Brian

To say that my job is dangerous would be a little bit of an understatement. My job is like walking willingly towards an electric chair or an open noose blindly, wondering what’s going to happen when you come out the other side. It’s almost like potential suicide, and there are moments when even I begin toquestion whether I’ll come back to the house alive. People in this kind of business don’t have hearts and don’t have souls, there will never be an emotional or even physical attachment to the people we kill, unless you’re like some sick bastards who like to rape their victims after a kill.
As a highly trained assassin, I get called out by other businesses to kill enemies and sometimes friends, though I’ll admit that no one in our strange world has friends.

We have brothers in arms, mine being the four men that I grew up with and walked right into the assassin business with, and then we have enemies who need to be killed. I could probably make a list of the people who consider me as their enemy, and they could probably make a list of people who they think are out to get them, but then again- we’re all in it for the same thing in the end.
Our jump tonight is in a graveyard downtown, and as the sleek black van that carries the five of us through the city as it sleeps, unaware that tonight, three more bodies will be found beside their shallow graves, ready for an early morning stroller to kick them right in and walk right on by.

Jimmy, who’s decided the lead us into combat tonight, is smudging black war paint underneath his bright blue eyes, blinking as he stares blankly at the other wall of the car, where Zacky’s sprawled out, one gloved hand polishing the already shiny barrel of his gun. Matt has his sunglasses shading his eyes from view, but I can tell by the way he’s constantly cracking his knuckles that he’s itching to get out of the car and let fire, killing whoever it is we’ve been ordered to track down and murder on this murky night. Johnny grabs a pile of paper from the side of the truck and begins to read out the credentials of our victims for the night.

“Two men, both five eleven, convicted for killing and raping their victims. Those motherfuckers don’t need any more motivation, just a couple of bullets in their thick skulls and they’ll be dead on the floor” Johnny mutters, throwing the papers back to our drivers and leaning his head against the wall of the van.
“Five eleven? You’re fucked Short Shit, why don’t we just leave you in the van?” Zacky says and the three of us dissolve into nervous laughter while Johnny pretends to ignore him, eyes still closed.
“Because without me you dicks wouldn’t know right from left” he replies, flipping the birdie to Zacky as the van comes to a sudden halt and we each freeze in our positions.

This happens every time we’re called out- the moment where we all begin to fall into the positions; characters as I see them. To those who know us I am the dark and feared Synyster Gates, who’s silver revolver will have you down on the floor faster than you ever learned how to.
“On three, we strike” Jimmy mumbles as we crouch beside the back entrance of the van. He holds up three fingers and counts down until the doors to the van are kicked open and the five of us jump out, surrounding the area we’ve been ordered to cover.

As I run over to the left side where Jimmy’s battle plan instructs me to disappear to, I can hear shouts and muffled cries coming from somewhere alongside me. I glance over my shoulder to see Zacky about a foot away and make a signal to him that the victims are probably somewhere around here. With skilled precision, he makes his way over without making any noise and we stand back to back, shifting every so often so we can get closer to the perpetrators. Suddenly, a piercing female scream fills the air and blowing all our silent movement out of the water entirely, Zacky and I run towards the sound like police dogs, guns trained in front of our bodies and legs pumping like the wind as we run.

Skidding to a halt, I find myself pointing the gun at our two victims, both of whom are stood over a shadowed figure, laughing and jeering as she screams and cries. Another cry fills the air, but this time a slightly more high pitched one, that sounds more scared than in pain. Zacky and I step forward and grab the men by the throats, quickly dragging them away from the woman that screamed and I lock my gun against the temple of the other man, fighting off the struggle with ease.
“Got any famous last words, punk?” I hiss, but it’s all too late for him to answer as I push a bullet into his brain, dropping his useless body on the floor and kicking him in the ribs.

Zacky’s already disappeared with the other body, probably to put it somewhere that it’ll be less conspicuous and I stand still for a moment, hearing the others running through the graveyard like their lives depend on it. Behind me, the woman who screamed groaned and I ran over to her, kneeling down beside her body to check that she was still breathing.
“Ma’am? Are you alright?” I ask, pushing my sunglasses onto my head and looking down at her with the kindest eyes that I can muster and she shakes her head. She’s surrounded by a pool of blood that may or may not even belong to her and as I gently prise her hand away from her heart, I see a large gaping hole in her chest. The two men must have shot her before we got here, and I curse myself for not finding her earlier so I could’ve tried to save her at least.

“Does…it…look like I’m…alright?” she chokes out, grabbing my hand and squeezing it as another ripple of obvious pain rips through her and she screams, clutching something tightly in her other hand. I can’t save her, and though it pains me to let that thought overrule my brain, I have to admit it to myself. Not even if I were a miracle worker could I stop what is happening in front of me.
“Can I do something to help you? Call an ambulance- I can get you to a hospital” I try but she shakes her head and almost as if she knows better than I do, she lets her eyes flicker closed and then looks up at me, with a bright gaze that if I’d known I would have almost fallen right into.

“I know who you are. You’re Synyster Gates- you stopped those men from hurting me. I heard you and your friends walking around the graveyard. They say mothers have the best kind of hearing I suppose. I’ve always heard that you shouldn’t be trusted- but I trust you. I trust you with my life” the woman tells me, hands gripping my black t-shirt as she hacks and coughs, body trembling violently against me.
“I need you to do something for me…something that will change you forever” she asks and without thinking I nod, wondering if she wants me to kill a long lost husband, an estranged father- even an ex that fucked her around a bit.

“Anything” I promise, hearing Jimmy’s shouts to get back in the van over the sound of police sirens approaching the scene. The feds hate us, and I know I have to get out of there soon or I’ll be thrown in a prison cell, and that’s the last thing any of us want.
“Take my daughter with you. She’ll be safe with you. Please, don’t let her die” the woman whispers as her final breaths begin to waver and she hands me a bundle wrapped in black blankets. A pale face peeks out of a softly sleeping child and as I cradle her in my arms, not knowing whether to say yes or no to her request, I look up to find the woman’s heartbeat has stopped entirely.
She’s dead.

“BRIAN GET YOUR ASS IN THIS MOTHERFUCKING VAN OR WE’RE LEAVING YOU HERE!” Jimmy roars from the back of the van and I get up and run, clutching the black blanketed child in my arms and I launch myself into the van, carefully shielding the baby from view as I collapse against the floor, doors slamming shut at my wake and the engine roaring into life as we speed away, another job done for another night.

I take a few deep breaths to steady myself and then sit back up, holding the baby gently in my arms. I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a child, hell I can barely take care of myself –what am I doing?
“Brian…what’s that?” Matt asks as he points at the bundle in my arms and every eye in the back of the van turns to stare at me, each looking more suspicious than the last.

“After Zack and I killed the guys…I found a woman. She was dying and she asked me to do one thing for her” I trail off, pushing back the blankets to reveal the sleeping form of the baby in my arms, as each jaw of my friends drops in shock.

“I have a child to look after now”