Angel of Darkness: Chapter 5

Issa woke up at 6 just like Layla always had. He got dressed at ate his usual breakfast of honey, milk and bread. Then, he walked off to work. He worked in the palace. At first he thought that it had been a little risky to work there since there may have been someone who recognized him but he soon realized that he had changed enough that no one would assume that he was a dead man walking. He still cringed whenever he saw his father but the old man had nothing but praise for him. He was hardworking, committing completely to his work. He had come into the palace young but even as a small boy, he had risen quickly through the ranks and now was the king's number one advisor. The pay was great and it gave him enough power to search for Layla behind the scenes. It had been five years since she had disappeared. Issa was now sixteen years old. He was tall and strong and quite good-looking. He had been a Prince at one point after all. Before working at the palace, Issa had never dreamed that anything he had learned before meeting Layla would be helpful but had quickly been able to use the knowledge to help the man that he hated the most in the world. The king had not changed much since Issa had lived in the palace. Interestingly enough, he had already had another son with some woman. He's also had a daughter before that with a different woman. The boy was four and the girl five and they loved Issa and Issa did his best to shield them from their father but they still had new bruises on their arms and legs everyday. He didn't have the power to tell the king to stop hitting his own kids. He just hoped that one day he could do the same thing Layla had done for him. He on the other had would make sure not to leave them.
She had disappeared that night five years before. When Issa had woken up the next morning and had not seen her there, he had been afraid to speak to Darius and the girls. When he had appeared alone at the stand at lunch he had said that Layla's mother had taken a turn for the worst and she'd had to stay home. Everyone had accepted this easily. Issa had listened to Darius for news about the body of the Angel of Darkness but he hadn't said anything. For the next week he had listened carefully but there had been no news and Layla had not returned. Issa did exactly as Layla had instructed him to do if she didn't return from a raid. He told everyone that her mother had died and that she had run off.
"She left you alone?" Jamila had asked in disbelief.
"That doesn't sound like her," Darius agreed.
Issa had shrugged and then had no longer been able to keep the tears from falling from his face. Jamila had pulled him up onto her lap and hugged his gently and spoke words of consolation that didn't help in the slightest.
"Would you like to stay with me?" she asked.
"Yeah, little brother, you can stay with any of us," Darius had said, ruffling the boy's long hair. Issa had just shaken his head and said,
"I'd rather just stay at my house. Layla left all the money so I can take are of myself. Plus, I'm going to get a job soon. Please don't worry about me."
Everyone had nodded and let the small boy wander off on his own. Only a week after that, he had gone up to the palace and asked for a job, acquiring one as a messenger boy.
Six years later, everything was different. He no longer went to school, but it didn't matter because he knew how to read and write, which was generally enough and he would often go to the library at the palace to learn about anything that he could. That's where he was when Lateef came in, giving him his daily report.
"Nothing on the Angel yet, sir," he said as if fearing a blow from the boy who was many years younger than him.
Issa sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Thank you, Lateef. Keep up the good work," he said.
"Sir, if I may, I believe that we should give up this search. It has been quite a while now."
Issa stared down at the book in front of him, taking in Lateef's words. They were words that he himself had thought. The reason he believed that he could find her was that Layla was so much stronger than everyone else and there were things that didn't fit. Layla had taught him to look at chain murders and find the smallest differences to prove whether or not it was a copy cat. Issa didn't believe the reason that Layla had disappeared was a copy cat but for some reason there had been something that didn't match up at all. That was the fact that no body was found, no one came to their lair, and there were no rumors about the Angel having been caught. Some people thought that maybe the Angel was dead because of her inactivity but Issa was sure that she was alive, somewhere. She had to be somewhere.
"Have you found out who her last employer was?" Issa asked.
"No, sir."
"Even by promising them safety and absolution?"
"Yes, sir. I think that everyone is too scared either of us or the Angel retaliating."
Issa sighed and spouted back the story that he had been telling to get Lateef and the others to search for the Angel even if it seemed hopeless.
"She killed my parents. Not only them but countless other people as well. I need to know where she is to take her in no matter what."
"Sir, I have a question."
Issa waved his hand, gesturing for him to continue.
"The Angel, sir, why do you always refer to the assassin as a she?"
Issa froze and then scolded himself over and over again for the careless mishap.
"I guess I just associate the word Angel with  a woman," he replied hoping the excuse would slide.
"That's all fine, sir, but there is no way the Angel could be a woman," Lateef said.
"Why not?" Issa asked, looking up from his book for the first time. "There's no reason she couldn't be a woman. Women are just as capable as men when it comes to things like that. Society just doesn't give them a chance to really show that. What if this woman grew up in a society where that was okay?" Issa asked.
"Well, then I guess it could be a woman but the chances of that are very slim."
"I will act on that chance. Please widen your search to include women," Issa said waving Lateef off.
"Yes, sir," Lateef said with a bow and walked out of the room.
Issa stood up and looked out of the window. He saw that the sun was already on its way down through the afternoon. He went to the market in town and bought what he needed chatting a little with the vendors there. On his way home, he stopped by Dalila and Omari's home. They had gotten married the year before and they were living together on the edge of town. He said hello and sat down for a short drink of tea, since it was the only time that he could see them anymore. Kosey and Jamila had broken up in the same year that Layla had left and didn't speak to each other at all anymore. Kosey travelled around, working as an official tax-collector for the king. Jamila had finished school and was still searching for someone to marry. She had darted from man to man but had yet to settle but her father was threatening that if she didn't get married soon, he would withdraw the support he was lending her to live. Every so often, Issa would visit her as well, but she was usually busy running her household. Darius had left to travel around the country. He came back to town every so often to visit and tell amazing stories of his adventures before running off again on a another crazy voyage. Issa still admired him greatly and often wished that he could go off with him but he knew that if he did the search for Layla would halt so he stayed in town. He still lived in their little lair since he had been unwilling to give up the idyllic location and buy a house. He had made a few changes, such as making the opening a little larger since he had grown quite a bit and was bigger than Layla had been. He had also brought a few pieces of wood and constructed a table and an actual bed for himself. He still followed the routine that Layla had followed, more out of habit than anything. Then he would sleep and wake up the next morning for the same dull day to follow.
He was in his office, sorting through some paperwork, when Lateef found him that day.
"You were right, sir," Lateef said.
"About?"
"The Angel of Darkness is a woman. Only after searching that way did we find any clues. We asked a few people if they had ever seen the Angel of Darkness and they all responded no. When we asked if they had seen any suspicious men they all shook their heads but when we asked about women quite a few remember from years ago woman dressed all in black running through the village. They could never see enough of her face to tell us who she was and they just had thought that it was some young girl off to see a lover or something. Here's the information we have been able to collect. Most of her sightings occurred in this area, which is not strange since that is where most of her murders occurred. The last time she was seen was not in this area at all. It was in the town of Sais. There, on March 31st five years ago, outside of the hotel in the village, a small ruckus was heard. One of our officials told us about it, since it had occurred right out of his window. He heard a few muffled words and then  few scuffles before everything fell silent."
Issa furrowed his brow thoughtfully. March 31st was the date that Layla had disappeared.
"I need to talk to that officer as soon as possible. Also, see if you can get a list of all the guests at the hotel that day and check their backgrounds. I want to know the reason the Angel disappeared. If it was someone at that hotel maybe we can ask. Give me the list by the end of the week."
"Yes, sir," Lateef said.
A knock on the door interrupted what he was about to say next.
"Come in," Issa said.
"Sir," a messenger boy said, "the king orders you come directly."
"Alright, I'm going. Good work, Lateef. Keep it up."
Lateef bowed.
Issa walked to the throne room to face his father, something that he greatly wished he didn't have to do. Every time he saw those dark eyes and that scraggly hair, Issa wondered if he would every become like him. He walked in through the large double doors and everyone bowed to him courteously except the king who sat high above everyone else.
"Hello, Your Highness, is there anything that I can do for you?" he asked politely.
"I used to have a son. He'd be about your age right now. When he was eleven he was killed by the Angel of Darkness. Have you heard of this?"
"I lived it," Issa thought but said, "Yes, sir, I have."
"My current son. I have to protect him somehow. What do you advise?"
Issa thought.
"The only true solution to this problem is getting someone as well trained as every assassin out there to protect him. If we could discover who it is that is killing these assassins then we could get him to protect your son."
"We don't know where he is. Is he really trustworthy?"
"I do not know sir. I'd say that right now your best bet would be to get your most well-trained guards at your son's door instead of your own but that solution is not ideal either."
"I'm not willing to give up my own guards for him."
Issa flinched thinking, "You're his father. You're first instinct should be to give everything up for him."
"I understand sir. Would you be willing to maybe have him live with me? I have training and I can protect him if I need to."
The king stared down at Issa. He seemed to be trying to see something in him that didn't exist.
"No, that wouldn't be right either. They must stay here."
"Yes, sir of course, I'm just trying to think of something. I promise that by tomorrow I will have a good solution for you. Do not worry at all."
The king nodded and dismissed Issa. Issa didn't know why he had offered to take the kids in. It would have created more problems than it would solve. First of all, he would have had to explain why he was living in a cave, despite his high wages. Maybe it was because Layla had done the same thing for him or maybe it was because he just wanted to get the two kids out of there as soon as possible. Regardless, he knew that offering that had been a stupid thing to do. Issa sat down at his desk heavily. For the next hour, he worked non-stop on papers that the king was too lazy or busy to do himself, until he heard a knock on his door. He invited the person in and saw that it was Lateef and a government official. Issa stood.
"Sir, this is Sefu Rasheed. He works in the business and distribution sector. He was the one who heard the Angel on that night 5 years ago. He said that he was willing to answer all questions he needs to."
"Good. Thank you Lateef. You may leave now."
Lateef bowed and left.
"Hello, sir. Have a seat. Welcome to my office," Issa said, sitting.
Mr. Rasheed sat at the chair in front of Issa's desk.
"I've heard of you," he said. "You're the sixteen year-old boy, who was able to rise to the level of advisor to the king in just a matter of years. I've heard people say that you are intelligent, mature, polite, and above all, you have a very commanding air about you. All of this seems true though I know nothing more than your name."
"These rumors are a tad exaggerated but I thank you for your compliments sir. Now, the reason I brought you here, you already know. On March 31st five years ago, you heard some scuffling outside your hotel room window. On this same night, the Angel was sighted in that town. Could you please give me some more details about that night?"
"Well, it was a long night. I had been traveling all day and finally be able to stop in Sais in my hotel room. My bed was right by the window to allow fresh air in. I am not a very heavy sleeper so I was quickly woken when I heard noise outside. I believe it was the noise of someone jumping off the roof and grabbing onto the window sill. I hear whoever it was whisper something and then he was gone. Then, on the ground, I heard scuffling back and forth as if there was a fight but a very quiet one."
"On the ground? Were you not on the ground?"
"No, sir. My window was three floors up. Anyway, the scuffle only lasted a few seconds before it stopped and thinking that I was just a couple of cats or something forgot it until a couple days ago when I was asked about it again."
"The person on the window sill was male or female?"
"I couldn't say but I'd guess male."
"You didn't look out of the window?"
"No, part of me was too frightened to look. It's probably a good thing that I didn't."
"Yes, you're right. Is there anything else that you remember about that night?"
"No, not really. After that I fell back asleep and woke up to another day just like that."
Issa nodded.
"Thank you so much for your time. That was all the information I needed."
Mr. Rasheed bowed and left the room. Issa sat at his desk silently. They had made a little progress. Issa was almost sure that Layla had been sent to kill Mr. Rasheed for some reason or another. Now, he just had to find her employer. He also needed to get that list of people who had been at the hotel. He leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"I'm coming Layla. I'm coming."