It was snowing outside, not a blizzard, but not a wisp either. It was a slow but steady flurry of snowflakes that seemed to zigzag their way around in the air, as if trying to avoid the ground. Eventually they made their way down, either fading or joining with other snowflakes to create a thin blanket of white. Glorinda strolled on the path, keeping a good pace, but enjoying the scenery. Her nose was pink from the cold and she rubbed it a bit to get blood flowing back to it.

"I think we're almost there", she said to the dog walking beside her.
It was a white and blue dog with matching white and blue eyes. He was covered in thick fur and his shoulders came up to her hips. He looked up at her as if acknowledging what she said. She pat his head.
"Yes, just a few more steps I believe." Proving correct, she stopped and turned to face an opening in the woods. A smaller path led from the path she was walking and into the forest. She turned and quickened her pace, eager to reach the end.

They arrived at the end of the new path a few minutes later. There they stood, facing a huge brick house with a large wooden front porch.

"Finally!" she said excitedly. They stepped onto the porch and shook, loosening what snow they had on them. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys to the house. She unlocked and opened the door and they stepped inside. The dog shook again once he was inside and promptly found a spot in front of the unlit fireplace. He whimpered a bit and stared at Glorinda.

"Ok, Bez, I'm coming, I'm coming!" She took off her boots and set her jacket and gloves on the bench near the door. "I'm ready to start a fire too!"

She grabbed a few logs sitting beside the fireplace and set them in them inside. She crumpled up some newspaper and set it under the logs. After plopping down on the couch and enjoying the fire from the fireplace, she turned on the television and watched the news.

"More snow is coming.. Better bundle up!"

“Snow,” a man said, frowning at the white powder covering the ground. “I hate snow.”
“Don’t be so bitter Xyne,” the little girl at his side responded, staring up at him. She stopped and knelt down, making a quick snowball. She threw it straight for the back of Xyne’s head, but he steps aside at the last second, turning to look at her disapprovingly. She hangs her head and catches up with him as he continues his path. “Snow’s fun Xyne. It’s pretty.”
“It’s cold.”
“Maybe you should wear a jacket,” she responds, referencing the fact that Xyne was out in the snow wearing a t-shirt.
“I don’t like jackets.”
“You whine too much.”
“You talk too much.”
The girl quickly scoops some snow off of a newspaper dispenser and packing it into a hard ball. She made a second attempt at hitting Xyne, aiming carefully. Xyne took the snowball to the side of the head. He stopped walking and wiped the side of his head. He smirked and knelt down, slowly scooping together some snow off the sidewalk. He stood up, a large snowball formed in his hand. He turned, but the girl was gone. He scanned the empty street, carefully looking for her. A second snowball hit him from behind this time. He spun quickly, a third hitting from his right. He stood still, concentrating, waiting.
Above.
He stepped back just in time to dodge a snowball from above his head. He threw his own snowball into the tree above. There was a loud smack and a grunt, then the small girl came crashing through the branches, landing hard on the concrete. She rolled to a sitting position while Xyne knelt down in front of her.
“Got you Hera,” Xyne said with a smirk.
“So,” she replies, wiping snow from her face and jet-black hair. “I got you three times. You’re behind.”
“You were cheating.”
Hera stood up, making a face at Xyne. “Why is this taking so long? Are we almost there?”
“We’ll be there soon.”
“Soon? You’ve been saying that for three days!”
“Can’t you hear it?” Xyne looked at the sky. “It’s almost time.”
Hera pulled her hood back over her face and looked up fearfully. “Are you scared yet Xyne?”
“No. You?”
“Not really. I’m excited.”
“I’ll bet you are.”

Glorinda stretched out on the couch watching the news. There were a few interesting stories, but nothing exciting, and nothing too depressing either. Usually, it seemed, there was nothing but bad news. This increase in bad news prompted Glorinda to watch less of it. No news is good news, as the saying goes. She glanced at the clock, 12:02.

"Ooh! Lunchtime!"

She quickly hopped up from the couch and proceeded to the kitchen. It was a nice kitchen, with cherry cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and an overall modern look. She walked to the refrigerator and peered inside as if not knowing what she might find. As she was not the last person to go grocery shopping, that might well be the case. She found a bunch of green grapes, and some bologna.
"Guess I'm making a sandwich with some grapes on the side..."
She gathered her sandwich-making items and put it together. Mayonnaise, honey mustard, cheese, and bologna. Oh and grapes! Not on the sandwich of course!
"Hmmm what to drink.. Ah! Milk!"
Despite the coldness outside, milk was her favorite drink and she would almost never pass it up. Besides, it was plenty warm inside.
Bez stood up from his spot in front of the fireplace and stretched. He lazily walked over to Glorinda and sat beside where she was standing and eating. He looked up at her with puppy eyes and she knew what he wanted. She broke off a piece of her sandwich and let him have it. He gobbled it and it was gone within a second.
"Alright, time for some real food for you!" She went to one of the cupboards and brought out Bez's bowl with a hefty amount of food in it. "Here you go, boy. Eat up!" Bez needed no encouragement. He quickly started digging in like it was the best food he had ever eaten. Melinda had tried it and she would beg to differ.

A car horn was heard outside and Melinda walked over to the window facing the front of the house. She peered outside through the blinds. A light blue truck was parked outside. She watched as the windshield wipers came to a halt and the truck stopped rumbling. A man of average build stepped out of the truck with a brown bag in hand. As he started walking towards the porch she walked over to the front door and let him in.

"Ah. Thanks" he said and stepped inside. "I went over to the store nearby and grabbed some ice cream. We were out."
"Ice cream?! It's freezing outside! I could have made ice cream!"
"You? No way! It would be more like a slushie.."

They walked to the kitchen together and he set the ice cream in the small freezer.
"We were out.. he says.. Pft!" She said with a grin and took a bite of her sandwich.

“There it is,” Xyne told Hera, pointing at a two story house at the end of the street. “You happy now?”
Hera glanced behind her, making sure no one was around. “Yup,” she replied happily, gazing back forward. “Now we can finally get something to eat and have a snowball fight!”
“So I can beat you again?”
“You lost. Three to one.”
“I got the last hit.”
“You’re just scared.”
“I’m not playing in the snow. I hate-”
“You hate the snow, trust me, I know.”
“Where do you get the energy?”
“It comes with age.”
Xyne laughs at the irony. “If you say so.”
The reach the house and Xyne heads up the stairs first. He rings the doorbell, stepping back from the large oak door. He sees movement through the frosted glass before hearing the bolt release. The door opens, revealing a tall blonde woman wearing a red suit. There are bad scars covering the upper left side of her face, from her hairline, down over her eye and back to her ear. Looks like it could be from some kind of bad burn. Her large gray eyes dart from Xyne to Hera as she examines them.
“Welcome. Xyne, I presume?”
Xyne nods and the woman steps aside, beckoning them in. They step inside, into a large foyer. Ahead of them is the large staircase and to the right of that is a large common area, complete with a three piece furniture set and a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall. Past that was a doorway leading to what may have been the dining room.
“You will find the Boss upstairs,” the woman told them. Xyne nodded and headed for the stairs, Hera at his heels.
At the top of the stairs was a large landing, with doors on every wall. Straight ahead on the far wall, a door was open. Through it he could see the man he had come to see. The Boss. Hera took the lead now, skipping toward the door before exploding into the Boss’s office with a loud hello.
The Boss, who’s real name was Jericho Williams, looked up at us without expression. He was sitting behind a large mahogany desk, dual monitors sat on the desk in front of him. He leaned back in his large chair, light bouncing off his bald head through the window. He grinned, stretching the already tight skin across his face, his lipless mouth like a slit in his pale face. His narrow maroon eyes gazed at Xyne, who stood in the doorway.
“Welcome back Hera,” the old man said, his eyes darting to the young girl. “How have you been?”
Hera hopped into a chair and took some candy from a bowl on Jericho’s desk. “I’d be better if I hadn’t had to deal with this guy for the past week.”
“Xyne’s gloominess getting to you? I was hoping your cheerful nature would have an effect on him. Guess not.”
Xyne frowned at Hera and took a seat.
“You wanted to see me sir?” Xyne said.
“Yes yes, I have a request of you Xyne.” He paused for a moment. “I need you to kill someone for me.”

The man grabbed a kettle from one of the cabinets, poured water into it and set it on the stove to boil. Glorinda finished her sandwich and washed and dried the dishes, putting them back into their respective places within the cabinets.
"Making some tea?" she asked him.
"Yup. You want some?"
"Yes please. With three cubes of sugar."
She set out two small mugs for their tea.
"Thank you."
Their speech was casual and cordial. It suggested that the two were well acquainted but not involved.

Bez finished his meal and trotted towards the front door seeing that it was the closest. He barked once. Glorinda walked over to him and pet his head.
"You want outside?" she asked him with a high voice.
He whined and wagged his tail which meant "yes." She opened the door and he trotted out. A breeze snuck its way into the home and she quickly closed the door and hugged herself to retain what warmth she had. She decided that more wood was needed on the fireplace and walked over to where more should be only to find that it was empty.
"Wha-? I could have sworn there was more here... " she said to herself. "Aah. I guess I overlooked it when I was freezing earlier. Ha!"
"Need more wood?" the man in the kitchen asked.
"Oh yes."
"I'll go out and get it."
"Thank you, Mazwell."

Mazwell put on a coat and gloves and went out the front door, but not before telling Glorinda that the tea was done.
She walked over to the kitchen and sipped the tea gently, being careful not to burn her mouth. She hates when that happens.

Xyne sat down in the chair, rubbing his scruffy chin and staring at the ceiling.

“You want us to kill someone?” Hera asked, sounded disappointed. She was sitting indian style in her chair, her arms crossed. “That’s no fun!”

“It needs to be done,” Jericho stated. “And I need you two to do it.”

“Why us two?” Xyne asked, looking back at Jericho.

“Because you’re two of the best.”

Hera scoffed. “We’re two of your best, yet you want to send us on a measly murder mission?”

“It won’t be easy.”

“Murder’s always easy. I don’t want to do it.”

Jericho slid a folder across his desk towards Xyne. “At least look at the target. Consider it. I believe that you will find this one very intriguing.”

“Like the last one you had us kill?” Xyne said, ignoring the folder. He was getting angry now. “Last time you wanted us to kill someone ‘important’ it was some lowlife scumbag who slept with your wife. I didn’t sign up to take out your trash Jericho.”

Jericho smiled, though impatience flashed in his eyes. “Xyne, this girl is not connected to me in any way. Please, look at the folder.”

Finally, Hera reached forward, taking the folder and flipping it open. Xyne looked over at her as she flipped through the files inside. A sadistic smile was slowly spreading across her childish face. She looked over at Xyne, her grin wide and toothy, like a child with a new toy. She licked her lips and tossed the file over.

“I’m in!” she exclaimed. “This will be fun! Look at it Xyne.”

Xyne flipped open the folder and looked at the picture of the target. A young girl. A familiar girl. The picture didn’t properly show her beauty. You couldn’t see just how beautiful her ice blue eyes were, contrasted by her auburn hair. As Xyne remembered the beauty, he remembered the ugly. The hell.

“You want me to kill my ex-wife?”

Mazwell walked bravely in the cold and snow. His pace was similar to Glorinda's, quick but casual. As he walked toward the snow covered pile of logs, Bez came running up. He was thoroughly covered in snow and looked fully white. He barked a greeting at Mazwell and received a pat on the head as acknowledgment. Mazwell stacked up a few logs on his arms.
"What do you think Bez, six logs enough?" Bez barked once. "Guess that's a yes!" Mazwell exclaimed.

As they headed back toward the front of the house a small red car pulled into the driveway. The driveway was about a half mile and anyone who drove down it should not be a stranger. Though surrounded by woods their neighbors were fairly close and there were plenty of shorter driveways to turn around on if you were lost. As the car came to a halt and the engine stopped, Bez let out a happy yelp. A woman with reddish brown hair stepped out of the car, followed by a boy with blond hair coming out of the passenger's side. He darted off and immediately began playing with Bez.

"Heeey Maaaz!" she said with a chirp.

"Oh, Lizzie it's you!" he said with a sigh of relief. Not that anything strange really happened around here, but the air was a bit eerie this day.

"Yeeah it's me. Well.. us! With this blizzard coming, I figured we would come over and spread the warmth, spend some time with family, you know? I called earlier, about thirty or forty-five minutes ago, but got no answer."

"Oh, yeah. I was about buying ice cream and Glorinda was taking Bez for a stroll."

"Oh oh! In this weather too? Gosh, she's such a nature person. How has she been since the descend?"

"Alright, I suppose. She doesn't really speak of it much anymore, not that she really did before. But I think she's good. Being surrounded by the forest and Bez here seem to keep her spirits up."

"Well that's good, that's good."

"Yeah.. Well, let's get inside then! Snow is starting to pick up!"