COUP DE GRÂCE

This isn’t a story about love, or heartbreak. This isn’t some cheesy romantic, heartfelt, lovey-dovey story that will make you feel warm and fuzzy. This instead, is an amalgamation of events. Not one where people end up together. No, just simple friendship, tragic grades, honest feelings and simple thoughts. This is the story of my life. 

My name is Doha, yes, like the city. I used to have another name. But that was before shit hit the ceiling. Now I go by Doha, and the only person I trust in this hell hole is Nara. She’s older, smarter, and more elegant, but lacks social skills. We’re complete opposites. I’m what you call a people person, a total extrovert, I find it incredibly easy to get lost in a crowd. Nara on the other hand, would be able to sweet talk her way out of any situation and leave before anyone would notice. But they would notice her, how could you not? She has this ethereal quality, and her skin, immaculate. Practically won with her genetics. Those sharp features against her soft black hair which always seems to have a bounce, and those plush lips ugh… Her doe-like eyes are such a simple blue, but they stand out against her dark skin, laced with freckles, the epitome of perfection. 

I on the other hand, pale in comparison, completely bland. Which makes it easy for me to blend in. No one would ever take notice of the girl with glasses and simple features. Always keeping her brown hair out of her face, neatly tied back. We are about the same height, 5’6. But I'm always in flats, so half the time Nara appears taller, which honestly isn't the case. 

I met her 3 years ago. Coup de Grâce. Yes, that is the name of our prestigious school, it means ‘blow of mercy’ please, I'll blow you one... Technically it's a boarding school. We are officially entering our senior year. For the entirety of my life, I have only ever bothered to make one friend, and that was Nara. I was honestly never drawn to anyone else, they all seemed uninterested anyway, probably focused on grades. 

Once we graduate next year, we are free to carry out our lives as we please. But before we can even graduate, we all need to make our first kill. 

 

Ah high school, one of the many joys of life. And senior year...thank fucking God. Every morning at 6 am, Nara and I go for a run, before the sun rises, which is a tradition of some sort. Nara says it allows our body to focus and get prepared for the day. I just do it because it means one hour less in my dorm stuck listening to Dili. Rooms are alphabetically arranged and I got stuck with Dili. I obviously wouldn’t want anyone else, I know for a fact that Dili would never try to pull something on me, unlike most roommates we don't actively plan to kill each other. She is just extremely loud when she sleeps. I don’t mean snoring, I mean talking, yeah, she sleep talks which is a thing. I find it quite entertaining. Otherwise, we just try to stay out of each other’s space. It’s tricky when we are constantly told by the professors to ‘watch your back’ but that's the life we choose to live. 

 

“Running helps with blood circulation” Nara huffs as we race down the path to the beach. 

“I know that…you remind me of the benefits constantly,” I say back to her. 

Keeping a steady speed we match each other's strides, picking up the pace as we begin to reach the hill. 

“So are you finally ready to start training for real today? No more paper exams or orals about the many ways to slice an artery” I say as we come to a stop at the top of the hill, bending over to catch my breath. Nara doesn't answer, instead, she just looks at her watch, and then to the horizon where surely enough the sun is beginning to rise. 

“Let’s hope today’s sunrise will be better than yesterday’s, it wasn’t the shades of bright red that I normally admire,” Nara says suddenly. 

“Um, Nara, did you hear what I just said? I asked you about the start of the semester, finally stepping into action. Taking what we’ve learned in class and applying it... practically? You love practicals?” 

“Doha,” she says as she turns to look at me...I think this might be serious. 

“I will not be in your division, the board of directors came to me and asked me to start working in the field immediately” she said softly. 

“Is that even possible, you haven’t even killed anyone yet?” I say, unsure of what she means, and as if reading my mind explains “Let me rephrase, I will be transferring to our C division Doha, I will not be out in the field but working at base camp. I never really wanted to be a killer, but it runs in the family so I made a request last summer to be transferred and it was approved.”

C Division is our top Covert Division and is located at the Central base where all graduates will initially start. That is if they don’t die of course. 

“But if you work there it means you’re not out in the field, but working on the stuff we use” as I make random gestures in the air “You don’t want to be an Active?” I finally ask. 

“Yes and no, it’s not as simple as you might think” she finally replies, taking off down the hill before I even realise. 

I chase after her, as we rush onto the sand. Nara has always been more agile. She makes running on the soft sand look easy. She stops by the water, takes off her shoes and jumps in. I run up to her shoes. That little stunt took me off guard but I can't help but smile when I see her ushering me into the water. 

“Shit, it’s freezing today” I yell out, paddling towards her. 

“You’re not mad” she asks as I swim up beside her. 

“Nara, don’t be silly, why would I be mad, it’s your life, you can do what you want” I reply. She smiles and then does a little spin in the water. 

“But you should’ve kept running,” I say, as she quickly turns to look at me. “What?” 

“I said you should’ve kept running, you know you are faster than me, I wouldn’t have been able to catch up to you,” I say as I grab her dark black hair and plunge it into the water. She starts to panic, kicking her arms and legs everywhere. But I wrap my legs around her body, shoving her further under the water as I start to push her body down. Once I’m in control it’s easy to keep her under, now it’s just about holding my position so she can’t escape. We’ve trained for this so I know that she will try and pull me with her, separate my body from hers and find some leverage. I won’t let her though. I let a couple of minutes pass before I’m sure that there is no heartbeat to release her. Recon will find the body, it’s not like this hasn’t happened before. As I’m about to swim off to the shore, I look out to the horizon at the red hues the sun starts to make as it rises. Shame, it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day.