Chapter 1

Kylie’s POV

I HISSED IN irritation as I hit my left foot against the kitchen island and my stomach growled in unison.

I ignored my stomach, like I had done so many times before. No, my thoughts were more focused on the bad omen of hitting my left foot and getting my daughter to the daycare on time so I didn't miss my job interview.

"Charmaine!" I yelled for her as I bit down the curse on my lips and limped into the living room with the last apple in the house in my hand.

.

"Mummy, mummy," Charmaine called as she ran down the staircase to meet me.

"Yes baby, Please turn around for me," I said with my most blinding smile as I dropped to a squat and proceeded to keep the apple in her school bag.

Charmaine's tummy growled and she rubbed her stomach with a deep sigh that broke my heart.

"Mummy, I'm hungry. My stomach hurts" She grumbled as a slight frown marred her beautiful face.

Tears stung my eyes at the sight of my hungry baby and with a sigh I reached for a bottle of water I had filled from the tap earlier.

"I know baby girl. I kept an apple in your backpack okay? I want you to eat it at lunchtime," I said to her as I planted a kiss on her forehead and unscrewed the cap of the bottled water.

"Okay mummy, but what about now? Charmaine is very hungry," Charmaine sighed and sucked in her lower lip in a pout.

I pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and gently pushed the opened water bottle against her mouth.

"Come on baby, chug for me. This will fill you up until later okay? It's magic water," I knelt on the floor and wrapped my arms around her middle, "Mummy promises to get you a good meal later today. We can have some of that blueberry pie you love so much,"

Charmaine nodded her head in excitement as she handed the half-empty bottle of water back to me.

"Promise mommy?' She asked with wide eyes.

"Pinky promise," I whispered as I hooked my little finger through hers and stood back up.

A quick glance at my watch showed we were running late so I grabbed the house keys from the chair, picked up my bag, and gently tugged my daughter behind me.

"Come on sweetie, let's go,"

***

My heart thundered in my chest and dread filled me as Charmaine and I got off the school bus and her daycare teacher walked towards us.

"Good morning Mrs. Taylor," I greeted Charmaine's daycare teacher, with the brightest smile I could muster, handing her Charmaine's bag.

"Good morning Miss Kylie," Taylor greeted me with a sour look on her face as she took Charmaine's bag from me.

I waved to Charmaine and watched her playfully run towards her class with my heart thundering in my chest.

Some part of me wished I could just avoid this conversation altogether and Mrs Taylor would cut me some slack but as I stared into her irritated eyes, I knew my wish wasn’t coming true.

"Miss Kylie, am sorry I don't think we can let this continue. We pride ourselves on never turning students away but you haven't paid Charmaine’s fees In THREE MONTHS!

The very idea is preposterous and I assure you, we will not hesitate to turn her away if you do not pay up," Mrs Taylor said in a stern voice as her eyes raked over me in disgust.

I clenched my fists at my side and took a deep breath before plastering a smile on my face.

"Mrs Taylor, I am sorry. Please give me some more time and I promise I will be able to pay it. Look, I even have an interview today." I pleaded as I gestured to my formal dressing while batting my eyelids.

"Time? How much more time do you require? Miss Kylie. In my opinion, you have had more than enough! You might be going through rough times as a result of your divorce, but we run a daycare, not a charity center.

I expect to receive Charmaine’s fees in full before the end of the month or she’ll no longer have a place here," Mrs Taylor snapped sternly as she turned around and strode back to the school.

I stood shaking helplessly for a few seconds as I raised my head up, hoping for some kind of help or intervention but all I was was the sun shining down at me in mockery.

With a sigh, I began my long walk to the bus stop, so I could catch the next bus and meet up with the time schedule for my job interview.

***

I blinked furious tears away as I stared at the list of interviewees who didn’t make the cut, that played across the reception screen.

And sure enough, KYLIE CANDACE KAZIMIR was there, boldly marked in red.

Some part of me wanted to scream in frustration. Tear out my hair, throw a tantrum and demanded they offer me the position but the rational part of me picked up my bag from the chair I had been seated in mere minutes ago, and slowly made my way toward the door of the company as thoughts of how I was going to afford my bills plagued me.

When I hit my left foot this morning, I should have known that my day would be unlucky.

My phone beeped in my back with a text, that I was sure was either from my mother or my best friend Mika.

I suppose in all fairness, I could have responded to their texts of ‘HOW ARE YOU?” With a detailed description of how my life had gone downhill after my divorce from Ryan.

I could have even asked for their help or just swallowed my pride and texted Ryan but I didn’t.

Because I knew in my heart that if I cried out for help, they would actually sacrifice everything to help me and the lord knows bothering them is the last thing on earth I ever want to do.

***

My heart broke as I placed my maxed-out credit card back in my purse and accepted the plate of blueberry pie from the cashier with a smile.

“Thank you!” I chirped in a false mimicry of what happiness should be.

That was it. The last twenty dollars Charmaine and I had to our names. After this pie, I had no idea what I would do for money.

Maybe I’ll become a stripper or a sex worker or sell a kidney or…

Several thoughts were still running through my head when a group of boys ran past me with a woman’s purse and one of them bumped into me hard, making me drop the pie.

A cry wretched from my throat and I watched in horror as the rest of the boys, ran past me, stepping on the pie and squashing it until it was nothing more than a bluish-gooeyish mess.

Red-hot anger sliced through me as they continued to whoop and run without a care.

I could barely breathe from anger as I swung my bag across my body and gave chase.

The boys barely seemed to realize I was after them as I caught up to the supposed ring leader and sent him careening back with a punch to his jaw.

A sickening crunch sent satisfaction oozing through me and the rest boys stopped in fear and anger, unsure what to do as they looked from me to their mate who was clutching his bleeding jaw on the floor.

“She’s a crazy bitch! She broke my jaw,” He wailed as he pointed for his friends to attack me.

A small crowd formed around us and several people whipped out their phones to film the encounter.

Good. It’s been a while since I’ve had a fight.

As the three boys came crashing into me, I grabbed one of them, dislocating his shoulder in the same motion as I sent a kick to the skull of another one.

And so it went on, with me breaking bones, moving joints in blind anger as they wailed and begged for my fury to end.

Eventually satisfied with the chaos I had caused, I wiped the blood off my fists with the shirt of one of them and stretched out my palm.

“Wallets!” I hissed angrily.

The crowd laughed and cheered me on as they fearfully returned the purse to the woman they had stolen from and threw their wallets at me.

With a smirk, I threw the wallets in my bag and turned to leave.

“Quite impressive,” A man in the audience purred as I walked away.

Something about the way he spoke sent a thrill through me but I ignored him and continued my journey back to the shop to get a replacement pie.

Slowly, a smile formed on my lips as I dreamt of fulfilling my promise to my little girl.

***

That night with some semblance of a full belly and my daughter tucked in bed, I went outside to pick up my mail and sort them.

It had been piling for weeks now and as our heating system showed signs of almost cutting off, I knew I couldn’t ignore our bills any longer.

With a sigh, I wrapped my threadbare robe around my frame, sat at the kitchen counter, and sipped some water, wishing for all the world that it was some red wine.

But that was a luxury, I couldn’t afford.

"Electricity bill, I thought I just paid this," I muttered in irritation as I added it to the growing pile of bills.

"Water and gas bill,”

“Internet bill, ah! No wonder the wifi stopped working today," I bit my fingers as I added the envelope to the list I had no intention of paying.

If I wanted internet, I would just have to use the free wifi at the cafe down the street.

"Court reminder to finalize my divorce," I sighed in irritation and put it aside.

The rest of the mail seemed to be magazine advertisements and some other random things.

I got up from my chair to put off the kitchen light and head to bed when a fancy red and black envelope peeked out of the pile and caught my attention.

With a confused frown, I picked it up, stared at it for a second, then opened it.

The envelope gave way to a fancy red and black letter written in Spanish.

I could understand it quite clearly as I was multi-lingual so my confusion didn’t arise from the fact it was in Spanish.

Oh, no.

What had me in utter confusion was what the letter actually read.

"Invitación a la guild de asesinos."

"An invitation to the Assassin's Guild."