Present

DAMI

Dami jolts up and is immediately greeted by darkness. She grips the sheets and tries desperately to steel her heart, but it gives her no room to breathe, as though she were being submerged into a pool of water. The trembling prevents her from moving much and only keeps her confined to the trance.

Another nightmare of the past that plagues her.

Dami fights back tears, but fails and lets them fall through. The fear consumes her down to the bone and even makes her bedroom an unfamiliar territory.

The clock then strikes twelve. It's now October 27th. Fourteen years ago has now become fifteen. But the nightmares still carry on.

The nightmares of her grandfather's last words, her father's brutally mangled body, the excruciating torture they put her mother through, and her sister's sacrifice. And even after all the torment, they had sold her off to that dreadful organization. The Center.

The memories eat away at Dami's life. They bind her down and prevent her from moving on. The Verdonni family has forced a burden upon Dami that proves a threat to her existence.

Dami leaves the bedroom in a rush, into the living room, and eventually makes it out the apartment complex. Her soul has not found peace, not while the Verdonni family remain untouched and well. Every breath the family draws serves as an insult to her fresh wound, the one they left her in a skirmish with. The one they left to fester and sore.

Dami will not let the Verdonni family have the last laugh. She has to make them regret the day they crossed paths with her.

~《¤》~

JOSI

Josi arrives late at the penthouse. She's back from a day out which mainly consisted of a shopping spree. There were brief stops by a salon, massage parlor, and other locations that didn't even need visits. What could a twenty-five year old possibly gain from a store centered around mobility aids? Not much but in Josi's case, it's all part of a greater scheme. Maxing out Idris's credit card is a dream still to be fulfilled, but there are other ways to see him frustrated.

Idris is currently at his most sensitive. He speaks little and has shrunk himself into a thin shell; a sight Josi enjoys wholeheartedly. It is in these moments that Josi appreciates his feelings for her. He's so drunk on romance, completely engrossed and entranced by her, that he hasn't stopped to think things through. After all, how could his girlfriend betray him? Especially when the girlfriend in question has no power. No means to orchestrate such schemes. No knowledge.

But it is only on Josi's account that Idris thinks these things true. She had banked on that very idea during the start of their relationship. No one ever suspects the girlfriend whose job it is to look pretty.

Josi tells the guard assigned to her to move the shopping bags into the apartment before heading towards the bedroom. But what she doesn't expect to see is Dami standing in front of the window, breathless—as though she ran all the way there. She's capturing the city's view from where she is, but turns her attention to Josi like a deer caught in headlights.

Needless to say, Josi is dumbfounded. First, she has to make sure the guard leaves the apartment. She rushes back to the living room in a hurry, tells him to dump the bags on the floor, then practically shoves him into the elevator.

And now it's just the two. "How did you get in here–"

"The plan for Five. I need it now."

Josi is puzzled. The plan was to have the information ready in a week's time, not today. The information that would assist in the plan Dami herself created. But the more Josi studies Dami, the more she realizes she's not the same as usual. She's disoriented and seems as though she's on the edge of falling apart.

What really captures Josi's attention, however, is the color change of her left eye. It isn't the usual brown it always is, but a clear grey. "Your eye . . ."

Dami only now becomes aware of this mistake. She sends a hand over her left eye, trying to shield it from Josi. But it's already too late.

That's when things come undone. Dami slums down to the floor and begins weeping—the tears so great it practically floods her face. Josi meets her where she is and pulls her into an embrace, only deciding to leave the questions for later. In the meantime, she sits there with Dami in her arms and allows her express the emotions she can't convey with words.

Never once has Josi seen the assassin this distressed. She clings to her coat with tears that have no end in sight. "It hurts. It still hurts so much, Josita."

Josi doesn't speak. She gives her time to grieve because it's clear that's the reason behind Dami's lament. These are tears from someone who has lost people very dear to her.

Time flies by before Dami's tears dry out. The two sit in silence long enough for her to gather her thoughts. Then once she's done so, she keeps herself under Josi's arms and shares memories of the past. Of the one with a family that loved her. Of the one where she and her sister fought over trivial matters, such as whose turn it was to watch the TV—though there were plenty such screens around the mansion. But as Josi learns, it was all part of the package that came with having a twin.

"We never agreed on anything." Dami tells her. "She liked to believe she was always right, even when she was clearly wrong. But she would argue just to spite me."

Dami tells Josi about their fights, though now Josi knows those fights carried no weight—more like a race to prove who could drive the other mad—and didn't constitute the love they had for the other. Such as the time Dami had lost her stuffed frog. There was a replacement on her bed shortly after. Or at least, what was made to resemble the missing frog. What it really was were pairs of stuffed socks and shirts wrapped around to give off a slight similarity to the amphibian.

"When I asked if she did it, she refused. Said our mother had it replaced. I knew she was lying."

These are all things new to Josi. She listens only silently—not only to give Dami space, but also to keep her disgust in. The Verdonni family isn't exactly famous for their good deeds. Josi knows first-hand what they're capable of. But it still makes her skin crawl. How can a family shrouded in this much violence be allowed to exist?

"You don't know how lucky you are until you lose everything." Dami says.

A statement Josi not only relates to but currently lives by. Life is taken for granted when there are no dangers or underlying threats to sever one's peace; nothing that poses a threat. Only then do you realize certain aspects of your life that had it good and well before the issue. And sometimes, all it takes is a murderous family to make such a brutal reality possible.

Josi stares out the window as she speaks. "You made it this far all on your own. You're here because you fought tooth and nail to be. You survived and that, in and of itself, is the bravest thing anyone can ever do." She brings her eyes down to Dami. "So you're going to go after every one of those scumbags—one by one—and make them regret the day they crawled out their mothers' wombs. Because it's your right."

Dami returns the stare, as if trying to take a peek into Josi's mind, then nods her head yes. It is indeed her right to exact revenge. It's only fair. An eye for an eye.

Josi takes the time to survey Dami in her arms. She's in the same appearance she's always in when they're together: the same curly chin length hair, cheekbones, brown eyes. Except this time, there's a new color of grey in the mix. It's all mostly the same, but she stares at her as if it's their first encounter, because it's the first time she's meeting Dami as Dami and not some enigma plagued with violence.

"So this is really you? All of you?"

Dami shrugs. "More or less."

In spite of the solemn mood, Josi smiles. Dami sees this and eyes her suspiciously. "What's that look for?"

"I'm the only one who knows what The Caméléonne actually looks like. I feel special."

It's Dami's turn to smile. "Don't call me that."

Dami leaves Josi's arms and remains seated on the floor next to her. The two gaze out the window and into the city where the lights are bright under the dark sky. A city with many secrets and stories lying in its midst.

Then almost as if the peace has overstayed its welcome, Dami, with eyes still straight forward, says, "You've killed, haven't you?"

This question startles Josi, only because she wasn't expecting it. She keeps quiet, perhaps waiting. Bracing herself. Then she brings her head down. "Don't tell Rosari."

Dami doesn't react, just sits and keeps up with the view in front of them. She must already have known long before today. Now as Josi reveals this secret that wasn't such a secret after all, she realizes Dami must have taken her first life at quite an early age—however long ago that may be. But it was the first step towards abandoning much of her humanity. And now it seems Josi has met Dami in that same dark cave where she's yet to figure a way out.

"You should get a move on Rand." Says Josi, after minutes of silence. "The Verdonnis are after him."

Dami leans back on the floor, then in a tone too chilling for Josi, says, "I know where he is."

____________________________________