Unedited

Chapter 1: L8te 2 Skool

(Edge's POV)

It's not very often that I don't have to travel far for work. Usually I have to spend the better half of the day trying to find my target and then waiting out for the perfect opportunity, so I was quite surprised when a woman passing me on the street received a death mark.

A death mark is more or less when a black fog starts to envelope the target's body until someone like me can do something about it. Of course, no one but certain individuals can see it, so it's not like a common mortal can join in on the business.

I glanced at my watch and back up to eye the woman as she walked away from me. I sighed as it couldn't be helped. A job was a job, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. I took the thick skull ring I always have on my middle finger and gave it a kiss to summon my shadows. Within moments, my body was cloaked in darkness and I could move without sound.

The busy streets of Boston isn't the most ideal location to murder someone, but I've had to do worse. Try killing a court jester without being caught. Sure, it sounds easy, but you'd have to think of all the variables. The jester was always performing, he used the servants bathroom which means someone was always waiting to get in after, and he slept in a public quarters with at least three other people at once. I managed to make his death look like the suicide of a mad fool, but every job has to go flawlessly.

I left my backpack tucked behind a dumpster as I tiptoed behind the unsuspecting woman. Her long blonde hair hanging loosely to her waist, blowing back as she walked along. I could even smell her flowery shampoo which is kinda daunting when someone is about to die.

My eyes snap around, seeing a clear street and an alleyway approaching. I take a lunge forward and drag the woman in so quickly, she doesn't have time to make a sound.

The job is done quickly and painlessly, which is how I like to do it normally. If my victim seems to be a good enough person, I'd rather them not suffer. If my target is cruel or just nasty, I like to take my time with the job.

The death collectors appeared just as my cloak was disappearing. "Thanks for the hard work fellas'. I'd stay and help, but I'm late for school." They didn't even acknowledge my existence which is just how they're supposed to be. Death collectors are empty husks of assassin's who were exiled from their field and this is their eternal punishment.

I straighten out my tie and thank my cloak for not allowing my uniform to become wrinkled.

I glance at my watch.

7:56

If I run at the speed of light, I would probably five minutes late. Since I'm not a spaceship, I just run like a regular teenager whose overslept and late.

That's all I am. A regular teenager.

I can jump into almost any reality imaginable; even one where Lindsay Lohan is still beautiful and successful, but I can't make it to school on time... Seems logical. This silly thought is enough to make even me laugh at myself.

I fly in and only get minimal glares from old Mr. Leech as he continues on his stupid lecture about The Salem Witch Trials. I don't think there's any reality where he's not a crabby old man who spits too much when he speaks.

I lazily lounge in my seat in the back as Luke keeps shooting me curious glances from beside me.

Luke is my mortal best friend, he's pretty great and doesn't care how flaky I can be because of work. He knows I do something not normal for boys our age, but I think he just thinks I'm a prostitute under a pimp because that's the only logical reason I always have to leave and am never around. I just let him think what he wants, because that's easier than explaining all the realities, killing people, and other fun stuff.

"Late again, E?" He whispers low enough to not draw the wrinkly demon's attention. I just shrug and add more doodles to my already pretty full notebook. This time I'm sketching a black hole swallowing a zombie version of Mr. Leech while holding a chainsaw.

I believe the man is appropriately named, because he just sucks the enjoyment out of everything, and that is coming from someone who takes lives daily.

"I overslept." I offer him when he doesn't return to taking notes and takes to watching me doodle. "You know you could get in huge trouble if you're caught." He whispers harsh enough that I get the message. I flip over my notebook just as Leech walks down the aisles to see if we're taking notes or just texting.

Luke gives me a wink when Leech's back is turned and I just give him a grin.

See? Having a Luke looking out for you isn't that bad. Just be sure to feed him once a day as payment or he'll get hangry.

I think as we make our way to the cafeteria where the scent of mash potatoes hits our noses. I can see Luke practically drooling as we approach the lunch line. "Napkin?" I offer him. He takes this as a sign to close his mouth and he sheepishly takes it, "Sorry, you know how much I love food." I nodded in agreement as if exasperated by it.

"I know, I have to watch my plate like a hawk for fear of you stealing my nuggets." We both laugh and move up with the line.

Suddenly an eerie feeling of being stared at with lasers in the back of the head because overbearing. "Vincent, if you're going to put a hole in my head, at least warn me first, so I can remove my lifetime supply of sarcasm. That thing could sell for a fortune!" Luke snickers, but not enough to tick off the not-so-gentle-giant Vincent Cambridge. We both turn to face him as he glares down at us, specifically me.

Vincent is known as the tough "hot" guy of Creekhill, or the alpha male if you will. Every guy who doesn't want to be him, is in love with him or both. Then there's Luke, me and a few others who can't even fathom why anyone would want to associate with someone like him.

Vincent grunts in response to my comment. "Just get out of my way, short stack." I mock offense at the obvious jab to my height. I've come to terms with being barely five foot six and it even works to my advantage during missions, so it's whatever.

"Careful Vince, I'll think you were actually trying to hurt my feelings." The much taller male turns to give me a venomous glare that to anyone else would have been intimidating. "I might bash your face in if you don't shut it!" He growls.

He thinks he's so tough. Kinda cute in a bloodthirsty Chihuahua kinda way.

"I'm shaking in my loafers Vince, don't worry." I dribble in more sarcasm to my already filled pool. Vincent shakes his head as if in complete denial that I'm still talking to him. "I don't get you, Charles. You act like you have a death wish." I nod in agreement. There have been multiple occasions where my big mouth nearly got me killed, or jumping out of windows in the middle of class.

"Maybe because I'm not afraid of death." I offer him the biggest smile I can muster, which turns him back around. Luke pouts when he realizes that Vincent cut us in line, but he's not brave enough to say anything.

Luke sighs and pats my back. "Dude, you really gotta chill with the sarcasm," Luke leans in close to my ear to make sure Vincent can't hear, I guess. "He would have kicked your ass already if he didn't like you." I scoff at this.

"You tell me to wear off the sarcasm? Funny, you're a funny guy Luke." I say with a real smile this time as we get our trays of steaming hot mash potatoes.

Luke and I get a seat close to the exit and dig in. Luke has food all over his napkin bib which he wears every time we eat to prevent staining.

"I'm serious though Edge, you need to chill a bit." Luke stares at me and I just shrug, tucking my long black hair behind my ear.

My hair is my pride and joy. I've had it to my shoulders and layered ever since I first got missions. Usually the school makes guys with long hair tie it back, but they just got annoyed with telling me to, that they just let me wear it down. I think it makes me look pretty sexy and dangerous if I do say to myself.

I stare back into Luke's pale blue eyes with my striking green eyes. I like to think of them as a cat's because when I'm talking my target, it's like a cat stalking its prey.

Though the shadows turn even my entire eyeball black to prevent being seen, but it's still fun to have an imagination.

"Relax Luke, I know you don't believe me, but I can handle myself." Luke thinks I'm just a kid who's all bark no bite just because he's older and bigger. Luke continues to stare at me, which starts to make me squirm in my seat.

Since when does he actually care?

A pulling in my gut pulls my attention from Luke's gaze. Twice in one day?

Time for work.

"Hey, I gotta go. Work call." I offer him my usual excuse. He nods me a dismissal and I get up to throwaway my still pretty full lunch tray. That's what sucks about this gig, I can't control when I'm needed.

I race out the lunchroom doors and find the bathroom directly to the left. I do my best to keep my eyes down and not make eye contact with the one other guy in here as I go into an empty stall.

I place a gentle kiss on my ring which will take about three minutes locating where my target should be and in the meantime, I tie my hair back and prepare for my shadow to coat me.

Here's one of my favorite parts of being a Realm Jumper; the ways in which we can realm jump. I have a bit of a sense of humor, so when I use my portal over the toilet, the only way to get there is down. I flush the toilet and jump into the portal with my backpack. It feels like a water slide without the water or gross bacteria. I smile as I spin and tumble through nothing.

Traveling through realms is often cold and boring and I feel both those things as I stay in a cannonball position through the empty void. I'll be here for a while, so believe it or not, I take out my required reading for school and read some of it.

Being an assassin does not excuse me from failing high school, even though I have no future in the mortal world. It's basically to prove to all the lazy asses that if I can travel realms and still get straight A's, then they can too even with their petty minimum wage jobs or sports.

Then again, I am highly intelligent, so maybe that's where they're lacking.

After almost an hour of traveling through nothing, I'm spit out onto a packed dirt road. My shadow cloak appears over me and I pull the mask up over my nose and mouth.

Time to work.

I can't tell just yet what kind of reality I'm in, but it doesn't look modern with the lack of cement roads. My eyes travel around and I let my gut lead me towards the death mark.

The thing about realm portals is that you can't control where they drop you off in a realm. Sometimes you're on the opposite side of an island, and other times you're almost directly in their lap. I think whoever created the portals just likes to give some excitement to our lives.

My travels lead me towards a brothel, making me inwardly cringe. I don't even want to wrap my head around what kind of person I'll have to kill in here.

I enter and am greeted with body odor, flowery perfume, and smoke. My eyes sting a bit and my cloak already has turned into a tunic and pants to blend in with the "gentlemanly" crowd already present in the brothel.

There are different kinds of shadows and my cloak identifies all of them. It even gives me facial hair and the appearance of being much older than I am, so I can slip in.

My eyes travel around, looking for a death mark. My eyes land upon a woman dancing on the stage in what would be considered a night gown in the mortal realm, but here it's scandalous and revealing.

With people everywhere, this might be a bit more complicated than I had originally thought. I can't ask for her services because then it'll be whomever had wished her would be the main suspect and I can't just jump up on the stage. I tap my chin and glance around, surveying all the drunks and dancers.

I watch the woman and when she hops down to an incredibly intoxicated man, I can already tell he's going to buy for them to go upstairs. His pockets are stuffed with coins and he's wearing clothes that look far too nice for someone of his appearance.

Basically she's only pretending he's the hottest dude in the world, but he pays good.

To stay unnoticed because being the guy that stands on the floor not moving can get pretty noticeable after a while, I go up to the bar and order a drink. "Here you go sweet cheeks." The plump bartender coos to me as I feel her watching me as I watch the woman.

"Ah." She says as if understanding. "Don't fall too hard kiddo, Lord Dickens is one of her most loyal customers and pays her well. I don't think anyone around these parts could compete with his money."

I play along with her.

"It's just... She's the most beautiful think I've ever laid eyes on." I emphasize my sadness with a seemingly big gulp, but it really just disappears; I'll never reveal my trick, but it gets me out of drinking poison on accident.

The woman nods at me as she spit shines one of the glasses. My eyes turn back and I try and stop a smug smile from spreading across my face as I see her leading the man up the stairs. "Thanks for the drink." I leave the woman a couple coins and start making my way up the stairs.

Show time.