Broken Redemption

Purple Hyacinth

      I will not lie, something in me decided that it would be a great idea to make friends---more like a friend, to be specific.       But there is a reason to why I chose that friend to be Allitt. His family have gone through something specific that had caught my interest. It is probably not related to my mission in any way, but there is just something that tells me to pause and talk to him, or at least respond to his questions.       Allitt family. Used to be a family of 6, now dead oldest sister and oldest brother. I recall from the personal file I went through last night. The sister...       Tied to the Rosewood Warehouse case, from a victim that escaped, to committing suicide for an unknown reason, but speculated to be stress and trauma.       "What do you think of criminals?" I ask out of curiousity, walking up the stairs with my textbooks in my hands.       "Criminals?" he repeats. "What kind?"       "Any, all."       "I think they all should disappear," he answers and I stare at him on the next step.       "Do you think liars should disappear?"       "Liars? It... depends... on why they are lying..."       He thinks that lying can be justified but criminal actions, not. That's Dawn way of thinking alright...       "See you," he Ash says as he walks off into the corridor full of classrooms. I nod.       Maybe people are not as boring as I thought...

***

      "You're still too slow," Andrew reprimands as he knocks Ethan down for the third time since I started watching. I have nothing better to do, so I am just wasting my time to observe Ethan's training. I have faith in Andrew's ways of teaching since I was once a student of him, thus how I am Star now.       Ethan staggers up, wiping his face with the sleve of his shirt, readying his stance before making a move to attack.       "No, be more guarded," Andrew calls, having Ethan down on the ground again. He sighs as he sees me. "Have a break."       I raise my eyebrows as Andrew walks over to me.       "Hello there, Julia," he cracks a smile. "How was school today?" By the last word, the smile turned into a mocking grin.       I frown. "What kind of answer are you looking for? A foot to your face?" I ask sarcastically. "Ethan, how is training going so far?"       The mentioned Lunar jolts up from the bench, wiping his sweat. "H-Huh...? Oh, It's okay... I think..."       I can tell he's lying. "Well, this is still only hand-to-hand, just wait when you start using weapons, you'll have more than just bruises," I say and hear Andrew's laugh. "Hope you make it out all limbs intact."       "Thanks..."

***

      In Twilight, we have our codenames that we refer to each other with to protect our identities. When a new recruit applies for a position in Twilight, they will be able to choose their own codename, as a simple, commons name, to not stand out when called in public places. I didn't exactly choose my own when I joined Twilight, but I had someone choose for me. I only remember that Mother opened a random page in the names dictionary and pointed to a random one, Julia. However, she preferred calling me Juliana though she could've chosen me that name instead since the start.       But like the old names that we abandoned, our identities are never the same. And neither can we go back to our previous lives.       The moment one is inside Twilight, the only way out is death.       It doesn't matter if the person was Star, the highest rank of all, if they want to leave, they can, but with the cost of their lives. And aling with the annoying rats---traitors---who work for other organizations... They either will be locked up, waiting for Solis' order for their execution, or they will be immedietely killed on the spot, each time depend on how dire the situation is.       Apparently, Mother was one of the traitors...       But I could never really understand it.       She was never the type to betray Twilight even if she had to die the most brutal deaths...       My alarm clock snaps me out of trance, and I realize that I haven't gotten even the smallest blink of sleep, the sky outside now turning brighter with the sun about to rise. I curse under my breath as I get up from my office chair and get ready for school.       I think about what I would've been doing if I didn't have school, and I have to admit that I am glad that I have school. Each morning, I would've woken up, or maybe stay awake all night, and what I will need to deal with is killing, and killing, and more killing.       I've killed so many people I was getting tired of it.       Tired of seeing blood.       Maybe school isn't so bad after all...