Chapter 1: Double Lives

As the cloak of night fell on the busy streets of Manhattan, a particular manor shone differently with the lavish cars parked around it. The grand ballroom was buzzing with chatter and wine glasses clinking as everyone wait for the birthday celebrant to emerge.  The place was filled with business tycoons and big personalities, a sign of the celebrant being an equally heavy personality.

A few minutes later, the bouncer met an undistinguished old woman who seemed to be in her late 60s that still wore a red bodycon satin dress.

He frowned at her. “Name?”

“Annika Merriweather,” her voice was shaky and high pitched, definitely those of an old woman’s. She has a killer body, though, thought the bouncer. The grand double door opened and she was permitted to go inside, the list mysteriously having her name despite it being an unfamiliar one. Once inside the grand ballroom, her eyes scanned the crowd. There were all sorts of famous people dominating different kinds of industries in this room today, but she was only looking for one known in the film industry.

“Where is he?” She whispered to herself after taking a drink from the wandering trader. She walked around the venue, even more, her presence remaining invisible to many. It wasn’t hard to go around unnoticed here, since most of the guests are snobs.

“Target found at 3 o’clock,” a fellow agent, Rica, spoke from her earpiece. Her head almost immediately whipped in the said direction as her eyes fell on a familiar face in a tuxedo, talking to the bartender on the bar table.

“Arturo’s body temperature is 97°F. Heart rate is 102 bpm,” Rica added.

She felt as if she saw his face before…Oh yeah, on that mission file’s front page.

Quietly with steps like a feather, she neared him and smoothly occupied the stool beside him.

“One margarita, please,” she croaked in her shaky voice. The bartender obliged, without of course shooting her a confused look.

“Grandmas shouldn’t be drinking,” Arturo spoke first. “You should be resting by now.”

Anna, disguised as Annika Merriweather, fakely chuckled. “Oh, young man, this old hag still has business to do to live longer.”

He was an asshole just like she predicted. Only an alpha like him would dare leave his pack behind for three years.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Things you would never understand,” Anna smiled knowingly, her hooded eyes finally making contact with his confused ones. “But I’d like to tell you a few, unfortunately, my bladder’s almost broken and I can’t hold this pee much longer. Would you mind escorting me to the bathroom?”

Unsurprisingly, Arturo, a man in his late twenties, surveyed her body with lustful eyes. He bit his lower lip before nodding. “Sure thing, you sexy peach.”

“Oh my God, he does hit on old women!” She heard Rica exclaim with vomiting noises. “That’s just fucking disgusting.”

Anna agrees. That is disgusting. And he called her a ‘sexy peach’. Who even calls people that? Old women at that.

Gulping back her disgust, she flirted with him to the bathroom — or at least what he thought was the bathroom. She already had the blueprint of this mansion memorized and lucky for her, he didn’t know where the bathroom is. She just pretended to ask a waiter and led him to the third floor, a floor barely visited by the guests tonight and they entered a private room.

“CCTVs are disabled for five minutes,” Rica told her. That’s more than enough time for her.

She looked back at Arturo and unfortunately for her saw the bulge on his pants. His mate is already dead how is he still not feeling bad for this? Didn’t he feel their bond cut off? Or has he long ignored it and just went after random old women?

He is a psychopath. A very horny one.

“Come on, I’m ready.” He even had the guts to grin at her while on the bed. He started undressing while rubbing his shaft and she couldn’t care less. All she did was silently watch him in his last moments.

“Fuck me, grandma.”

Anna barely tsked and pulled out a dagger from her dress and threw it in his direction without hesitation.

“You horny fool.”

The dagger pierced his forehead, his life leaving his wide-open eyes. She swiftly grabbed a hold of his wallet and avoided more contact that can lead to the police tracing her, and jumped out of the window, pulling her mask out of her head. The old woman’s face tore off her head like a mask, letting her real black locks flow freely and her nose properly breathe. She stashed the mask in the secret compartment of her dress and casually walked out of that mansion —  acting as if she just hasn’t done a murder.

“This is Agent Anna reporting. Mission 4796 accomplished.”

“Nice job, Anna,” Rica praised. “Taco Bells later?”

She shrugged, knowing Rica can see everything with the CCTVs. “Sure.”

It’s just another day in Manhattan.

“I heard there’s a new agent in town,” Rica spoke as she took a huge bite from her burrito. They had just gone from a taco bell drive-thru and are just hanging out under the stars on their apartment’s rooftop after the mission. It’s been a long day, and she hasn’t reviewed it yet for an exam tomorrow.

The thought’s been lingering on her throughout the mission. It’s also because that’s the subject she’s assuming she’ll get an A on so not reviewing for an exam is scarier than being caught while committing murder.

“Uh-huh,” she replied, partially not paying attention.

“They said he graduated training school in Madrid but was appointed in Shanghai as an A-class agent like you. Then he moved to Rome for three years and now he’s moving here. The dude’s traveling the world,” Rica snorted.

“Why is he moving here?”

“I don’t know yet,” she shrugged. “Leila told me he failed a mission and he’s getting punished here but I can’t confirm it. I’ll look through his documents again tomorrow. Oh hey, we have a test tomorrow!”

As a college student for four years now, Rica is still a forgetful student. Surprisingly, she remembered the test a few hours earlier. She would’ve remembered it as the professor is announcing to distribute the papers.

She rose a brow at her. “We do. Did you review?”

“Come on, you know I don’t review. I learn the lesson when the professor is discussing it.”

“That or you didn’t jot down notes to review.”

“H-Hey!”

The night passed by quickly. After doing the grueling paperwork for the mission, they headed back to their apartments in the same building and caught the sleep they could. Four hours later and Anna’s already going to be late for her first class.

She rummaged her closet for a decent outfit, settling with a loose-cropped maroon tee and a pair of jeans, she considered it a go with ten minutes remaining before the class starts. She hurriedly plopped on her ray bans and headed out the door. She rushed down to the parking lot where her black Mazda wagon is. And although Rica is forgetful, she’s pretty sure the blondie rogue is already in the university. She’s so punctual you’d forget she hates school.

Once she reached NYU, she briskly walked to her room, passing by the group of cheerleaders —  most of which shot her a disgusted look.

As soon as she entered the room, she caught the unwanted attention of her snobbish block mates as usual. Being a dean’s lister but coming in late never looks good. Especially at NYU.

The professor introduced a new foreign student but with Anna having a short attention span, her focus immediately went from the professor to the flock of birds outside the window beside her. They were flying in a perfectly arrow-like shape and it intrigued her more than the new transfer student.

Not long after, the exam commenced and she had to avert her focus to the sheet of paper on the table. She had to fight back a yawn several times because of her lack of sleep but successfully being 2nd to pass the paper. The classes followed shortly after and the day passed by like a blur, with nothing exciting for her but her visit to the headquarters after school.

Being 20 and a part-time student, her life is never boring. During the day, she’s a college student at NYU, and during the night, she’s an A-class rogue agent that works for the Ministry. What a life.