the window as the lights of the airport shone through the windows, getting closer with each passing second. The tires bumped the pavement, causing me to lurch forward in my seat, and panels on the wings pulled up, breaking the wind to slow the plane down. We hadn't died. I was hoping to take that as a good sign. 

We slowly taxied our way through the maze until the plane finally came to a stop. I looked out the window, and just as she'd said, there was a car waiting. 

It felt like my lungs couldn't expand enough, that I couldn't pull in enough oxygen. I was about to step out into the real world for the first time in years. I was going to be interacting with people. It was freedom outside that window, and yet I was afraid of it. 

There were endless opportunities for me to kill someone out there, and I knew that eventually I would have no choice but to kill someone for them. While I had been holed up I was in training. I was guarded, I had been safe, others had been safe. Now there was no telling what would happen. 

"One three nine, let's go." The woman's voice was snappy, and if tones could kill, I would have been poisoned. 

I stood quickly and followed behind, envelope with everything I needed and duffel bag with everything I owned in hand. 

I stepped off the plane, the air hot and dry as I breathed it in.

The driver of the car made special effort to not acknowledge my existence, only speaking to the woman who had been handling me for the first leg of my trip. 

The two spoke in hushed tones. I could only imagine they were discussing me. Where to take me, and how to handle me. 

The driver looked at me from the corner of his eyes quickly before noticing me staring back at him. It was as if he thought my looks could kill. If only they did, I would have been free ages ago. 

I shrugged and got into the back of the car, opening the envelope after settling in. The phone, credit card, and a key fell out first. I looked them over before quickly pocketing them. 

I started to take off one of my leather gloves as the driver finally got into the car. He looked into the rear mirror and tensed immediately. 

"Put that back on," he barked. 

I jumped slightly and met his eyes in the mirror. 

"gloves aren't conducive to looking through papers, you know."

"I don't care. Put it back on."

He seemed to know exactly what my touch could do, and that I wasn't fully in control of those abilities. 

Without braking eye contact with him, I pulled the leather back onto my hand. The only bit of exposed skin being my head. I slid the papers back into the envelop, setting it down beside me. 

He looked at my hand in the mirror and visibly relaxed, starting the car and putting it in gear.

We made our way out of the airport, driving down long street where the lights were few and far between. The car encased in darkness, the dash lights the only thing illuminating inside until we passed under another street light. 

My nerves danced in my stomach. I was less than twenty-four hours away from real human interaction. Talking to people who didn't treat me like a tool to be used or a danger to society. 

People for me to actually interact with. People I could potentially end up killing. 

That last thought had my stomach sinking.

The car stopped, and I looked out the window at a large apartment building. 

"Three B," was all the driver said before falling into silence again. 

I took that as my cue to get out. I grabbed the manila envelope and my bag and opened the door, not bothering to look back because I knew there would be no parting glance from the man who had brought me here. 

The car pulled onto the street before I had even taken two steps away. 

I sighed and looked the street up and down. It was littered with trash on the sidewalks, and looking up at the building in front of me, I had no faith my apartment would be any better. 

"Here goes nothing, I suppose." I fished the key out of my pocket and walked inside, looking at each door for Three B. 

The lights inside were dingy and dim. It looked like something straight out of one of those horror movies I used to watch before all of this happened. The walls smelled like smoke, and it looked like they hadn't had anyone in to clean in months, if not longer. 

My nose wrinkled and I kept moving until I ended up in front of my door. I put the key in the lock and tried to turn it, but it seemed stuck. 

"Come on," I groaned at the lock. 

"You have to jiggle it," a man's voice said beside me. "Here."

The man reached toward the key and I reflexively jumped back. 

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." He pulled his hand back.

"No, you're fine. I just jump easy." I tried to laugh it off, and I took a step back, letting him move in closer. 

He gave me a half smile and stepped up to the door. 

I looked him over as he worked with the lock. His perfectly tousled sandy blonde hair and his sharp jaw line. I'd seen some attractive creatures while hidden away from the humans, but none quite as attractive as one who hadn't inherited their looks as a way to lure victims to their certain demise. And that made him even more attractive. 

"Just about... there it is." The door opened and the man stepped to the side, smile tugging at the edges of his mouth. 

"Thanks, uh-"

"Alexander. Well, Alex." He reached a hand out to me, his sharp blue eyes locking with mine.

I hesitated for a moment before grasping his hand and shaking it. "Alex. Thank you. I'll have to keep that in mind."

He looked down at my gloved hand, and I quickly pulled it away. 

"I should probably get moved in." I gestured over my shoulder. 

"Is that all you have?" Alex asked, looking at the duffel bag. 

"Uh, yes. Long move, I figured it would be easier to just buy new stuff." I put my hand on the door, hoping for the pleasantries to end so I could put a barrier between us. I hadn't expected my first encounter to happen so suddenly. And I didn't like how I couldn't seem to take my eyes off him. 

"Right, well I will let you get to it, and I should be on my way as well." Alex tipped his head down and stepped back with one foot. "I didn't catch your name."

"Piper." 

"I hope to see  you around, Piper." He smiled before turning on his heals and heading out the front of the building.

I smiled and closed the door. As far as first interactions could have gone, I'd say that went surprisingly well, despite being a freak who only has one bag to her name and wears leather gloves in the middle of a Las Vegas Summer. 

I locked the door behind me, sliding the door chain in place before turning on the lights. They flickered for a moment before coming to life, harsh and bright, illuminating every flaw of the room I stood in. It was definitely not a five star accommodation, but then again, I hadn't expected it to be. 

There was no furniture, nothing. But at least there was an actual bedroom. Looked like I would be sleeping on the floor for the night. 

I threw the duffel bag to the side of the bedroom and turned off all the apartment lights before putting the phone in my pocket on the charger and curling up on the floor. 

***********

Chapter 2 is here. Let me know what you think in the comments below, and if you liked the chapter, please give it a vote. Thank you.